Interview with Hillsong Young and Free

Hillsong Young and Free released their second full-length album, “Youth Revival” on February 26th. Their first single off the album, “Where You Are” debuted on MTV and made Spotify’s Top 15 on Viral 50 USA Chart. As a follow-up to their previous No. 1 LP We Are Young & Free (2013), Youth Revival is an eclectic collection of songs aimed at articulating the deep desire of the human heart for something more. 

I recently chatted with Laura Toggs and Aodhan King (pronounced Aiden) from Hillsong Young and Free about their new album.

Chelsea: Can you tell me a little more about the forming of Hillsong Young and Free? There’s already a Hillsong Worship and Hillsong UNITED band, was there a need for another Hillsong band?

Hillsong Young and Free: So, a little background on Hillsong. Hillsong is a church that was started in Australia, and we currently have 16 locations all over the world. We were all a part of the youth ministry at Hillsong. From the beginning of the church, music has played a big part in the life of the church. As a church body, we have a vision to reach and influence the world through our music. We have a desire to create music that will bless the world and the body of Christ. Our desire was to create music specifically for our generation. We’re all young adults and wanted to create a sound specifically designed for our generation. It was a natural evolution. Even though our music is specifically targeted at youth and young adults, what I love about it is that it totally transcends our “target” age. The older generation at our church (who call them selves, the “old and fierce”) love the music just as much as we do.

Chelsea: Awesome! That’s so neat to hear more about Hillsong Young and Free. I love your new single, “Where You Are“. Can you tell me a little more about that specific song?

Hillsong Young and Free: This is one of the upbeat, EDM songs of the album, and we loved the theme behind this song. We received great feedback from friends, specifically some of our friends who aren’t Christians or don’t go to our church. Since we recived a lot of positive feedback from the song, we decided it would be the perfect one for our first single. Our hopes is that it will bless everyone and lead people to Jesus.

Chelsea: If you could tell your generation one thing, what would it be?

Hillsong Young and Free: We’d tell everyone to chill out! People get so caught up in things that don’t ultimately matter, and we wish people would take a breath and relax. Our heart’s deepest desire is to remind everyone to keep their eyes focused on Jesus. Every human heart is longing for something more than a temporary fix, they are longing ultimately for the Lord. We want everyone person who listens to our music, attends a concert, talks with us, etc. to hear about Jesus, and ultimately encounter Him as their personal savior.