Christian band Pacific Gold is known for taking on relatively unknown church hymns and then repurposing it into a new sound, and lead guitarist and vocalist Dan Koch is now sharing how their unique approach to music.
"It starts with piano and guitar and rewriting the hymn into a song we like. Then we just start arranging it and the Beatles ideas and whatever come in," Koch told Breathe Cast of the creation process.
"The arrangements are just really the kind of music that we like. Because we are not bound by congregational singing we are free to make whatever kind of record we want to make as if we were a normal band."
Their take on the hymns are so beautifully done that it feels like they are creating "original music" even though they aren't. Koch said that they plan on creating another repurposed hymns album, although they are not closing the door on a none-hymn album.
Koch explains that they try to stay away from popular hymns that do not need any work done, such as "Amazing Grace," which he describes as "one of those perfect songs that was catchy then and it's catchy now."
"It has set the standard for many other songs. There's nothing that you can do to 'Amazing Grace'...what could you possibly do that wouldn't make it worse? We try and stay away from those hymns," he said.
He added that the songs they choose are relatively unknown, so no one should get mad at them for putting a fresh spin on it. Koch also said that anyone could actually repurpose old hymns, and he hopes that more people would get into it one day.
"Anyone could do this. Like all you do is don't write your own lyrics...just use these other lyrics and do whatever is good. Whatever you're good at that you can do best," he said.
