Hyped about 1GN
Power pop vocal group 1GN, formerly 1 Girl Nation, have a new album out, a new name (well, it’s shorter) and another meaningful message to share with their fans. Unite,is the second album by the Christian music group that blends upbeat, relevant pop music with lyrics that are focused on one united message of overcoming hate with love, and living boldly for Christ, even while having fun.
The 1GN girls, Lauryn Taylor Bach, Kayli Robinson and Carmen Hadley, had a chat with Kidzone all about their new album and what inspires them. Check it out!
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new album, Unite? We have seen how social media has become a part of our daily lives. It's becoming harder and harder to guard our hearts against the things of this world because we're being hit with negative messages from every angle! We live in the same reality as all of our listeners and know how hard it is, so we set out to fill Unite with truths and messages that encourage love over hate, protecting ourselves online, guarding our hearts, living boldly for Christ, and embracing our differences to further the Kingdom of God.
Your single, ‘Guard Your Heart’ is based around Proverbs 4:23–27— what message do you hope to send to your fans with this song? We feel such a connection with the song ‘Guard Your Heart’. It has been an anthem for each of us in our personal lives because of the super important truth in the lyrics based on Proverbs 4:23 that says ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’ There are so many contradictory messages being thrown at our generation, so we want this song to encourage listeners as much as it has encouraged us in our faith.
How has your music changed since the last album? As we have grown in our faith, so has our music. When we sit down to write new music, we write from experience. If we are reflecting on our faith, we write songs like ‘Cinema’. If we are feeling empowered, we write songs like ‘Impossible’. If we are feeling afraid, we write songs like ‘Panic’. Our band has always been changing and will always be changing, so having that in mind, we embrace change and embrace anything God wants to do with our band or speak through us.
What is the most dancey song on the album? This album is full of dancey songs! But the most would have to be ‘Get Hype’. We actually helped create a specific dance we call ‘the hyphy’ for this song. This is the song we chose to do a music video for and we also have a dance tutorial to teach everyone ‘the hyphy’ up on YouTube.
Which song is most likely to give listeners goose bumps? It's a toss-up between ‘Guard Your Heart’ and ‘Panic’. It really depends on whoever is listening and where they are in life. The message in ‘Guard Your Heart’ is the cornerstone of 1GN. We wanted to place truths in this song to combat the negative messages being thrown at our generation. Everyone goes through hard times, and if you're going through one right now, ‘Panic’ is the song for you. We wrote it as a reminder to ourselves to not freak out when times are bad, to remember to go to God’s promises and hold tight to them. This is a song that has really ministered to us in our own lives. God has a crazy way of turning your mess into a message, turning bad things for his good.
As Christian pop stars what does your music and influence offer to fans that they won’t get from mainstream pop? Our goal is to give our generation fun music they want to share with their friends that has positive, unashamedly Christian messages. We hope they dance and have fun with it, but also use it as a tool to share Jesus with their friends!
What is a 1GN live show like? It's a blast! Our show is just one big celebration! You can expect a lot of dancing, crazy outfits, awesome songs, but also times where we share our hearts and the meanings behind the songs
. Do you have any plans to take your live show to Australia? We would absolutely loooove to come to Australia! It's on our bucket list. Bring us to you! Please!
