GF: Tell us your ages, where you are from, group members of “Restoration” and what part you have in the group?
Restoration is made up of the following: 3x Samoans (Matt Brown/ Paul Brown and Albert Peseta), a Maori (Joshua Koia) and an Asian (John Chin); sounds like one of those jokes ;p
Paul Brown aka “B.K (Big Kid”) – Guitarist/ Composer – 21yrs olds
Matthew Brown aka “Parablez” – Lead Author/Lead Vocals/Composer – 23 yrs old
John Chin aka “Pa” – Vocals/ the Boss – 48 yrs old
Albert Peseta aka “Rev” – Vocals/ Author – 22 yrs old
Joshua Koia aka “Jay-Kae” – M.C (rapper)/ Author – 25 yrs old
Matthew was born in Auckland, but raised in Christchurch and Paul was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Josh was born in Gisborne, but again raised in Christchurch too.
Then Albert was born and raised in Christchurch as well, and finally John originally from Singapore, has settled in Christchurch.
GF: Restoration has an inspiring testimony on how you all met. Tell us about that
John and Matt were jamming on a song one night in the lounge at the Restortation House, that Matt had wrote…and then John proposed to Matt; “we should form a vocal group and see what we could do with the talent of the boys within the house for fun…”
With the group being only 2 months old they entered themselves into a local Christian Talent Quest Competition and came out top (actually won 3x years in a row, from 2004 to 2006).
The feedback that they got from this competition, from all walks of life, encouraged the boys to carry on with this new venture.
Now, originally the initial setup of “Restortation” was actually eleven guys, mainly like an accapella ensemble at first. But time proved who would stay and would go on to form the current crew.
As well, with Matt, Paul and Albert already coming from musical backgrounds (coming from a school band called 5th Element), the others that followed came to realise that this venture would actually mean commitment, serious time and practice to fashion this craft, if it was to go any further.
But early on in the piece, it was a difficult transition time for some of the boys too (in reference to some of the guys who left since forming “Restortation”); who had ventured off to other countries like Australia for career opportunities; sports commitments locally; relationships or just found that things were moving to fast to cope with.
So 1-by-1 each individual from this core eleven, over the first few months to a year of being formed, what was Restoration initially, started to get whittled down to what is currently today. Hard decisions had to be made for each individual, which took a long time to solidify this and like anything with a lot of pain and heartache!
So this in turn left only 5 in the end from the original 11… so deciding to make something out of what they had left, pushed on.
Our name came about because we all flat together in the “Restoration House” which was established in 2000 by four young men of different cultural and ethnic groups; providing an environment where an individual can come to learn to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. What “Restortation” is as a band, is basically an extension of what the House represents and stands for.
The Restoration House its self is involved in outreach and evangelism throughout Christchurch. It became a base for young people (where most of the existing group has come from); for people from the street who had given their hearts to the Lord to help and continue to nurture and disciple them; for those with behaviour disorders, broken families, all kinds of abuses and for many others to just hangout where they too could come and find a real love and to be serious about knowing Jesus Christ.
The Restoration House is fully supported by the boys themselves who believe in “Sowing into the Kingdom of God”. There have been hard times, but the Lord has never failed us. Because of this, our Faith in the Lord Jesus, who has spurred us to live for others and to be changed from the inside-out, hence where our music stems from.
Whether it is buying KFC for a poor man on the street or expressing our life testimonies of what God has done in us through our music too. Restoration means ‘the process of repairing’; we want our music to reach anybody and everybody (even if it’s not their style or cup of tea); and to tell them that you “ain’t gotta be a video-girl to be beautiful”; you ain’t gotta be a Gangsta to be hard; and most of all, that Jesus is real and he can be your “Bestfriend”, just like He is ours if you want Him to be.
Whatever the lies the media has filled this generation’ hearts and minds with, we want our music to restore and bring the light to, and reveal what is real and true.
GF: What message do you want your listeners to hear thru your music?
Some say hip hop is a dying cause and there is so much materialized music out there including hip hop now.
All the positive stuff has faded away into the background and now it’s all about the bling, bling and the sex in the music.
We want people to know that the best kind of music that inspires and encourages one comes from the heart. - Matt
Above all we want people to know that Jesus is real and has touched our lives, that He can be your best friend too just like He is ours.
An honest message, that understands that we all have our ups and downs in life, but reminds listeners that there is always Hope!
A message that God is real and He loves you, without it being to bible bashing - Josh
Our message is that God heals any hurts in your life
That He is the true Father, plus he will never leave you nor forsake you
That Christianity is a Life Saver
Music inspires us to help others in our situations
That you don’t have to conform to the world, but to live for God is to gain real Freedom and happiness - Alby
GF: Tell us about your current projects and where readers can purchase your Cd.
Up and coming projects in the New Year, that the guys are working on, is releasing their first single, still undecided which song to use, but whatever it maybe, definitely will be just as successful as their Demo EP.
Also have some possible tours on the cards as well, either within New Zealand, or in Australia. Nothing concrete at this stage, but keep eye on their MySpace page if any of them eventuate, at this point time, definitely heading to Auckland here in New Zealand, doing a mini-tour of the biggest City in New Zealand, hitting schools, churches, radio stations and community events alike.
You never know, they maybe coming to a town/ city near you, just trusting the Father to continue to open doors and encourage them as they continue to trust Him for gigs and finance, to share about His Kingdom and His Love.
Now finally, if readers are interested in getting a hold of their Debut Demo EP CD “Take Me Back” which cost $10.00, you can do one of the following:
·
Either email restoration@clear.net.nz
- Leave a comment at www.myspace.com/restoresto
- Or call me (Steve) on +64212525611 with
Your full name
Address
Contact daytime number
I can then organize to send you the merchandise by mail*
*Please Note: delivery cost in New Zealand including Postage & Packaging
$12.00 NZD and outside $12.00 USD
Restoration is made up of the following: 3x Samoans (Matt Brown/ Paul Brown and Albert Peseta), a Maori (Joshua Koia) and an Asian (John Chin); sounds like one of those jokes ;p
Paul Brown aka “B.K (Big Kid”) – Guitarist/ Composer – 21yrs olds
Matthew Brown aka “Parablez” – Lead Author/Lead Vocals/Composer – 23 yrs old
John Chin aka “Pa” – Vocals/ the Boss – 48 yrs old
Albert Peseta aka “Rev” – Vocals/ Author – 22 yrs old
Joshua Koia aka “Jay-Kae” – M.C (rapper)/ Author – 25 yrs old
Matthew was born in Auckland, but raised in Christchurch and Paul was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Josh was born in Gisborne, but again raised in Christchurch too.
Then Albert was born and raised in Christchurch as well, and finally John originally from Singapore, has settled in Christchurch.
GF: Restoration has an inspiring testimony on how you all met. Tell us about that
John and Matt were jamming on a song one night in the lounge at the Restortation House, that Matt had wrote…and then John proposed to Matt; “we should form a vocal group and see what we could do with the talent of the boys within the house for fun…”
With the group being only 2 months old they entered themselves into a local Christian Talent Quest Competition and came out top (actually won 3x years in a row, from 2004 to 2006).
The feedback that they got from this competition, from all walks of life, encouraged the boys to carry on with this new venture.
Now, originally the initial setup of “Restortation” was actually eleven guys, mainly like an accapella ensemble at first. But time proved who would stay and would go on to form the current crew.
As well, with Matt, Paul and Albert already coming from musical backgrounds (coming from a school band called 5th Element), the others that followed came to realise that this venture would actually mean commitment, serious time and practice to fashion this craft, if it was to go any further.
But early on in the piece, it was a difficult transition time for some of the boys too (in reference to some of the guys who left since forming “Restortation”); who had ventured off to other countries like Australia for career opportunities; sports commitments locally; relationships or just found that things were moving to fast to cope with.
So 1-by-1 each individual from this core eleven, over the first few months to a year of being formed, what was Restoration initially, started to get whittled down to what is currently today. Hard decisions had to be made for each individual, which took a long time to solidify this and like anything with a lot of pain and heartache!
So this in turn left only 5 in the end from the original 11… so deciding to make something out of what they had left, pushed on.
Our name came about because we all flat together in the “Restoration House” which was established in 2000 by four young men of different cultural and ethnic groups; providing an environment where an individual can come to learn to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. What “Restortation” is as a band, is basically an extension of what the House represents and stands for.
The Restoration House its self is involved in outreach and evangelism throughout Christchurch. It became a base for young people (where most of the existing group has come from); for people from the street who had given their hearts to the Lord to help and continue to nurture and disciple them; for those with behaviour disorders, broken families, all kinds of abuses and for many others to just hangout where they too could come and find a real love and to be serious about knowing Jesus Christ.
The Restoration House is fully supported by the boys themselves who believe in “Sowing into the Kingdom of God”. There have been hard times, but the Lord has never failed us. Because of this, our Faith in the Lord Jesus, who has spurred us to live for others and to be changed from the inside-out, hence where our music stems from.
Whether it is buying KFC for a poor man on the street or expressing our life testimonies of what God has done in us through our music too. Restoration means ‘the process of repairing’; we want our music to reach anybody and everybody (even if it’s not their style or cup of tea); and to tell them that you “ain’t gotta be a video-girl to be beautiful”; you ain’t gotta be a Gangsta to be hard; and most of all, that Jesus is real and he can be your “Bestfriend”, just like He is ours if you want Him to be.
Whatever the lies the media has filled this generation’ hearts and minds with, we want our music to restore and bring the light to, and reveal what is real and true.
GF: What message do you want your listeners to hear thru your music?
Some say hip hop is a dying cause and there is so much materialized music out there including hip hop now.
All the positive stuff has faded away into the background and now it’s all about the bling, bling and the sex in the music.
We want people to know that the best kind of music that inspires and encourages one comes from the heart. - Matt
Above all we want people to know that Jesus is real and has touched our lives, that He can be your best friend too just like He is ours.
An honest message, that understands that we all have our ups and downs in life, but reminds listeners that there is always Hope!
A message that God is real and He loves you, without it being to bible bashing - Josh
Our message is that God heals any hurts in your life
That He is the true Father, plus he will never leave you nor forsake you
That Christianity is a Life Saver
Music inspires us to help others in our situations
That you don’t have to conform to the world, but to live for God is to gain real Freedom and happiness - Alby
GF: Tell us about your current projects and where readers can purchase your Cd.
Up and coming projects in the New Year, that the guys are working on, is releasing their first single, still undecided which song to use, but whatever it maybe, definitely will be just as successful as their Demo EP.
Also have some possible tours on the cards as well, either within New Zealand, or in Australia. Nothing concrete at this stage, but keep eye on their MySpace page if any of them eventuate, at this point time, definitely heading to Auckland here in New Zealand, doing a mini-tour of the biggest City in New Zealand, hitting schools, churches, radio stations and community events alike.
You never know, they maybe coming to a town/ city near you, just trusting the Father to continue to open doors and encourage them as they continue to trust Him for gigs and finance, to share about His Kingdom and His Love.
Now finally, if readers are interested in getting a hold of their Debut Demo EP CD “Take Me Back” which cost $10.00, you can do one of the following:
·
Either email restoration@clear.net.nz
- Leave a comment at www.myspace.com/restoresto
- Or call me (Steve) on +64212525611 with
Your full name
Address
Contact daytime number
I can then organize to send you the merchandise by mail*
*Please Note: delivery cost in New Zealand including Postage & Packaging
$12.00 NZD and outside $12.00 USD
