Influence Music, a worship team based in Anaheim Hills, California, has been making waves in the worship music scene. Its impact has not gone unnoticed. Recently nominated for the 13th Annual We Love Awards, the band continues to inspire listeners with its heartfelt lyrics and passionate worship. Influence Music loves to write, record, and make music for the glory of God. They also love In & Out and California weather.
 
In this exclusive interview, Influence Music shares its journey, the inspiration behind its latest album, Day & Night, and how it continues to pursue God's presence through music.
 
Tell us about your journey to becoming a prominent worship band and provide details about Influence Church.
 
Our church was started in 2012 by our pastors, Phil and Tammy Hotsenpiller. They have always wanted to see God work through entertainment and media. In 2017, they asked one of our worship leaders (Melody Noel) to spearhead some writing and see what would happen. We held our first writing camp that year with some worship leaders and prominent writers in the community (Los Angeles). This gave birth to our first album, Touching Heaven. We are so thankful that God used that album to launch us into this area.
 
Could you tell us about your latest music? What's the story and inspiration behind your new music? What is the overall theme?
 
Our latest album is called Day & Night. It deals with the themes of surrender, repentance, and what it means to worship. Our church has been in a beautiful season marked by hunger and deliverance. It started with our men’s group in 2021; the Lord encountered them powerfully during a retreat. They came back on fire for God, which changed the church's worship dynamic. That’s why, in our videos, you’ll see a lot of men standing in front and jumping around. This spirit of revival began to spill over into families and other ministries. This is the sound we tried to capture in the album—the sound of a church on fire for God.
 
What scripture inspired your new music?
 
The key scripture is Revelation 7:14. It describes a scene where the elect of God stand before His throne and worship "day and night." This scripture mirrors what we read in Revelation 4, where heavenly beings surround the presence of God and worship "day and night." These scenes affirm that the natural response to being in God's presence is worship; it is our destiny, and we are privileged to offer it to Him on this side of heaven.
 
How do you select your musicians and worship leaders?
 
That is a great question. It is a process that has changed over the years, but it is the following. We operate on recommendations for musicians. Since we don’t have many professional musicians who happen to attend our church, musicians usually begin playing at our church before attending it. For worship leaders, we have an "onboarding" process that consists of a discipleship course and a time when we sing through songs together privately. Our worship leaders have served in other ministries at our church outside of "Main Stage Sunday."
 
Who are some of your musical inspirations? Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
 
Oh, wow. We love artist Ryan Tedder's pop sensibilities, worship artist Joel Houston's theologically sound/poetic lyrics, and gospel artist CeCe Winans's ability to make a lyric come to life—so many people to inspire us. We love collaborating, and working with worship artist Benjamin William Hastings would be awesome.
 
How can we pray for you?
 
Thank you for asking. Please pray that the Lord will continue to direct our steps and give us a greater hunger for His presence. We live in an age when we are easily distracted, and we want to be a team focused on Him above everything else.
 
Anything else you’d like to say to our readers?
 
Day & Night was made with so much love, and we pray that you feel it when you listen. Jesus loves you, honestly.