INFLUENCE MUSIC

Influence Music is composed of artists Matt Gilman, Melody Noel, Michael Ketterer and Whitney Medina.  The faith based record label and artist collective birthed out of Influence Church in Anaheim Hills, California and is dedicated to facilitating the creation and release of music that glorifies God.   The movement has attracted some of LA’s most gifted songwriters, producers and creative who have laid aside successful careers and high level positions to help build what is now “Influence Music”. Their debut album “Touching Heaven” was released in May 2018 as a result of a one-week songwriters camp in Big Bear, CA. The goal of this camp was to see what could happen when seasoned worship artists and season LA based pop writers collaborate. Music Director, Jordan Sarmiento has cultivated relationships in the worship space having music directed for artists such as Amanda Cook, Steffany Gretzinger, William Matthews, Kim Walker, Misty Edwards and Matt Gilman. Melody Noel (VP, Influence Music) musical foundation is in pop music, having written for notable artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Lin Manuel Miranda and Macy Gray.  Sarmiento reached out to his network, Noel reached out to hers and what took place was a Christian writing camp that functioned like a Major label pop camp, including notable writers such as Georgia Ku (Skrillex, Martin Garix, Dua Lipa) and Lauren Evans (Armeen Van Buren, Sofia Reyes), as well as worship writers/artists such as William Matthews (previous Bethel Music artist), Matt Gilman (IHOP), and Michael Ketterer (United Pursuit). The result was the creation of Christian music with pop sensibility that pushes boundaries with fresh production and lyrics.

“Touching Heaven” was a breakout success, hitting Billboard #2 on the Christian Album charts, #7 on emerging artist chart and was the #1 album on ITunes. Audience sizes grew to over 50K Facebook fans, 70K YouTube subscribers and an average of 400K monthly listeners on Spotify. “Mistakes” sung by Noel was in the top 25 on the Christian Radio Airplay charts, while “Spirit Lead Me” sung by Ketterer emerged in the top 20 of Christian Billboard Hot Tracks. The real treasure, however, were the lives being touched by the music; a suicidal teenager leaning on the words of “Spirit Lead Me” to pull him through, a woman undergoing chemo listening to “Why Not Now” in order to access hope, an entire women’s prison in Salem, Massachusetts worshipping to “Mistakes” as an anthem of their identity in Christ.

Influence Music will continue to change lives with their next project, REBELS, slated to release on 7.19.19.  The album and companion short film breaks new ground both sonically and visually while staying true to the core elements that made Touching Heaven a success.  Sunday morning anthems from Matt Gilman, radio friendly ballads from Melody Noel, raw, soulful vocals from Michael Ketterer and the pop sensibilities of Medina.

The vision of our Senior Pastors, Phil & Tammy Hotsenpiller, mirror the heart of the team, which is Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone). It is the heart of God that is the pot of gold. The pursuit of a platform where art has a purpose and songs have an eternal shelf life.