Photo: www.aradhnamusic.com
'Who would invite a group who worshipped Christ to come into their temples when historically it’s been a crusade out in the world?'

George Luke interviews Peter Hicks and Chris Hale from worship group Aradhna, a group of musicians that study and play music from Nepal and provided the music for the festival's Sunday communion service

Give us the history of Aradhna – starting with what attracted you both to India and its culture in the first place?

Chris Hale: I was born in America. My parents are doctors, and they’d had a lifelong dream of moving to Nepal.

They did so when I was one year old. And so I grew up in Nepal, speaking Nepali and English simultaneously. Then I went to boarding school in India and learnt to speak Hindi. In many ways, I’m only white on the outside – definitely Nepali and Indian on the inside.

I had a dream that after university, I’d be in India playing in a rock band. So that’s exactly what I did. I formed a band called Olio with some friends.

Pete found out about the band – and at a very young age, before he would have been able to join us, he expressed an interest in coming to India. I said to him, ‘Come out to India when you finish high school.’

So after high school, he wrote me a letter, saying ‘I haven’t forgotten your invitation. I’ll be willing to carry speakers, wrap up guitar leads and do anything servant-like, just to hang out with you.’ We thought that was humility enough for us, so Pete came out…and I don’t think he wrapped up a single guitar lead the whole time he was there!

Peter Hicks: My parents had a lot of history in India. So although I was raised in the US, there was always talk about India. A lot of my siblings were born there. I never really dreamt of being a rock star; I just loved music.

And the thought of being back in India was a big attraction for me. To do music in India was perfect; I got to fill in a lot of the blanks the family stories had left in my mind.

Growing up, I’d have all these imaginations of what my parents were talking about around the dinner table. Things turned out to be very different – but very cool, and very exciting and life-changing. I was 18 when I finally got to link up with Chris.

Chris: When Pete got to India, I discovered within a couple of days that he was the only authentic rocker in the whole band! He would start giggling sometimes when we’d break into a song, because he found it so cheesy!

He revealed a lot about what the band was at the time – and also revealed in me what my true desires were, which were leading more in the direction of these Hindi devotional songs, or bhajans, as they’re called.

In the last couple of years, you’ve done what you call ‘temple tours’ – playing in Hindu and Sikh temples in and around Birmingham. The idea of an openly Christian band playing worship music in other religions’ places of worship sounds like one of those things which could potentially go horribly wrong – but you’ve made it work. What’s your secret?

Chris: The thanks for that really has to go to the temples. Because if you think about it, who would invite a group who worshipped Christ to come into their temples when historically it’s been a crusade out in the world, with the conquered ones being the temples?

In a way, it’s a testimony to good faith and good trust on the part of the leadership of these temples to even allow us to come. And from our part, we try our best to honour that – by coming in humility and without an agenda.

Basically, by coming to worship. The temples were set up by those people for worship, and we come to share our experience of Christ in worship.   

Peter: We also have to thank the people who organise these tours on this side and put us in touch with these temples. They’re obviously building relationships that are non-threatening; that are based on mutual respect.

Without them, these temples wouldn’t trust us. It’s really through the people that recommend us to the temples and do all the organisation we get the invites, and it’s really them we have to thank for their hearts and their passion to reach across cultural and religious boundaries.

Chris: Our friend Pall Singh (of Sanctuary) calls those people ‘men and women of peace’. The people who could take a group like Aradhna to a temple – they’re men and women of peace. We need more of those.

Given that you visit Birmingham quite frequently, are there any balti houses there you could recommend?

Chris: You know what? There’s one we really like, but I can’t tell you its name or where it is! Pall takes us; I just follow Pall where he takes us.

Peter: It’s called Adil’s, on Stoney Lane. But it’s being refurbished right now, so it’s closed.

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