[ Phillip ] I was 15 when I knew I had an opportunity to carve out my destiny . I immediately got involved in everything that I could ! I carried sound equipment , played my trumpet in the main worship band and sang and led worship in youth . A lot of kids dream about sports and after school activities . I dreamed about getting to the office to help out after school . Although serving , ministering and preaching became a reality at 15-17 years old , it started at a much younger age . I can remember at 5 years old watching and hearing my mom sing . It was so loud in the auditorium that I covered my ears , yet it was beautiful . It was not only beautiful , it was powerful . I remember as she sang with her opera voice the applause that followed and miracles that took place as she would sing . I knew watching her the power of worship and I wanted to do the same someday . Today I am living in that dream .
[ WM ] Tell us about making your first recording and how it opened doors for you that you never could ’ ve imagined ?
[ Phillip ] I can remember as a young youth pastor we felt led to do a worship night as an alternative night to Halloween and we did a live worship recording - my first . Many Satanists in Russia were very vocal calling Halloween Satan ’ s birthday , but as a youth group we decided to worship all night and pray for the city of Moscow instead . That was the night we recorded our first album . The presence of God was so strong . We were singing songs that originated from my heart but also the heart of the youth ministry . Songs that were a direct result of scriptures that we had been quoting in prayer meetings for over a year . It is still an unforgettable night for me , because it was the beginning . The Bible is very clear , don ’ t despise the day of small beginnings , and I will always treasure that night . After postproduction about a year later we released that album . It would become one of the first albums with original Russian worship in the past fifteen years .
Prior to this there was a movement of original worship in the ‘ 90s but all of that ended in the early 2000 ’ s . This album was one of the first to be released in my generation . We released our music for free download through Russian social media platform called VK , similar to Facebook on New Year ’ s Day and it went viral overnight . To my surprise the next morning I realized it was being download and listened too throughout the 15 former republics of the Soviet Union . Pastor and associations of pastors and churches found our music and ministry . This caused us to travel nine months out of the year immediately and conduct workshops for worship teams all across Russia and surrounding nations . This was something I could not have planned . Only God could have done this !
[ WM ] You were certainly a modern worship pioneer in Russia . How did it come about that you starting using better sound and lighting for times of worship ? This really wasn ’ t done at that time .
[ Phillip ] Like most bands , we had a technical rider which was not common in Russia , but