absence of a musician , but this is something natural for me - especially since I typically track all the instruments by myself for the albums . Given this , I know exactly how to get the sound I want to hear . But I only fill in if absolutely necessary , like when Justin , our keyboardist was in the hospital with Covid . What I really like is to have my Les Paul plugged into a good , loud tube amplifier .
Christafari was and is part of my life . We share so many stories and experiences . I spend more time with these guys than with my own family . Christafari is a family , which like all of them has problems , but we have the opportunity to see thousands of lives transformed through what we do and that is priceless . That ’ s why I ’ m so demanding , I love what I do , and I take it very seriously . We need to give our absolute best to God .
[ WM ] You are a married man and do about 150 shows a year , which isn ’ t easy being away from home that much . Tell us about your wife and her support of the music and the ministry of Christafari ?
[ Renato ] My wife is my biggest supporter . It ’ s not easy to be away for so long , but that ’ s part of the profession I chose . She was a flight attendant for a long time , so travel has always been a part of our lives . Thankfully we have a lot of help from our families so that she doesn ’ t stay alone for so long . Without her , none of what I do today would be possible .
[ WM ] Besides original music , Christafari does many Reggae style covers of well-known worship songs ( some with millions of plays on YouTube ). Tell us what reggae worship music means to you ?
[ Renato ] I don ’ t really know or listen to what many people call contemporary worship . As a Brazilian I have a hard time seeing worship as one style of music with a uniform sound . For me worship is a lifestyle and can be done in any genre . I live to worship to God . Everything I do is because of HIM and for HIM .
Reggae music is a Caribbean musical style , which was born in the late 60 ’ s and early 70 ’ s with ska and rocksteady as the predecessor . Over the years I have had the privilege of gaining a great understanding of its origins and how to play it well on any instrument . Having shared the stage with legendary reggae artists I now truly understand how it works . Mixing it with Christian worship was not a big challenge given my upbringing in the church . It came natural to me .
Once I figure out the chord progression of the original worship song we are covering , I try to simplify it , or reggae-ify it and we lay down the basic chanks on the 2 and the 4 and a scratch vocal . From that moment on , we never reference the original song we are covering . It ’ s all about being true to the reggae genre and our sound . Sonically there are some similarities .
In worship they use these long effects like delays and reverbs to create space and ambiance similar to what you ’ ll find in dub reggae . But we use vintage instruments and take those delays to another level . Honing in on that and adding our own secret sauce was the key to creating a new musical style or a new way of doing reggae called REGGAE WORSHIP .
[ WM ] We are placing your gear list in this interview as well , both tour and studio . I have a few questions for you .
First with your touring gear , you travel so much to and from so many different climates , how do you protect your guitars and other gear from the humidity changes ?
“ Lion ” Elevation Cover “ Jireh ” Christafari / Elevation Worship & Maverick City Reggae Cover
[ Renato ] I try to take precautions that to some may seem extreme , but they have worked great for me . I keep my guitar clean !