LZ7 frontman Lindz West on preaching the gospel from Europe's biggest stages

It’s a damp day in Brighton, but Lindz West is full of energy as he strides into the Harbour Hotel bar for our interview. 

He’s in town for night five of a 25-date tour of the UK and Europe with his electronic dance music (EDM) group, LZ7. They’re opening for one of the biggest popstars on the planet, Jason Derulo.

You might be wondering why a Christian band is supporting an R&B megastar who writes profanity-laden songs about sex. The answer is simple: it is an “unprecedented opportunity” to communicate the gospel with 600,000 people unlikely to ever set foot in a church, says West.

Fresh off the tour bus, West is relaxed as he greets me – chuckling at the name of the green drink he’s presumably picked up somewhere along the road between Cardiff and Brighton: M&S’s ‘Punishment juice’ looks healthy (and disgusting). But perhaps he’s compensating for the £10.99 all-you-can-eat Premier Inn breakfasts he says he’s also been consuming on tour. In a rare moment of gloominess, the evangelist adds that the constant travel makes it almost impossible to get to the gym. 

The ever-youthful West began his music career with The Tribe two decades ago, and when I ask his age, he demurs. I have it on good authority he’s approaching 50, but he doesn’t look it. He’s comparable to a TobyMac or a Martin Smith in that sense – making music that appeals to people half his age. And the music is impressive (I’ll witness as much tonight) but focusing on that would be missing the point. Music is merely a platform for West’s message. And the message is always Jesus. 

How did the opportunity to tour with one of the biggest popstars in the world come about?

In about 2017 we [LZ7] were thinking: What’s the best way to create a really good platform for the gospel? 

I got put in touch with an agent who worked with CAA [Creative Artists Agency], which is the world’s largest booking agent. He’s a proper nice lad from Leeds and he said: “Are you the lad with the blond spike [hairstyle]? You’ve been in my daughter’s school. Whatever you did in that lesson transformed her life. I’ll do anything for you guys.” 

After a couple of months, he said: “Derulo’s come in. What do you think?” We’re totally independent as a band, so we went to trust funds and personal supporters and raised the money [to afford the fee to go on tour with him]. 

The Holy Spirit can do in two seconds what we can try and orchestrate in 20,000 years

We’re going to see 600,000 young people, plus mums and dads, at the shows who would never step into a church. If you do the maths, it costs about 40p per person to preach the gospel to them. You just don’t get that kind of unprecedented opportunity. 

So you’re building this ‘platform’ – which is your music – enabling you to tour. And from that platform you preach the gospel?

I’m a 100% through and through evangelist. 

A lot of people might look at LZ7 stuff and think it’s unconventional. It’s meant to be. I remember walking into events when I was 15 a bit disengaged with church. When I saw The World Wide Message Tribe, that captured me. Music has this universal way of cutting through backgrounds, skin tones, heritage; whatever kids are going through, there’s something that moves you. 

You might go to Big Church Festival and Brandon Lake sings ‘Praise’ and you’re like: Woah, this is amazing. We’re trying to create that same kind of moment. We were at the O2 on Saturday with 20,000 people who would never step into St Paul’s, but they’ll walk into that arena to see Derulo. When the Bible says: “Go and make disciples of all nations” [Matthew 28:19] this is our “go”. We need to be a light in those dark worlds.

This is the second time you’ve toured with Jason Derulo. So presumably his team must feel like you’re also delivering quality music. They wouldn’t have you back if you were only preaching.

That’s exactly right. On the first tour I said to the tour manager: “Look, I’m churchy. Am I good to share my story of faith?” And he was like: “Bro! Jason’s going to share his story. So, you should share your story. That’s why you’re here.” 

Something has 100% shifted

Later on, we were on Jason’s bus, and his whole band were there. It’s four o’clock in the morning and I put my head in, like: “Alright, boys?” and they’re all sat there having a coffee. I was like: Am I hearing things? I put my head back in, and they’re playing ‘Oceans’ by Hillsong. I said: “This is kind of my world, I know Joel [Houston] and we toured with Hillsong. So, what’s this?” And they went: “Well, when you’re on tour and life gets a little bit hectic, ‘Oceans’ is our reset button.” I found out afterwards they’d all grown up in church; that’s where they learned to play.

So you’ve got an opportunity tonight to communicate a message. What’s going to happen?

We’re doing a 30-minute show and we’ve written this new DnB [drum and bass] track called ‘Eternity’. It’s about having a heavenly perspective. During the middle of that, I’m doing a plug for [evangelistic course] Alpha and [child sponsorship charity] Compassion. 

I’ll say that I’m a church boy, and the faith bit is: someone loves me for being me and showed it through the greatest act of love ever shown to earth when a guy took this shape [makes a cross shape with his arms]. And I bring them to a response. I say: “If you want to say yes to this and explore a little bit more, scan this QR code” which appears on the giant screens. 

In the first two nights of this tour, 1,500 people have already done this to find Alpha in their area. 

Have you got a target of how many people you want to see signed up to Alpha and Compassion?

There’s not a quantitative target. It’s more an awareness campaign. Alpha is a stalwart church thing but, honestly, the people in the room are looking at me like I’ve got six heads when I say Alpha! 

I’m always trying to think: What is it that caught me? It was the big event. That’s why lots of people respond at Big Church Festival, because there’s a euphoric moment. Why do lads go to Fabric in Ibiza and stay till 5am? It’s because there’s euphoria. 

What’s your response to Christians who worry it’s emotionalism and hype, and that true repentance isn’t happening in the middle of a dance show?

I’m a massive believer that the Holy Spirit can do in two seconds what we can try and orchestrate in 20,000 years. 

There’s research that says it takes seven times for someone to hear the gospel before they respond. So, will it be a full repentance moment tonight? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe they’ll bump into a colleague and he says: “I’m starting this thing called Alpha. Would you like to come?” Are these hype moments to be nullified? No, of course not, because they’re part of the journey. Like it says in the Bible, we’ve got to be “all things to all people” that we might save some [1 Corinthians 9:22]. 

Some are claiming there’s a new openness to the gospel among young people. Is that true in your experience? 

Absolutely. The questions we’d get 15 years ago would be: “Why can’t Christians have sex before marriage?”, “Why can’t they smoke weed?”, “Why can’t they get drunk?” 

It’s totally different now. It’s not about the “can’t’s”. It’s: “Just tell me: who is Jesus? I want to know the truth.” 

We had 600 turn up to a gig in Bristol at Woodlands Baptist church. And at the end, the whole room started chanting: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!” They’re not Christians, they’ve never stepped into a church. So something has 100% shifted. 

You’ve got a track record with The Message and LZ7 of taking the gospel into all sorts of places. Some worry the UK Church skews too much towards the middle class. What have your experiences been in reaching people on the margins?

When I moved from Maidenhead to Manchester, there was a kid having a poo on my doorstep as I walked in. That night, my car got robbed. I played American football and had hundreds of pounds worth of football kit in there – all nicked. I was gutted and I called my dad. He said: “You’ve just got to fall in love with them.” We stayed for nine years on that Eden project team. I loved it. The kids used to call me “cockney” and all that kind of stuff. 

A lot of people might look at LZ7 stuff and think it’s unconventional. It’s meant to be

We built relationships and got to know all the local scallys. Two kids got involved in a fight in a pub and ended up in jail. LZ7 went into jail, saw them, got alongside them. There were some really tough times. We saw people getting stabbed outside the house – when he was healed he later turned up to youth group and became a Christian. Another guy got done for attempted murder and we managed to see him inside and invited him to prison Alpha. You’re in the community. It’s not “Lindz and Lucy are here smashing us with Bibles.” No, it’s: They’re just being part of us. They’re one of us. 

What challenges are you facing at the moment?

We get misunderstood a lot. Don’t think we’re selling out because we’re putting out mainstream music. We’re not. This is fully an evangelist thing. I need to be careful how I say this, but…people see a band that looks like it’s just on tour and hyping. But there’s a reason we do that. When we stick a form under the nose of Derulo’s manager and say: “Can we come on tour with you?” the first thing he looks at is Instagram. If he sees me in a church, hands up preaching the gospel, the chances are he’s going to go: “No, they’re way too churchy.” 

We are walking between those two worlds. I’m breaking my back at 6am, setting stuff up for schools, doing the gig at the end of the week, preaching – and then I go back and do Alpha the following week. 

Don’t ever think that we’re selling out. That can make me cynical. Don’t be so quick to [criticise the music] because it’s not churchy. It’s not written for you. It’s written for them. That they may have life to the full [see John 10:10].

You seem quite deliberate about making music that sounds very current, which might surprise some, because, with all due respect – how old are you now?

[Laughs] Old enough to know better! 

Not many people your age are making this kind of music, are they?

Yeah, totally. I grew up skating, snowboarding, and the music that came along with that was DnB, EDM, trance, jungle. I’d go to big raves with my mates, and I loved it. 

Don’t be so quick to criticise the music because it’s not churchy. It’s not written for you. It’s written for them

Think about The Prodigy, David Guetta, Calvin Harris – we’re all in the same age bracket and their stuff is authentically them. We need to do what’s authentically us. So, we’ve started going back down that DnB route – big drops, anthemic EDM – and in the process, we’re bringing up a new band called Saintz that are there to hit that popular edge – a bit more Zara Larsson. 

You’re making music that sounds mainstream. How big could this get?

We’re definitely allowing ourselves to fly a little bit higher. We are purposely booking festivals now, so we’re looking at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds dance tents, thinking about how we get into that mainstream mix.

It’s all about the song, isn’t it? If one of our songs suddenly streamed on a Netflix series, you’re out there. I’m never going to say no [to mainstream success], but it’s also never going to be our total focus. But if that brings glory to Jesus and we can preach to as many people as possible, then I am going to go for that.   

To hear the full interview listen to Premier Christian Radio at 8pm on Saturday 7 March, or download ‘The Profile’ podcast premierchristianity.com/theprofile