John Ellis and the CCM machine: finding your own way home.

Tree63 was the very first live band I really saw. They were the beloved sons, adopted into the contemporary Christian music scene from South Africa and were a great live band blending ambitious rock anthems and worship music. The band led by John Ellis were very good at what they did.

But in 2009, the band split up and Ellis tracked his own way forward. What became obvious fairly quickly was that he wasn't that enamoured by the Christian music scene, or in fact modern Christendom in general. He was fairly vocal about this:

"There's definitely a healthy dose of defiance in there, that's for sure. I just started feeling trapped as an individual over the years, and Tree63 felt oppressive towards the end. We were signed to a label that only wanted a very narrow thing from me as a writer, and trapped as we had become in the world of modern Christianity we were always expected to tow the party line. You can only do that for so long before it starts eating you alive. I just started feeling done with being told how to live, what to do etc. It felt like I was in a cult. I think it's true for anybody in life, to some extent: don't allow yourself to be walked over, find your own way home, stop auditioning for peoples' favour..."

He's an interesting guy to keep track of, someone who knows the machine from the inside out, the Western Christian machine. And someone who is passionate about his country and his role within it. What is perhaps just as interesting is the reaction from some of his Tree63 fans struggling with his honesty. South Africa and its Christians often seem in many ways a time warp to someone in progressive New Zealand society:

"John, Tree63 sustain my faith over the last decade, having a chronic illness and being close to death a few times. You have a gift from God and have saved lives WORLDWIDE with it. You had the opportunity to save a member of my family but by the time you spoke with them you were going on about about athiesm. If you are disillusioned about 'modern Christianity' be the spark that begins the change. Now you're having fun in Durban going your own way but you're not saving lives anymore. Come back."

"Where is Jesus ? God ? what happended ? :("

Have a listen to his first solo single, Own Way Home - pretty straight down the middle pop-rock but intriguing in light of his personal journey.