The NE:ONE youth event was held at the Newcastle Telewest Arena with Delirious? The World Wide Message Tribe and Yfriday on the bill. Tony Cummings reported.

Finally, I understand you are getting married to Lucy Britten of V*enna very soon. Do you have any arguments about music?
(Laughs) No we don't. Although the music of the Tribe and V'enna is very different, we actually have similar musical tastes. Praise God.

DEPENDANCE

Playing alongside Yfriday at the IXth hour action of ne:one will be bright new gospel communicators DEPENDANCE. We quizzed the band's Stephen Riley.

Give me a potted history of Dependance.
Dependance is a rap, dance and theatre company set up by Youth For Christ to take the good news of Jesus Christ relevantly to young people in the north east area. It was set up after the Wake Up & Dream mission that was run by Tyneside YFC in November '97. The vision was to (and still is) to have a large impact on young people in schools through the creative arts, using issues that relate to young people. In the first year we looked at drugs in youth culture. In the second year, relationships. This year we are exploring the issues surrounding identity, self-image and value. There are eight members of the team: Susan Bennett, Laura Coulson, Joanne Oliver, Nathan Jarvis, Kyra Mclntyre, Tom Vernon, Mark Burton and myself (Stephen Riley). Each year the team has changed around, though this year we've decided to go full time.

Any sign of a Dependance recording?
We produced a CD last year called 'Brother Sister'. This was produced by Radiogram and published by Proost. There are five tracks on it ranging through styles of hip hop, funk and other styles. It has sold well and we are looking to bring out another one in June next year.

What have been the group's major influences?
The major influences of the group have been WWMT ant different hip hop and dance groups in the secular scene We use a lot of secular music to dance to but the hope is to get to a stage where we are producing our own that speaks directly about the issues we are relating to. I think that this year we are further on than we ever have been.

How did you come to get involved in the ne:one event? How do you think a high profile event like ne:one could affect Newcastle?
We came to be involved in ne:one mainly because we work for Tyneside YFC which is where the idea for ne:one came from. I think ne:one will have a profound effect on Newcastle because so many big events tend to do London, Manchester, and Leeds and then skip up to Scotland. I think it will make so many bands think about here. Also because it is primarily an evangelistic event, it will cause many unbelievers to wake up to what God is doing in the Newcastle and surrounding areas amongst young people.