Gospel musician Perez Musik has recounted how a fire that destroyed his recording studio became a turning point in his decision to leave secular music and focus on his Christian faith.

Speaking on The Career Trail on Joy Learning TV and Joy News, Perez Musik said he had received what he described as several prophetic warnings to turn away from secular music, but continued recording artistes at his studio.

“I had been getting prophecies that you need to start doing the work of God and I've been stubborn. Because I was enjoying the secular, recording the boys in the area. Article Wan and all. They used to come to my studio to record,” he recalled.

He said the studio was later destroyed by fire after he had invested money in new equipment.

Perez Musik recalled receiving money for his work as a sound engineer on Anita Erskine's Fashion 101. He decided to use part of the money to upgrade his studio.

According to him, he had an uneasy feeling before purchasing the equipment but proceeded with the purchase.

“Just when I stepped into the shop, I heard a voice. ‘So these equipment that you're going to buy, if it catches fire and everything gets burned, what will you do?’ But I still went ahead and bought the equipment,” he said.

He said the studio caught fire on 24 December.

“I woke up in the morning, everything was fine. I was just going to pick something. I came back, the studio was on fire,” he recalled.

Although the incident was painful, Perez Musik said he came to regard it as a turning point in his life.

“It realigned my thinking. It changed my perspective on life. That, you know, material things are not things that you can hold on to. There's something higher. There's something greater. There's something more, which is Christ,” he said.

He subsequently became more involved in church activities, prayer and Bible study. He also said he quit drinking and smoking as he took his Christian faith more seriously.

Perez Musik said he had long believed he possessed a prophetic gift but had resisted the responsibility he associated with it.

“I knew the gift was there. It's just that I was shying away from the responsibility and the requirement that comes with the gift,” he said.

His spiritual transformation eventually influenced his music.

“Then I started doing the urban gospel. My first album, Tenacity, was an urban gospel. So that was when everything started. From there it's been one song after the other,” he said.

He also explained how he adopted the name Perez, drawing inspiration from the biblical account of Tamar and Judah in Genesis.

Perez said the name represented breakthrough and reflected what he regarded as his transition from his previous lifestyle into a new one centred on his faith.