Skip to main content

Seventh Day Slumber Releases 'Once Upon a Shattered Life'

Share This article

CBN.com NASHVILLE, TN....Modern Rock band Seventh Day Slumber (SDS) released their greatly anticipated debut on BEC Recordings, Once Upon a Shattered Life, on February 1, a project BEC Recordings/Tooth & Nail president Brandon Ebel is anxious for everyone to hear.

"Seventh Day Slumber is an awesome addition to the BEC family," remarked Ebel. " Joseph has an amazing testimony! God has been using him over the years and our goal is to partner with him and his band to reach more people for Christ. Seventh Day Slumber played over 200 shows last and that is the work ethic we love at BEC."

Lead singer Joseph Rojas echoes Ebel's enthusiasm, commenting, "It’s amazing to be part of a label where there is 100 percent support. BEC/Tooth and Nail is an artist’s dream. We feel like we’re on the greatest label in the world, and we hope to make them proud."

The anticipation for a new SDS album is warranted. The band released their first national album Picking Up the Pieces on the Crowne Music/American Dream label in April 8, 2003, and previously released two records independently. Their last album spawned five Top 10 R&R Christian Rock hits ("My Struggle," "Candy," "I Know," "Innocence," and "Spiraling"), the first three of which went to No. 1. This airplay helped garner the band a BMI Award for the "Most Played Music at Christian Rock Radio" in 2004 and also earned them a Dove award nomination for Best Rock Album.

On Once Upon a Shattered Life, Seventh Day Slumber uses a strong rock musical frame to showcase their powerful lyrical message of hope and redemption, belting out catchy hooks behind throbbing guitars while confronting real-life problems affecting so many young people like addiction, suicide and depression. However, what sets them apart from most modern rock bands is that they sing about solutions to these problems . “There are things going on with Christian kids that no one wants to talk about because we’re supposed to be happy,” said Rojas. “When talking about those issues, we always paint Christ as the answer to hurting people and tough situations.”

In addition to strong radio airplay and album sales, the band continues to tour incessantly including recently completing Shoutfest 2004. In addition to playing headline shows around the country, they also appeared on the 2003 Glow Tour, and at Jesus Jam Festival, Kingdom Bound, Spirit West, Creation Festival, ProLife Festival, Creation Festival, Freedom Festival, and more. This month SDS will tour in support of the new project, opening for Skillet on their COLLIDE tour, which will hit about 30 cities nationwide.

The distinct life journeys of each SDS member instills a diversity that allows just about anyone to connect with them. Band founder and lead singer Rojas was a $400/day cocaine addict, spending time in and out of jail and in drug rehab centers most of his adolescent and early adult years. Battling a broken family of abuse and divorce, Rojas searched for acceptance, eventually finding himself in the company of those involved in drug dealing. At the age of 20, after a drug overdose, Joseph cried out to the Lord in the back of an ambulance.

Bassist Joshua Schwartz followed his missionary parents from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to the United States seven years ago. Schwartz, the youngest member of the group, shares a testimony of saving himself sexually for marriage and living a drug-free life, closely following the Christ-like example set by his parents. Schwartz and Rojas met in 1997 at Christ for The Nations Bible College in Dallas, Texas and soon began playing music.

Jeremy Holderfield, a native of Jasper, Alabama, grew up in a Christian home, but watched his family unit tear apart when his father left his mother for another woman after 31 years of marriage. Holderfield struggled to cope with anger towards his father in subsequent months. After a brief fall from grace, Holderfield recommitted himself to Christ. Those emotions provided inspiration in the group’s songwriting and have given him insight into the confusion, anger and desperation that many young people face throughout the world.

The newest addition to SDS, drummer Ray Fryoux, grew up in Louisiana and started playing drums at an early age, jamming in clubs and bars. Fryoux started drinking in college, which quickly got out of hand and he hit rock bottom. It was then that he gave his life to Jesus and decided he would only play for Christ. Following that decision he moved to Nashville, which turned out to be a harder musical environment to crack than he’d anticipated. Disappointed, he was ready to return to Louisiana when he saw a notice that Seventh Day Slumber needed a drummer. He auditioned and immediately got the gig.

Seventh Day Slumber has skillfully adapted the musical style of secular bands like Staind and Incubus to create an innovative hybrid modern rock sound. The band derived its name from which states how God created the world in six days and designated the seventh day for rest. Anything but sleepy, the band's live shows approach the stage as a makeshift pulpit, ministering to young people who are looking for something or someone with which to identify. During shows, Rojas delivers a stirring, passionate testimony about his life that eventually led to Christ.

 

 

For more information on Seventh Day Slumber, go to their Web site.

Purchase Once Upon a Shattered Life today!

Share This article