"Picking Up the Pieces"
On the surface, Seventh Day Slumber doesnt sound much different from other modern rock bands. They belt out catchy hooks behind throbbing guitars while singing about real-life problems confronting many young people like addiction, suicide and depression. But what sets this Christian rock band apart? Seventh Day Slumber sings about solutions. "There are things going on with Christian kids that no one wants to talk about because were supposed to be happy," said Joseph Rojas, lead singer and guitarist for SDS. "When talking about those issues, we always paint Christ as the answer to hurting people and tough situations."
Seventh Day Slumber is releasing their first national album on the Crowne Music/American Dream label. "Picking up the Pieces," will release on April 8, 2003, distributed by WEA/Word Entertainment. This Nashville-based 4 piece has previously released two records on independent labels and two songs, "Candy" and "My Struggle" shot into the top 10 on both the RR and CCM charts. These songs are also included on their national debut.
The members of SDS have traveled vastly different paths to Jesus. Their distinct life journeys instill a diversity that allows everyone in their audience to connect with at least one guy. 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 six 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.
Several band members came and went before the duo moved to Nashville in March 2001 and met guitarist Jeremy Holderfield. 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 groups songwriting and have given him insight into the confusion, anger and desperation that many young people face throughout the world.
Juan "Rhino" Alvarez grew up in San Antonio?s inner-city, and got his nick-name from a life of street fighting. Despite growing up in a Christian home, Rhino quickly fell in with the wrong crowd and ended up getting arrested after robbing $10,000 from a courthouse. He became a Christian in jail and was amazingly released from jail 9 months into a 10 year sentence. Much like Joseph, Rhino never looked back and is now a gentle giant. The guys met his after being in the band "Real" which was on Rojas's Mercy Streets Records. When "Real" broke up, SDS immediately asked him to join the band.
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 Exodus 20:11 which states how God created the world in six days and designated the seventh day for rest. But SDS? live shows are anything but sleepy. The band approaches 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. Show-goers gain a greater understanding of a graceful, loving Savior. Over the years, more than 10,000 young people have committed their lives to Christ after a SDS show. The band sings praise songs with those who come forward and prays with each fan until the venue is empty. They often keep in touch with fans via email and send spiritual words of encouragement. In speaking with their fans after shows and via email, the band members hear harrowing stories of what everyday teenagers face in their shift through adolescence. "A lot of these kids grew up in Christian homes and when something hits, they have nothing to relate to," Holderfield said. "In our songwriting, we try to show you can still be a Christian with all this bad stuff happening to you." Adds Rojas: "We?re trying to impact the world by getting people to look to Christ. If you try to do it on your own, at the very best, you?ll end up depressed."
The album?s first single, the melodramatic ballad "I Know," represents a time when the band was encountering kids on a nightly basis who were struggling with life-meaning and contemplating suicide. The song challenges listeners to not focus on their own sorrows and pain, but to look at the gift Christ gave them and to stand in worship of Him:
You have your Savior on the cross
While you sit on the throne
Put yourself upon that cross
Put your Savior on the throne
Radio-friendly "Candy" describes the pure pleasure derived from the knowledge that God?s love is never-ending. The freedom of God?s grace is a reality that is nearly indescribable:
Your love?s like candy
Or like something Ive never tasted before
And you take me places
I?ve never dreamed I could go
"Spiraling" remembers the period of early Christianity that Rojas experienced. After dealing with law problems and drug abuse, making the transition to follow Christ was an enormous challenge. "I was having drug relapses the first few months, and I hated it. I had changed in my spirit, but was still battling the physical and mental addictions that had ruled my life for years. It was a reality that I had to deal with and the Lord got me through," claims Rojas. "I know there are kids out there who need to hear this song and see that the Lord will get them to the other side of those problems. He promises us a hope and a future in Jeremiah 29:11. That?s what got me through that period in my life."
The album contains a hidden track of an altar call by Rojas, much like the call given during the bands live shows. The concluding call to accept Jesus is the bands purpose in making music, and their goal to reach millions before they are finished is what drives them each day of their lives. "When Seventh Day Slumber is done, I want people to say we have made a difference in peoples lives," Schwartz said. If their first six years as an independent band are any indication of the future, they are well on their way to doing just that.
