Building 429

CBN.com - With the release of 2011’s Listen to the Sound, Building 429 solidified its place as one of Christian music’s best-loved and most influential bands. The hit single “Where I Belong” became an anthem for today’s believers and was Billboard Magazine’s No. 1 Christian song of 2012. The song set an impressive record as it became the first song to remain at No. 1 for 15 weeks, an unprecedented feat. Pushing forward with a renewed passion and sense of purpose, Building 429 now unleashes We Won’t Be Shaken.

“When asked what we were trying to achieve with this record, we thought back to a plaque on our manager’s desk, ‘What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?’ We felt like that was the perfect mantra of this record,” frontman Jason Roy states. With bold declarations and its driven inspiration, the band has never had a more effervescent message to offer to listeners than it has now. “We know who we are better than ever before,” drummer Michael Anderson says, “who we are as men, who we are as husbands, who we are as Christ followers and that just pours into the music.”

In intentional efforts to serve its fans, Building 429 offers a fresh approach, yet delivers the absolute substance listeners want with the new project. “We feel like we’ve made the most focused record of our career,” Roy says. “We knew what we were trying to accomplish. We wanted to push the limits of what people expect us to do while maintaining the absolute laser focus on meeting our current fans where they are.”

Passionate vocals, skilled musicianship and insightful songwriting have become the cornerstones of the Building 429 sound and they are in abundance on We Won’t Be Shaken. The title track is a battle cry for the church in these troubled times and the album is filled with songs that inspire believers to dream God-sized dreams and walk the Christian walk to the fullest extent. “We are as committed as we’ve ever been to the body of Christ and to the church,” states Roy. “And for us, we don’t think that means we have to be less cool or less fun or less energetic. In fact we feel like we can be everything we want to be and speak directly to the church while at the same time having music that speaks to people who are non-believers. As we headline shows this year, we want to make sure the gospel is clear and we want to love on people. We want our album to convey that.”

We Won’t Be Shaken is a bold statement of faith by Jason Roy and his band mates Jesse Garcia (guitar), Aaron Branch (bass) and Michael Anderson (drums). The title track reverberates with passion and conviction as it encourages believers to stand strong in their faith. “Get Up” is a vibrant up tempo that encourages action and reminds believers to remember what they were made for. “Set a Fire” is a slow burning ballad that asks the Lord to rekindle that spark within. “Wrecking Ball (Press On)” stands out as a reflective mid-tempo declaration to trust God, no matter the ups and downs of life. “Bonfire” is an incendiary rock anthem anchored by Roy’s distinctive vocals and Anderson’s pounding drums.

Branch cites “Blameless” as his favorite song on the new album. “Everyone knows who they were before they were saved, but the Bible says we are now in Christ through God. In God’s eyes, we’re blameless,” Branch says. “His blood has washed us clean and we’re righteous through Him. The lyric says ‘You have made me blameless, sin has been made nameless, it doesn’t matter who I was before.’

It’s a powerful lyric to me, and then the sound of the song is very epic and it just adds to the lyric. It makes you feel like: ‘I am blameless!’ I love that song.”
In recording We Won’t Be Shaken, Building 429 worked again with producers Jason Ingram and Rob Hawkins. “We’ve always enjoyed working with Jason Ingram and Rob Hawkins. They are not only great producers and writers, but impressive musicians,” states Garcia. “They know about guitar sounds and tones. To be in a room with somebody who is producing, but also has that same mindset and to be able to have an open palette, the experience was just so great. I love working with them.”

Unlike some bands that record separately, Building 429’s members were all in the studio together and that camaraderie can be heard in the tracks. “It’s funny when people walk into the studio and we’re tracking,” adds Roy. “They are shocked that we’re all four tracking and that we’re all talking to
each other.”

The members of Building 429 are united in their desire to be bold about sharing its faith and want to encourage others to do so without fear or hesitation. The group has learned from experience that when God calls you, he equips you and you can do great things for the kingdom. “We’re confident in saying that we’re believers,” Roy continues. “We’re confident in saying that there is a better life as a believer.”

Building 429 hopes the songs on We Won’t Be Shaken remind people they are more than conquerors in Christ. “We don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about who we were before Christ because the old is gone and new has come,” says Roy. ‘We wanted to talk about how David is no longer shepherd boy. Now he’s King. We didn’t want to talk about Moses the stutterer. We wanted to talk about Moses the leader of the nation. We really felt like we wanted to make a record that said, ‘Stand up! You have been called. We are God’s children. Who can stand against what God has begun?’ That’s really our perspective. If you listen to the record you find that there’s a little bit of bravado in it, but it’s bravado from a standpoint of we don’t have to always talk about how weak we are because His strength is made perfect in our weakness. That’s what this record is about. This record says, ‘Hey, let’s go! Let’s do this. God is going to use us and we’re not going to fail.”