Seventh Day Slumber

Seventh Day Slumber
Background information
Origin	Dallas, Texas, United States
Genres	Christian rock, hard rock, post-grunge, alternative metal
Years active	1996–present
Labels	BEC, Word, Mercy Street, Afinia
Website	www.seventhdayslumber.com
Members	Joseph Rojas Blaise Rojas Jeremy Holderfield Jamie Davis Ken Reed
Past members	Talia Haughn Ray Fryoux Elliot Lopes Rusty Clutts Adam Witte Tim Parady Evan Weatherford Michael Johns Juan Alvarez Joshua Schwartz Anthony Garcia Isaac Rodriguez Ruben Trevino

Seventh Day Slumber is a Christian rock band from Dallas, Texas formed in 1996. They were an independent band for five years^[1] until they signed with BEC Records in 2005. They are best known for their songs "Oceans from the Rain" and "Surrender". "Oceans from the Rain" was the 14th most played song on Christian CHR radio in 2006 according to the Weekend 22. Their songs have been featured frequently on X the album series.

History

Joseph Rojas tried to commit suicide following a cocaine binge, and became a Christian while being taken to the hospital in an ambulance.^[2] The band formed in 1996 and were later signed to BEC Recordings.^[3][4] He teamed with guitarist Evan Weatherford, bassist Joshua Schwartz and drummer Adam Witte. After signing to the Afinia label the group issued Matthew Twenty-Five three years later. Their second album Freedom From Human Regulations was also released on an independent album before they made their major-label debut with Picking Up the Pieces in 2003.

Seventh Day Slumber released Once Upon a Shattered Life in 2005 which spanned their hit singles "Caroline" and "Oceans from the Rain". The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and No. 26 on the Top Christian Albums chart. After re-releasing Picking Up the Pieces that same year, they released Finally Awake in 2007. It peaked at No. 16 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. The Spanish-language album Rescátame contained re-recordings of previous songs and it won the 2009 Dove Award for Spanish Language Album of the Year at the 40th GMA Dove Awards.^[5] It was followed by Take Everything, an album of new arrangements of Christian music worship songs. The album peaked at No. 141 on the Billboard 200 and No. 11 on the Top Christian Albums charts.^[6] The Anthem of Angels was released in November 2011.

Inspirations and Lyrical Content

The band's name Seventh Day Slumber comes from Genesis 2:2 where on the seventh day, after creating the universe, God rested.

Seventh Day Slumber's lyrics mostly focus on issues such as suicide, drugs and home abuse. For example the meaning for the album "Finally Awake" was quoted by the band as "The message of this album is clear. We want to empower kids to stop looking to the media, to what the world tells them they have to be, to find identity. You don't have to be what everyone else tells you to be or even what we think you should be."

Tours

Seventh Day Slumber has gone on numerous national tours.

• Mid to late 2007 - ShoutFest
• Dec 2007 to Jan 2008 - With After Edmund and Jackson Waters
• Middle of 2008 Creation Fest
• July 18, 2009 Ignite Chicago
• "Small Town America Tour" from August 2011 to February 2012 promote their The Anthem of Angels album.^[3][7]
• 2014 City Rock Fest Tour with At the Wayside and Consumed by Fire

Members

• Joseph Rojas – vocals, guitar
• Jeremy Holderfield – guitar
• Blaise Rojas – drums
• Ken Reed – bass

Former members

• Talia Haughn-Comer – bass
• Joshua Schwartz – bass
• Ray Fryoux – drums
• Elliot Lopes – drums
• Rusty Clutts – drums
• Adam Witte – drums
• Tim Parady – keyboards, vocals
• Evan Weatherford – guitar
• Michael Johns – guitar
• Juan Alvarez – drums
• Phillip King – keyboards, vocals
• Jamie Davis – drums
• Matt Norwood – drums
• Anthony Garcia – bass
• Isaac Rodriguez – guitar, keyboards
• Ruben Trevino – drums

Discography

• Matthew Twenty Five (November 30, 1999)^[8]
• Freedom From Human Regulations (2001)^[8]
• Picking Up the Pieces (April 8, 2003)^[8]
• Once Upon a Shattered Life (February 1, 2005)
• Picking Up the Pieces (re-release) (September 13, 2005)
• Finally Awake (March 20, 2007)
• Rescátame (May 27, 2008)
• Take Everything (March 10, 2009)
• A Decade of Hope (March 29, 2011)
• The Anthem of Angels (November 15, 2011)
• Love and Worship (2013)
• We Are the Broken (2014)
• Redline EP (2015)

Album - Billboard (North America)

References

External links

• Official website
• Seventh Day Slumber at AllMusic
• Cross Rhythms Magazine, Issue 78 - From Cocaine to Christ
• http://www.cmspin.com/newsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=3999&z=51
• http://www.christianmusic.com/seventh_day_slumber/seventh_day_slumber.htm