Faith Filled Family: On a spiritual note, what is
Waken’s purpose?
Justin Amundrud: Our mission is to inspire
young people to create music/art/media for God’s
kingdom! We really hope that people can connect
with the songs on a personal level for private times
of worship as well as corporate worship.
for Waken?
Justin Amundrud: On the new material we are
working on the songwriters are just David Gurr and
I. But on the Endless Light EP we had help from
just about everyone involved in the project, and
also some rewrites on the track “All Glory Forever”
by Mia Fieldes through our time at Ocean’s Edge.
Faith Filled Family: Has anyone accepted Jesus
as their personal Savior as a result of Waken’s
music? If so, when and where?
Justin Amundrud: We get emails all the time about
how the songs are impacting people’s personal
walks. I don’t know if anyone has accepted the
Lord through our music, but we are so happy to
have partnered with ministries and camps where
people of all ages have come to know God!
Faith Filled Family: How did Waken get started?
Justin Amundrud: We came together last
November from an idea that Doug Farrar
(Ocean’s Edge School Director) and I had to start
a worship band that would be primarily electronic
oriented from the school. At the time, I had been
working on a separate project with guitarist David
Gurr but quickly this became our focus. Around
Thanksgiving last year Dwight and I had our first
writing session and from there we quickly finished
“We Will Run” and “Hope Has Found Us”. We
began laying down scratch recordings in January
and finished the recording process in at the end of
May. Originally the songs had more of a pop vibe,
but as time went on we were able to settle on a
little more ambient sound.
Faith Filled Family: Can you confirm the names
in the group?
Justin Amundrud: The main creative core of
the band is David Gurr (Guitar/Songwriting/
Co-Producer)
and
myself
(Vocals/Synth/
Songwriting/Co-Producer). But the Waken team
includes some other awesomely talented people
who we collaborate and perform live with.
Abbey Gregory (Vocals on Arising and It Is Well)
Rachel King (BGV’s)
Dwight Pendleton (Guitar/BGV’s)
Stephen Rodriguez (Drums/Programming)
Faith Filled Family: Who writes the songs/lyrics
Faith Filled Family: Where does Waken see
themselves in the next 5 years?
Justin Amundrud: We really want to start playing
live more and really develop nights of worship
that are innovative but also grounded upon solid
Scripture where Christ is at the forefront.
Faith Filled Family: Unlike traditional singing
groups – Waken is self-promoting. How do they
differ from traditional groups?
Justin Amundrud: We are really grateful to work
with our indie label, Ocean’s Edge Records, to help
us with promotion. So it helps us navigate some
unfamiliar territory with online marketing, and has
given us some great connects. But having control
of how we present the music is something we are
really thankful for!
Faith Filled Family praises and recommends
Waken because their music promotes glory to the
King of kings, Our Lord Jesus Christ. The lyrics
uphold a reminder for some that are already in the
faith and an aWAKENing for some that are new
in their faith, in Christ. Mr. Amundrud, thank you
for expressing to our viewers Waken’s vision and
spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in songs.