Jason Roy isn’t afraid to be honest.
I discover this after a late-morning phone call on the day his Christian band Building 429’s new album Unashamed is set to debut. After realizing we hail from the same hometown—Wilmington, North Carolina—trading favorite local haunts and forgiving each other for being alumni of rival high schools, the lead singer confesses something most artists are not wont to admit: he actually reads reviews.
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“Last night, a review popped up on Twitter and I knew I shouldn’t read it but I had to,” Roy says. “I clicked on it and it was the best review I’ve ever been given for any record I’ve ever made.”
We agree he shouldn’t read any more—in case others prove to be more critical—and start unpacking Unashamed, the Christian band’s 9th studio album, a marked departure in sound from any of their previous records.
Building 429 – whose members include Roy, Michael Anderson, Jesse Garcia and Aaron Branch – is known for their catchy lyrics, sweeping anthems and fist-pumping beats. Their latest album showcases all of that along with a more vulnerable side to the men.
Songs like “Be with Us Now” speak to the late-night theological conversations on tour buses the band had where they questioned why people would ever be ashamed of their faith.
“The idea of the title of the record is that you have to be unashamed of your story of brokenness before you can be truly unashamed of the Gospel,” Roy says.
Roy has seen this play out in his own life.
A child of divorce, Roy was constantly on the move while living with his mom and stepdad. When he felt something missing from his life, he decided to move to Texas to live with the father he only saw once a year. What he hoped would be a fresh start turned out to be something frightening.
A power lifter who was struggling with the aftereffects of extensive steroid use, Roy’s father was, at times, abusive.
“It was a really weird thing,” Roy says. “I knew my dad loved me, but I was scared to death of him at the same time.”
Those early years were tough; Roy faced bullying at school and at home for his Christian beliefs. His father didn’t share his faith and had a hard time connecting with him because of it, but the one thing they did bond over was music.
“He bought me a drum set. He put a guitar in my hand when he had no money. He provided a place for me to learn how to play music.”
Roy also attributes his own work ethic to his father’s strict regimen.
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“He was a marine drill sergeant,” Roy jokes. “He woke me up every morning at 5 a.m. and we ran 3 miles together. Even when I was tired, wanting to go back to bed, he’d say ‘It’s all a matter of attitude.’ That has served me so well. I would not be a part of Building 429, 15 years later if I didn’t have that in my head; ‘Don’t Give up, don’t quit, It’s all a matter of attitude.’”
Roy addresses his evolving and complicated relationship with his father on the track, “Stronger.” He sings about the bullying he endured and ends with, “Maybe someday we’ll find a way to love each other.”
“A long time ago, I decided that I was not going to hate my father for who he could never be, I was going to love him for who he was,” Roy says.
The singer, who is also a father now, says he’s been grateful for the chance to heal his relationship with his dad and to witness the amazing change he’s undergone – his father is now a man of faith, a fan of Roy’s music and a doting grandfather to Roy’s two children.
Roy hopes that by laying down his shield and baring his own story through this latest record, he’ll help others realize that they’re not alone in their struggles.
“That is the great lie of this life; that you’re the only one,” Roy says. “As believers, we’ve bought into this [idea] that ‘Sunday morning best’ means that we should come into Sunday morning service perfect. The church is not for perfect people. Our story of brokenness is not what disqualifies us for use by God, it’s what qualifies us. God gets the glory when a broken person is used to do something spectacular.”
