Empire In Arms

In May of 2012, five musicians entered into the studio with a group of songs. Their only goal was to give back to their Maker a gift that He had given them. As the five musicians settled in one room, they asked no questions, tried not to get involved and just let the music happen and it did.

Empire in Arms is the self-titled, debut EP that fuses the influences of Justin DeWaard, Lucas Rogerson, Mark Whitelaw, Andrew Ward and Brett Schneider in a unique and honest way. They embraced each of the gifts God had given them and focused the entire project on glorifying him.

The entire project came together rather quickly. Brett, Mark and Lucas had been working on and off writing songs as a trio throughout 2011. After a suggestion over
coffee to take the project into a Christian direction, Lucas immediately called up Justin to see if he would be interested in joining the band, which he was and Mark contacted
Andrew with the same result. The players were in place. A date was set to meet and review the accumulated songs.

When the group met for the first time in late March, there were over a dozen songs written for the project. They selected the 6 best and arranged to meet in a couple
weeks to arrange the material. As they gathered for the first time to play music, there was an immediate chemistry. The songs all came together in an afternoon and with that, the studio was booked for the following week.

EIA entered Escarpment sound studio on May 5, 2012 after having only met, and played as a band three times. The songs were cut, live off the floor and within six hours
the bed tracks were finished and they were out the door. Over the next few months vocals were tracked and the finishing touches were placed on the album.

“I have never been part of a project, where everything just flowed so easily.” says Lucas. “It was amazing, God is definitely guiding us.”

With the masters in hand, the group commissioned Benjamin Van Hemert to design the album cover as it inspired him and on February 14, 2013 Empire In Arms was released. The album is being sold through each of the members Churches with $5 from each sale going to the Church. The additional $5 will be going to a yet-to-benamed charity as well as all the digital sales.

“God brought this band together and God will do with it as he pleases, we're just here to play our part in his perfect plan.”