The road to Mainstay’s sophomore album from BEC Recordings, Become
Who You Are, was not the path of ease, least resistance, or even just
convenience. But the Minneapolis-based modern rock quartet is fine with
that, according to front man Justin Anderson, as they simply mined the
challenges of life to add to the album’s already significant potency.
Band members Anderson, drummer Ryan DeYounge, guitarist Scott Campbell,
and bassist Dan Ostebo have traveled from their early suburban garage
beginnings, through a more sophisticated season as a college band, to
land finally at widespread interest and acclaim from audiences. So they
know a bit already about growing pains. Their 2006 debut album, Well
Meaning Fiction, came out of the gate fast and hard, making a
resounding impact with singles “Take Away” and “These Pages” before
landing the band on the short list of “the year’s best new artists,”
compiled by Jesusfreakhideout.com.

The debut brought the rockers respect from fans and industry
insiders alike for their unflinching willingness to both address the
church and make themselves personally vulnerable. Along with more
riveting guitar riffs and madly melodic songwriting, Become Who You Are
continues the boldly open trend, and for all the right reasons. “If
we’re going to do this,” shares Anderson, “it has to be about God,
about the deeply intimate relationship we’re experiencing. Otherwise,
it’s not worth it,” he admits laughingly.

The road to the
studio this second time was a long one for the hard-working,
increasingly in-demand band. Aside from playing the major festivals
like Creation East and Spirit West Coast, they also toured with Sanctus
Real, The Afters, John Reuben, and Falling Up, as well as adding their
searing rock to the See Spot Rock 2006 line-up. In the midst of two
years of hard road time, they poured heart and soul into writing the
compelling songs of Become Who You Are. “I hate to use clichéd
phrases,” relates Anderson, “but it really becomes growth, those hard
times of losing things and feeling beaten down. To work through these
kinds of issues on the road, where there is so little consistency, was
so difficult. But all that emotion poured into these songs, and became
real pathos that people can actually get their hands around. It’s
exciting to me to think that my heartache could be used for someone’s
encouragement. “ It is that sacrificial spirit that accounts for the
warmly inviting “Island,” inspired by Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell
Tolls,” a softly encouraging word of hope, a recurring album theme. It
is a song that will minister to hurting hearts of many kinds, but
especially the often overlooked lonely. Anderson openly confesses his
own struggle with feelings of depression and isolation, so he finds
great solace in the soul power and healing potential of the album’s new
songs.

When the band returned home to Minneapolis from the road last fall,
they wanted to take the struggles and challenges of the past two years
and pour them into a personal project, one that bore the intimate marks
of their own growth. For that reason, they decided to record in town,
with up-and-coming producer Luke Fredrickson, a decision that reaped
great sonic rewards. They spent almost six months in the studio, but
the thirteen captivating tracks drip with honest passion and a deeply
sincere message.

Mainstay composes together, while Anderson, with the help of Marc
Byrd (“God of Wonders”) and upcoming tour-mate Jeremy Camp (who
co-wrote on the song “Believe”), heads up the writing of the lyrics.
Mainstay broke completely out of the box with these straightforward
anthems of truth and hope. The album opens with “Away From You,” a
gripping track dealing with his sister-in-law’s miscarriage, and the
lessons learned from observing her response of honest sorrow tempered
by deep faith. “I can still barely tell the story without crying,”
Anderson admits. But he poured that message of grace and strength into
the track’s riveting rhythms, and you find yourself pinned to your seat
by its intense delivery as much as by DeYounge’s relentless beats.

Grace and hope burn through the album with high beam force,
resonating in the bouncy rhythms of the ambient praise track, “Stars
Are Singing,” the slammin’ energy and perspective of “Am I Keeping
You?”, and the spiritually-charged truths of piano ballad, “Where Your
Heart Belongs.” The richly diverse album moves with ease from
Delirious?-like epics such as the majestic “Don’t I Look the Same,” to
spare, nuanced tracks like “Only One.” But it is the potent closer,
“Hang On,” that most reveals the unwavering focus of Mainstay. “Life is
hard,” Anderson shares honestly, “and faith is hard sometimes. But I’m
realizing on the other side that no matter how ridiculous or convoluted
it all seems, Hope never left. Not just glib, stupid-smile hope, but
true honest hope. We don’t aim to be the most artful rock band, or to
impress our peers, but to let our brokenness shine through to meet the
needs of God’s people. We don’t want to preach, but to come alongside.”

Mainstay is doing just that with the spiritually-driven rock of
Become Who You Are, music of the soul that will lift up the
disenfranchised with its hope, and stir the heart and feet of all
listeners when it releases from BEC Recordings on September 25th. And
that makes every pothole along the way worthwhile.