BAND BIO

Life Support is a worship collective / “art rock” ensemble whose passion is to lead people into God’s presence. The band’s second album, “Roar of Heaven” is a thoughtful and compelling call to worship that pushes the musical and lyrical boundaries of the genre.

The bands journey began at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish N.S. when a few friends decided they wanted to change the atmosphere on campus. With a handful of instruments and an abandoned chapel, they began to gather for worship. Within two years the small group of ten exploded into hundreds of students. Many lives were radically changed; God’s Kingdom had begun to invade.

Life Support consists of Deanna Leil (vocals/synths, Alex Stephen (vocals/synths), Chris Lively (bass), Rob Reid (guitars/vocals), and Andrew Asare (drums).

Life Support has been together for five years and has since moved beyond the walls of St. Francis Xavier University to become missionaries to Canada. The band has been touring their country full time for two years, partnering with organizations for major conferences such as Toronto’s Mission Fest, Global Day of Prayer, BCOQ's Blizzard, Jesus To The Nations, Maritime Youth Convention, and East Coast Convention with Franklin Graham. They are also actively involved in ministering to churches, youth groups, camps, and retreats.

Life Support released their full-length debut in April 2006. Mixed and mastered by Tim Abraham at the Hive in Toronto, the album picked up a nomination for a 2007 East Coast Music Award under "Gospel Recording of the Year." Their song “Out Of Order” was also nominated for a 2006 Canadian Gospel Music Award for “Rock Song of the Year”.

For their second album the band joined forces with Tim again. This time he took on the role of producer, engineer, and mixer. They also teamed up with Craig Douglas (The Craig Douglas Band / The Meeting House) and both Tim and Craig lent a hand to composition. The band spent the spring and summer of 2007 writing and reworking material for their sophomore release. Through the pre-production process, the band began shaping a new, experimental sound with more complex compositions, atmospheric sonic textures, and extended instrumental explorations. The result could be called “art rock” worship, and draws on the influences of Mute Math, Switchfoot, and Hillsong United.

It was Life Support’s desire with this album to capture the sounds of Heaven, creating music that will be an expression and extension of the Kingdom, and ultimately bring glory to God!

The album was recorded between the Hive and Metalworks Studios, Toronto and mastered by Phil Demetro (Our Lady Peace, The Trews) at Lacquer Channel, Toronto. J.T. Daly (Mute Math) of Nashville took care of the album artwork and design.

CHRIS LIVELY

Hey. What's up? My name is Chris and I recommend that you read Brian "Head" Welch's book, "Save me from Myself". Personally, I can't relate to it in the slightest, aside from the love of music. But that guy has one crazy story that is real, open and honest. When it comes to Christianity, I sometimes think that a few of us miss the part about being real and just follow the ideas of what we think a Christian should look and act like. Anyway, I think that Welch paints a really good picture of honest growth and struggle in walking with Christ. Check it out. I was blessed by the book when I read it. I hope that you will be too. Got a book you think I should read?

Most people seem to introduce themselves by defining what they do for a living. I'm gonna try to not do that. Yes, my job is playing the bass, but I hope that there is more to who I am than just music at the end of the day. I hope when people meet and interact with me, something greater than playing a mere 5-stringed instrument radiates from my character. Loyalty, Integrity and Truth are three character traits that I highly value in people. They are traits that I try to daily express in myself. It's a challenge to keep yourself in check with how you want to be presented. Sadly, both people and myself will fail you. There are wonderful intensions made by everyone all over this earth, but selfishness, immaturity and lack of true sincere love has taught us to be focused in one direction. Inward. There is only one person that I know of that takes this worldly fault and puts it to shame. That person is obviously Jesus Christ. I want to be defined by Him. Not by a 9-5 daily routine, or by materialistic possessions or by achievements. All of these things will pass away and be forgotten. But your character and the essence of your being and soul will continue on whether you believe it will or not. The more I learn about Christ and the more I talk with Him, the more I desire to be shaped into His likeness. Seeing the difference of his character compared to mine has overwhelmed me with how much more work has yet to done in my shaping. At the end of the day, I hope that people will physically see Chris, but my actions and character of my lifestyle will be defined by that of Christ's.

Something I've learned, is that it seems like there is always some kind of sacrifice that comes along with doing what you really feel called to do in life. The life that we in this band had to drop in order to follow this calling doesn't even compare to what we’ve been blessed to see and be a part of. We always have to keep re-adjusting our dreams and desires for this band because God always comes through and delivers above and beyond what we expect. We never thought we’d get to do certain things or travel certain places with this music. It’s a continuous wild ride with this family of friend. Worshiping God with them every night truly is an honor. It feels like it's been one extremely long day of adventures and I'm amazed at how much we have already seen and done in this one day.

Looking back I can see how God ordained times of training in my life to set me up for where I am now. Whether I knew Him or not, for some reason He still chose to have certain events take place in my life that gave me (and continues to give) a wider perspective of Him and of this life. He daily blows my mind with why on earth He chose me for such a time as this. But then again, I know that God doesn't make mistakes. So I take this life direction He gave me as an expression of His love onto me.

I hope that the music we chose to play allows the Kingdom of Heaven to invade into your groaning soul and causes you see this Christ I speak of in a new resounding way. After our music has finished, I pray that the love of the King will roar so loudly out of your deepest being that it will challenge others to investigate and experience this love of Christ.

Thanks for the support and reading. Much Love.

Chris

DEANNA LEIL

I remember being a young girl knowing that there was a God and that I could talk to him. One significant memory I have is when I was nine years old and I had gotten in a fight with my best friend. She and I were inseparable, but during this particular fight, we had gone a period of days without speaking. I remember one day after getting home from school being so upset about it that I ran down to my back yard and fell on my knees and poured my tears out to Jesus asking him to fix things between her and I. The following day, I offered to share my recess with her and we became friends again. I won't ever forget that because I knew even as a child that God loved me and that I could go to Him.

My grandmother was a believer and although she passed away shortly after I was born, her faith had a significant impact on my life. Because of her my mother knew that when she had children that she wanted to raise them in the church just as she was. So growing up my family and I attended a Baptist church right down the road from my house. Sunday school was always before church but my family would always stay for church as well. Most parents picked their children up and then went home. As we got older there weren't many people our age who went to our church and as a teenager there wasn't a youth group for me to attend. I had a cousin that went to youth group in the city so this one weekend she invited me to go on a youth retreat with her. During that weekend, both my cousin and I committed our lives to Jesus and I realized that there was such a big difference between knowing about Him and knowing Him. When they gave the invitation to go to the alter, I couldn't get there fast enough. My eyes were streaming with tears as I was completely overwhelmed at the realization that Jesus died for me. That moment with God messed me up for days, and I became passionate to tell others about him. A year later at the same retreat, another one of my best friends also gave her heart to Jesus and our friendship became and still is one of the most important in my life. During high school I began to make a lot of wrong decisions and my area of greatest weakness was boys and dating. Many times because of a boy I had a crush on, I would compromise my beliefs and end up doing things that I knew I shouldn't have. I remember as a teenager wanting to be in love so badly. More than anything I wanted a boyfriend. And when I didn't have one, I felt unattractive and unsatisfied. If only I had known then that it wasn't what I really needed.

By the time I started my first year of University I was no longer serving the Lord. By that point I had totally begun to do my own thing in almost every area of my life. Because I was filled with so much guilt about it I stopped praying, and stopped going to church. I knew the Lord was asking me to give up a particular relationship that I just didn't want to and ultimately I chose Him over the Lord. By the end of my first year, everything for me seemed to be falling apart. I was so unhappy with myself and who I was becoming. I realized that without Jesus in my life I lacked the ability to love people the way I wanted to love them. I became a terrible friend, a terrible girlfriend, and terrible sister and a terrible daughter. Starting my second year, I knew I needed a change, I missed Jesus.

Since then, God has done the most amazing things to draw me back to Himself. What a good God He is! Despite all the times I had sold him out He took me back. In every area of my life, where I felt ashamed and ugly, He has spoken of His redeeming love for me. I feel like the woman in Luke chapter 7: 36-50. When you have been forgiven of much, you love much. This is so true. That year I began to meet other Christians and started going to a bible study on campus. I also found a church to go to. I had so much to learn! The following three years, I feel like God did a major overhaul on my heart and my mind. He reminded me daily to come to Him open and let Him teach me. One verse that really spoke to me that year was Isaiah 55:8-9. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Boy did I ever know that was true. At that point I knew exactly where my ways got me and it wasn't to good places so I became so desperate for Him to show me His ways. And He did. In every area of my life. I was constantly on my knees asking Him to make me into a woman that pleased Him. I didn't care what it meant that I had to give up, I didn't care what I had to lose to gain Him. I just wanted Him. I am not sure who said this but he was so right. "He is no fool that gives up what he cannot keep to gain what He cannot lose."

It was really cool to be a part of what God was doing on our campus. In the six years that I was there we saw Him touch so many lives. It was incredible!! We started a service called LIFE and put together the band as you know it (minus Matt) and invited people out to hear. Students would share their testimonies about what God had done in their lives and we would just tell the truth about Jesus. We have realized that so many people only know lies about God. But we have seen the truth of Him set them free! It's been incredible. It's almost been two years since I have graduated and we have been touring Canada since with the same message. God is doing awesome things in our country especially in our generation! I am so excited! I know that although He has done so much in me already that I can never let my self think that "I've arrived" or that that's it. He reminds me often to still stay before Him on my knees and let Him teach me and show me new things. Jesus himself said that He did nothing on His own but that He saw what the Father was doing and did it. I am learning how to wait and see what the Father is doing just like Jesus did. It's so easy to want to do your own thing "for God". But I need to learn to do God's thing through Jesus. It's such an adventure serving Him and I am excited for what is still to come!

ANDREW ASARE

For as long as I can remember, I have always been in church. I even remember days when my dad would carry me on his shoulders to church in the morning so that I wouldn’t have to walk. I always knew that there was “a God” and I think I even professed to know Him, but back then, I truly did not. I primarily attended church because my parents went and I had to go. Growing up as a youth, into Junior high, I was a serious hypocrite. In front of my family and church people, I acted one way, but in front of my friends from school, I acted a totally different way…I truly had “two” faces but everything changed in my first year of high school. March of 1998 is the year that my cousin Peter broke his neck and drowned during his lunch break at school. Peter and I were separated by only one year. We had both started our first year of high school, he just turned 14 in September and I had just turned 15 in September. When I was told about his death, I was in shock to the point that I didn’t even cry. My cousin’s death brought me face to face with the reality of my own mortality. It made me think “man, that could’ve been me”. Now, before I go on, I must clear the air regarding my cousin’s death. Some would look at this situation and think “God must have taken your cousin so that you would turn to Him” but that is absolutely NOT true!!! God DOES NOT come to steal, kill, and destroy! But Satan DOES! Anyways, just wanted to make sure that I made myself clear on that…real talk, God IS Love, He doesn’t just “have” it, He IS Love! Ok, back to what I was saying; where was I again?... oh yeah! I realized that it is appointed unto man to die once and then comes judgment. I knew that if I had died instead of my cousin, I wouldn’t have been right with God because I had not made a distinct, quality decision regarding following Jesus Christ. Sure, I was in church…all my life, but going to church makes you as much of a Christian as going to McDonald’s makes you a Big Mac! Yes, that seems like a ridiculous comparison, but it is true. All though I grew up in church, I was nervous about what would happen to me if I died. The summer of 1998 is when my life was turned “right side up” because life is truly “up side down” when you are not right with God! I remember being at Lake Shore Pentecostal Camp which is held in Cobourg, Ontario. I was at the front (the ‘altar’) and I remember the reality of what Jesus did just hit me and I began to weep. I felt that for the first time, I really understood what Jesus had done for me. The Cross of Jesus Christ was real to me and I was ready to follow Him. Since that youth camp, I have never been the same. I can confidently say that when I die and stand before God, I will have no reason to fear or be ashamed because my past has been forgiven and God is no longer just “Almighty God”, He is my Father! For the longest time, I used to think that eternal life was just “living forever” but Jesus has helped me to see that eternal life is MUCH MORE than that (John 17:3)…I am so thankful that it is! If you are reading this and you are not right with God; being right with God is as easy as confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him (Jesus) from the dead. The Bible says if you do that, you will be saved. God has sent an “Invitation” (Jesus) to mankind, inviting each person to experience eternal life, will you “RSVP”?

Got Love For You All,
        Andrew aka DrewFace

ROB REID

I came to the Lord at a young age… about 5 or so. I can remember my mom taking me to Sunday School and the teacher talking about Jesus as our shepherd… Jesus is standing at the door of our heart wanting to come in and live inside of us and forgive us for our sins… I accepted Him then, and believe I was saved at that time.

A lot has changed and life began to set in as I grew up. I was on the search for Truth and what it meant to be a Christian; what a Christian life looked like. I figured that if I just read the "red words" in the bible and copied them, then I’d be living as a Christian. Well It didn’t take long to figure out that wasn’t going to work. I discovered there were so many commands there that I couldn’t read them all let alone live them!

I have realized that Jesus is alive and living inside us who receive Him. I must surrender to His life and let Him live all the “red” words through me.

It is my greatest desire and passion to express the heart of the Father with this band and my guitar. It is my prayer that God's Kingdom would invade earth through every note, chord, and rhythm.

ALEX STEPHEN

All I can say is that God is so faithful. The verse that says that he never leaves us or forsakes us" has been proved over and over again in my life. I grew up in an amazing Christian family in Toronto with parents who loved me to bits! So every Sunday growing up I would be in church. Through those years God placed some amazing people in my life to mentor me and help me grow in my faith. One lit a spark in me for the game of basketball which ended up taking me to Nova Scotia. I can clearly remember learning about the Maritimes in school but never imagined that God would end up using such a small place to change my life in such a big way.

So,I showed up on the St. F.X. campus not knowing anyone, and almost for my whole first year of university I didn't have any Christian friends to hang out with. Although it was a very difficult year, I grew more spiritually than ever before. There was nobody there to push me or pull me to church. Nobody there to make sure I was spending time with Him everyday. Nobody there to watch over me to make sure I was doing the right things. But I knew that I needed Him more than ever, because all the things of the world were at my fingertips trying to pull me in. So everyday God an I would hang out! It’s cool because in Jude 24 it says, that he "...is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy." And that’s exactly what He did for me first year. Though it was tough, it stretched me more than I can know and brought me to a place where I learned to rely on God alone.

After that year my Jesus journey continued and I went on a mission trip to Africa. Once again God pushed me out of my comfort zone and brought me into a new level of understanding of how awesome He is. I got to see firsthand how God moves miraculously and was overwhelmed by the extreme generosity of the Christians, who were strangers to me. After seeing the Lord change so many lives in Africa it became clear to me that He could do the same on my campus in a little town in Nova Scotia. So I returned from that summer to school with the greatest passion that I have ever experienced to see my generation meet the true Jesus Christ. From there a few people on campus just began to pray for God to move. During this time my mom also passed away and then six weeks later my uncle suddenly died. It was the toughest time in my life. It felt like, no matter what people would say and do, they couldn't comfort me in the place that I needed it. All their sympathetic and loving efforts couldn't reach where it hurt the most. Amazingly, during this painful time I came to understand God’s love in a whole new way. I cannot explain it, but it was almost to the point where I could physically feel Him carrying me through each day. To this day, I cannot explain why these things happened but there is one thing that I know for certain that God is good.

So we continued to fast and pray for our campus and get on our faces before God crying out for him to move. And slowly He began to show us exactly the ways that would be most effective to reach the campus. And though I had no clue as to what I was doing, I ended up singing in a band which became known as Life Support. And to this day I'm just continuing on that journey to see my country and my generation mightily impacted by the compassionate love of our Savior Jesus Christ.