While on this 10-day journey, many of the kids that the band came in contact with attempted to communicate through broken English. The phrase repeated throughout the trip was;

"I have the virus."

OR

"I don't have the virus, praise God!"

The "VIRUS" they are speaking of is the HIV/AIDS VIRUS that is sweeping through Africa, killing thousands of children each day. The following section of the album called “THE WRITINGS” is an in-depth look at the lyrics that were included on the VIRUS album. These songs were written over a span of two years in hotel rooms, tour buses, coffee shops, airports, tour vans, and on the side of streets in Africa. These songs were written to challenge the listener, the church, and America to be proactive in fighting the war on poverty.

While writing this record, we took a very different approach to how we formed the songs. In the past, the guitar parts would be written by Justin, the melodies then put to the guitar hook by Jeremy, and then we would collaborate with Jordan to finish the song. For this record, however, we wrote all the music first. Justin wrote the guitar part, Jordan would write a bass line, and then Jeremy would add the drum beat. We would work together to add additional loops to the songs while recording. After all this was done, we then added the vocal melody. Because the lyrics for the album were written while each member was in different parts of the country throughout the year, no one had heard the vocal melodies until we went in the studio to track the instruments. It wasn’t until the final process of recording that the songs actually came together.

The lyrics on this album are honest. They will offend some people, they will cause others to re-evaluate their actions, and it may even make some people angry…however, these lyrics are taken from Biblical scripture, and true facts provided by Food for the Hungry and miscellaneous global poverty resources.

The goal of this concept album is to raise awareness about problems that many African children face every single day. From hunger, to a lack of education, to being forced to carry a gun as a child soldier, these situations are unacceptable, and can be prevented with help from their brothers and sisters in surrounding continents. It is the prayer of WILLET that the items included in this concept project will encourage you to provide HOPE for one child in Africa. Thanks for listening.