Ask just about any person you encounter today and they’ll tell you that life is just too busy. Between work, family, and just the general hustle and bustle, our lives are filled with distractions that separate us from time with God. Music is most often the conduit that helps people draw closer to their heavenly father, and few artists are more gifted in facilitating that connection than Jaime Jamgochian.
On her new Centricity Records project,
Above the Noise, Jaime has once again crafted a potent collection of songs that help the listener strip away the distractions and surrender to the essence of worship. “I want people to sense the true passion for worship,” says the vivacious strawberry blonde singer/songwriter. “Hopefully, they’ll drive in their car and start lifting their voices.”
It’s her ability to help others draw closer to God--whether in a Sunday morning worship service or driving alone to work on a Monday--that has made Jaime one of Christian music’s most acclaimed new artists. Her Centricity debut,
Reason to Live, spawned the modern classic, “Hear My Worship,” which spent nine weeks atop the Inspo charts. Jaime’s music and effervescent personality have touched thousands of young women as she’s appeared on Point of Grace’s Girls of Grace conferences. In addition, Jaime has stepped forward and launched her own “Modest is Hottest” conferences for young girls. Last summer, she also went to Peru with 800 girls on a mission trip sponsored by Brio magazine.
“I feel like this year has been hectic and kind of chaotic in some ways,” says Jaime. “It’s been a struggle for me to be still and find those moments with Jesus that I feel like I had before I was doing all this. When we were writing for this record, I felt like I wanted to get above the noise. I wanted to get above radio singles and touring and all the stuff that bombards me daily as a new artist. We all have crazy days. It takes time to be still. It takes time to set aside an hour to just listen to God--not just reading our Bibles and fervently praying--but just receiving his love. That’s the heart of
Above the Noise.”
In writing songs for the new record, Jaime took time to be still and hear God speak to her. “When I’m writing a song, I really want my relationship with God to grow in that moment or challenge others to grow,” she says. “When I write a song, I hope it translates corporately, but also I hope that someone in the car will turn on the radio and just have a moment.”
With the success of the previous album looming over her shoulder, the pressure to record a strong follow up could have been creatively paralyzing for any artist, and Jaime admits she felt a little nervous. “I’m definitely one of those people who want to know what tomorrow is going to look like instead of living today and all that God has planned for me,” Jaime admits. “Even in the songwriting process, I found myself asking ‘Is this a song that the church is going to gravitate to? Is this a song people are going to like?’”
Ultimately, she put those concerns behind her and surrendered to God’s direction. “I just had to let go and say, ‘This is where my heart’s at and these are the songs that are on my heart right now,’” she relates. “I’m really trying to focus more on Jesus and what he’s calling me to say rather than whether the industry will accept this.”
Above the Noise showcases Jaime’s gifts in a new light. A songwriter of incredible depth, her music reveals a heart that passionately seeks God and pours those revelations into insightful lyrics. With Nathan Nockels (Point of Grace, Matt Redman) producing several songs on the collection, the new album has a more contemporary flavor that brings a new vibrancy to the messages Jaime has to share. “He did all the ‘Passion’ worship records,” says Jaime. “I felt he really got my heart, not just the lyrics and melodies, but really got inside the songs.”
Jaime admits she was a bit intimidated by working with Nockels because his wife, Christy, is one of her favorite vocalists. “Nathan really challenged me vocally,” she says. “I love to minister. I love to lead in worship. I love to play piano, but recording a vocal in a studio is probably my least favorite part of the whole process. It feels contrived, but Nathan said: ‘Just forget we’re even here. You’re worshipping, you’re alone.’”
The result is an album that feels soulful and intensely personal, yet there’s also a universal quality to the songs that enables the listener to embrace them as their own. “Sing of Our God” is a buoyant anthem that celebrates the majesty of our creator. “For You” is a heartfelt worship anthem that acknowledges the peace of total surrender, and it’s the song that yields the CD’s title.
“I grew up with severe learning disabilities,” says Jaime. “I remember feeling so out of place and just wanting to be normal like other kids who got to play in the sand box while I was getting booted off to special learning centers. I just wanted the approval and that only Christ can bring. On the song ‘For You,’ it’s truly like a cry out, [saying] ‘God I’m going to sing for you. I’m going to live for you, everything all for you, no matter what others think of me. No matter what kind of success the album has, I want to know that this worship truly came from my heart for you.’ If it blesses a whole bunch of people great, if it doesn’t, I know it’s what God wanted me to do.”
Though Jaime wrote or co-wrote seven of the songs on the album, she also includes tunes by great writers like Nichole Nordeman, who penned “Heal the Wound.” “It’s a song about healing and redemption,” says Jaime. “Even though we make mistakes, there’s mercy. When I heard it, I just fell so in love with it. That’s one of my favorites on the new album. I feel so blessed to be recording one of Nicole’s songs. I think it’s going to be the perfect fit for the women’s events I do.”
“Amaze Me” is a vulnerable confession from a soul acknowledging the transforming power of God’s love. “That song brought me back to when I was 21. I didn’t get saved until 21,” says the Reading, Mass. native who attended the famed Berklee College of Music. “I was living the college life in every way imaginable. I was in a really bad relationship at the time, and I remember when I came to Christ, I was so amazed at how forgiveness was instantaneous and how mercy and grace felt. It was the first time I had heard the gospel. So we wrote a song about it and the very first line is ‘I was so afraid. I was so alone.’ God changes people from inside out. It’s one of my favorite songs.”
Since Jaime has signed with Centricity Records, she’s toured relentlessly over the past few years and loves having an opportunity to reach people, especially young girls. Having come to Christ during her college years, Jaime admits she made her share of mistakes before becoming a believer, and those moments have made her better equipped to minister to young girls struggling through some of the same issues.
“When a girl comes to me crying and says ‘If you only knew what I did!’ I say: ‘You know what? I think I’ve probably done that too and there’s a second chance.’ You have to hug her and speak out of real life. I tell them: ‘I’ve been there, I’m sorry you’re there and that’s not God’s best. So you do need to work on it and change, but there’s forgiveness.’”
Jaime admits life on the road can be lonely and after hanging out with hundreds of people following a show or conference, she goes back to the quiet of her hotel alone. “One thing I’ve learned it’s key for me to have a few women in my life that are on my speed dial that I can call when I get back to my hotel room,” she says of her network of friends. “Sometimes I’ve just hung out with a 1,000 teenage girls who feel empty and I’m wondering did ministry take place? Did minds get affected? Did I say too much? Did I say too little? I appreciate the importance of accountability and just being real with those women.”
There are moments when God lets Jaime know she’s making a difference. For example, there was the 13-year-old girl she ministered to in Peru who was empowered to make major life changes. Another time, a woman told Jaime about her heroin-addicted brother getting saved and sharing the song “Hear My Worship” at AA meetings before he died in a motorcycle accident. His sister sang “Hear My Worship” at the funeral. “I hear things like that and I think ‘Who cares if I’m lonely?’ It makes having not so much of a normal life really worth it,” says Jaime.
“I feel like I’m still young in the Lord and excited about my faith,” she says, leaning forward with a big smile. “I want the fire to burn bright and I think that’s translated in my lyrics. I’m still amazed by God’s grace and forgiveness.”
