Undefeated through music

It wasn’t until the aftermath of a serious car accident in 2012 and thoughts of suicide that Justin Wiesinger, 25, realized how the curse of his life could be shared through music.

The St. Albert singer-songwriter was barreling down a mountain travelling at 180 kilometres per hour. He tried to slam the brakes. His car locked, smashed into a tree and flipped several times. Miraculously Wiesinger was physically unhurt.

But underneath the skin where physical injuries are invisible, he was in great pain. The recording artist suffers from bipolar disorder and experienced a manic depressive episode at the time. He was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward and placed on strong doses of medication that dulled the emotions.

“I couldn’t laugh. I couldn’t cry. I had no emotion. I was in a medically induced depression. By November 2012 I thought the train tracks would be a good place to end it. I talked to my dad and I tried to get him to pray for me. We’re a family of Christians and we believe that Jesus died to set us free,” explains Wiesinger.

At the time, the 20-something young man was angry with his father for personal reasons. But as the two sat next to each other talking and praying, the young man felt his composure changing.

“I was laughing. It was significant because for six months I was completely emotionless and I knew God was there.”

His doctors gradually shifted him to a different medication with a lower dose and recommended a healthy nutritional program. He gained his life back and lost 60 pounds.

This coming Friday, Wiesinger launches Set Me Free, his first full-length CD at the Vinyl Rock Café, a huge triumph for a man who only three years before felt he was ready to cash in the chips.

Music always played a big role in Wiesinger family. He grew up playing piano, turned to percussion and played bass in the high school pop-punk band Farewell Apollo.

After jamming together for more than three years, the band’s creative energy fizzled.

“I had to do something musically. In dealing with bipolar, a musical outlet helped to keep me going and helped to keep me focused. I was losing traction and going crazy.”

To compensate, Wiesinger wrote songs, lines, rhymes and raps.

“You should see my phone. It’s full of thousands of song blurbs.”

The 10-track Set Me Free, recorded in his basement studio and at Salt Shaker Studio, is the culmination of all his creative talents.

While most of his peers compose party songs or tunes about love lost and found, Wiesinger walks a different path.

“For me, songwriting is super spiritual and thought-provoking. I write based on emotion and thought. My lyric writing style is about stories and experiences that affect me deeply. As an artist attached to his work, it’s hard to be brutally honest and release it to the public.”

The title track Set Me Free deals with the struggles of bipolar disorder. Home is written in memory of his cousin Josh who was accidentally shot by his younger brother, and Dying to Live focuses on wrestling with the idea of life and its purpose.

“I go after deep points and heavy lyrics … whether I’m mad at God or angry at the world, I want to feel my life has a purpose.”

Opening for Wiesinger is Edmonton folk-rock worship pastor Jonny Cole and Hinton guitarist-singer-songwriter Kolton Stennis.

Wiesinger is also donating $5 from every ticket to the charity Shine Outreach program in Uganda that assists women and children. Shine is trying to raise funds to build a medical centre in the town of Busia. The area is one of the most malaria infested in the country.

“Kids are dying all the time because they don’t have treatment.”