Hi My name is Jachin, that is “Jaykin” if you are trying to figure out how to say my name. I was born and raised in the small, beautiful western Canadian city of Red Deer Alberta. As a little boy I sang in Church, at local festivals, competitions and many local live productions. At the age of 11 I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Pittsburgh to record a children’s record with Dian Layton (also known as HuggaWugga). I remember being in that studio thinking, “I want to make music that lots and lots of people will LOVE to sing” I also remember staring at names on the inside of Maranatha Music covers dreaming that some day I would write music that people would pop into there stereo and listen too. My family viewed music as a very important part of our childhood development and our toy box was full of plastic saxophones and piano’s. Years of piano lessons seemed to be a waist of my parents time and money as I went through many teachers and didn’t really progress through any grades. But my mom was determined that I would learn to play.

Through my teenage years I didn’t play music very much. But when I was 16 I had the privilege to go to the Philippines. A few weeks before we were to go, the piano player could not make the trip and the leader of the team (Troy Walker) pulled me aside and said “Jay, your the new piano player”!!! He laughed, I freaked!!! But inside I was so excited and I knew I could do it even if there was a bit of pressure. So for the next three weeks I practiced day and night, 3 songs with about 3 chords per song. I am sure it was terrible. It sparked in me a desire to play music and I was hooked. I came home and started to learn all different kinds of worship music and started to lead in our youth ministry.

That year I had the opportunity to lead worship for a worship conference in Calgary called “Canada Arise”. I had that opportunity to lead at “Canada Arise” for a few years with awesome worship leaders like Lamar Boshman, Bob Fits, Andre Crouch and many others. It was an incredible learning experience. Donny and Reba Mcguire also had a huge impact on my life in this season and really encouraged me to lead worship in my church.

In this season of life I had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines 3 times, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Guatemala on mission trips as well. Right in that time period somewhere, I met my mentor and one of my best friends Tommy Walker. Tommy came to our church for a weekend youth conference. He was one of the most genuine people I had ever met. I loved the way he led worship and he was definatly a incredible musician. I remember one of the days he put his arm around me and he said “you should write songs”. The next week I wrote “I Stand In Awe” my first song written and my first song recorded by Maranatha Music. The moment that Tommy said that to me may be one of the most crucial points in my entire life. At that moment I decided to become a songwriter. Over the next year or so I wrote my first 15 songs or so and recorded my first album “To You Alone” recorded live at my church. Honestly I didn’t have a clue of what I was doing, but I was giving it everything. That was in 1996.

A few years later I went to school in at Musicians Institute in Hollywood CA. Moving from Red Deer to the big city was a bit of a stretch for me. The traffic was a little bit busier than Red Deer and the food was a little bit spicier than the Roast beef and potatoes I was used too in Red Deer. Probably the best part of living in L.A. was living with Tommy and his family. Tommy became my big bro. and his boys Jake and Levi became my best buds. In that period of time Tommy taught me that the biggest blockage for songwriters was unfinished songs. So I remember writing 30 songs in 30 days and showing them to Tommy every morning. I distinctly remember showing Tommy a song called “That’s What Worship Is”, I think it’s still one of Tommy’s favorites. The look in his eyes when I sang it to him told me that it was genuinely good. That was a cool feeling. Tommy was also the culprit who got me addicted to the NFL. I am Canada’s #1 NFL fan. Go Chargers!!!

After I came home I recorded my second record with my good friend Eric Boseman with that song “That’s What Worship Is” as the title. I remember having the church choir over to my house to record the Choir in my basement. Hilarious stuff!!! A song called “Take This Life” from that album was recorded by Maranatha for Promise Keepers. It was also sung at some of the PK stadium events in the US. To me that was so cool because I really don’t have a desire to be famous but it is a dream to have my songs sung all over the world even if no one knows who I am.

Somewhere in this timeframe I was working as the youth pastor at our church. Gregg Johnson also had a HUGE impact on me in this time period. Gregg took me to different places and gave me some opportunities to speak. He even took me to Washington for Jesus where I got to speak to 250 thousand people. It was very cool and confidence building.

A few months after that I met a cool guy named Oscar Cartaya at a “Canada Arise” in Red Deer. I happened to be wearing a NY Knick Jacket and the Knicks were in the playoffs. Oscar is a HUGE Knicks fan. It’s been a lean last few years for us Knick fans. So the next few nights Oscar and Alex Acuna came over to my house and we watched the games together and had some chinese food. Over the next bit of time Oscar and I became friends. Later that year right after my beautiful wife Becca and I had got married and gone on a 3 week honeymoon Eric, Oscar, Linda Mcrary, Finn Johnson, and Cory Bitner helped me put together my 3rd Cd called “You Are The Reason”. It was a really fun project and I really enjoyed working with everyone. The jazzy, bluesy groovy vibe of the record was really cool and I still like it. Some of the songs on this album have been sung at Willow Creek and other big churches in the US.

My Church continued to allow me create and explore worship and almost every week I would come with a new song or new arrangement to a Hymn or old chorus. I am so thankful for my church. Without my church I would not have been able to do what I have done. Over the next few years I had the privilege to lead worship at Center St. church in Calgary about every 6 weeks or so. Henric Idestrum became one of my best friends and had a huge impact on my life. We recorded my 4th Record “Calling” live at Center St. and it was pretty cool. The place was packed with friends from across Alberta. I was stoked and the songs were cool. The day before we recorded I found out that Becca was pregnant and that soon I would be a daddy…..Freaky!! I was so excited and the news helped me to really enjoy the week. I think my favorite song on the project was “King with A Crown’. It just has a cool Lyric. Eric Boseman Co-produced it with me and our friendship continued to grow.

After many trips to L.A. to see Tommy and the family I had improved in my writing skills and was growing up as a person. Levi Justice Alexander Mullen was born and EVERYTHING changed. I was no longer living for myself or a career but fully for God and for my family. Levi definatly changed my world and my view of God’s love for me. I think it changed the way that I write, lead and just basically live.

So time passed, Levi had his first Birthday and I was supposed to be at the Zoo with him, Becca and the rest of the family but the day got messed up as a meeting went long and I had to drive home alone. But on the way home I really had a talk with God and I knew he was calling me to work in Youth ministry again. So I laid down music for a season to start a youth ministry called “Compassionate” in 2004. It was the most fulfilling 3 years of my life so far. Over 500 young people came to accept Christ as there savior in the 3 year period. It was very cool but the coolest part was the friendships that were formed and the fulfillment of watching young people grow up and really start to do some cool things for God. I am still involved in “Compassionate” and it is growing and still having a HUGE effect on young lives for God’s glory.

Somewhere in there Cory Bitner and I produced “More Than Amazing”, my 5th recording. “More Than Amazing” is a cool song and has incredible longevity for a song so simple. From the “More Than Amazing” project I got nominated for a couple of GMA Awards as well. Compassionate surprisingly had a huge impact on the way that I write. I started to really like rock and most of the stuff I was writing was straight ahead but also very cool melody wise. Looking back, I think the songs that came in this time period were so special to me because of the people I spent the time with. The songs reflect the deep places of where we were at the time. In September 2007, I handed Compassionate to my good friend and partner in ministry Ryan Cook. He is an amazing young leader and will take Compassionate way farther than I ever could. Somewhere in late 2006 I met Graham Sharkey. Graham was actually supposed to play on the “Calling” project at Center St but for some reason he couldn’t do it. Four years or so later we finally met and became good friends quite quickly. Soon started the process of arranging tunes. Before we knew it we were producing the project together.

On the 18th and 19th of September we recorded “Open” Live CD/DVD. It was 2 pretty amazingly cool nights. Friends from across Alberta came to Worship and show there support. There was an Amazing sense of God’s presence and you could tell that It was going to be great!!! I LOVE how the songs are so singable and full of passion. At the same time they are really cool and edgy. So now the project is done and we go on tour.

From here on, who knows? I know my life is in His hands. I am definatly out on a limb, trusting God and doing my best to spread God’s love through music.