John, Josee & Journee from WallerCo | The Conversation Ep. 59

In this episode of The Conversation I sit down with John, Josee and Journee from the band, WallerCo. John opens up about his years-long battle with depression and shares a powerful, inspiring message of hope. Plus, we get an exclusive inside look at their upcoming single "Daddy's Here (Journee's Dream)", dropping August 21st! The track is already going viral, bringing a timely reminder that Jesus conquered death. You don’t want to miss this moving conversation!

Hosted by Roxanne Grace, The Conversation is an interview show discussing music, faith and issues of the day with influencers, artists, entertainers and more. 
 
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I'm Roxanne Grace, the host of The Conversation. Today I'm chatting with John Waller, his wife Josie, and their seven-year-old daughter, Journey from the band Waller Co. The group features several of their 10 children. On this episode, John shares a message of hope. He struggled with depression for years. He shares his journey with that. We get to know this incredible family better, and we're going to talk about their upcoming release, a song that reminds us that Jesus conquered death. It's called Daddy's Here, Journey's Dream. It's already going viral and it drops August 21st. This is gonna be a great episode. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation. What's up, guys? How are you today?

SPEAKER_06 0:49

We're great. What's up? How are you doing, Journey?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Really excited because I know that I'm hanging out right now with not just John, not just Josie, but we have Journey with us right now. And we are talking to Waller Co. So, Journey, you are a star of a new song that's gonna be released August 21st. It is titled Daddy's Here, Journey's Dream. So we definitely want to talk about the song throughout this conversation. But first, let's start with some fun questions. You ready for some fun questions?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Okay, so don't think too much about these questions, guys. This is for all three of you. You can all take turns answering, or however you want to do it. And so it's kind of like personality icebreaker questions. We just want to get to know you better. So the first question we have for you. Hmm, what's a good first question? Do you like summer or winter better?

SPEAKER_05 1:43

Summer.

SPEAKER_06 1:44

Summer? Yeah. Definitely.

SPEAKER_05 1:48

Because it's like so warm.

SPEAKER_06 1:51

And you get what about water? You get to go on the water and swim. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Oh, cool. I was wondering if I can swim today.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Do you like swimming best in the in the beach? Or do you like swimming in swimming pools?

SPEAKER_05 2:07

I don't like the beach because it's like really cold.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

It's true.

SPEAKER_06 2:11

You like the pools better?

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Yeah, I like those heated pools. Those are the like you're talking about. Those are the ones to be in. You're right, Journey. You got this. Alright, next question we have for you guys. This is a really funny question. So think about this for a second, okay, Journey? All of you. It's a funny question. It's really, really out there. Would you rather wear shoes on your hands? Shoes on your hands or gloves on your feet?

SPEAKER_06 2:41

I would rather wear shoes on my hands.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Which one? You gotta answer. Would you rather wear shoes on your hands or gloves on your feet? Gloves on your feet. She's done that before. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 2:59

She has done it before.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Alright, this is a little more serious of a question, and then I want to talk a little bit with Journey about you guys' new song. But before we switch gears, it's a serious one. We know that you all love Jesus and that you all hear the voice of God in so many different ways. But if you could hear God's audible voice today, what question would you ask him?

SPEAKER_06 3:19

Um how much do you really love me? I would love to hear him answer that with in his own words. I mean, obviously I can go to the word and read that, but to hear him audibly say it would be the best.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

I would ask him when he's coming back.

SPEAKER_06 3:40

And he won't tell you. He's like, I he would say, if he was Jesus, he would say, I don't even know. Only the Father knows.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

That's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_06 3:50

What about you, Journey? What would what would you ask God? Or what would you ask Jesus?

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Um I would ask that I don't want to get older like a grandma.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Journey, let's talk about your new song. This is a great song. Uh it's all of you, and uh you're you're one of the lead singers in the song. It's called Daddy's Here, Journey's Dream. Could you tell us a little bit about the song, Journey?

SPEAKER_05 4:18

So when I was on this farm and I um I walked, I just went and I went and I walked to bed with mom and daddy. And I said, Hey Daddy, are you gonna see me big? And he was like, I keep forgetting what you said.

SPEAKER_06 4:38

Well, you said you say that again. Hey daddy, you what'd you ask me again? Say it slower, you said too fast.

SPEAKER_05 4:46

So I was walking in bed and I said You got in bed with us, hey daddy, will you see me big? And he was like, What do you mean? You'll see me big. And I said, No, you'll see like me big, like like like me like a grown-up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:07

And I said, Why are you why are you asking me that? And what did you tell me?

SPEAKER_05 5:12

So because when you're already older you'll if when I'm big, you'll you see me big, like you, yourself, and she'll and then you'll probably be like a grandpa older.

SPEAKER_06 5:32

Like a grandpa older.

SPEAKER_05 5:33

Grandpa.

SPEAKER_06 5:34

That's right.

SPEAKER_05 5:35

Grandpa.

SPEAKER_06 5:35

Yeah, and then I I said, I said, Well, you don't have to worry about that. I said I'll do my best to be here when you're big, but if I'm not, I'll be with Jesus and you don't have to worry about me.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

It's a beautiful song that's going viral on the internet because so many people can connect with this beautiful song that God put in your heart and your daddy's heart because of your questions. So I just think that's that's really awesome. Thank you, Journey, for sharing that.

SPEAKER_02 6:05

She I will add I will add this too when she always forgets this, but after he told her that, she goes, Because I don't want your face to change. And she turned around and grabbed his cheeks and she grabbed his beard. She said, I don't want this to change, I don't want your nose to change, your ears to change, your hair. So it was really, it was really endearing. You're beautiful, you've you're beautiful, you're beautiful, you're beautiful.

SPEAKER_06 6:29

Beautiful beard, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_05 6:31

You're beautiful. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

You are awesome. Thank you for helping me. You're you're great. You're great at interviews. Let's keep going. We'll talk more about Daddy's Here, Journey's Dream, in just a little bit. And and we're gonna share some of the song with our listeners in just a little bit. Right now, let's chat about your story if you're okay with it, John and Josie. Specifically, John, I told you yesterday I saw that you had been on Sid Roth's show, It's Supernatural, a while back, and you shared your story. I did not know your story. It really touched me. And I just know there's people listening right now that need to hear it. Do you mind sharing about your journey with depression?

SPEAKER_06 7:09

Yeah, so I grew up, um, I grew up in a Christian home, but my mother, my mother had a lot of childhood trauma. And that led to, you know, and this was, I guess this was in the early 80s, you know, where um bipolar, the, you know, the the terminology bipolar disorder or manic depression, that was that that was kind of coined in the early 80s, and a lot of people started getting you know in droves getting diagnosed with with these types of things. And my mom got diagnosed. Um, and you know, she she was on medication um for many, many years. In fact, and and until she passed, uh, she was on medication for that. And, you know, when I was 12 years old, you know, I had I'd lived with that kind of, you know, I I kind of I call it really darkness because it just felt like a darkness in our home. Whenever she was depressed, it could last for weeks, it could last for months. And she typically retreated, you know, to her bedroom a lot. And and my dad was a pilot, so he was gone a lot, and and I felt alone a lot as a child. And so it it was when I was 12 years old, my mom started to to notice things in me that she saw to be, you know, like her. And so I remember her saying to my dad, I I think, I think he has it too. And so I remember one one day she took me to her doctor, and you know, based on family history, based on a few things, questions he asked me, he easily just diagnosed me, or or better term would be I labeled, labeled me um bipolar. And so he prescribed medication, and I was on, you know, different types of medications for the next 20 years. And and I went, you know, had to go to the doctor every so often and and just talk about you know what what the side effects. Okay, well, let's try this medication paired with this one and all that kind of stuff. And so it was just this long journey of uh not even knowing what normal felt like. Um, and when when I was 32 years old, I was I kind of hit a hit rock bottom. I had uh lost a potential record deal, you know, because I was pursuing music and and I just went to a really low place. And that's when you know some people prayed over me for deliverance. And um, and and the Holy Spirit broke something that that had been, I really think it was it was a word curse, you know, not intentional. It was best intentions, but it was a word curse that was broken 20 years later. And I and I weaned myself off this these medications, and I never went back. And so, you know, I'm 55 now, that's been a long time.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Well, praise the Lord. You know, you had mentioned just now in your story that you were chasing a record deal, and I had read somewhere that there was a point where you actually just gave up music, you surrendered it to God, and that's when you had a major hit that we most of us know. It's called While I'm Waiting. It was uh a huge hit from the movie Fireproof. How did that come about?

SPEAKER_06 10:40

Well, that was um, so you know, when I got delivered, um, I that my band, you know, that was when my band broke up at the time and the and lost the record deal. We moved to Colorado for about four years, and I was I became a worship pastor, which I'd never done that before. And um, and God during that season, God really poured out his spirit on me. I really dove into the word, I dove into studying blessings and just kind of trying to reverse a lot of the things that patterns and and things that I'd received through my you know family being passed down to me. I I didn't want to pass those things down to my own children. So I began to really study how to change things and how to speak blessings over my life and over my children's life lives. And so I wrote a lot of songs out there in Colorado in in that season, and then God um ended up you know opening the door for me, you know, to sign a record deal. But but the thing was when I wrote while I'm waiting, I had been waiting so many years for that opportunity. And um right before I wrote the song, I I had just complete I did an album while we were out there of all the songs that I'd written, you know, as a worship pastor, but they were really cool, wonderful songs, declarative songs, you know, because I love declaration songs. Take something that's true, you declare it with your mouth through a song, it's so powerful. And so um I really thought God was gonna open the door for me finally, and then there was just there was another waiting period of not knowing and like just excruciating. Like, and a friend of mine encouraged me to write about that because you know, I I I understood waiting and and I've never liked it. I've never liked to wait, and but I I began to understand that waiting was an important part of the walk, you know, with Christ. And so I just started pouring my heart out, and I wrote that song in seven minutes. And really, yeah, and after I wrote that song, I think it was maybe a week or two later that I was on a plane to Nashville and I was signed on the spot. Like, no, you know, no, it was the easiest thing that ever happened, and it happened so fast, you know, after waiting so many years, you know, God finally moved and he moved really fast. And, you know, and that song was the last song written, you know, before that breakthrough happened.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

In every way, I feel like your God-given story carries so much hope. And we all need that. I feel like we're in a season right now in our world. Everybody is looking for hope. There's someone listening right now, there's there's several listening right now that need hope. What would you say to them today?

SPEAKER_06 13:34

I would say to just engage with God. I would say just talk to him, just ask him to reveal himself. Like the Bible says, if you draw near to him, he will draw near to you. You know, just give the Bible a chance. Open up the book of John and just read and say, God, if you're real, speak to me. If you're real, show yourself to me. And he will. He, if you really mean that and you pray that, he will show himself to you. And and and you'll realize that he is the hope you've been waiting for. And he's been he's been there all along.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Amen. Thank you for sharing that. We mentioned earlier that you and Josie have 10 children. 10. We only know of a few of them because of Walerco. So not all of your children are in the band. Can you tell us a little bit about your really large family? We know you adopted three siblings from Ukraine. Take us on that journey.

SPEAKER_06 14:30

So we have seven biological. Our oldest is 29, and and our youngest is seven. And uh, and I guess it was about 14 years ago. We um God put adoption on our hearts. I'd always had it on my heart, but it wasn't something Josie felt like we were supposed to do until she did. You know, this God moved moved in our hearts right after our fifth child was born, and uh, we felt like we're supposed to adopt. And that I'm gonna tell you the real short story, but it was a very supernatural thing. Um, we thought we were gonna go to China and adopt a little girl, and uh, I had a dream one night where we were uh I was in an orphanage in Eastern Europe, and and in the orphanage, I knew I was in Eastern Europe, which is crazy. I don't know how, but I just knew it. And in this orphanage, there were no babies, there were no young kids, they were all older kids. And in the corner of my eye, I saw a little girl, like, and there were all the kids were surrounding me. They they wanted to be near me, they wanted to meet me. Um, and then there was one little girl sitting off by herself, and I looked over at her and she looked up at me and I asked her what her name was, and she told me her name was Anna. And I said, How old are you? And she looked about seven in my dream. Um, and seven was way older than what we were we set out to adopt. Um, and she said she was 10. And then um I woke up, you know, and I told Josie about it. I was like, I think I met our daughter in our dream, in my dream, and she said she's 10 years old. You know, we were looking to adopt a two or two or three-year-old, or perhaps a baby, but um not a 10-year-old. So that long story short, we that we ended up finding Anna two days later, and we brought her over to the States uh through a hosting program for the summer. And we found out that she had a brother as well, and and he had to come with her, and we decided to adopt the two of them, and then at the last minute, we found out they had another sister in a different orphanage, and so we just we we said, okay, we'll we'll we'll take her too. And then we found out the day before we flew over to Ukraine that Josie was pregnant, so um, it went from five to nine in one year, um, and then like five or six years later, um, Journey came along.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Well, that is one way to grow a family, really quickly. Yeah, we're taking a break from the conversation for an oceanhouse music.com distribution 30 second spotlights. This week's spotlight is on a song titled Daddy's Here, Journey's Dream by Waller Co. It drops August 21st. Here's a little taste.

SPEAKER_04 17:17

Hey daddy, and another bad dream. I was all grown up and I couldn't see you anywhere. Now we look scared. Don't want you to go away when I'm not a kid. Why do you see me babe?

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Let's talk about Waller Co. your family band. When did you decide to do that? Why did you decide to do that? And how's it going?

SPEAKER_06 18:03

It's such crazy. It's great, by the way. It's a crazy thing, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Our uh Instagram profile says, um we bred we bred a band and we're just rolling with it.

SPEAKER_06 18:16

No, we accidentally bred a band and we're rolling with it. Yeah, because I mean music's the only thing that I know. Um we have a new we have a song that we're working on now. It's called it's called The Only Road I Know. And it was really inspired because it's the only thing I know in this life. It's what I'm called to do, and I can't get away from it. And I got out of music after you know, after a while in waiting and all that that's that long stint as a solo artist. I got out of the industry, I got out of touring for almost 10 years, and God started bringing me back towards music, and I didn't know how it would look. Like I knew I didn't want to leave my family again. I'm like, I'm I was done with that. I was like, God, I'm not gonna leave my family anymore to go to go tour, and it didn't make any sense. And so, but I did get an opportunity to do some dates a couple years ago. Um, and my boys wanted to play with me. Um, and I didn't think they could do it, I thought it would be uh, you know, kind of an amateur hour moment. I said, You can learn three songs, and we'll do three songs, and I'll do the rest of the set by myself. And they learned those three songs and they killed it, and then they said, We're gonna learn the rest of them. And so by the end of that little run we did, it was in New England, they had learned the entire set and they just blew me away. And and so I remember us lying in bed one night just talking about it. We're like, we're like, what is happening right now? It's like like this is happening whether we want it to or not. Like, this is God's doing, you know, this is God's doing. Isn't it? We're not doing this, we didn't plan this. Um, I last thing I would ever plan is to start a band in my 50s, you know, but it's the best thing ever. And and so we decided to really lean into it and start, we started writing songs for our family band. And our themes are the family, marriage, parenting, you know, walking with Jesus. It's as for me in my house in real time. And uh, and I think it's really hitting the chord with people. Like people are really like, you know, in a day of AI, people want something real, they want something authentic, and I think that's what we have.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

Let's let's talk about your newest song, Daddy's Here, Journey's Dream, coming August 21st. Journey was obviously sharing with us a little while ago a little bit about the heart behind that. She shared how she had asked you a question. Where did the song come from? How did that form after she asked you that question?

SPEAKER_06 20:54

So, yeah, that's a great question. Um she mentioned we were we were on a farm. I don't know if you could, if she was, if you could uh coherent in what she was saying, but um we were staying on a farm at a pastor's in a pastor's home. We it was our first concert of this, uh really of the summer, and um and and she did come get in bed with us and and she was really sad. And she just asked me the question, and and I just I was really taken back by it. Um, but I I reassured her because I'm like, you know, we don't fear death, and we're not gonna worry about, you know, like daddy's daddy's here now, and daddy's gonna do his best to be here in the future, but we're not gonna fear that. Um, and and I remember I walked outside that morning, I had my cup of coffee, I walked over towards the animals. I wanted to see the sheep because I had some sheep. And and typically you see goats, you don't see sheep very often. I want to see some sheep. So I walked over to the sheep and I pulled my phone out. I'm like, I'm gonna, I think I'm gonna share that little thing that happened with Journey on my story on Instagram, and I did, and uh uh I I posted it in one of our um friends that we had just met at a writer's round uh a few weeks before that it was it was a horrible writer's round it we we felt like that's wow a lot of honesty I won't tell you what it was called but it was we were like God I don't know how you're gonna use that because I don't know that felt like a waste of time but uh but we met some uh a husband and wife who were amazing they were great and they're and they were songwriters they write country and uh and she happened to just to watch our story for the very first time and she saw that and she reached out to me she said she goes yo that is a song and I was like and I just responded to her I said you think so and she goes absolutely and I said well we're we're going to Nashville today would you want to get together tomorrow because we had mentioned at the writers round that we should maybe get together and write and then you know we we the next day we got together and we wrote that song my oldest son came we and we wrote it and I thought it was great and we were like could Journey sing this I don't I don't know if she can pull it off I went back to the Airbnb I played it for Journey she sang it back to me immediately. The next day we did our first video it did it did pretty well and then the day after that we did another video and it absolutely went bonkers.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

I know I know it's wild I mean this isn't the first time you had a a song blow up but now like it's a little bit different how it's blowing up it's going viral already what do you guys think about that we're at over 20 ecstatic over 22 million views um our followers went from 7000 to we're about to hit 5000 on Instagram we're over 200 000 on Facebook uh we're almost 50 000 on tick tock like we we we were just grinding and grinding and then god drops this song in our lap and and it just I will say this I I love the fact that you know we have been so consistent and putting content out putting high quality content out for you know what like two years now and so when people discovered us they're like who is this like so it wasn't just this one video they they go back and they watch all of our videos and you know they're impressed they're like this is this is awesome this looks good this is a great you know so I love that I love that people are starting to get the whole the whole picture of who Wallerco is and not just about this one it's kind of like that that movie what was that movie Field of Dreams if you build it they would come right it's like you prepared it and God's bringing them you know that's exactly yes god prepared us he he he prepared the house for the party and then he sent out he sent out about 20 million invitations what is the main message that you hope listeners take from the song Jesus not only conquered death uh conquered death he conquered the fear of death and have to fear losing me because if I go be with Jesus it's only a temporary separation and that's the hope that Jesus gives us so you don't have to fear that you don't have to fear death.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

That's all the time that we have with John Josie and Journey from Waller Co. We hope this episode blessed you as much as it blessed us and you can keep up with Waller Co on TikTok and Instagram at Wallerco underscore on Facebook under John Waller and their website is Wallerco Family dot com. I'm Roxanne reminding you that if you need prayer you can email us anytime at dreamtheconversation at gmail dot com.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Until next week stay blessed in him don't want you to go away when I'm not a kid outdoor it to work