For the better part of two decades, Joel Houston has been synonymous with the anthemic, arena-filling worship music of UNITED. His songs—marked by soaring melodies and earnest, faith-anchored lyricism—became the soundtrack of megachurches and youth groups alike, threading their way into Sunday morning setlists from Sydney to South Carolina. But in the last few years, Houston has found himself standing on a different kind of stage: alone in a studio, sifting through years of sonic experiments, personal reckonings and a restless desire to create something new.
That something new is AMXN Radio (pronounced “Amen Radio”). “It was going to be Amen FM,which probably would have been more confusing,” he laughs. “But the whole idea was, ‘prayers you can listen to.’”
Unlike a traditional album, AMXN Radio isn’t a singular project or collection of songs—it’s a moniker for Houston’s creative output, a banner under which his music, visuals and artistic experiments can live. And it sounds nothing like Hillsong.
“I wasn’t trying to write songs for church services,” he says. “I was just making music again for the love of it.”
For those wondering whether AMXN Radio signals a definitive departure from UNITED, Houston is quick to clarify: it’s not an either-or situation. “UNITED’s not going anywhere,” he insists. “We’re just in a bit of a limbo, waiting for clarity on what the next chapter looks like.”
But after years of carrying the weight of expectation—where every song had to serve a specific, structured purpose—Houston found himself craving the freedom to explore without parameters.
That shift began, like so many creative rebirths, in the isolation of the COVID-19 years.
“I was sitting in a studio by myself, messing around, pushing buttons, trying things. For so long, I had relied on others—people far more talented than me—to bring my ideas to life. But suddenly, it was just me.”
This wasn’t a strategic career move. If anything, it was a return to something more primal.
“Songwriting has always been a refuge for me,” Houston says. “Even before anyone ever heard my songs, that’s where I found God. I tried every devotional strategy—nothing worked for me like writing songs did.”
He describes this realization with the kind of wide-eyed wonder that made him fall in love with music in the first place.
“There are only twelve notes, right? And yet every song that’s ever been written comes from that finite set of possibilities. That was a revelation for me, even as a teenager. It made me realize that my own limitations didn’t disqualify me. If God could use twelve notes to create something infinite, maybe He could use me too.”
Listening to AMXN Radio is like stepping into a dreamscape—a place where worship music collides with lo-fi beats, ambient electronica and whispered prayers. The songs unfold like meditations rather than declarations, full of open-ended questions rather than prescriptive answers. It’s a stark departure from the Hillsong United sound.
“The Psalms are full of songs that probably wouldn’t work in a church service,” he notes. “They start in one place, wrestle through doubt and struggle and then end in another. That’s what I wanted this music to be—a journey.”
For Houston, worship has always been bigger than a Sunday morning setlist.
“Most of a person’s week isn’t spent inside a church building,” he says. “But there’s no reason worship music can’t be the soundtrack to all the other moments—the car rides, the late nights, the everyday mundane.”
His approach to this project is deliberately hard to categorize.
“It’s UNITED, but on drugs,” he jokes, then quickly clarifies: “Except I’m not on drugs.”
He laughs, but the sentiment is serious. “There are so many different musical expressions that can be deeply spiritual. The only thing I really care about is whether it connects with ‘the deep’—that unexplainable feeling when a song reaches somewhere beyond just emotion.”
For years, Houston has watched the evolution of Christian music from the inside. He’s seen the industry tighten its grip, growing safer, more formulaic. And he’s also seen the quiet rebellion of young artists breaking the mold.
“There’s this whole movement happening,” he says. “You’ve got people like Josiah Queen, Forrest Frank—guys who are just making great music, without worrying about whether it fits the ‘Christian’ box.”
That spirit of creative freedom is what Houston hopes AMXN Radio embodies. “There’s a whole generation of artists who grew up in church but listen to everything—country, hip-hop, EDM, indie rock. They want to make music that reflects all of that. But a lot of them think the only way to do that is to leave Christian music entirely.”
Houston wants to challenge that.
“What if you didn’t have to pick a lane?” he asks. “What if the Kingdom is big enough for all of it?”
That’s part of why he’s so deliberate in describing AMXN Radio not as a side project, but as something fully intertwined with his creative identity. “UNITED is my main thing. AMXN Radio is my main thing. One actually helps the other. For so long, I felt like UNITED had to fit into certain expectations. Now, with this other space to experiment, I feel like I can be more true to both.”
Of course, stepping into the unknown is terrifying. Houston admits that hitting “post” on his first announcement about AMXN Radio felt like jumping off a cliff.
“I lost 20,000 followers that day,” he laughs. “Every time I post something, I lose another 10,000. It’s fantastic.”
But he doesn’t regret it. If anything, he hopes his willingness to take creative risks will give others permission to do the same.
“The enemy wants to steal our joy,” he says. “And I think for a lot of creatives, that’s where fear comes in. They’re afraid to put their art into the world because they don’t want to fail.”
His advice? Do it anyway. “If we fail, let’s at least fail in the most beautiful way possible.”
Houston doesn’t know exactly where AMXN Radio is heading. He’s playing with release strategies, dropping songs in small batches, experimenting with formats. But the uncertainty doesn’t scare him anymore. “I don’t have to know the end of the story. I just have to be faithful to the part I’m supposed to play.”
And so, for now, he’s content to let the music speak for itself—prayers set to sound, wandering melodies searching for their place in the world. Just as their creator is.
