Today, March 3, marks the anniversary of my departure from the confines of a former existence to take the risk and set out to pursue the open world of opportunity and dream of a creative life. Geographically it meant traversing across the country from a given home in the MidWest to a chosen destination of opportunity and experience. Symbolically it meant casting aside the limitations of my previous outlook on life, wrought from a youth of limits and conservative impression and succumbing to the conviction of bold aspiration toward a creative life and progressive self improvement.
Emerging through the darkness, you reveal yourself to me
Form and figure captivate as presence comes to be
Full and flowing beauty, elegance undenied
Shadow laden fluid grace fills fixated eyes
How much does environment affect creativity? How much does any context affect the production of creative ideas and ease of their creation? I think almost all of us can relate to environment in the context of shifting the state of mind to prepare for use in a certain way. Either to alter mood for creativity, or heighten focus for productivity in some way. How much does that make a difference in results? Is it ubiquitous, or does it work differently depending on the individual and their ability to project and focus?
Philip Seymour Hoffman
State of Music Industry Taste
I've before mentioned our penchant and passion for the beauty and power lying in the depths of expression behind dark art. To some this medium of macabre serves to suit only superficial shock, but to those that can connect and possess the vision to look deep within the inspiration behind such pieces, the boldness and beauty of dark exploration reveals its power and intellect. The Conjoined series of art shows (curated by the talented Chet Zar) being one of the more complete and talented collectives of such found within Los Angeles, I was greatly excited to attend and discover what was in store.
Today I pay respect and say good bye to my close friend, Rachel Devine.
She passed away this past Christmas which also happened to be her birthday. She was far too young and vibrant with life to have left so early, and her presence is already dearly missed by the many whom she touched.
This time of year it is often appropriate, at least traditional, to look back and take stock of what has happened over the last year. In Japanese culture there is a word, Kaizen ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen ) which exemplifies a cultural method of continuous devotion to improvement by reflecting on and learning from past efforts. It is often used in business and engineering processes in origin, but can be applied to all things including Self improvement and greater life wisdom.
Our album, "Identity" has been selected in the Top 25 New Music Critiques of 2013 by Music Connection Magazine. The list is compiled by taking the top 25 new music reviews from all those submitted across the country throughout the year. It is an incredible honor to recieve this recognition from such a respected industry publication. Music Connection has been publishing industry news and advice for musicians since 1977, so it is truly inspiring and encouraging to be included in this list and the sentiment serves to further fuel our efforts and inspirations moving into a new year.
The song artwork for "Ignorant Idiot" from our album, "Identity" has been featured in Issue 116 of Advanced Photoshop Magazine! It is the second feature that they have run for a piece from "Identity", with the artwork for "Epiphany" appearing in Issue 111. Many thanks to Valp ( valpnow.com ) for his talents in executing our vision with the piece and for promoting the artwork.
The issue is available for purchase here:
