I finally had this epiphany this past weekend. I’m usually the guy in the band who looks forward to ‘off time’ and I always realize that once I have ‘off time’ I have NO IDEA what to do with it. This past weekend was my first weekend of down time in what seems like months and after about 4 hours of it, I was going CRAZY! I felt like I was trapped in a one bedroom cell for three days. This boredom and angst was filtered through a ton of Jack Daniels which led to friends coming to my apartment, which led to a stripper-pole-related accident which yielded a hole in my ceiling (WORTH IT). Time and time again it’s proven, without the band as an outlet I get into trouble. For the first time, the past few months have felt like leisure and play, not sweat and work. That’s how rock n’ roll was meant to be right? So maybe we finally got it right…
We’ve been writing non-stop since January and recording new material song by song. We decided we would take a different path for this new material. Instead of doing the “write a bunch of songs – then record a bunch of songs all at once” (which is “normal”). We built each song / recording from the ground up. We started with the rough demos on Carter’s laptop, then graduated up to a full blown multi-track recording. Once we had the arrangements the way we wanted, we would submit the demos to our good friend (and producer) Paul Soroski, in Austin. He then would select the songs he felt were the cream of the crop. We demo’d somewhere around 20 song ideas. 5 made it thru the “process”. We really took our time and made sure it’s everything we envisioned. As Paul put it “we’re going to record each song like it’s its own album.”
It is amazing how much better everyone has gotten since January: musically, creatively, and sonically. It seems that the band has grown the most in the shortest period of time since I’ve been a part of it. Personally I’m really proud of all the new material and exceptionally proud of a few of my favorite new songs.
While recording in Austin, we were invited to play this year’s Republic of Texas Biker Rally. Adler's Appetite / Steven Adler (Guns n Roses), Dee Snider, Blue Oyster Cult, Podunk, and Bret Michaels were also on the show. Did I mention there were 60,000 people (bikers) in attendance? It all started with me having a panic attack at a gas station:
There I am, having a general melt down in what I could only assume would inevitably become my iron coffin: Adam’s car. I watch Adam calmly eat his whopper as we sit in the car for what seems like an eternity waiting for his wife to make her way out of the gas station and back to the car. Every minute feels like forever and I’m sure at any moment I’m going to be dead. What you don’t know is that ten minutes prior to this panic attack I was standing in line inside said gas station to buy a pack of smokes. Out of nowhere this 7 foot tall, leather-chapped, chain wearing, neck tattooed Neanderthal of what seemed to be a combination of Thor and a biker walked in front of me and hollered at the gas attendant. He then, in the most polite voice I’ve never heard come from such a rough looking guy, asks if the slushy machine was cherry or strawberry flavored – strawberry replied the cashier – the biker said “oh” shrugged and walked off while making a look of complete and utter disappointment. Minutes later I find myself in the bathroom next to Adam using the urinal. Seeing as how no one was in the bathroom I decide to tell him of my hilarious encounter of the “big scary neck tattoo biker who wanted his (in the most girly voice possible) ‘cherry slush’” – seeing as how we were alone I went all out railing on this guy, making fun of everything from his slushy to his very existence. I finish the story, and after Adam and I take a breath from laughing we hear “THAT’S NOT WHAT I SAID!!!” from the bathroom stall next to us; it was the biker I was just making fun of – remember? The 7ft tall Thor replica with leather chaps. Me and Adam turn toward each other and I’m wide-eyed as Adam walks off. Fortunately just hearing the bikers voice had terminated the urinary session I was previously enjoying so all I had to do was run out of the bathroom while buttoning my pants and head for the car. I have a terrible history of doing stupid shit just like this. I wasn’t sure if playing a show with 60,000 bikers was the best idea considering one already wanted to kick my ass, however, the show absolutely rocked and it was a great way to play some of the new material in front of a fresh audience.
We had one hell of a time. We will be releasing videos of some of the studio shenanigans we managed to capture on tape while being ‘hard at work’ in Austin.
So what does all of this mean? New songs; new material?
It means we have three shows coming up in July we will be filming and preparing for the release of our new themed stage show in August. We’ve decided we want to get fans and friends at the show the opportunity to be on stage with us in a sense. Our new stage show is going to feature several people from our next three shows in the intro video loop that starts our set! Also, in the online world, we will be releasing one new song accompanied by a new music video starting in August. With the new stage show, new set, new video loops, new music videos online, and new music period – we feel that any sort of thirst you may have for Forever Falls will be quenched in 2010!
Speaking of music videos – have you seen the video to “Crash” off our 2009 release The Devil In The Details? View it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06rCpjUICis
I’m not positive what this year will hold - other than the things we have control over (like our live shows, music, etc). But I do look forward to more good times both pertaining to rock n’ roll and ridiculous nonsensical behavior.
-That guy who is still scared he will run into the bathroom biker from Austin-
Patrick
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