15th June 2009: Monday Mosh #6

15th June 2009: Monday Mosh #6
Welcome to another edition of the Monday Mosh. This is Vaughan here, and I’m having a particularly good weekend (I’m writing this on Sunday afternoon). We just had our first gig with Simon on guitar last night, and I have to say it was great success. The gig was organized by Rowland “ironguardian” Gwynne and held at the Castle. 79 payers came through the door, which is quite good for one of these local Perth gigs. We were all very happy with the way we played. I think the dynamic of having 5 of us on stage really worked well, we were able to interact in a really fun way. I have to admit though, I wasn’t physically ready for the demands of being sole lead vocalist – without the safety net of my mike stand and guitar I got quite breathless quite quickly. Still, it was a lot of fun and we all pushed through. We played an 8 song setlist, kicking off with Warriors Of Light, then Wasting Power, The North Wind, Harder To Hate, No Eye Has Seen, Perish The Thought, This Day Forth, finishing on Death On The Cross. This week’s edition of Mosher Crew Confidential features some backstage footage of the gig, as well as our full performance of This Day Forth from the night. If you’re not a member of the Mosher Crew, make sure you join up and check out the video. We are looking forward to the next show on July 11th, also at the Castle. That will be a This Day Forth album launch, so it will be good to see some more of you Perth Moshers down there.

We are very excited to be able to do this – with thanks to our great friend Adam who runs Soundmass, we are bringing a full stream of “This Day Forth” in it’s entirety on our website. That’s correct folks, we are streaming the entire album from www.graveforsaken.com for your enjoyment. So head over to the site (if you’re not already there now), have a look around and have a listen to the album. Of course, if you enjoy what you hear, head over to soundmass.com and purchase a copy. There are still some copies of the album with the bonus DVD available. I have received a number of emails from people who have the DVD and they all love it – it’s the best insight into our band you will get.

On the subject of the website, I’m pleased to say that this Friday just gone we had our best day yet for unique hits. Thanks to the efforts of Soundmass and all of you guys, word is spreading about the album, and we are seeing results first hand with website visits (and myspace hits). At the end of the day, it’s about getting the gospel out, the only reason we have ever done this is to present Christianity to as many people as possible. As I’ve always said, we plan to be in this for the long haul, and hopefully we’ll be able to reach many more people in the future. One online radio station that has played us is the Refinery Rock ( www.therefineryrock.com ).We’d really appreciate it if you could head over there and follow the links to request songs from the new album.

We are asking a big favour of all our supporters out there. We have recently entered ourselves in the Australian Metal Awards. This is a prestigious competition organized by some heavy hitters in the Australian scene. The website is www.australianmetal.com.au and you have to follow the mainsite link to get to the voting page. To maintain the integrity of the vote, the page does require a sign in. We are in the “Best Live Band”, “Best Live Clip”, and “Best Album Cover” categories. We would really appreciate you all heading over to the site, creating an account and putting in a vote for us. It would be a big deal for our standing in Australia if we could score well in these categories. I know for a fact that some of you people in the Mosher Crew have already voted, thanks so much for that.

I have been in contact with the Blackstump organizers this week. Things are looking pretty positive about us going over there this year. We’re particularly excited about catching up with the East Coast Mosher Crew members. We have a good contigent of supporters over there, and we can’t wait to bring the show over. Also, I’m particularly looking forward to catching up with our good mates in Fearscape. If a metal night does go ahead, it will be an event not to be missed. As we get more details I will continue to update you on the situation.

Well, that just about finishes the mosh for another week. I need to let everyone know that I’m on a school camp this week, so I won’t be able to answer any Grave Forsaken email in that time (unless they have web access at the campsite). I talked last week about God teaching me patience. Well, what’s been really interesting is that in the weeks since Simon came into the band, we have had a series of gig opportunities come our way with absolutely no instigation from me. We’ll tell you more about those as they solidify. The thing is, I often run around like a headless chook trying to contact this church or that pub to enquire about gigs. I really felt God tell me that “what I’ve got is what I first must be” (paraphrased from Pushin’ Broom by Tourniquet) so I made a conscious decision to pull back, and be patient and wait. Well, some great things have happened. Now I’m definitely not saying sit back and let God do the work, but I truly believe there are times when we have to hand control over. Everyone who knows me knows I like to control all aspects of the band, some would even call me a control freak, so it has been really humbling and really difficult to take a back seat. But like I said, a string of opportunities have popped into my inbox during this time. To me it’s proof positive that God is in control. I think we’re onto something with this 5 piece lineup, and I for one am excited about the future. You’ll all hear from me next Monday.

God Bless and MOSH ON
Vaughan and Grave Forsaken