24th August 2009: Monday Mosh #15
Welcome everyone to the latest Monday Mosh. Vaughan here as usual, and I’ll get straight into it.
There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes in the Grave Forsaken camp in recent months. A few weeks ago I spoke to our drummer Dave Kilgallon at length on the phone, and we came to the mutual decision that he would no longer continue in the band. This will come as a surprise to many of you, and it really came as a bit of surprise to both Dave and I. In the context of addressing a few difficulties we were having getting the whole band together to rehearse, we both realized that the current lineup wasn’t quite working the way we’d hoped. It was a difficult conversation, but Dave and I are extremely close friends, so we knew we could trust each other to be honest about our feelings. I can truthfully say his departure was a mutual decision with no hint of animosity on either side. In fact, the way it was all handled is proof of how strong the trust is in our band.
So where does this leave the band? We have a big gig at Blackstump coming up in 6 or so weeks. Fortunately, a work friend of Matt’s by the name of Richard Sallows happens to be a drummer and a Christian. On a whim, Matt gave him a call to see if he wanted to jam with us. We had a rehearsal with him and it went well, so we have offered him a trial period in the band up until Blackstump. That gives as a few weeks to rehearse with him and see how the band dynamic goes with him, plus see how he performs in the live arena. After we have played stump with him, we will make an official decision on whether he will join the band permanently. Richard is great guy, and is doing his absolute best to get the job full time. He is into metal and rock, so he fits the bill perfectly. His drumming doesn’t have the thrashing intensity of Dave’s, but so far he has been very solid and easy to work with.
However, it isn’t quite the end of the line for the lineup featuring Dave. As I’ve been discussing in bits and pieces, we have been working with Daniel Holmes on some new material for our next album. Dave has been fully involved in this process and is keen to finish what we have started. So after stump in October, we will hit Fattdog Studio in earnest with the old lineup and record our next album, with a goal to getting the album ready for a mid 2010 release (hopefully). This release will be Dave’s farewell performance with the band, and we are very excited about what will be delivered. The fact that we can even do this is testament to the strength of our friendship with Dave. While the album is being recorded, our live shows will feature the new drummer, be that Richard or someone else.
So as you can see, we are very much in transition at the moment. We are essentially working with 2 drummers for the time being, but both are excellent people who are fully accepting and understanding of the other. So while it has been difficult, we have such a close bond in the band that I’m very confident and excited about the road ahead.
Richard’s first performance with the band will be at The Castle on September 12th. He probably feels like he’s been thrown into the lion’s den, but it will be great to have a show or two under his bullet belt before Black Stump. We are playing at a youth group the following day, and then we have some tentative stuff lined up post stump. Of course, I will keep you all informed.
It would be remiss of me to finish this edition without giving my heartfelt thanks to Dave for his contribution to the band over the last 2 years. We love you like a brother, and already we miss your presence in the band room. The way you have pushed our sound into another zone has been proof in the pudding of your awesome God given talent behind the drums. You are a valued friend, and we have shared experiences and times that I and the rest of Grave Forsaken will cherish forever. I’m so thrilled we can crank out one last album with you, and we are determined to make this the best GF album yet. We all look forward to the good times the future holds.
Until next time – God Bless and Mosh On.
Next Monday Mosh – September 14th.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
10th August 2009: Monday Mosh #14
10th August 2009: Monday Mosh #14
Hi everyone. Like I said last week, I’ve been finding I bit off more than I could chew with a weekly Monday Mosh, so from now on I will post them on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. That means they will basically be fortnightly, except for when there are 5 Mondays in the month.
There is an episode of GFTV due today, but I’ve fallen a bit behind schedule unfortunately. I’m working on the episode right now, but it is still a few days away. I will post a message on our forum when it is on youtube. Mosher Crew Confidential #4 is due next Monday, and that will contain some significant info for Mosher Crew members. It is a really important edition to check out.
I’ve just had an extended chat with a couple of the guys in the band and we have been bouncing around some really exciting ideas for future live shows. We didn’t have practice, but a couple of the guys came over to my place anyway to hang out. I’ve always had this vision of taking the show on the road and playing in town halls in small country towns and regional centres. As we looked at all the gear we’ve accumulated in my shed, we realized we have been blessed with a small arsenal of equipment that we should really be putting into the ministry. We will be praying and seeking God’s will over the future direction of our live performances. However, if you live in regional Western Australia and would like to see Grave Forsaken play in your area and you know of a church or rec centre that we could play in, please get in touch with me and we try and work something out.
Thanks for the spectacular response to the Destined For Ascension giveaway. They have all gone now, but it was really cool to hear from so many people with your words of encouragement. It’s so pleasing to know that the Lord is blessing people through our music. I will have another competition in the October Mosher Crew newsletter.
We are looking forward to some upcoming shows. We actually have quite a bit on over the next couple of months. Just tonight we discussed a possible gig in Byford in late August at the SJ Rec Centre. We are then playing at East Fremantle Baptist Youth Group sometime in early September, plus we have a Castle gig on September 12th. We then obviously have Blackstump on October 2nd, and then we have been tentatively offered a gig at a high school fete in late October. So a fair bit is going on. We are entering a real time of working on our live show and performance to make it the best it can be. As well as presenting the gospel, we want to make our gigs a real fun time for everyone involved.
I’ll keep it short and sweet tonight. It’s nearly midnight and I should really get some sleep. This whole rock and roll late night thing can be taxing sometimes! But I wouldn’t swap it for the world. Thanks for checking in everyone.
God Bless and MOSH ON
Vaughan and Grave Forsaken
Next Monday Mosh: Monday 24th August
Hi everyone. Like I said last week, I’ve been finding I bit off more than I could chew with a weekly Monday Mosh, so from now on I will post them on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. That means they will basically be fortnightly, except for when there are 5 Mondays in the month.
There is an episode of GFTV due today, but I’ve fallen a bit behind schedule unfortunately. I’m working on the episode right now, but it is still a few days away. I will post a message on our forum when it is on youtube. Mosher Crew Confidential #4 is due next Monday, and that will contain some significant info for Mosher Crew members. It is a really important edition to check out.
I’ve just had an extended chat with a couple of the guys in the band and we have been bouncing around some really exciting ideas for future live shows. We didn’t have practice, but a couple of the guys came over to my place anyway to hang out. I’ve always had this vision of taking the show on the road and playing in town halls in small country towns and regional centres. As we looked at all the gear we’ve accumulated in my shed, we realized we have been blessed with a small arsenal of equipment that we should really be putting into the ministry. We will be praying and seeking God’s will over the future direction of our live performances. However, if you live in regional Western Australia and would like to see Grave Forsaken play in your area and you know of a church or rec centre that we could play in, please get in touch with me and we try and work something out.
Thanks for the spectacular response to the Destined For Ascension giveaway. They have all gone now, but it was really cool to hear from so many people with your words of encouragement. It’s so pleasing to know that the Lord is blessing people through our music. I will have another competition in the October Mosher Crew newsletter.
We are looking forward to some upcoming shows. We actually have quite a bit on over the next couple of months. Just tonight we discussed a possible gig in Byford in late August at the SJ Rec Centre. We are then playing at East Fremantle Baptist Youth Group sometime in early September, plus we have a Castle gig on September 12th. We then obviously have Blackstump on October 2nd, and then we have been tentatively offered a gig at a high school fete in late October. So a fair bit is going on. We are entering a real time of working on our live show and performance to make it the best it can be. As well as presenting the gospel, we want to make our gigs a real fun time for everyone involved.
I’ll keep it short and sweet tonight. It’s nearly midnight and I should really get some sleep. This whole rock and roll late night thing can be taxing sometimes! But I wouldn’t swap it for the world. Thanks for checking in everyone.
God Bless and MOSH ON
Vaughan and Grave Forsaken
Next Monday Mosh: Monday 24th August
Monday, August 3, 2009
3rd August 2009: Monday Mosh #13
3rd August 2009: Monday Mosh #13
Sorry for the delay in getting this week’s Monday Mosh out – very busy weekend. Actually, I kind of bit off a bit more than I could chew by doing a weekly Monday Mosh. I’ve decided that from now on they’ll go out twice a month (so essentially once a fortnight). I’ll post the Monday Mosh on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month for the rest of the year, then reassess the things in the new year. Depending on my work situation, I’m hoping to have a bit more time up my sleeve in 2010 to concentrate on the band.
We have booked our tickets to Sydney for Blackstump last night. We will be playing on Friday night the 2nd October at the Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park in Sydney. We can’t wait! We are hoping to play a church gig on Sunday 4th October. If anyone reading this lives the greater Sydney area and knows a church that would have us after an evening service please drop me a line. My contact details are on the official Grave Forsaken site. On that note, we will also be available on the Thursday 1st October if anyone knows somewhere we could play. It could be a tiny gig for all we care – would just be great to play a few shows while we’re there. I’m also really looking forward to catching up with my friends in all the other bands – Matt, Pete, Phil, Jayson, Andrew, Brad and Paul (formerly in Fearscape). It will be really special.
We have had two rehearsals in the last 3 days. We are working on a setlist that contains songs from all 5 releases. We are using the next few gigs to celebrate our 5th anniversary. No guarantees, but we might be making a special 5 year shirt for all you GF supporters out there. Last night we were bouncing around a few ideas. As always it comes down to finances. We just annihilated my credit card booking airfares last night (don’t worry, we’ve got the cash to back it up). Between bills and airfares, I’ve put over $5000 on my card in the last two days! It’s that time of year when all the council and water rates arrive in Byford (my home suburb). But hopefully we’ll have some new merch out soon.
I’m still tweaking the live album “Light The Hall!”. That will be available in late September as a pay what you want download for the Mosher Crew. I like this idea because it means you can listen to it before you decide if you want to pay for it. With the physical CD market in such a bad shape, downloads are truly the way of the future. I’d like to think we can keep putting out actual CD’s, but they may have to be limited to professionally printed CD-R’s. It costs about $1000 Australian to manufacture 500 CD’s, but about $300 to print 100 CD-Rs. So we’d be paying more per unit, but we could definitely sell 100. I recently got an official live Kiss CD-R (Rock The Nation Instant Live), and apart from the blue back, I really wouldn’t have noticed (or cared) that it was a CD-R. Small bands like us may need to do things this way to keep the physical product alive. The offset is that we can still print the same quality booklet with all the liner notes and other cool stuff. I’m very optimistic that the determined bands can get through this rough patch for the music industry. We’ve always had an element of DIY, and there’s no reason we can’t continue. I have North Wind Studio now, so I can record our albums myself. Essentially what I’m saying is that GF isn’t going anywhere, despite the doom and gloom around the industry.
Speaking of downloads and CD’s, we now have a mp3 store and merchandise section at the official site. You can download every song we’ve ever released for what I think are very reasonable prices. You can also listen to each song through the page, so you get a real feel for the material before deciding whether you want to buy. It’s a really cool feature, and one we are very excited to offer. This is also the first time “Beside The River Of Blood” has been available digitally as well, so head over to the site to check it out. You have to pay through paypal, but it doesn’t require you to have a paypal account to make purchases. There’s a section in the shopping cart for people to use their bank accounts or credit cards.
With the release of the new Stryper album, I’ve decided to go back and listen to Reborn. It really isn’t as bad as it’s reputation suggests. I’ve always liked it to tell the truth. I think artists should be allowed to produce the music that’s in their heart. One thing I’ve learned is you can’t force a sound or style. What’s inside you is what will come out, so artists most of the time are really only doing what comes naturally. I always say vote with your feet – if it’s not your thing just let it be and listen to something that is your thing. People are entitled to their opinion, but having been in this band for 5 years, I totally understand why things change within a band. There you go, that can be my random soapbox for the week.
One last thing – I’ve decided to go a little bit crazy. I have 20 free copies of our 2008 album “Destined For Ascension” to give away to the Mosher Crew. So the next 20 Mosher Crew members who email me with their mailing address will get an absolutely free copy of the album. If you’re not in the crew and you want the CD, sign up now and drop me an email before they all go. You can join for free via the Mosher Crew section of our website at www.graveforsaken.com
So I will be back next Monday, but then there will be a two week break before the next Mosh on the 24th. Thanks for reading and you’ll hear from me again soon!
God Bless and MOSH ON!
Vaughan and Grave Forsaken
Sorry for the delay in getting this week’s Monday Mosh out – very busy weekend. Actually, I kind of bit off a bit more than I could chew by doing a weekly Monday Mosh. I’ve decided that from now on they’ll go out twice a month (so essentially once a fortnight). I’ll post the Monday Mosh on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month for the rest of the year, then reassess the things in the new year. Depending on my work situation, I’m hoping to have a bit more time up my sleeve in 2010 to concentrate on the band.
We have booked our tickets to Sydney for Blackstump last night. We will be playing on Friday night the 2nd October at the Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park in Sydney. We can’t wait! We are hoping to play a church gig on Sunday 4th October. If anyone reading this lives the greater Sydney area and knows a church that would have us after an evening service please drop me a line. My contact details are on the official Grave Forsaken site. On that note, we will also be available on the Thursday 1st October if anyone knows somewhere we could play. It could be a tiny gig for all we care – would just be great to play a few shows while we’re there. I’m also really looking forward to catching up with my friends in all the other bands – Matt, Pete, Phil, Jayson, Andrew, Brad and Paul (formerly in Fearscape). It will be really special.
We have had two rehearsals in the last 3 days. We are working on a setlist that contains songs from all 5 releases. We are using the next few gigs to celebrate our 5th anniversary. No guarantees, but we might be making a special 5 year shirt for all you GF supporters out there. Last night we were bouncing around a few ideas. As always it comes down to finances. We just annihilated my credit card booking airfares last night (don’t worry, we’ve got the cash to back it up). Between bills and airfares, I’ve put over $5000 on my card in the last two days! It’s that time of year when all the council and water rates arrive in Byford (my home suburb). But hopefully we’ll have some new merch out soon.
I’m still tweaking the live album “Light The Hall!”. That will be available in late September as a pay what you want download for the Mosher Crew. I like this idea because it means you can listen to it before you decide if you want to pay for it. With the physical CD market in such a bad shape, downloads are truly the way of the future. I’d like to think we can keep putting out actual CD’s, but they may have to be limited to professionally printed CD-R’s. It costs about $1000 Australian to manufacture 500 CD’s, but about $300 to print 100 CD-Rs. So we’d be paying more per unit, but we could definitely sell 100. I recently got an official live Kiss CD-R (Rock The Nation Instant Live), and apart from the blue back, I really wouldn’t have noticed (or cared) that it was a CD-R. Small bands like us may need to do things this way to keep the physical product alive. The offset is that we can still print the same quality booklet with all the liner notes and other cool stuff. I’m very optimistic that the determined bands can get through this rough patch for the music industry. We’ve always had an element of DIY, and there’s no reason we can’t continue. I have North Wind Studio now, so I can record our albums myself. Essentially what I’m saying is that GF isn’t going anywhere, despite the doom and gloom around the industry.
Speaking of downloads and CD’s, we now have a mp3 store and merchandise section at the official site. You can download every song we’ve ever released for what I think are very reasonable prices. You can also listen to each song through the page, so you get a real feel for the material before deciding whether you want to buy. It’s a really cool feature, and one we are very excited to offer. This is also the first time “Beside The River Of Blood” has been available digitally as well, so head over to the site to check it out. You have to pay through paypal, but it doesn’t require you to have a paypal account to make purchases. There’s a section in the shopping cart for people to use their bank accounts or credit cards.
With the release of the new Stryper album, I’ve decided to go back and listen to Reborn. It really isn’t as bad as it’s reputation suggests. I’ve always liked it to tell the truth. I think artists should be allowed to produce the music that’s in their heart. One thing I’ve learned is you can’t force a sound or style. What’s inside you is what will come out, so artists most of the time are really only doing what comes naturally. I always say vote with your feet – if it’s not your thing just let it be and listen to something that is your thing. People are entitled to their opinion, but having been in this band for 5 years, I totally understand why things change within a band. There you go, that can be my random soapbox for the week.
One last thing – I’ve decided to go a little bit crazy. I have 20 free copies of our 2008 album “Destined For Ascension” to give away to the Mosher Crew. So the next 20 Mosher Crew members who email me with their mailing address will get an absolutely free copy of the album. If you’re not in the crew and you want the CD, sign up now and drop me an email before they all go. You can join for free via the Mosher Crew section of our website at www.graveforsaken.com
So I will be back next Monday, but then there will be a two week break before the next Mosh on the 24th. Thanks for reading and you’ll hear from me again soon!
God Bless and MOSH ON!
Vaughan and Grave Forsaken
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