Monday, October 26, 2009

26th October 2009: Monday Mosh #19

26th October 2009: Monday Mosh #19
Hi, Vaughan here with another Monday Mosh. On the weekend just gone we played a gig at the school where I teach, John Wollaston Anglican Community School. The conditions were extremely windy, and being outdoors, it was hard to not get blown off the stage. We were determined to continue however, and played through our entire set. Thanks in particular go to Chloe, Toby (ex students of mine) and Chloe’s mum, who stayed up front for the whole show despite the terrible conditions. Also, there was a group of younger students from year 7 who moshed it up as well. That kind of support for the band never goes unnoticed! It was great to get to school Monday morning and hear direct from the principal that she thought the band was terrific. It is intimidating playing in front of so many staff and students, but we’re really happy with how it went.

In the last few months we have been trying a few things to grow the band. I’d really like to encourage everyone to help us out by doing the following:

Join the Mosher Crew – it’s free and can be done through our website at www.graveforsaken.com , just click on the Mosher Crew link

Become our friend on myspace – our site is www.myspace.com/graveforsaken

Become a fan of the band on Facebook, we have a Grave Forsaken page over there. I’m also happy to take friend requests from supporters on my personal facebook page (search for Vaughan Gregory, and mention GF when you make the friend request). We’re starting to use facebook more and more to communicate band info

Start following us on Twitter – Richo has set us up over there as well

We want to make the GF experience as interactive and fun as it can be. Also, I always enjoy getting emails from supporters of the band, so if you have any suggestions on other ways we can grow the band, please email me at graveforsaken@graveforsaken.com and we can chat. It’s always nice to hear from you.

The next gig is on November 7th at the Castle in Northbridge (it’s becoming a very regular gig for us). I don’t know time or lineup yet, but that info will be available through our site, myspace, facebook and twitter etc as soon as we know. Thanks to Paula for booking us – hopefully we can put on a good performance for you.

Thanks for all the emails about the hard copy release of Light The Hall. It is well on it’s way, and we aim to have it out before the end of the year. There’s one or two little things we need to get done to make the package the best possible value, but it is all nearly done. We are initially printing 100, and if they sell out we will definitely be making more. A big thanks to Rowland from Iron Guardian Industries for his support and enthusiasm for this project. It’s taking on a bigger scope than I ever envisioned, but I’m finding with God’s help that that kind of thing is happening more and more these days.

We are also working Friday nights on the next studio album. We are working with Dan Holmes at Fattdog Studio again. The album follows in the footsteps of songs like No News and Wasting Power from the last record. We are going for a beefier production on this one, with a strong guitar sound with lots of leads. I’ve tried to write a new batch of catchy lyrics that will hopefully go over well live. We get a few raised eyebrows for putting out so many albums, but most of my favourite albums come from bands who were doing an album a year during their most creative peak. I just think it’s a fun and rewarding way to work. Besides, you try and tell Shreds he’s got to stop writing riffs for a year. The man is a riff machine who is constantly (and I do mean CONSTANTLY!) coming out with new song ideas. I don’t doubt for a moment that Shreds has already written most of the 5th and 6th album before we’ve finished recording the 4th. He is seriously considering doing a solo album to bust a few of these ideas out of his head and onto a release. It is always the way we’ve worked. Destined For Ascension was written before River was released, and most of TDF was recorded just a few weeks after the release of Destined. I’m serious when I say you should expect an album an year from us for the forseeable future. We just love it too much.

Well thanks for checking in – and don’t forget to email me for a chat. If there’s anything you want discussed in a Monday Mosh, or any suggestions for an episode of GFTV, we are always open to suggestions. Thanks to everyone reading for your continued support of the band through prayer, attending shows, buying merch or spreading the word about the band to your mates. We truly appreciate it, and the band is currently in a very healthy place because of it. Until next time, God Bless and Mosh On!

19th October 2009: Monday Mosh #18

19th October 2009: Monday Mosh #18
First of all, I must apologise for the delay in getting this Monday Mosh out. I’m going to use that old favourite excuse of being too busy! Since we got back from Blackstump it has just been insane. However, it is a new week and I have a new Monday Mosh for you all.

Blackstump went sensationally well. It was a really fun weekend and a really cool show. It was so much fun just to hang out with everyone and have a great time. All the guys from the bands got on really well, and we’ve been discussing some exciting ideas about pushing the Australian scene forward over the coming months and years. Everyone is really committed to making something really cool. God willing we will see some real progress. Our next target is to get accepted for Easterfest in Queensland. It would be really cool to get there and hang out with the Queensland Mosher Crew. I just found out that Rez Band is playing, so from a personal point of view, seeing them would be a real highlight for me.

On the subject of Blackstump and how well it went, we made the decision to invite drummer Richard Sallows to join the band permanently. Richo has been great in the few months he’s been with us and truly deserves to be a full time member of the band. He has been open to constructive criticism and is going to amazing lengths to help promote the band and secure gigs. We hope Richard will be with us for a long time to come. From all of us at Grave Forsaken – welcome aboard Richard.

We have a gig this Saturday at the school where I teach – John Wollaston. We play at midday on the library steps. The school is located on Centre Road in Kelmscott, Western Australia. It would be great to see a few of you there. This is our last currently booked gig, but I’m sure some more dates will be confirmed in the near future.

We had a great time playing at the Castle on October 14th. It was full on flying back from Sydney, then gigging in Perth straight away. I’m starting to understand how bands feel when they’re on the road for a long stretch of time. It would just get relentless. Hopefully God will bless us with more opportunities so we can learn to grow together and Christians and friends.

I announced to the Mosher Crew last week that our live album Light The Hall! will be released on hard copy by Iron Guardian Industries over here in Perth. You can still download it from the members area of our official site at www.graveforsaken.com . You just need to join the Mosher Crew (which is free), then select a price you wish pay, starting at $0. We’ve had a few people download it for free, listen to it, then come back and pay. I am getting the feeling however that Grave Forsaken supporters like their hard copies, as I’ve had a number of inquiries about the physical release. The hard copy will come with a bonus Grave Forsaken documentary about our recent East Coast trip. Our new drummer Richard has worked hard to get this doco together, and I’m very pleased with his efforts. Obviously I’ll give you all more details as they come to hand. I should add that in no way does this deal with IGI affect our relationship with Soundmass. We are working closely with them on future projects also.

That about wraps it for now. I will put out another Mosh next week as originally scheduled, then back to every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month. Until then, God Bless and Rock On!