September 2011 ONU Update

Hello all,

This September has been a sobering month for me. While I certainly have been reminded of the cataclysmic events of 9/11/2001, there is actually another ten year anniversary this September that has caused me to reflect deeply upon my life:

The original release of our first full-fledged album project Sorrow & Promise.

I listened to it again a week ago with conflicting emotions. As far as the lyrics and arrangement are concerned, I would not change a single thing on that project. It was a perfectly realized musical statement of what we were going for with regard to composition, vision, and intent.

Having said that, there are parts of it that are hard for me to hear today. The execution of the undertaking was fraught with flaws and compromises, which is an unfortunate reality for an entirely independent, self-financed recording project. Sadly, the flaws center largely around my own musical contributions as a singer and guitar player. Jonathan and Frank submitted spot-on perfect performances, and the drum sound Brad DePasse got at Ark Studios (back when he was operating out of his mother’s basement) was nothing short of phenomenal. Issues with my guitar tone and vocals will always haunt me, for when I hear them I know we just missed achieving something timeless. If my musical contributions had matched my artistic aspirations it really might have been a masterpiece.

But after it was finished it was easy for me to accept the project for what it was: a great first album. Not perfect, but certainly a valiant effort. Even courageous, in that it certainly was crafted with little concern for the pragmatics of pop music marketing. Secular prog listeners would tend to be irritated by the overtly Christian message of the lyrics, and the Christian market would not tolerate such melancholy imagery. No part of S&P would ever find its way on the K-Love play list.

What my reflections this month have stirred in me is a regret that it has taken so long to put forth a follow up project. Ten years. Such a long time. My first draft of the stage play manuscript for O Nox Ultima was written in 2003. It has undergone endless revisions and refinements ever since, and has been transformed from a stage play to a screenplay, and is being transformed once again. Strange twists and turns in the path of my life have caused delays and diversions I would have never anticipated in my wildest dreams. Perhaps they are all part of some unfathomable master plan that I might understand in hindsight once it is finally over with. Or maybe this whole effort will prove to be a colossal waste of time, energy and talent. I wish I could say with certainty which. I cannot. I simply don’t know anymore. All I know for sure is that I will continue pushing forward until it is done.

I even have to laugh a bit at this blog. Again, I am stunned that I am still posting to it after three years. I thought it would have been finished in 2010 at the latest.

This also has caused me to carefully weigh some comments I read on the Christian Progressive Rock email group I’ve been a part of for several years. A poster commented about the ethics and legality of taking pre-orders for unfinished CD projects. Now mind you, I was extremely explicit in the disclaimers agreed to by people who pre-ordered O Nox Ultima CD packages–that there would be no specified delivery date. Given the years of continual delays we have already experienced, I could easily anticipate yet more logistical problems pushing back release dates beyond our control.

Nevertheless, at this point the delay has been completely unreasonable, so I am compelled to make the following offer: if, for any reason whatsoever, customers who pre-ordered O Nox Ultima CDs would like a refund + interest on the $25 they paid us, just contact me via email. I have all of your names/addresses/emails/shipping addresses to verify your identity with. I will gladly refund you with my apologies and no questions asked.

For those of you still willing to “let it ride”, I will do my best to make sure the album was worth the wait.

__________

Now to more specifics regarding the progress of the project:

I have run into a technological problem with my recording studio. My main computer is proving to be unable to accomplish the work I am requiring of it as a host for my DAW (Apple Logic). I am in need of an upgrade and our family budget does not allow for me to simply buy another Mac to replace this one.

I explained this problem to my best friend Dan Kunde, who suggested that I use the story to help finance the studio upgrades I require. “Turn the story into a novel or novella that you can sell” he posed. The idea appealed to me, so I began writing in late May of this year. I have a team of friends I am forwarding the project to chapter by chapter, several of whom are educators with background in English Literature. To date I am about 175 pages into the project, which is probably 30-40% finished. With some of the time I’ll have off over the holidays, it is entirely possible that I could have the first complete draft finished by the end of the year. Seeing that I already have some experience with graphic design and print-on-demand publishing, once I have a final draft completed I can publish the novel more or less instantly.

I am not expecting it to be a blockbuster NY Times best seller, but if I can generate just a little bit of income from the novelization I can get my studio back in working order and we as a band can finish the musical. At that point, we will have the project as a completed work in three forms–an album, a screenplay, and a novel. As a bonus to the faithful CD pre-order customers who stick with us, I’ll be inclined to include paperbacks of both the screenplay and the novel.

So that is the state of affairs for Divine In Sight’s O Nox Ultima project. Bless you all for your patience, prayers and continuing encouragement.

Bart

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