The Witching Rod

Image: A still from the 408 dayz.

Good morning. The owl is talking to me… “rise and shine johnny, fire up the war room, Fire up the War room!!!” Each morning I now cross a creeky wooden stairway descending the twisted oaks to the canyon floor. As I walk I hear the great owl hooting in the darkness. He knows something is coming, as I do as well. Lets talk a bit about Diamonds Hadder.

408: I feel like I’m living in a dream. It’s a quiet calm that’s fallen on me here at the oaks. Boxes and trinkets and wires are all spread out in strange rooms and I’m trying desperately to complete the vinyl artwork amongst the ruins of my move. This week I’ve settled into the final stages of the Photo college I’ve been designing for the insert. Images are thrown about my pine floors… ink jet light cards documenting the years I spent making the breakers record… coated in soot and ash from my nightly living room campfires. It’s a collection of images spanning the life of the record. I don’t really have a choice but to do this. Last night I was watching a documentary on “Mutt” lange and I was reminded that the things I’m doing now, the art for the vinyl, the process, the time spent… it’s all for the cause of this record. Although I’m very humbled and emotionally grateful for anyone who listens to it, this record is for me, I’m not making it for you. Sometimes we can get lost in what we think we’re doing. The initial reason can get blurred over time because we just want things to be done sometimes. Let’s face it, it’s just so damn hard to stay the course on a dream over extended period of time. Time is a real killer. However, although I feel like I’m trapped in the calm and solitary moments of quiet art under my new oaks, I do see a pleasant storm coming this spring and so I must batten down the hatches so to say, soon. This week I arrived at memory lane, down by the 408 images. What an interesting time that was during the record. There are things that happened at that time that I wont really ever discuss, but I will say it was one of the most productive moments of the breakers record in terms of tracking. It was there that I reopened the original version of the “Ballad of Dead Rabbit”. The original version was recorded in the home I lost to the fire. When I first played it in that tower, it spoke to me. Those vocals I recorded in that room downstairs that was now lost. I soloed the tracks and could almost here the room and house in the faint background noise of the track. It was like a ghost talking to me, Mr Evermore perhaps, as I think he was around me a lot back then. I was a bit troubled at the 408. Skirting the line between reality and a man who possibly was going mad. Luckily I had a purpose, “The Breakers”. I recorded “City of Fire”, “Rivers End” and the initial stages of the new “Dead Rabbit” re-write there at the 408. I also shot and edited the video for stargazer, recorded the Ramsay/Evermore tracks and wrote most of the novel there. It truly was a tower of inspiration. My own Frankenstein. By the end of my time at the 408, I was certainly confused as to what the hell I was doing, and ready for a place where I could step away and gain some new insights and perspective on what I had created up until them. That was when I moved to the LEX and finished up “Long is the Road and my re-write of the “Dead Rabbit”.

New Patterns: Well like I said a few weeks ago, the new seeds I’ve planted are starting to sprout. It’s a very small start to something I sense will soon overtake the floor bed here under the oaks. I’m back at the pacific, tracking the makings of breakers #2 during my morning ride into the city, much like I did when I started “Evermore”. My voice feels like a witching rod, leading me to new phrases and words and ideas by the hour. My days are filled with choirs and harmonies while my nights are spent chopping wood and filtering images for the vinyl insert. I’m now in the throughs of something special. Although the graphics computers are alive and well and computing, my war room is still powered off. I’m waiting for a few new pieces of hardware needed to fire it all up. It’s there I’ll finish up the music videos for the Breakers record. The new tower is fairly grand compared to the LEX. I have a tall roof now with true firelight and 4 moon windows above me. Windows for the great owl who I hope will impart some wisdom through his peering eyes. He sits on the arms of the oaks as I work. My own canyon Bubo.

The Cave:

Lyndear “John, there’s one more thing I should show you. I don’t really advertise it, but your welcome to use it.”

John “Ok, what is it?”

Lyndear “Let’s take a walk. When I was building this place, I wanted to have an area away from the house, a special place to store things and to work on projects. Me an Tom we decided to dig into the mountain and create a room nestled in the earth. We framed it with concrete and filled it back with dirt on the outsides when we were done with the foundation. We did our best but the water still seemed to find its way into the room so we eventually abandoned the idea of it. Oh, here it is… watch your step.”

(John and Lyndear come upon a large red door protruding from the mountain slope. A cave like doorway flat against the canyon wall leading to a secret room cut into the earth of the mountain. John opens the doorway and walks in with a little smirk on his face.)

John “Hmmm.. interesting space… “do rea me fa soooooo”… it has great acoustics. Does the electric work?”

Lyndear “No. At one time it did but it hasn’t worked in years. We tried a few things to see if we could stop the water from getting in but we gave up on it. Your welcome to do what you want with it.”

(John’s eyes were gleaming in the dark, the reflection of the red doorway could be seen in his irises. A sneaky grin crossed his lips as his gears were turning so fast you could almost see smoke pouring out of his ears. He turned to lyn and said.)

John “I think I might have a use for such a room. Perhaps in the spring.”

Well that’s all for now. I’m close to releasing the Vinyl artwork. A few twists and turns now and I’ll get back to my videos for the breakers record while the manufacturing elves do their things inside the closing weeks of winter.

Farewell

-J

Rock Hammers

Image: Some art I did while moving to The Oaks.

Good morning. It’s 40ish degrees here in Los Angeles, well, it was this morning as I left the oaks. It’s been a rather eventful 2 weeks since the passing of my girl Bella… lets catch up.

Vinyl Artwork: Between losing Bella, The Holidays and moving operations to a new location outside the city, I had to put Vinyl artwork design on hold. I literally have been living out of boxes the last few weeks, which was actually a nice distraction from missing Bella. The thought she’s gone still doesn’t quite register in my head. I suppose once I’m settled, I’ll have to deal with that. The final days of my move are in front of me. I’ll be handing over the old keys to the LEX on Sunday, that Place I finished the Breakers record, and getting settled in the Oaks. Last night I lit the fireplace in the new studio room, a somewhat roomy and holy place. I imagine I’ll finish the artwork there and start to write and record again very soon. The artwork for the breakers vinyl is really close to being completed, or at least handed over to the record label, I just really couldn’t even get to it as I had to pack everything into boxes and bins the last few weeks. I’ll start back up next week. I’ll be pushing to complete as soon as the computers are running again.

Music: I’ve been very inspired musically lately. Lots of song ideas are coming to me. I think the spirits of these oak trees are like lightning rods, channeling things into my subconscious. I’m hearing Zabble again, and seeing chapters of the Hadder tale. I’m imagining the next Breakers record. I almost can’t wait to fire up the boards in the war room. My fingers are tingling and my voice feels stronger and more focused than ever.

Rabbit Tales: We are creatures of habit. Lord knows I am. I dwell in my patterns. I find peace there and tranquility in the things I can control. At the moment I feel like this move to the oaks, as frantic and disruptive as it was to my patterns and peace, was a very needed step in the progression of this “breakers” endeavor that I’m still fully engulfed in. You see, the breakers record is not really just a musical record, it happened as I happened… over time… and the story is still ongoing. The last two weeks I planted some very strange seeds in the ground, it was hard to do… the earth was like cement near these oaks. But I’m a creature of spring as well and I believe the things I’ve done and the choices I’ve made the last two week, during this winter, will blossom into some amazing patterns later in the year. Let me tell you a little story.

One day before I had the dream about Mr. Evermore, I was driving along the Pacific. Years had passed since I was in any kind of regimented vocal training routines. Although I took opera lessons and vocal lessons for years and pursued singing and music most of my life in various forms, my life had spiraled into responsibilities and confusion and regrets. But I had an idea that day, as my drive into Los Angeles was long and very routine, that I would start training my voice again. But training it unlike I ever trained it. I made a choice that day that I would return to that old fire I had, the one who’s embers had dimmed to nothing more than a warm touch. And so slowly… day after day.. month after month… year after year it seemed… along the Pacific… I trained. Like I said, I’m a creature of habbit. Much like Andy Dufresne and his rock hammer ways, I felt that the only thing standing between me and freedom was time. That was long ago now. Why mention this? Well, three days ago I returned to the canyons. I awoke for the first time in a long time to the sound of pre-dawn Owl hoots in the cold darkness. A half moon could be seen through the twisted skeletons of the 500 year old oak trees that drape over my new tower. My breath was a cloud of warm air cutting through the midnight cold of the canyon. I began my ride through the twisted canyon, a planted seed, left and right and left and right until I came upon the PCH and the sweet smell of the pacific. We meet again. The seeds I planted this week, will be sprouting new patterns in my life, patterns that I forecasted as I was digging in the earth. It’s time to train harder. I’ve come back to the place of the wolf. I am the dead rabbit.

Not that I’m a person to preach, to judge or to teach, but I will say, anything you wish to achieve in this earthy realm is simply governed by your daily efforts and the accumulation of those efforts over long periods of time. When the snowy water leaves the mountain tops, it’s doesn’t just arrive at the mouth of the river, it has to find its way… over the pass.… through the canyon… under the ground and past the great tree. It makes its own way as you must. Likes and Follows have nothing to do with it. Stay the course friend… we have time on our side.

Farewell

-j

Bella 12:13:23 - 2:47am

Image: Bella hanging out in Gardena at Light Black Studio's while tracking with TOR during my time at 200 North.

Good morning from LA.

It’s been a rough week for me as my girl Bella has passed away. I’m normally fairly chipper and optimistic about things but it’s been a sad few days. Let me catch you up on some Hadder things.

Bella was a Japanese Tosa Inu. She was my little girl, literally. She gave me a kiss on Wednesday night at the hospital and I said I’ll see you in the morning sweetheart. But the morning never came. I was called back in the middle of the night as her heart stopped. I whispered in her ear as she passed away that night, “I love you girl”. It’s hard to talk about that moment. I remember when she was young, before she weighed 150 lbs, I would pick her up and sit her on the table and she would put her paws on my shoulders and just smile. Later in life I would have to sit in front of her and she would still put her paws on my shoulders drooling on me as she smiled that same smile. She lived with me in the home I lost and then again at 200 North while I was working with the band TOR and also writing Diamonds Hadder music. She became the inspiration for Ezra, the character in my Hadder stories. She was a great companion and I’ll certainly miss our walks together above the clouds.  So begins this next season of my life. For now, Bella will live forever inside the memories and songs of my little breakers record. I do believe I will see her again someday.

Breakers Vinyl artwork: Artwork design for ‘Beyond the Breakers” is on a little hold. It’s a good time to sit back and reflect on all the work I’ve done for the “Beyond the Breakers” double vinyl. Just about all the layout design work is done, it’s just a matter of gathering all the photos from the making of the record for the insert inside the gatefold. I’ve gone way back, gathering images from the home I lost, 200 North, TOR days, #408 and the Lex. It was a “Long Road” making the record and I generally always carry around my DSLR camera, so I have lots of images. Rather than rush the artwork, I thought it was much more important to get the images that tell the story of this record. So far it’s looking great but there are more archives I need to go through to finalize the photo collage. Soon enough it will be done. I was really thinking Bella was going to be here through Christmas, so her passing has thrown a little wrench into my initial Vinyl artwork timelines. I was hoping to complete it all before my move, but it’s looking like that isn’t going to happen. Over the next three weeks I’m leaving the LEX and moving outside the city, returning to the canyons that first inspired this Breakers record, to a place I call “The Oaks”. I suppose I’ll finalize the artwork there over the next few weeks once I get settle.

The oaks and New Things: Soon I’ll be in my new tower under the oaks. I’m very much looking forward to this next season of my life. I think I’ll be writing something special there. Perhaps an extension of the Breakers Record. Aside from wanting to complete my Diamonds Hadder novel there and begin the scoring of that novel and record, I think I still have another 8 songs that have been dancing around in my head this year. Songs that could have perhaps been a part of the breakers record. Songs like “The Rock King” which was based on a mediaeval poem I wrote about a king who built a castle of stone for a queen who betrayed him, or “Out of the Black”,  “Gone”, “Quiet Places” and “The Den at Orchard Park”, a few other songs from the TOR era of my life. Then there is a song actually called “Beyond the Breakers”, a somewhat haunting track similar to the lost reflection from early Crimson Glory, and “Child of the Sun” a song about a strange child who has the power to move the sun and shape the course of a great battle. “The Red Recluse” is another idea I’ve been dabbling with, I think the name speaks for itself.  And last but not least, “Kind Winters”, a song that originally was penned lyrically for the Ramsey/Evermore project but that I might redo into a Diamonds Hadder song, as I really love the poem it was born from. We’ll see how things progress into 2024.

Well, I suppose that’s all for now. The Vinyl will drop in spring on No Remorse Records and a few music videos should start to appear around that time as well. After that it’s rehearsals and writing and hopefully some shows in Europe if I can pull it all together. I had a dream that Ezra came to see me at the oaks. She was running around and drooling all over the place. I was so happy to see her. I think lord Zabble is up to something. I’ll tell you about it later.

“Somewhere,

Between what we give and what we’re holding

Out there

Seems there’s a cost to pay for knowing

Who cares

Is the play really worth the showing?

Still here

Between what we lost and where we’re going"

Farewell

-j