"Help me get back to the reason I sing for you" -Jimmy Needham

Hey guys,

This is Levi checking in. I've spent seven and a half hours in class, five hours doing homework, and every other second worrying about Friday and doing all the background "business" stuff required to have anyone half interested in listening to your music. There will never be enough time in a day.. I'm sitting here feeling absolutely drained, utterly discouraged, and endlessly frustrated. Here's why.
After everything I've labored over today, and all the hours spent working my butt off, I realize that I didn't take a second to pray. I couldn't find even five minutes to talk to God, maybe thank Him that I'm, I don't know, BREATHING! Didn't thank Him for allowing me to play music with the guys, blessing me with the opportunity to go to school, bringing the most incredible girlfriend into my life. I lost sight of it all. This is what will kill us. I mean it too.. Everything that I take on, I take on with God's grace and His strength. Is it exhausting? Absolutely! Does it suck to pour your heart out doing exactly what you were made to do only to have your ministry put down by "important" people, or even put down by pastors? Yesh.. But we, as Christians are able to push on because God gives us that strength and that passion to keep praising Him. I've had the honor of being called to a life of service to Him. Whether it's through my conversations, my music or even just my smiles in the store, I'm trying to live a life that draws people to Him.

But today, and even this past week.. You know what, I'd go as far as to say this past month.. I lost it. Lost sight of the goal. Business overtook me, and "success" (what they've been telling me it is anyway) was looking close. I put my priorities in the wrong order with Him at the back and myself (and my critics) at the front. So today I'm humbled. I'm watching the old Hillsong United "Look to You" dvd listening to "All I Need Is You" and I'm right back in that spot where it all started, crazy in love with God and less than interested in myself and my agendas. I should be sleeping, because tomorrow's going to be busier than today was, but I wanted to verbalize all this before my pride kicked in. I'm just a broken dude trying to figure things out and set myself up to provide for a family someday. I don't have it figured out.. But I know that today was unacceptable, and that if you want to burn out, cutting God out of the picture is a great place to start.

We're having a cd release party this Friday at six thirty at Emmanuel church in Barrie. It's going to be an intimate night with some snacks, some coffee, and some time where we can pour our cd out to you. I hope you can make it out. I appreciate you guys. Thanks for listening. I'm not wearing an entertainer hat today. Sorry :)

first snow fall i've witnessed this year!!

It was great.

Walk out of class and see snow falling! Just like in the picture! (no not at all like the picture lol)

But it was enough to remind me of Christmas and not the winter driving!

I say this now...but i can acknowledge come January i will be hating the drives from Cambridge to Stayer haha.

Just an weather update from the bassist :)

Oh yeah 75% on one of my mid-terms!! Not bad for some casual midnight studying the night before!

Peace out :)

Matt

back to work :(...

What a weekend! (no sarcasm intended :) )
Started out with Levi and i getting lost on the way back to Stayner. Oh yeah, and prior to getting lost, while in the parking lot of Tim Horton's we find out that our sound check will be cut short due to a wedding rehearsal!! So actually, prior to even being lost, we were both a little stressed. The tension in the car was thick, if it wasn't for the assurance that we were going to get to play some sweet music in just a few hours, one of us may have had a black eye haha. Those moments of stress are when you learn how much you can handle, and thankfully we have Jesus then just like every other moment :) .

It was a huge relief arriving at the venue. Unloading was a Huge stress relief. It was all worth the drive haha. Our sound check was one that was not as smooth as hoped. Our nerves got the best of us and there were some ugly mistakes. And of course, me being the high-maintenance bassist that I am, I had to bug Roger Robinson about the monitor situation. Thankfully he extended tons of grace towards me. He tweeked my in-ears perfectly and the bass was pounding! Thankfully, we had a small second sound-check that went much better. There was a mild confidence in the rest of the guys (especially Trevor, he's always so chill) that calmed me down. We had a sweet prayer time prior to our set which helped put things into perspective (especially for me). I didn't get much of a listen to the opening acts of Andrew and Aimee Bowins (brother and sister duo), and Chuck Baker. All I heard was great stuff about their performances though :) .

Then our set! It was so much fun. Playing with these 3 guys never gets dull. Trevor is such a great drummer and it's fun to watch the guy play. There's never a show we play without hearing about 10 comments about how great our drummer is! This is awesome because all it takes to get me smiling and laughing on stage is to hear one of his crazy drum fills or see the huge smile that he always has on! Then Drew, always calm and collected. He's never content with his tone, which I love because I see this quality in every great guitar player. We always have our moments of laughing at some crazy note Levi hits or again some crazy drum fill Trevor does haha. Levi, he's the best. He just loves when we go into some funky instrumental. He starts groovin' and we just follow where he leads (sometimes it's Trevor who takes the reigns haha). The night consisted of all these things happening. We're all so thankful for all those behind the scenes who put so much work into getting the place ready. I was so thankful, all I had to do was plug my bass in and start jamming :) .

I had some family time on saturday which was super sweet. It's amazing how much you start to miss your parents (especially the cooking :) ) and brothers after a few months of living away from home. Then, as Levi loves to do to me haha, I was summoned to attempt to play back-up acoustic for a fundraiser Saturday night. It was another good night. Much more low-key than the night before which was great. Some originals and covers that were fun.

Sunday morning consisted of awaking to the alarm clock at 6:20, earliest i've been up in some time :) . A shower, some clean clothes, packing up the bass and amp, a great breakfast, a great trip to a coffee shop, and then to the church for worship practice. A great morning all in all. I thought Levi's voice would be gone after the second service but he managed to talk on the car ride home haha (anybody who knows us knows that i'm the one who never shuts up).

...back to work :( . A.k.a school. It's nice to be back. Enjoying a coffee from my fresh new French Press from Starbucks :) . Lots of reading and studying to get done, which is surprisingly a nice change from a busy weekend. It's amazing how much stress being in school can add to a musician. Usually a few shows in a weekend wouldn't phase me, but i've found myself praying for more strength than ever these past few days. Awesome weekend overall :)
Music is the best isn't it?

Peace out.

-Matt

TOMORROW NIGHT!!

Can you believe the release party is here?? I mean seriously.. This thing came so stinking fast.. wheww..
I'm just doing breathing exercises trying to stay relaxed right now. I'm excited/nervous/proud/humbled.. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I would love to present you with an incredible, unforgettable night. We've brought in Andrew and Aimee Bowins to open things off, and that's going to be a lot of fun. Then Chuck Baker is going to come on and show you some of the craziest local talent that you've ever seen. Roger Robinson is behind the board with Kyle Cleary making everything sound smooth and perfect. These guys know sound, and it's going to make the night that much better. And working her fingers to the bone will be the lovely Amanda Cramer, making sure everything is pleasing to the eyes and getting all the volunteer bakers organized.. Oh yeah, free desserts and coffees for everyone. Ya dig??

Finally I get to take to the stage with Drew Peterson, Trevor Walker and Matt Szkarlat: Three talented gentlemen who've been working so hard this past year and a half to make sweet music with me. Last night Trevor drove 2 hours here and 2 hours back just to practise. That's commitment.

We often struggle with the entertainment side of things.. How do we own the stage and keep everyone engaged and entertained without trying to bring the glory to ourselves or distract from God and what He's doing.. The balance is hard to find, and we'll never be able to please everyone. But we're determined to please one guy in particular and if we can do that than we've succeeded. Tomorrow night at 6:30 PM @ NewLife Church in Collingwood we're going to have an awesome night and we would LOVE to see you there. It's absolutely free, so what's stopping you? Bring some friends, here some great music, eat some free pie, buy some cds and make it a Friday night to remember. You know you want to ;)

Whether we see you there or not, I want you to know that we really appreciate you. All of you. Thanks :)

Levi

Would You Go

I know you don't need to be reminded (because you've been waiting anxiously all year... right?) but our DEBUT ALBUM CD RELEASE PARTAY is 6 DAYS AWAY! I'm not excited at all.. why would you think that?
This album is a four year collection of songs. It's been two and-a-half years in the making. It's got some upbeat pizazz, and some slow it down lets think about thisness.. It's got character. And if you relate to it or not,(what can I do about that?) it's genuine. We didn't build it for radio hits, mosh pits or the famous groupie ditz.. We wrote it to tell a story. We recorded it because we liked it and wanted it to last, and through two and-a-half years, two different producers and a changing of the band, the original feel we were going for was still able to come through.
A friend of mine from work mentioned that he would check it out even though there would probably be some "strong Christian undertones". You know what, I wont pretend that he's wrong.. I'm a Christian, and that passion is going to flow into what I write, how I perform, who plays with me and what I desire. If you're a friend of mine or you like the music but you don't happen to be a Christian I hope you'll check out the album anyways. I try not to be a "shove it down your throat every chance I get" kind of guy. This music is my way of expressing what I believe and how I see the world. It's no different than someone who loves to party singing about how much they love getting drunk and going to the club. So give it a shot.

A while back I said I'd go into the stories behind the songs. Well, I'm going to start that today with the story behind the title track "Would You Go"

It was close to 11 pm in a Haitian refugee camp in the Dominican Republic. There was a medical clinic in the village which had a separate living quarters for visiting missionaries. Amanda lived here and I lived in a hut down the hill. My little hut had no electricity that night (This happened a lot)and I felt like reading so I was chilling in the kitchen reading a book called "The Shack". I can't remember the author's name right now.. Anywho, this book stirred up some controversy in religious circles so I had to read it.. It was about a guy who had lost his daughter to a rapist and was lured to a shack (thus the title) by God. (I think this is where the controversy is found?) Well the thing that sparked me was the idea of actually spending a day with Jesus. I mean, what would He say? If we were just chilling, walking around, shooting the basketball, what would that conversation look like.

So I sat there and I started writing intently. It started pretty laid back

"We skipped a stone across the lake,
And watched the shivers it would make
Lay down your head and rest a while
And know you always make me smile

I would go, I would go, I would go to the unknown for you

Just as the tide, it needs the shore
My need for you is so much more
Your breath alone invades My heart
Oh how I loved you from the start"

Pretty cheesy when you look at it from a guy's perspective.. But I'm thinking about what He said in His word and the way that He lived.. He loved me deeper than I love my brothers. How does a friendship or a relationship that deep look? He's just overflowing with love for me.. love that made Him do some crazy things.. And then I remembered that crazy thing and I grasped how real it was. I thought about Jesus for the first time, as being real, flesh, my best friend.. I'm not lying, I literally cried the first time I sang the next two verses

"Then with the darkness overhead..
They pierced my side, pronounced me dead.
It was your sin that hung me here,
The very heart I hold so dear

But I would go, I would go, I would go to the unknown for you

My precious child is who you are
It was for you I bore these scars
And as you know this was My choice
But how I'd love to hear your voice

Would you go? Would you go? Would you go to the unknown for me?"

I screwed up, and someone had to pay for it. So my best friend stepped up, was killed, felt God literally turn away from Him, and went to Hell. The comfort is that it was always His plan, and He conquered death and Hell and came back with the promise that the price was paid for everything I've done if I just believe in Him. I'm a long ways away from death (I hope) and it's easy for me to lose sight of the day when I'm faced with all the choices I made, and I face the reality that justice demands a punishment. He took that punishment for me. It's crazy..
Now, if you just decided that you'll never read a blog again because I'm too preachy, just look back on my past posts.. I'm typically not like this. I keep quiet, because I respect the fact that you're going to ask if you want to know, and I don't need you to believe what I believe to keep our friendship going. But today I'm telling the story behind this song, and there's just no way of avoiding the most integral part of the story.

Would you go is the question it drives into in the improvised ending.. We were just jamming away in practise and I started singing out some random melodies and lines all centered around that question. Sometimes (not as often as in the past) I'll pray over the guys or sing some improvised words of encouragement when we're jamming. Just let it flow it out y'all.. Any ways, I was doing that here, and as I was singing it out I just felt something crazy happening in the room and I blurted out "Here I am". It just felt like God was letting me, and my boys, know that this was exactly where He wanted us. It was taking up all our time, all of my money (I mean ALL of it) and it was difficult to explain to our friends and family (School? No, I'm in a band..). But in that moment I knew that this is what He made me to do. I just keep going now, because if He could die for me, than I can take every last song and chord in my arsenal and use it for Him.

So the question.. Would you go? If it costs you everything? How far would you follow? We built the album on it, because I can't think of a more crucial or important question to ask. If you wont go, than what's the point? He did it for us.

This is as long as my posts get. Forgive me guys. And hey, I can apologize to you IN PERSON at the CD RELEASE PARTAY! Please come, and bring your friends! It's going to be an awesome night.

Levi