Forever Changed: 1999-2006
Posted March 6, 2006
Forever Changed: 1999-2006
This is probably the last thing anyone really expected, and there's no real way to lead into this. So let's just come out and say it and go from there:
After the month of May of this year, the members of Forever Changed will be parting ways. We will play the remainder of booked shows that we have plus some farewell dates in some of our favorite places (including Cornerstone Florida), and after that, well we're not really sure, but Forever Changed will be no more.
There are a million things to explain. To a lot of people, this might seem like the most inappropriate time to end a band we were writing a follow-up record, we had just joined a great booking agency, we had all the gear, and we were playing better than we ever had before. For the past six and a half years, being in this band was all we really knew about. We had our whole lives devoted to this band. So trust me, we're all kind of in shock right now.
So many thoughts are running through my head right now. I'm trying to explain everything the best I can without leaving any of you wondering why we are parting ways. One thing I want to say for sure is that in no way is this a negative thing. None of us are mad at each other, and to be completely honest, none of us were really expecting this either. It feels weird to even say that we're 'breaking up'. It doesn't really feel like that. God has placed new things in our lives to make us really re-think about what we're doing.
The idea of splitting up started in February of this year. Dan realized that for a lot of reasons, he needed to make the appropriate decision regarding his family life. With that, came the idea of leaving Forever Changed. As difficult as it was to imagine, Dan knew he had to leave the band to focus more on his family future. Dan told the rest of us at practice and we spent the next week or so apart from each other thinking and praying about what we were going to do. We were excited for Dan the moment we heard the news. It was the last thing we were expecting him to tell us. We knew we had the option of continuing on as Forever Changed with a new lead singer, but after a lot of prayer, we felt it would just be best to end at Dan's departure.
This isn't necessarily the end of music for any of us. For the first time in a few years, we're at a point where we can pretty much go in any direction of life that we want and that's really exciting to me. None of us are going to stop making music. Some of us may join other touring bands, and some of us may just create music with no intentions of releasing any of it. Music has helped us really communicate and worship. It's been our creative outlet, and in a lot of ways, it's been an important key to our ministry.
I understand that to many of you, reading this on the Internet, there is a good possibility that you'll read this, go to the next webpage on your online agenda and completely forget the name and music of Forever Changed. The music scene today has been shaped (and in a lot of ways, flooded) by the power of the Internet. The story of a rise, fall, and sometimes total roster change of an indie band is quite common. If you listened to our music for the simple purpose of entertainment, we're glad you listened, and we hope you continue to. But I also know that to a lot of you reading this, this may affect you more than just an average band break-up.
I think from the beginning, our band was never solely about making good music and touring around the country. We were excited about both of those things, but I think our main goal was to create some kind of nationwide community of friends. Our favorite part of being a band has always been meeting new people and developing relationships beyond a thirty minute rock and roll set. I cannot begin to list how many great friends I've made in almost every state of the country, and I feel like this letter or whatever you want to call it, is written mainly for you all.
There is some exciting band news in all of this. We have spent the last three months writing non-stop for a new record, and we still have every intention of recording and releasing a final album. Those of you who have seen us perform in the past few months have heard some of the new songs played live. The album tentatively titled "Chapters" will be released in May of this year and will be available with limited edition packaging at all of our farewell shows, through mail-order, and downloadable through iTunes. The album will not be available in stores. Please check back soon for news on pre-order information. Pre-orders SHOULD be starting as early as next week.
There is still so much to be said and so much to explain. For now I think this will be the end of my writing. Just as it started, I'm not quite sure how to wrap it up. There will be more blogs posted about this whole deal. Take the news however you will, but please know that all of us in Forever Changed are still friends, and even though we are all bummed out that things are coming to an end, we're really excited about what lies ahead. We truly hope you'll come out to see us one last time for our farewell shows in May.
Thanks for reading,
Nathan
