The fruits of labor...

Well, I know it has been a long time since I last posted. I apologize. I would like to be able to say that I'm going to start blogging much more frequently now that the summer is in full swing, but I feel like I've said that in pretty much all of my last few blog posts, so I'll leave that little clause out for now. I may or may not start posting more frequently.

Anyways, I just got back from a camp called Ravencrest just outside of Estes Park, Colorado yesterday. It was my third time to go to Ravencrest, and it truly was an amazing experience, but I'll save that story for another post. This post is about something that has consumed much of my time, thought, and creative energy over the past year--my band, Christmas Fuller Project's first full-length album. It is called "The Philosophy of Time Travel" and it has been in the works for just about a year. Last Saturday, June 23, we finally released it for the world to hear. This is significant for a couple of reasons I feel are worth mentioning. One, as someone who criticizes music (although rarely on paper, and even more rarely with any real insight) all of the time, it is pretty exciting to actually create and put something out there for other people to react to. And I'm so proud of it, and I think there other guys in the band are, too. The second reason is that we as a band (with a new 5th member, no less) can now finally move on and start working on new material, which is exciting. Here's the cover art for the album. Aaron Hopwood and I designed it and Nick Roland digitally put it together.


After pouring so much into it, it feels really nice to just sit back and let go of it. It is finished, done, and there is no more tweaking left to do. Now we just have the privilege of hearing the thoughts of whomever will bless us with actually listening to it. And, for any curious people out there, shortly you will be able to buy the CD on CDBaby.com and iTunes. The easiest way, of course, is to just buy one at a show ($10).

But while the album itself is finished, it isn't quite done with us just yet. I got the idea to create a music video for one of its songs recently, and we shot that video just over a week ago. Its a simple performance video (and I knew it would have to be to retain a shred of dignity given our limited video resources), but we had a whole lot of fun making it. It is my official music video directorial debut. Here it is, for those of you interested:


Like I said, its nothing fancy, but we sure did have fun making it. I am considering doing another video or two for songs from the album, maybe doing one without anyone in the band in it this summer (as me, George, and Tyler are the only ones in the U.S. right now). If anyone has a cool and practical idea for a new CFP music video, or if you would be interested in helping me develop a concept for one, shoot it, lend resources, or whatever, let me know. I would love your help.

Well, I guess thats all for now. I hope you are blessed and growing. Take care.
-Cameron

The Philosophy of Time Travel

Hey guys, I posted this last night on CFP's MySpace blog, but thought it also applied to my personal blog since it describes what I've been doing for the past 8 months. Anyways, here it is: a description of my band's first full length album:

After building insurmountable amounts of intrigue, here, on this most auspicious of occasions, we reveal the shape of things to come--the sketchings of an opus. We've whet your imaginations and challenged your notions of time and space. Well, time, not space. It is now, however, on this very hour, nay, this very minute, that we reveal, in full, what we have been crafting ever so delicately over the past 8 months.

I would like to apologize for that above paragraph. It was ridiculous.

In all seriousness, we are ready to reveal exactly what has come from our many hours spent writing, practicing, and recording music. And that, my friends, is a new full-length album.

It's called "The Philosophy of Time Travel" and although we have not yet designed the album art and are still yet to record 2 remaining songs, we are already very proud of it. It has been a difficult time- and thought-consuming process, but it has been worth it.

So how did this come about? Well, the project initially started as an EP to follow up our Milkhouse EP. It was originally conceived to be another 4 or 5 songs that we could quickly record and release to try to make a little bit of money at shows. But, as we finished the first few tracks (Ghosts Are for Graveyards and The Part That Lives, in particular), we realized that, with more recording experience, we were getting much higher quality sounds that we had in the past using the same equipment. Band members started bringing new songs to the table that were, in our humble opinions, quite good and we had an interest in recording more than just the original 5 or so. As we started analyzing the songs, we realized several themes running throughout nearly all of them.

We discovered that these themes could be tied together using the idea of "Time Travel" as a reference point. Thus, "The Philosophy of Time Travel" was born. Several tracks were written after the overall album theme was decided, which serve to make the time travel idea considerably more obvious. Among these are the three parts of a "musical trilogy" (to quote Spinal Tap) about the 19th century swimmer Captain Matthew Webb and a time traveler. The track list is as follows:

1. Captain Webb vs. The English Channel
2. Try
3. Ghosts Are for Graveyards
4. The Part That Lives
5. Learn How to Die (Country Step)
6. A Long Drive
7. Prelude
8. 1875
9. Meet Me in Montauk
10. I Choose to Love You Anyway
11. Optimistic
12. Pop Philosophy

What we've ended up with is an album about the strange place we (the members of CFP and many others) find ourselves in: we are looking to something from a relatively long time ago to dictate what we do today, yet must constantly acknowledge and live with the reality that we are incapable of living up to this standard until some point in the future (read: our deaths). Time Travel is a metaphor for hope, regret, longing, reminiscing, learning from mistakes, and any other experience that finite beings inevitably face as they try to figure out their place in eternity.

It's just a CD--one that will hopefully be in your hands by April. But it's got our (figurative) blood, sweat, and tears all over it. We hope you enjoy it. We can't wait for you to hear it.

-Cameron