Imagination and Risk

Happy December! 

I'm sorry for not writing sooner. As expected, the new project by "Sleeping At Last" called "Yearbook" is well underway and keeping us very very very busy! For those of you that aren't familiar with "Sleeping At Last" and the "Yearbook" project, let me tell you a little about it. 

"Sleeping At Last" is a band that I am blessed to manage. Back in mid May we had just come back from a tour and Ryan and I were having lunch at a local pizza place when the idea of "Yearbook" was born.

Ryan came up with the idea and I have to admit, for a minute I thought "are you crazy?" But the excitement of the possibilities took over!  : )

The project plans were formatted over the next week and then presented to Dan. The band has only 2 members and Dan was in the midst of his wedding planning and looked a little dazed at the idea of this but then agreed that it could be cool. So Dan got married and went on his honeymoon and Ryan started to write. 

This project is called "Yearbook" because it will take place over a year.

The band is releasing 3 new songs each month that will be written and recorded for that month. Each month they release a 3 song EP digitally and each has new artwork, a booklet with all of the lyrics and is available via the website sleepingatlast.com or at iTunes as well. The Eps are offered as a single month purchase or you can buy a 1 year subscription that will deliver the EP info to your email each month.

 There are lots of guests performing and many new things for the band to play with. 

When you're making a full length album (and that happens about every 2-3 years)...there is so much expense and weight on the song choices so there is no room left for trying new things that are really different for an artist. The great part of this project is that it offers the opportunity to have fun and experiment. 

Now for those of you that aren't musicians....I can tell you that to write 36 songs (that you would want anyone to hear) is no small task! Hence my thoughts back in May about being crazy. But Ryan was convinced that it could be fun and if you remember back in an earlier post I mentioned that Ryan will work on something again and again until he gets it. This started when he was a little guy. So, I knew that this would be tough but we could do it.

The part that involves me, is all of the business things that have to be taken care of.  Whenever an album is released (or an EP) there is a great deal of work (Other than, of course, the music) that goes into it. There's all of the legal agreements for anyone working on the album (mixing engineers, mastering engineers, artists performing any instruments or vocal parts etc),  paying everyone, promotion for the EP, the artwork has to be chosen and for this project there is a theme throughout all 12 months and a reason that the artwork has significance for that month (which is more complicated than just picking something that we like). There's also all of the work involved online to make this available. Subscription or single EPs to be purchased. Codes supplied. Then there's the registering of each song. And the list goes on and on. 

So this project is like releasing 3 full length albums as far as the number of songs involved but for releases and my job, it's like releasing an album a month. Normally I would have 6 months to a year to get all of this work done but in this case it's finishing one and on to the next. 

The first release "October" released on October 1st of this year followed by "November" and "December." 

We have been blessed to have the same great people working on this project that have worked on our full length albums. Every month, these great guys make room in their very busy schedules to mix and then master all 3 songs. That takes some major coordination with schedules.

As you can imagine, it's very difficult to coordinate schedules when Thanksgiving and Christmas come along. So we knew that November and December would be extra challenging and they have been! 

This project has turned out to be so much fun and been such a blessing already!  It's been loads of tough work and you'll find Ryan in the studio writing from 10AM until 2AM everyday. But...it's all worth it! 

 As I had mentioned back in another post about a month ago, one of the songs was featured on ABCTV "Private Practice" and since I wrote last we have been soooooooo blessed to have another song from "Yearbook" featured on another episode of the same show on December 2nd!  This brings more happiness and elation to all of us than I could describe in words! Beaming is an understatement!!!!!  Without the imagination and without taking the risk, we wouldn't have had the blessings! 

So why am I telling you all of this?

This....like so many new ventures started as an idea in someone's dreams that seemed too difficult to achieve but with hard work, determination and passion... the risk was taken and we're having the time of our lives!!!! 

This can apply to more than just our careers too. It can apply to our relational lives as well. And soooooooo much more. If we take the risk to even dare to think about what we really want.....the door starts to open and we get a glimpse of all that can be. And that's the most fun! 

As it turns out....imagination is the first step on some very solid footing. 

We're quick to close the door for fear of being disappointed or hurt if it isn't achievable and we're full of doubt (usually put there by other people) as to whether or not we can make it happen.

I found this quote and thought it was very appropriate and so true! And look who said it!

So this year, let's give ourselves a Christmas gift. Let's take the risk and believe in our dreams. Just think of all the fun that could be in store for us in 2011!!!

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will."

—  George Bernard Shaw