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I tell my kids that I can't really make them do anything. I try to help them understand they always have the choice of a direction that has life in it, or a direction that has death in it, and it's a lot more fun to choose the direction that has life in it. Of course the same holds true for adults -- we always have the choice of doing something that is counter-productive and injurious (of course these activities can be fun, too, which makes the game more challenging), or doing something that is evolutionary. Practically every minute of every day, we can do little things to positively, consciously evolve ourselves. Speaking from personal experience, I know that doing so results in happiness.
To me, one of the most important things is to have a clear vision of what it is that we want to do or become. Then, holding on to that vision every day, one watches it manifest. Probably the biggest deterrent is fear - fear of failure, of being laughed at, or of physical pain. Holding on to the doubt, fear or greed that can be attached to a vision will likely cultivate the undesired aspect as well.
As this album manifested, the creative sources kept alternating between my personal life and experiences and spiritual experiences with a more profound, broader significance.
In 1995, after many years of trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do artistically, I gave up and prayed for a direction. Along with that prayer I made a commitment that I would surrender my personal involvement and serve what direction I was given. Shortly after I did that -- within a week and a half -- I started to get the ideas for a four-album concept package, where each album's cover art was one quarter of a big picture. Shortly after that, I started getting the idea that these four albums would be the soundtrack to a movie. Then specific scenes of the movie started coming -- the beginning, the end -- and the whole intent and motivation for doing all this work became clear.
Synchronistically, coincidentally, I started meeting people who had exactly what I needed next for the work or knew someone who could help in the specific way that was needed at the time. The music fell together at times so serendipitously that it seemed like magic -- that I was being helped by a power I couldn't see. The uncanniness of these events was and still is undeniably obvious!
In the Spring of '98, we loaded a rented generator, small P.A. system, DAT recorder, microphones and other gear into my van. Jimi O'Hare grabbed machetes, chain saw, and brush hook and we headed to my friend Cyndi's forty acres on the Olympic Peninsula. On a beautifully sunny day, we cut a 120 foot trail through young alder to the edge of a clearcut I had picked out years before for this purpose. Once we had everything set up and working properly, we played Evolution to the forest and recorded the reverb bouncing off the trees and foliage.
I had first become aware of this kind of reverb at a Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Service concert at Golden Gardens park in Seattle in the late '60's, as the live music echoed off a forested hillside. It's the most beautiful, complex, magical reverb I've heard. When I added it to the album, Evolution came alive!
The plan had been to be finished with Evolution in early 1999. Then a visit from my friend Jack from Brooklyn reminded me that I could completely restructure the album if I chose to ("we've gotta give it some feng shui, Rog"). With guys like Jack and my brother Mike around, the artist needs to be open-minded and flexible! At this point, the vision crystallized and Evolution took off in a new direction.
In May '99, I met a lady who changed my life. Being in her company inspired two new songs in the Fall of '99: Just Believe and One Vision. These songs proved to be perfect additions to the album.
As these two new songs were born, Paul Hubert invited me to record in Studio Prime, a state-of-the-art surround-sound studio, with cutting-edge prototype equipment. As I had been thinking in terms of surround for the last seven years (I designed my studio around the surround concept) this was an incredibly exciting time!
After all the soul-searching, sifting through possibilities, and transcending of challenging scenarios, I can say that making this album has truly made me evolve!
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