Taken Away

Well, life has been abnormally hectic... and that's completely okay; I've actually enjoyed it. However, it has reminded me of the importance of slowing down, and actually feeling what life  has to offer. For me, that usually means becoming more involved with music. Out of anything that I have come in contact with in life, I think music has had the deepest, most uplifting impact on me... nothing inspires me more. Although our drummer is still in China for another month, the band has decided to recommit to a weekly practice and a new direction. I'm extremely excited to get back into writing and playing music and we have some big goals for this summer as far as writing and recording go.

Anyways,  I wanted to share something that I believe is an  under-appreciated and unrecognized art form that is worth a person's time. Again, I am sharing media, but I think it's a pretty pure form of musical expression. This movement is called the "Take Away Show". Some of you might be familiar with these performances but for you that aren't, the Take Away Show is a live performance recorded in a place, whether public or private, that can evoke the emotion of the songs played in a stronger, more visual way. Something about these performances speak a language deeper than music to me. Some of these performances are just awesome for the sake of being awesome, but others bare a person's soul, show the human condition, or expose the beauty in life. Please explore these videos, and you'll see what I mean. The best manufacturers of these videos that I have seen so far are LaBlogotheque, and The Black Cab Sessions... Both can be found on youtube. I have also found that the bands our artists that have the strongest impact on me are those who produce these videos. People like Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, Lykke Li, Local Natives,  Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, St. Vincent, Portugal. The Man... seriously all of my favorites.

Here are a few that really hit me hard:
(if you can't invest the time to watch them all now, please revisit and watch... they are all very inspiring)

LOVE

So, my original post was meant to be written last week, but the music video I wanted to put up was erased from the entire internet for some reason. It was a live video of Portugal. The Man playing "All Your Light" in Germany. I had a good idea of what I wanted to write, but without the video, it was not near as powerful and clear. If you dare, beg them to put the video back online... it's amazing, and I am having withdrawals without it.

So, without that, my mind has been overwhelmed with a HEAVY, HEAVY topic... LOVE. It's such a hard thing to understand, and I think it is different for each person. Being divorced has made me really confused on how it all works, what it involves, how to nurture it properly, and how to feel it again. I have heard a lot of divorced people feel like they will never find it again, and I can relate. It's a scary thought, and deep down, I know it's not true, but it's hard to kick out the negative thoughts. Honestly, I really don't want to get too deep into it, but the idea of love makes me excited to live. It's definitely a driving force to living a beautiful life. I think most people agree. One of my favorite films "Into the Wild"(based on a true story) portrays college graduate who leaves civilization, burns his money and identification, and abandons his car to leave a corrupt, shallow society, as he views it. He finds beauty in the peace that comes from living off the land, and being completely independent and free from the system. But at his more desperate state, he carves into a piece of wood the following: "HAPPINESS IS NOT REAL UNLESS SHARED." I think this is a profound, perfect statement. If you haven't seen the movie, I HIGHLY recommend it, and if not that, read the book. It definitely makes you see the world in a different light. 

Anyways, I feel like this post is a little off beat from my past two, but what I really wanted to share in this post is a video that was shared with me. When I saw it the first time, I nearly cried. To me, this is love. And I love what they have done in this video to evoke such a strong, beautiful connection. This is what I want. This is the love that I am committed to one day creating. (I couldn't attatch the video so please click the link, make it full screen, turn up your volume, and enjoy)

Go Do by IRIS AND LIGHT

The cool thing about these videos is that they are actual couples' engagement videos. SUCH AN AWESOME IDEA! Way better than a few photos. You are committing to love a person for the rest of your life, why not make it insanely artistic media piece that reminds you of how awesome you are for each other. THIS IS TRUE BEAUTY.