Dave: Ready to move to the next phase

What's up everybody...first off, i want to thank all our friends and crew that went out to the show on 7/21 at Rock City to support AK, DP, Flesh Electric, Course of Ruin, and Revenge. I feel good knowing i can count on you guys to show up and party with us. I hope you're enjoying the tunes and the show, and we're continuing to work hard on bringing new things to the stage to keep things fresh.

That leads me to the main point of this blog entry....I was telling Jen earlier, that I feel like i'm ready to move on to the next phase of the AK evolution....thing is, we're still in the early process of recording this CD, and I still have lyrics to write on two or three songs! I feel weird. I think the weird thing about this recording, is that a lot of the songs have been written for a while...years...so, to us, they're not really "new." These are really great songs though, and I can't wait for everyone to finally hear them. Finishing these songs, getting great production on them, and releasing them on a CD to become immortal was only right...there was a time when we thought about scrapping them, and just moving on with all brand new material...but they were too hard to let go of. They needed to be heard and documented as part of the AK cycle. Now that we're in the process, and hopefully done soon, it's going to be like a right of passage for me. Finally, to get these songs out of our heads and into the hands of fans....hopefully everyone will dig them and find their attachment to them, however they can relate to them...that would be great.

Inside, however, my mind is jumping ahead a bit. I'm ready to take hold of new riffs, new concepts, sounds, lyrical concepts, etc., but I've got to hold off just a bit more until this CD is done. There's a couple of strange things influencing me lately...Mideast War stuff, believe it or not...i've never really been into writing about political stuff, but for some reason, i'm really concerned about what's going on over there....i feel hypocritical in a way though, because i don't know if i'm so concerned that i'd say, "hell yeah, sign me up so i can go save the world" kind of shit....i could never leave the family to go do that...but either way, just to digest the horrors that are going down over there...the civilian deaths, the flat out lack of understanding of two different ways of life, so hell with it, let's just kill each other...it's very sad to me.

Then, i'm reading the paper this weekend, and come across an article about these two little girls from Kansas i believe...six and seven years old, locked in a basement, starving, while their stepmom and her two kids live happily upstairs. I guess the social services got a tip or something, so they were able to rescue the kids...when they questioned them, they said they only ate when their dad was home...apparently he traveled on business all the time...totally horrific and disgusting.

Man, i hope i'm not depressing you guys out there...that's not the intent here...just a quick snapshot of the discontent i feel right now for the way things are, and the sad reality that there's not a whole lot i can do personally to change every evil in the world. I guess what this is leading to is that the next round of tunes may involve some of these feelings and what not, even if it's just an outlet, not necessarily a call to action. But if some folks get that as a takeaway, even better.

I love my life, my family, my friends.

AK Dave

Dave: Just kickin ass and shit.. AK style!

Yeah, so AK has been busy recording, playing live, practicing...damn, this is a blast!! I mentioned to Jared the other day, that after 6 months or so of being back "on the scene", i feel like things are finally back in sync. I can recall how it felt back in January, hitting the stage for the first time in two years....while it felt like home again, there was still an awkwardness about our playing that i now dismiss as rust. Looking back, and comparing our recent performance to those first couple, i'd say we're just about firing on all cylinders at this point!

Also reflecting on the shows to date this year, I can't help but think about all the support we're getting from the crew. There's too many of ya'll to name, but you know who you are...the inner circle if you will...those that have been there, band or no band, and come out to support us....even driving up to Austin!!! That's so awesome. I don't think i can muster the words to describe how appreciative i am of everyone that has supported us so far this year....i hope you're having fun at the shows and our goal is to continue to make it worthwhile for you guys to come out and party with us.

Man....and the CD in progress...it's taking a while, and will probably be a while before it's done. We're chewing off a lot by trying for 13+ songs...the pace is slow, working around our schedules and the studio's schedule. All i can say is be patient...if you've heard tid bits of the progress to date, you know it's going to be over the top!

Overall, the AK is truckin' along at about the pace we expected for this year. We've managed to work our way back into some solid venues in San Antonio and Austin, and have good momentum on the new album. Hopefully, we're gaining some new fans, and slowly the old ones are coming out of the cracks as they here we're back in action. The line up is great...Frank is as gay as ever, but is playing top notch shit...Jen's coming up with some of the most out there bass lines she's ever done, and what can I say about the Rook, I mean, Jared....he's managed to learn the old shit, play it with intensity, and the work on the new material is going to blow you guys away.

AND....making new friends and continuing on with the old school crew...the show on 7/21 is a perfect example of that...it's always fun to play, but when you play with your buds, it's a whole other level!

Anyway...just some random thoughts and updates...hope everyone's digging the shit....see ya on 7/21 at Rock City!!

AK Dave