Let’s see..! What’s real? Let's see..! What’s true?

Hey,

I hope you’re well! It’s Sunday evening in Tangier, and as the sun slowly paces itself toward the horizon, leaving so many wonderful colors covering the sky and the sea right in front of me, I decided I would take this wonderful and inspiring moment of the day to connect with you since so much is happening..! 

I was so blessed to read all of your comments following my latest video at La Maison de Tanger! Such a blessing for me to connect with you on such a personal level. The new year for The Club is around the corner… Expect a lot of great news coming your way in the upcoming weeks! :) 

Exciting times!

🎧 Music I’m listening to

Protomartyr - Sounds We Cannot Hear

What is a Protomartyr?

I honestly don't know.

But I like the idea of imagining one as someone who wants a little more than the usual shit out of life. Someone who looks at the world and thinks, Surely we can do better than this. Someone willing to pay a price for believing in something that might only make sense years later.

Maybe that's why this song found its way into my week. There is something beautiful about people who are willing to build things they may never fully get to see.

Artists - Dreamers - Troublemakers - Friends.

People who keep going even when nobody can guarantee them that any of it will work. Maybe that's what a protomartyr is.

Or maybe I'm completely making this up.

I kind of like that possibility too. :)

Listen to the Missive Playlist

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

The world will ask you who you are
and if you don’t know the world will tell you
- Carl Jung 

As we now finish Alex’s new record, emotions are through the roof, and the road to coming back to reality is sometimes much farther and steeper than we anticipated in the beginning. For Alex especially, he simply gave it all he could and had, even things and feelings he didn't have, which created unforgettable moments between us all… Pretty hard to describe, but truly unique and so special! 

There is something strange about finishing an album. For more than a year, the record exists mostly inside us. We know its wounds. We know where it almost broke. We know which moments were accidental, which ones were fought for, which ones came at 3 a.m., which ones nobody thought would survive.

And then suddenly — it's finished..! 

Being a DIY artist is an amazing thing on paper or on a music conference panel, but sometimes in our reality, the switch between being a creator, then recording those ideas, leading up to wanting to release the record and organize the tour is a completely different ball game but coming from the same people nonetheless. 

We just spent the past few weeks putting together releasing plans, videos, open conversations, touring plans, crew, backline, vans, hotels, and so on! Moments came where we had to remind ourselves of the value of who we are and why we do all these things, without forgetting the unusual way we’re doing it! 

I would like to create a great promotion campaign in every city or nearby area we’ll be visiting this upcoming fall! We’d love for these cities to be different once we left, as they encountered something unique and special: Us! I’ll let you know shortly! 

As you know, we're not interested in simply arriving, playing a show, selling some records, and leaving. We want to leave something behind. A conversation, a friendship, a strange poster on a wall… Someone discovering a song they weren't expecting.

Someone meeting someone else — a memory. We want the city to be slightly different because we were there, we were present! 

🎙️ Podcast That Inspired Me

The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan - Dave Davies (The Kinks)

Great conversation about music, brotherhood, culture, love, and so much more! Love it when two different generations of artists meet! 

What happens when one generation meets another? What gets passed down? What gets challenged? What survives? What gets completely reinvented?

Maybe that's what culture really is, not preserving something exactly as it was, but carrying something forward while allowing it to become something else.

Anyway! :) What’s your favorite Kinks song?! 

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

I love starting the day running by the sea, listening to great conversations and music while the city slowly wakes up around me.

There's something about moving forward while watching the horizon that puts everything back into perspective. 

No emails. No schedules. No strategy! Just breathing, listening, observing, and whatever thoughts decide to show up.

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week

There are rumors! Very serious rumors! 

The Tangier weekend might finally be announced this week on Alex's Substack. Some people are even whispering about a Friday the 13th…!

Others are saying Alex's birthday might be celebrated around a concert in Montreal…! 

I have heard things. I have seen things. I know nothing. I may know everything! 😂

So! Let's see! What's real? Let's see! What's true?! :)

Until then, I'll be somewhere between the oceans, a pressing plant, a studio, a stage, a coffee, a song, and another one of Alex's impossible ideas.

And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way…! :)

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your friend and Chief Operator, 
Jeff