Another beautiful celebration of life signed Alex!

Hey,

I hope you’re doing great! It’s Saturday around noon and it’s a very boring, cold, and rainy day outside, as April kinda normally is in this part of the world! I’m listening to The Clash since everything about this world is pretty much going mad, and I needed a great message, something I could rely on and why not even bring in some joy, laughter, smiles and dancing moves even if I’m seated...! Yes, listening to music can be an act of faith!!!

The past week has been anything but easy for Alex and for those who are close to him. We’re walking on this fascinating fine line between dedicating all our energies toward creating something soulful, beautiful, powerful and fully alive, working remotely with Alex who is surrounded by the walls of his home being taken down, all the memories coming with it… It’s almost like assassinating a soul, a spirit that gave this home something worth living for. Alex is in the middle of so many tragedies, having to make hard decisions that all fuel more worries and uncertainties like how much, how long, destroying what, changing heating systems, water systems, and on and on and on...

We spent a full week working afternoons and evenings in the studio, (I keep my mornings to do meetings with the vinyl pressing plant, La Maison de Tanger, the record label and so on…) chasing sounds, following threads, losing and finding ourselves all over again inside songs that sometimes feel bigger than we are.

And yesterday, somewhere in the middle of it — somewhere between the static hum of an old amp and the fading echo of a last note — I realized I hadn’t received any news from Alex during the day and it got me worried. So, even if mobiles are forbidden in the rehearsing room, I mean, it’s a church, right! :) I decided to give Alex a call sharing about my worries and he said, “I’m doing all my audio messages to those who so nicely took part in this A Nightfall Ritual journey with me!”

Then, after hearing Alex telling me he embarked on this insane task of recording thousands of vocal messages as his home is being destroyed, I was filled with mixed feelings. My first thought was to say, “Brother...! Why don’t we simply record one message and everyone gets the same?!” Then my second thought was, “How can I ask this question without him realizing that this is about to get me mad?” Sometimes the truest things are the hardest to put into words. So, I decided to let the silence carry itself for a while, the way you carry a memory that's too precious to name.

Then I thought, “I need to ask! Let’s do it! Alex needs to take care of himself and this is so much work!” So I gently asked… Well, I hope I did!  

And then, without rushing, Alex spoke. Not loudly. Just simply, the way you talk when you know the weight of what you’re saying:

"Because this is who I decide to be."

That was it.
No speech.
No philosophy.
Just a moment, heavy and beautiful at the same time. And me being stupidly speechless, as it happens several times in those situations where I feel like I need to protect him against himself and I’m in fact doing the opposite, getting in between what’s the most beautiful thing we can put into this world; Love! 

This conversation truly stayed with me long after the guitars were packed away, long after the lights were dimmed and even as I was lying in bed. And maybe, without even realizing it, that moment grew into something larger. 

That conversation turned into questions I wanted to ask him now, questions that aren’t really about selling or thanking or promoting, but about something deeper, something that ties Alex to every person who dares to participate in this beautiful journey no matter the degree of involvement! 

So here’s what he sent me following the questions I sent him.
Not polished.
Not perfect.
But so beautiful and truly Alex.

Thanks for walking a little further with us.
Thanks for meeting us in the music, and in the spaces in between.
There are no small moments here. Only shared ones.

Your Host and Chief Operator, 
Jeff

PS: If I were you...! Since Alex mentioned something quite important…! I would keep a close eye on my emails in the upcoming days…!