The Files! They're All Gone! Nooooooooo!!!!!

They say coffee is the best way to start your day, and start it with coffee I do.

A plenty.

But today started me off with one of the best things in life.

Technical problems.

Oh how I love to deal with technical problems!

(Yes, that was sarcasm. I really hate it).

I got a message on the Envinity facebook page from a new friend of the band named Tim, telling me that he had tried to download Moira's Lake, and had instead received an error.

Yeah, that doesn't sound like a good deal to me.

I became a bit worried, and looked into the situation. The website was up, but just like Tim described, when I tried to download the album, ERROR!

It's like the file was missing. But how could that be?

Checking the files on the server I was faced with a startling conclusion:

MOIRA WAS MISSING!!!

"What the hell??" I said out loud, as I continually reloaded the screen.

Still gone.

I looked through other folders and found out that all of the podcast mp3's were also gone!

What the??!!

After spending some wonderful time chatting the day away with customer support, I found out that my webhost apparently does not support streaming media... which was news to me.

"Son of a bitch! What good are you now?!" Though I never actually said that to anyone but myself.

Long story short, I spent the majority of my afternoon off dealing with problems, locating new file sharing solutions, and uploading huge files. Goody!

The good news is that everything should be up and running again for Moira's Lake (if not let me know).

The podcasts will be uploaded and linked back to the blogs again in the next 24 hours. (I know how much you are desperate to hear us ramble on about nonsense). 

Over all, kind of a shitty way to wake up and spend the day, but at least it's done now (for the most part). I also took the time to update the download page a bit, which looks better and provides more resources.

Thanks again to Tim on our facebook page for pointing out the problem, and I apologize to everyone who has tried to download the album recently and received an awesome error instead.

I'm tired now. Time for more waking up, with a lot more coffee.



-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• The Influences Of The Story Of Moira
• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
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RECENT NEWS:

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The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 7

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

THE STORY SO FAR:
Part 0: What To Write?
Part 1: Eras In Time
Part 2: Ghost Stories
Part 3: Murder Mysteries
Part 4: Love Stories
Part 5: Twists
Part 6: Fate

PART 7 (CONCLUSION): THE EVOLUTION OF MOIRA

Interestingly enough, Moira's Lake started out as a very different story than the one it is today.

No ghosts, no strange romance, no twists.

Still quite dark, still dealing with murder, but in a very different way.

As I continued to write the chord patterns and melodies that would eventually take shape into Moira's Lake, I started incorporating all of the ideas I mentioned previously, one at a time as they came up, and the story took on a whole new direction and plot.

For the better.

Moira slowly developed a life of its own, creating underlying connections, subtleties, and character developments that helped to enrich the environment of the world they live in, even if many people may never pick up on all of it.

In the end the story has become something of a milestone for me personally.

For someone who never really enjoyed writing, I discovered, through the process of this album, that I really like to write stories. In fact, I discovered that I like to write period. Very strange.

Though the story of Moira's Lake evolved fairly drastically over time, the influences and framework for the early version of the 3rd album stayed in my mind, fermenting and changing, and will likely be worked on and developed further into another project in the future.

............

Thanks for reading this little overview exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake.

Later we'll begin to get into more specifics of the characters, dissecting the many plot points, and revealing some of the hidden discoveries of Moira's Lake.

...Assuming I feel like it.

-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download?

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3 
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1

The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 6

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

THE STORY SO FAR:
Part 0: What To Write?
Part 1: Eras In Time
Part 2: Ghost Stories
Part 3: Murder Mysteries
Part 4: Love Stories
Part 5: Twists

PART 6: FATE

Something that has fascinated most the great writers (and most of the not so great ones as well), is an extremely old concept that still holds strong in our desires today.

Fate.

Destiny.

The notion that certain things in life are already pre-planned, beyond our control. Particular events will happen no matter what we do.

Famously, this idea is done in stories in the form of the young child who is destined to become a hero. His fate is to save the town/world/universe/local cheese shop from some one-dimensional evil force, commonly tied to some sort of ancient prophecy.

You can hear this concept (not the child saving the world, just fate in general) strewn across the landscape of my previous albums, but it takes a much more prominent focus in Moira's Lake.

As with many of the concepts in this story, I wanted to take a different, or at least, less trodden approach to the concept of fate, and instead of using destiny as a positive force, make the characters trapped in an inescapable, and tragic destiny.

In my mind, there is more emotion in that approach.

Regardless of one's real opinion on fate and destiny, I believe it makes a great story device.


To be continued in part 7 (Conclusion): The Evolution Of Moira...


-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download?

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3 
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1

The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 5

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

THE STORY SO FAR:
Part 0: What To Write?
Part 1: Eras In Time
Part 2: Ghost Stories
Part 3: Murder Mysteries
Part 4: Love Stories

PART 5: TWISTS

I love twists.

Just kidding! No I don't!

Duh duh DUH!!!!!!!

Yes I do!!

DUH DUH DUUUUHHHH!!!!!

I do admire those films and stories that really fuck with my head.

Stories that throw curve balls left and right.

I like to be surprised.

Just like all of the great heist movies and con game films, I love when the plot keeps throwing me for a loop, and just when I think I have it figured out, bam, another twist.

Though I never aimed to achieve that ridiculous level of mind-fuckery (that should be a word), I did want to infuse the story that would become Moira's Lake with several turns and twists.

For instance: stories that are told in multiple ways or from different perspectives, red herrings (i.e. things to throw you off track), dishonesty, and leading towards one conclusion, and then suddenly give them another.

...And another!!!

Duh Duh DUHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If anything, that kind of storytelling just helps to keep things interesting for the reader. (In theory).

What else could I add as an influence into this melting pot of ideas?


To be continued in part 6: Fate...


-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download?

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3 
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1

The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 4

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

THE STORY SO FAR:
Part 0: What To Write?
Part 1: Eras In Time
Part 2: Ghost Stories
Part 3: Murder Mysteries

PART 4: LOVE STORIES

I have to admit that I really do like a good romance film.

No, not the modern, shitty, brainless romance comedies they crank out lately.

I mean the epic, tragic romances.

Something Shakespearean.

Stories that rip your guts out and make you want to kill yourself. (In a good way). (Kind of).

God I love that stuff.

Listening to any of my albums, I think you'll quickly find that dealing with emotion, particularly that of love, and all its many varieties, is always a prevalent topic.

Being an overly-emotional person (sometimes), I wanted to add something romantic into the story, to give it more human interests and emotional grounding. (Since that's what people relate to).

So now I had built up a premise of a supernatural murder mystery that has the feeling of an old film noir, and centered around a tragic romance.

Man this was getting fun.

To be continued in part 5: Twists...

-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download?

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3 
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1

The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 3

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

THE STORY SO FAR:
Part 0: What To Write?
Part 1: Eras In Time
Part 2: Ghost Stories

PART 3: MURDER MYSTERIES

I'm always one for a good mystery.

And many of the films I've loved over the years have dealt with murder.

It's quite an overused topic, but it gets used (or over used) for a reason:

We are obsessed with death.

In general we fear what we do not know, and what we do not know most is the idea of death itself.

Hence, so many films, stories, and books about it.

Since I knew that this story was going to take place in another time period, and since I had seen particular color schemes and film styles in my head that I was shooting for musically, I focused on another interest of mine, namely old black and white cinema.

To me, the idea of taking the feel of a film noir murder mystery, combined with the supernatural, was starting to get me excited.

Ideas were flowing, which I'm guessing is a good thing.

But how to combine these interests, so far, was itself, still a mystery.

To be continued in part 4: Love Stories...

-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download?

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3 
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1

The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 2

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

THE STORY SO FAR:
Part 0: What To Write?
Part 1: Eras In Time


PART 2: GHOST STORIES

One of the first ideas that popped into my mind when I was beginning Moira's Lake, was the idea of going back into my past.

To me, there was a certain charm in using a piece of nostalgia as part of the influence in a brand new project.

That piece of nostalgia?

My childhood fascination with ghost stories.

Every time I went to the library as a kid I would immediately search for books on ghosts. My real intention was to find the illusive "true" ghost stories, but often I would settle on collections of classic supernatural folk lore.

And it's hard to go wrong with the old stories about ghost hitchhikers; or how about the young guy who meets a girl, goes out to a dance with her, and later finds out she died decades earlier?

I always loved those.

And there are many more great stories that get told over and over, all that really resonated with me at that age.

Remembering that childhood obsession, I smiled when I made the decision to use the traditional tales of ghosts as a part of the story.

To be continued in part 3: Murder Mysteries...

-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download?

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3 
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1

make custom gifts at Zazzle

The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 1

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

THE STORY SO FAR:
Part 0: What To Write?

PART 1: ERAS IN TIME

Right away I knew that I did not want to set my story in the present time.

Suffice to say, I really am not happy with the era in which I live. (Save for all the awesome technology I can't afford).

Often times I long for another moment of history. To be alive in a different decade, a different century.

Wishful thinking.

Particular time periods have always held a certain romance and fascination for me. Though I was not sure what place in time the yet-to-be constructed Moira's Lake would take place in, it sure wasn't going to be recent.

This was my opportunity to live in the past. (Since I do that anyway by constantly dwelling on everything).

Ideally, the story would be set in a simpler time, but not too far removed, as to not be relatable.


To be continued in part 2: Ghost Stories...

-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download? 

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1

make custom gifts at Zazzle

The Influences Of The Story Of Moira: part 0

Greetings everyone,

Welcome to this multi-part series exploring the influences that went into creating the story of Moira's Lake. (I'm sure the title gave that away already).

I decided to break this essay into 8 short chunks, just because I know how much you love reading a long, intimidating block of evil words. (No one likes that. Seriously. No one. Books? Pfffffttt).

So, hopefully you'll enjoy this format better. (Probably not, knowing you. Which I do).

PART 0 (INTRODUCTION): WHAT TO WRITE?

During the process of working on my second album, Empyreal Progeny, I began to toy with the idea of telling a story across several tracks of the album.

Though the album was not a full-blown concept record, it was, in many ways, a "themed" record, with a loose narrative of sorts broken up and divided amongst a few songs.

Once I had completed the album, I realized that I really loved the idea of telling a story through music, and I wanted to make my next album a full story from beginning to end.

But given that this would be my first foray into a concept album, what would I write about?

I mean, it could be anything, right?

How about obese space ninjas, with a fear of babies?

(I'll save that one for the next album).

As I slowly accumulated musical ideas that I tucked away for the 3rd album, I also began to see flashes in my mind. (No, not the nude kind. Well, okay. Occasionally that).

Sometimes colors, sometimes a person, sometimes a feeling, a place, an event. Usually random at first, but over time I started to piece it together.

To really begin to flesh out the potential story, I looked at many of the influences I want to pay homage to.

Namely, turnips.

... No wait...

To be continued in part 1: Eras In Time...

-Niko

RECENT ARTICLES:

• 2009: Envinity In Reflection
• The Hardest Part Of Making An Album
  
• Why Do A Concept Album?
• Why Do Something So Different?  
• Why A Digital Download? 

RECENT NEWS:

• 400 Downloads And Counting (Slowly)  
• Album Of The Month (Last Month) At Bloodchamber.de 
• Passing 350 Downloads 
• Listen To Envinity On Prog Radio! 
• 200 Downloads In less Than A Week!

RECENT PODCASTS:

• Envinity Podcast #3
• Envinity Podcast #2
• Envinity Podcast #1
  

make custom gifts at Zazzle