12.31.2010

The House of We The Living


In 2007 I set out to build a house. I knew it was going to take a lot of hard work, and I thought there would be nothing better than to undertake a hard project with a few of my best friends. We talked about how the house would look, how it would feel, smell, sound. We could suddenly all see the same house in our minds. From then on we were building the house together, three inseparable partners, for the idea of the house no longer belonged to me. It belonged to all of us.

So much focus was placed on the construction that we left every essential one by one until our lives were stripped down to the minimum. We were pulling ourselves along without comfort or rest until we found ourselves to be shells of our former selves. We had given up so much to build this building, that we forgot about what lived on the inside. We wanted to make a place for our friendship and music to live, but it seemed the harder we strove, the firelight inside grew colder, and the laughter inside became more distant.

When the inside of the house finally grew cold, none of us wanted to accept that fact. We just threw ourselves into the construction even harder, until one day I stepped back to realize that to continue work was to strive to make a beautiful mausoleum, because the home that was inside had gone away.

Instead of mourning the loss, we decided that it was time to call the house finished. It was time to start living our lives anew and looking for more homes to build on our own paths. In the completion of the house lies an unseen blessing, because all of the warmth, love and music that we made together can now live inside the house that Matthew, Benjamin and I built together. In my heart, the beauty of our love for one another burns brighter than it ever has. In my memory, our laughter is more robust than it has ever been, because it is joined by the laughter of all those who supported us and joined us along our journey. Best of all, the house we built is full of music. That music will live on forever.

We love you all very much, and thank you for the beautiful memories.

John Paul, Matthew, and Benjamin

3 comments:

  1. I wondered where you guys went. For some reason I only decided to check tonight. I guess what I suspected was true. Thanks for the music, I still remember seeing your two shows at Hanover College while I was there, and still have both Heavens and Depths, as well as that T-shirt I picked up there. I certainly wish all of you the best, and hope you're living your living happily. Stay awesome people.
    -Jim Wylder

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  2. When i was 14, i went to see a movie called "sen to chihiro no kamikakuchi". I remember it as the very first burst of a feeling I had never experienced before, which appeared to be almost impossible to describe accurately. The kind of feeling that's a mix of so many things (sadness, happiness, relief, confidence, love...) that you couldn't sum it in a one and only word. A feeling that lets you know, in some way, that everything will be ok, that beauty is enough...
    You gave life to this feeling through your music. Listening to you, I remember why life is so beautiful. That's the reason why we, the living, will never die.

    A french fan

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  3. I remember you guys came to Ohio State likely around 2008 and played an emotionally charged and overall captivating live performance in our fraternity house in front of a small crowd and it's seriously one of the best live shows I've been to. I bought your CD and still listen to it to this day. Awesome music, regardless of end result.

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