Neveragain

here, have a treat...

2010-05-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

so... i cant hold out any longer... head over to the YouTube and youll see a glimpse into the world of the official "intervene" video from "the Great Betrayal"...

as difficult as this project is for the 2 PEOPLE (yep, thats it) putting it together, theyre making it happen piece by piece, and i wanted to honor them and show some respect by enabling fans to see some of the footage that theyve been working on - in their spare time - for about a year now...

also, this is an opportunity for those who may wish to lend their support: IE animators, anyone interested in making a donation to the cause, in any form - from a cashiers check to a place to debut the final completed piece... any one at all that wants to get involved and help flesh this thing out... contact phill and colin here: unkanimation@gmail.com

so while im at it, a big fucking thank you to colin brown and phill sykes (as well as erika sikes, dave drew and dave adler for letting me throw you around the rehearsal room!) for taking the time to invest in this project together... i couldnt ask for a better group of people to be affiliated with... its so goddamn appreciated...

so kick on over and have a look, and please remember ratings and comments help spread the word: YouTube: nslashaOFFICIAL

-PM

for your streaming pleasure...

2010-05-23T07:35:00.001-07:00

HD takes a while to post to youtube evidently...

preparation...

2010-05-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

getting zen and prepping for the next 2 days of vocals...

heres something...

2010-04-30T23:17:00.000-07:00

so life never seems to work out the way you planned... (remember the end of "Undo"?)

a little taste for you...

while originally i planned to be releasing something within the next 30 seconds or so, that shit didnt happen. instead, i got writers block, a few other productions that i had to do either for fun or to keep the roof over my head... and i took an amazing trip: first to israel and then to egypt with nothing more than a backpack and my lady, for nearly a month to clear my head amongst other things.

anyways... ive been back for a week or two and have been settling back into obsessing over music again...

im staring out the studio window and the moon is amazing... yellow and low, pretending to be the sun... and while im quite close to the next release, im terribly distracted by other bits and pieces floating around my hard drive(s). so the drill is to get this one done ASAP so i can move on to these other things before i forget them...

its definitely been weird having finally assumed total control over n/a... i mean... its been mostly me forever, but for like 6 months now its been ONLY ME. what ive learned: shit takes a hell of a lot longer when its only you, but no more arguing about what shitty bar were going to play or getting pissed cause someones not playing the guitar chord JUST RIGHT... most importantly ive learned to enjoy what im doing again... which i wasnt for a long while. come to think of it... ive never seen a painter or photographers work in a group of 4 or more...? maybe theres a good reason for that.

im really proud of "Tempest"... i never could have realized that piece while having anxiously salivating creatures breathe down my back - about anything other than the art at hand. and listening back, i feel the same about everything else im working on, and couldnt imagine trying to do shows and promotions and all that other shit AND make these tracks happen.

im grateful for those of you that have stuck around... and piss on the others. we dont need them.

any fucking ways... im meeting with zach and kelley this weekend to talk about release shit... and i have to learn how to play the rhodes better... so i have to go now.

keep your eyes peeled... thanks for listening.

-PM

010110

2009-12-31T02:16:00.000-08:00

010110 - www.thegreatbetrayal.com

where ive been...

2009-10-08T12:09:00.001-07:00

everywhere. with all the recent developments (well over the last 6 months or so i suppose) ive needed to step back and look at n/a from a distance. observing successes and failures, on the part of myself and others relative to the vision for the art itself. incidentally with the video for intervene being in the production process this is the perfect time for that.

ive been really involved with Lucid Mechanism: playing bass, performing live and even doing some production and mixing work with them. if youre into electronic music such as Depeche Mode, Trentemøller, Bjork or even Eurythmics, you should check it out. im performing with them next at the annual "Beats for Boobs" breast cancer benefit in SF on Friday Oct 23rd at 111 Minna... come show your love for breasts.

Lucid Mechanism

ive also been involved with Kaura, mixing tracks from their next release, though im only bidding for the album right now so i have no idea if the tracks will end up on the final record or not. cross your fingers.

ive spent a lot of time just trying to understand where i fit in to the musical climate these days, and preparing myself for what happens with intervene. ive got a shit ton of music to release. but kinda like with dr. dre and "detox", im just waiting till it feels right to me to release it and move forward. if it aint time, it aint time.

a little more distance will provide a bit more clarity, and in the meantime im just sitting on the hill, watching events transpose, and formulating my plan of attack.

... i do miss you guys though. the next live gig has been in the works for a while now, but it all revolves around this crazy video. animation is a tough task for only 2 peeps to handle in such a small amount of time, so anyone who knows great 2D animators that want to get involved, feel free to send them our way!

-PM

Liftoff...

2009-09-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

THE GREAT BETRAYAL DOT COM 2.0 is LIVE. Come sign up and get free tunes...

www.thegreatbetrayal.com

-PM

out with the old, in with the new...

2009-05-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

hello again...

ive been relatively quiet lately... but only due to my penchant for not speaking till i have something to speak about...

while the "Intervene" video is in post production ive been focusing on other things i may have been ignoring (on purpose)... writing (words, not music... well some music anyways) sound design, spring cleaning (the studio is an infernal mess of wires while i go over it with a fine toothed comb and get it all back up to spec...) and re-invention.

n/a is a project i started in my bedroom nearly 5 years ago now... its seen many incarnations and a handful of musicians have come and gone, trying to help me put a finger on what this beast really is. some have been better people than players, some vice versa, and some it seems unfortunately werent great at either. after dealing with people not getting what they want, and things not moving fast enough (good luck quantifying whatever the fuck that is by the way), or whatever complaint/excuse you can think of... for now, for a while now honestly... its just dave and i. daves been here since the beginning, and the only one thats ever allowed me to create with reckless abandon and not question my motives. thats a true friend, and the reason hes been here since day one. i am fortunate to have marshaled the capacity to create music on my own should i desire, without the need to rely on anyone else. any involvement ive ever had with other musicians has been out of a desire to play live with others, not because i needed them, but because i wanted to have them around or to be around them.

when the need arises, as there has been before, there will be others.

lately ive been testing myself. ive been involved playing other peoples music, with a number of artists/friends, helping them out and enjoying making music in the process. honestly this is something i havent enjoyed as much as i should have in a very long time, and i feels good to again be wearing this skin.

i have purged myself of demons, and spilt the blood of anxieties; those that come with not knowing towards what future the present is leading you. i am not a missionary, i am a traveller. i am on the path, not for its destination but because it need be traveled. because beyond is a place ive never been... so that i may witness what lies beyond the horizon.

...the sleeper must awaken.

thanks to those that have chosen to travel with me. my one hope is that youre enjoying the ride.

-PM

Change is coming...

2009-03-26T08:30:00.001-07:00

... and change is a good thing.

PM

Human behavior...

2008-12-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

I find myself fascinated by a particular human behavioral trait recently... The obsessive desire to demand second chances when faced with an ultimatum. At best, demanding another chance validates the detractors issue of having failed the first attempt, but it says nothing of ones dedication to make the right choices the first time.

And what of multiple attempts? Do we honestly require multiple takes to simply do the right thing? What have we become that when entering a situation willingly, we consistently fail to do exactly what we came to do? I would ask you then, "why are you here?" Clearly this situation is less than ideal for you; otherwise one thinks you would proceed with flying colors, and that second chances are the thing of fantasy. There's no need for a second chance in a world where people do exactly what they came to do, and nothing less...

Very fascinating shit... We are very strange creatures.

PM

the great betrayal V

2008-11-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

...paul and i were discussing lyrical content for the next [n/a] album about a week ago..."half life" came up in the discussion, which i thought was a good example of one of the potential paths to explore more lyrically...

...the idea of "half life" is reflective on my individual perception of the outside world, especially in today's society...over time, [n/a] has collectively shared the "against the grain" type attitude, that's always been a common strong point among us all...not going along with the standard, consistently questioning what's going on in our surroundings and hardly believing "that's just the way it is"...in my opinion "half life" is a direct lyrical reflection of that...it's always been much more satisfying to resist, rebel against and question situations that don't seem quite right...

"why do you let them kill you willingly?!"

TGB IV...

2008-11-26T00:59:00.000-08:00

i recall standing in a grocery store check-out line one night... it was late and i was very tired and irritated after a long couple of weeks on tour... i remember two girls, obnoxious girls... frothing at the mouth over some fashion magazine... their bodies and faces, draped and trimmed in every single product that the previous issues tips and tricks had vomited out to them... all of its glitz and glamor had them all fucked up, and it amazed me how much they were obsessed with getting out the following day to each get matching designer hand bags from god-knows-what over inflated mega-retailer.

watching them worship someone... some "thing" that theyd never met, would likely never meet, and were about to hand over hundreds of dollars to... in the name of mirroring the status quo...damn...

all the while im reminded that there was a point in history where none of these things were necessary... there was a time when you could discover some open plain with fertile soil, claim it as yours, find your place within that local eco system and live happily ever after. the dollar... the euro... these things had never existed...

it became upsetting to me how much 'money' has become the end all/be all of the human condition, so much that its more important to spend time making money than it is to spend with your family, friends and loved ones. even more sickening was the billions of people driven by the industry of "fashion and fame" in a non-stop cycle of trying to impress each other... buying shiny cars, clothing and houses strictly for the purpose of feeling complete.

do we really need all of that...?

over the next few days at the studio, i sat with a track tentatively titled 'nevermind', which was nothing more than a rolling drum loop and 2 tracks of filthy guitar chords. a few days later, it was 'half-LIFE'...

fuck those people.

-pm

the great betrayal III

2008-11-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

....i had left my previous endeavours with a band that i dedicated over 6 years of my life to...blood, sweat and fucking tears. my emotions of betrayal, disappointment and fear on what would be next, were still very very fresh when i first crossed paths with paul and dave at a local restaurant...we had shared stages through our previous bands and we knew of each other...dave broke the ice (which he tends to be good at from time to time) while paul proceeded to express that he and dave had been writin' solo for a period of time and had almost an album worth of material....after a brief recap on what we both have done musically in prior years, paul invited me down to take a listen....they needed a guitarist....

....one thing i remember distinctly about our first song presentation at the studio was the haunting drive and passion to do something real and legitimate in this business....for those of you who are foolish enough to ever play in a "band", it will be a painful lesson to learn that you don't cross paths with people who actually give a fuck very often....i gave a fuck and so did they....that was obvious....

....while scrolling through the rough tracks of "intervene ", "no heaven ", and "taste of a tear " i was glad to actually hear "songs"....and what i mean by a "song" is something you're not gonna forget in the next 5 minutes after listening....music to sink your teeth into....material that stands the test of time, holds water and would be relevant to the masses a decade from now....but, i felt as if there were qualities that weren't quit developed at that stage....that there was defiantly a "turn it up, push the envelope" attitude that hadn't fully presented itself on those rough tracks....that attitude is my musical religion and i heard the potential loud and clear of what i could bring to [neveragain]....

...."consequence "....that was "the song" and i was sold beyond it all....here is a song that harnessed my primary musical religion of "less is more"....the "tragic loop" is where my love of music started when i was a child....without naming particular artists, it took me back real quick to the heart of it all....lyrically, it is a biography to people I know....and as far as dave and paul are concerned, they can obviously relate to that....

the great betrayal II

2008-11-17T02:40:00.000-08:00

'consequence' was the first song i ever finished... in a single day actually, from concept to conclusion... now anyone that knows me well enough knows that "conclusion" came years later, however i went into the studio one sunday morning and left that same sunday evening with the basic 'tragic' loop, as i called it (the drums and the falling, decaying chords), and the vocals, with the lead guitar part and everything...

as i understand it, thats the song todd really latched onto and got him into the idea of signing on as a guitarist...

-pm

the great betrayal I

2008-11-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

where does one begin... i think the first tracks i ever began to work on were 'Intervene', 'the Taste of a Tear' and 'No Heaven'... i began writing those just working through from one track to the next. if i got bored with one, id move on... learning how to sing had been the other issue. i had really only done backing vocals up to that point, so figuring that out; just where i was coming from, was probably the hardest part...

one day i caught this TV show Intervention... and it really latched onto me. how people become so dependent on all kinds of shit in their life, even beyond substances; like dependency on other people. that really felt like something i could relate to, both with the rest of the world and personally. that oppressive vibe of banging your head against a wall, digging your way out of a hole with the blackest soil just pounding back down on your face... screaming at God to throw you a fucking rope. its most terrifying when you realize you've dug the hole yourself... all you want is to get the fuck out... whatever the cost. in the back of your mind, theres this thing; this itch. you remember scratching it will bring relief, but you realize its a different kind of relief that you need now... and thats the the fucking battle right there.

freeing myself from a dependency on a particular relationship was one of the toughest things ive ever had to do... after clawing and digging, begging for that moment in the end where the sunlight finally kisses your face... damn... even a 40 day flood would be a release. just flush it all away and let me begin again, please...

-Paul

about the album...

2008-11-12T09:00:00.001-08:00

i thought it might be cool to write a little history about 'the Great Betrayal'... hows that sound?

-PM

welcome...

2008-11-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone... welcome to the n/a Update Blog. This is where we can keep tabs on each other in a more informal fashion... It's opened up so anyone from the band can just drop a line and you'll be able to comment back as well... Keep your eyes on the Official Website for all major info...