Imperial Greetings, Im officially answering questions regarding the release of Serafi and the new album since so many of you have been asking. Its not short so bear with me. So, the plan was to release Serafi later this year and we even started the pre-production of the music video. But instead we decided to shoot a video for Joy. Whats with that? Well, for starters, we all felt the fans deserved more from The Dark Side than just two music videos of rock songs and no ballads even though the album contains three of them. As some may recall, we planned to shoot the Ariel music video back in 2011 but the enterprise failed due to issues with locations, schedules etc. So we buried the idea for the time being and focused on other, more pressing matters. That said, we definitely plan to shoot the music video later on. Were working with different conditions now so we wont have the same problems as before. The second reason is time and money. The Serafi music video is something so ambitious and different compared to what weve done before, it requires a fair amount of both of them. And theres no point investing either one until everything else is set for the release. Which brings us to the third reason, the reason why Serafi, both the single and music video, havent been released yet: before releasing anything you have to have everything ready for the release - and that doesnt mean just the band. It means everything: the marketing, the labels, the agencies, the touring. The good news is we got the old Fireal lineup back together for Beatcon Game and Music Festival 2015 next January. But after a three year break, we need some time to prepare before we get back out there. The bad news is, even if we start touring next year, we currently lack the right labels. After releasing albums with a major like Warner, it would make no sense to release something without a label or marketing. To put it short: Serafi wont be released this year. When Bleak disbanded in 2009, a lot of people were under the assumption there was nothing coming after Bleak - when the truth was the new album was already written, new band members recruited, new name etc. So understandably I was in a rush to get things moving again. There was too much rush, too much pressure, and so I made few hasty decisions. One was recruiting band members that werent right for the band and that led to few changes in the lineup, cancelling shows and other stuff. Another one was releasing unfinished demos in the streaming media two years before the album was released - just to give fans a preview on whats to come. Even though they were available only for a while, the mp3s were ripped and spread around the internet. Whys that a bad thing? Well, most demos do not represent the intended quality of the song. A lot of them are simple sketches, previews, a little something to give people an idea what the final version will be like. And while some can understand and imagine how the song will sound like with better quality and just enjoy the melodies and lyrics, a lot of people decide from the first listening whether they like the song or not. First impressions count and the problem with a demo is that you lose your first reaction to the song - it only happens once. If you hate it, the same feeling usually shadows your experience when listening to a newer version of the song. If you like it, you may get attached to that particular version of the song. So if a different, even an qualitywise improved version of the song is released youre not that excited about it because youve already heard it once - and in your head you think this is not the right version, the one I heard before, the one I fell in love with, thats the one. And that diminishes the value of the official release of the song. So thats why no demos. The other thing was the failed marketing considering the release of The Dark Side that was influenced by a lot of stuff that happened around the band in 2010, issues that werent necessarily the result of the band but rather things and plans around us that ultimately backfired. I wont go into detail here, lets just say we were all very disappointed in how things went down. All in all, Ive witnessed so many things go wrong just because people werent ready and with a proper planning and the right people involved. I have no intention making the same mistakes again. I know waiting sucks but its better than the alternative - practically wasting years of work by releasing unfinished material without the right people when the time is not right. Next year it will have been 10 years since we released our first official single Play with Bleak. Its a cliché, but it doesnt feel like ten years when I think about it...and yet it feels like a lifetime ago. So, you can imagine how long it feels to me considering that Bleak was formed 18 years ago and even before Bleak, I had my first band 20 years ago. And yet I want to wait. That should tell you something ;) We have a new management deal coming up and if things go as planned, well start playing shows in Europe next year. So dont be all bummed out about this. I have a good feeling about 2015. It starts with a great festival and hopefully that will set the tone for the rest of the year. Keep the Fire alive & Stay Lit, Caleb-san PS. Oh, btw. Its Cerafi now... >;)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:00:01 +0000
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