Dead Sea Souls break up

They say that being in a band is like being in a marriage, and there's a lot of truth to that. And I guess on that same note it shouldn't be a surprise that most bands get a divorce at some point. That has happened to Dead Sea Souls.

It was December 2002 when Michael first contacted me about forming a band that would combine elements of electronic, gothic, industrial, and world music into one. A pretty ambitious project for sure, and something that we never did completely put together.

We lost our original bassist, then found another, then finally found our drummer before we decided that we needed a new bassist that everybody could get along with. Finally, by October 2005, we played our first show with the only performing lineup DSS has ever known. We brought with us a variety of influences and an open mind and accommodating attitude toward each other. Our egos were occasionally bruised by criticism, but never knocked down and out. We played to our own muse, and while we were conscious that maybe a certain song needed to be adjusted to be more "catchy" or whatever, we never created a song for the purpose of appeasing the masses. And oddly enough, the result was that we never did really please the masses!

I can't say this was the death knell. It really wasn't, though it had to be one factor among several. In the end, I think the primary undoing of DSS was its original strength-- the diversity of influences. At some point, the differences become too much and the rewards of sacrificing ego and keeping an open mind to better yourself are outweighed by the frustrations. And when your goal isn't to please everybody else, you can't really wonder why you hear crickets between songs at the live gigs. We had ongoing issues with our live execution that were addressed but never really resolved. The energy just was no longer there in the performances and practices were rarely fun. And in times like those, you need the energy from the audience to feed off of and prop you up, but they weren't detecting any energy from us, so why should they show some in return? It's no wonder that two years after we started playing live, we were still playing at the same start-up clubs as before. We were also playing essentially the same set list with one or two songs added. All the debates and overthinking might have been nice for the creative side of things, but it also led to a lack of measurable progress over a period of time when there should have been something to measure.

So all of these things have a cumulative effect. What is important, however, is that in the end, there is no ill will. We are all adults here, not 20-somethings who had to quit the band because so-and-so was banging somebody's girlfriend or had a smack habit that made performance too much of a chore. We're grown men who realize that the time has come to do different things. And in the spirit of remaining civil, we'd like to thank our small but loyal cadre of fans who made as many shows as they could. I can probably count you all on a single hand, but nonetheless you made the experience rewarding while it lasted.

As for the EP, it is not going to happen. However, we are very close to finishing the recording on Circles, and will have that one professionally mixed and posted both here and on the main website. All of our songs will also be available to download. We might also finish one more song after Circles too, depending on how much money we have in the bank in our "band fund" and how much resolve remains after tackling Circles.

And just in case anybody is interested, we do have guys who are interested in pursuing other musical options now that DSS is no more...

Michael (vocals) - He's going to devote more time to his family and developing his massage business. Not available for outside projects.

Josh (guitar) - Will keep writing songs and would be interested in some kind of shoegazer or Cure-esque kind of project.

Matthew (bass) - He'll do anything that will have him. He's a musical whore in that regard, I guess. He told me to put him down as "has bass, will travel." He just bought a pretty kickass GK bass amp and cabs too that he never got to use with DSS. Oops.

Rob - Looking for a project that is progressive, avant-garde, or industrial in nature, in the vein of Porcupine Tree, Gary Numan, Tom Waits, or David Sylvian. He played drums for us, but is quite capable of playing bass, guitar, or some keys.

Again, I want to thank all our fans who have supported us. I also want to thank Michael's wife Roxanne, who made numerous sacrifices so that Michael could pursue his dream. Without her, there would be no Michael and no DSS. Thanks go to Belinda as well, who provided Rob with much support and filmed many of our shows for us. She was the ultimate band girlfriend who offered her support to her man and his band and never went Yoko on us. Thanks also to my ex-girlfriend Pam who was really a great support to me behind the scenes from the beginning until our breakup back in March or May or whenever the hell it was. She has remained supportive from afar since then. Thanks to Matthew's mother, who on multiple occasions traveled from Oklahoma City just to see her son play, then returned that same night. That is some hardcore, badassed motherly love there. Thanks to Darin Robinson, who provided us some practice space and even practiced with us for many of those early days before we had a real lineup. He didn't have to do it but did and it was a classy gesture that is still appreciated. Thanks to Jim Scott too for filling in in those early days. He, Darin, and Michael Galante (who I am thanking in this sentence) all helped us record the original demo of Something Sacred back when Abraham Lincoln was President. Maybe we'll post that eventually for kicks and giggles. Thank you Joel Hopkins for providing us with a place to play when you were a part of the early days. Things didn't work out between us then, but things didn't work out for any of us in end. Thanks to Graham Duncan for mixing our songs and his family for their support. Lord knows we were a pain in the ass to mix for. Thanks to several bands that we ran into and played with over the years-- Chant, The Uncontrollable Urge, Opaque, Escort Service, and Far Star, just off the top of my head. We'll continue to catch your shows when we can.

As I stated earlier, Circles is the last song we worked on together. I will leave you with its words as the final words from Dead Sea Souls since some of the lines are quite appropriate. Thank you again to everybody.

-Josh