Fantasy book series reveal

At long last, after over three years of work, I can reveal the cover to Arcane: The Arinthian Line, book 1.

Warlocks before their time… 

Fourteen-year-old Augum and friends Bridget and Leera dream of becoming warlocks. But with a kingdom in total chaos, it will take courage, sacrifice, and an iron will to make that dream come true. 

The Lord of the Legion, a vicious tyrant, has overthrown the king in a relentless and murderous quest for seven mythic artifacts—and Augum’s mentor, the legendary Anna Atticus Stone, possesses one. While Augum struggles with demons from a painful childhood, a betrayal puts him, his friends, and his mentor through a harrowing ordeal that threatens to destroy them all … and change the course of history. 

Arcane, the debut novel in the fantasy adventure series The Arinthian Line, follows three friends as they navigate an ancient abandoned castle, endure grueling training, challenge old mysteries, and learn that a bond forged in tragedy might just be the only thing to save them from a ruthless enemy. 

97,000 words. Approximately 275 pages in electronic media, 409 in print.

The book will be released sometime this month. To receive an email of release and how to get yourself a copy, sign up here.

If you would like a free pre-release advanced copy in exchange for a fair review, email me at severbronny[insert at symbol here]gmail.com

Thank you kindly for your support, your advice, your friendship.

With warm regards,

Sever

P.S. I posted this in my music blog. Please check out www.severbronny.com for my writing.

Life is Attitude + My Ideal Agent

Ever walk around thinking you're on the verge of some great epiphany, that it's just around the corner? You can smell it, almost touch it ... tip of the tongue ...
Well I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately, and I've come up with a few conclusions:

Life is wonderful and fun, and when it isn't fun, it's always good to ask why.

Things are hard to start, but once the ball gets rolling, it gets easier and easier.

We are capable of so much more than we think we are; there are no limits, except the ones we place upon ourselves.

Years ago I'd occupy a lot of my time with idleness. Playing games. Reading pointless books. Doing who knows what and eating up God knows how much time. I'm not saying those things are bad, not in the least. What I am saying is, time is precious, you don't ever get it back. But then, you only really have the now, don't you? There is, and always has been, only this moment. This is Tolle talking, but think of it, when was it never not 'now'?

I take responsibility for my decisions on how I spent my time. I take responsibility for my health, my careers, and my attitude.

What makes a day terrible? What makes a day great? Here's a little video that inspired this blog:
This is Water.

I've fallen in love with hard work over the years. Having a cup of tea / coffee and just focusing all day on one thing at a time. I highly recommend the focused approach. One steady step a time. Always forward.

A couple years ago I started writing a book to try something new. It was so much fun I couldn't stop. It was like when I first began making music; I couldn't stop then, either. But the craft was lacking. I researched the best books on how to write better, and read the shit out of them. I mean, those books literally pooped on the floor when I was done with them.

Draft after draft after draft after draft (if you're dyslexic, sorry about that). And in the meantime, I inhaled other people's books, going over them like an electron scanning microscope. The classics. Modern. Non-fiction. Blah blah blah. I wish I was a faster reader. I wish there were more hours in the day. All right, so I need to learn how to be more efficient. One programming guy uses a chess clock. Not sure I'm ready for that yet, but it's been on my mind. Get up to go to the bathroom? Hit pause. Sit back down? Resume. You get the picture.

Anyway, I'm on book three, but I've also been submitting to agents at the same time. My plan? It's a pronged approach: do the best you can sending out queries to all the relevant agents (and I mean, use every ounce of that brain), but also prepare to take your career into your own hands. I have zero publishing credits, so it's an uphill climb, I know that. These agents get upwards of 6000 submissions a year, and the number is rapidly climbing because there are less and less of them. Sound familiar? Well it should - it happened in the music industry. If you aren't touring you're losing.

That's why I've decided I'm going to be successful publishing no matter what, whether it's traditional publishing or self-publishing (the latter excites me to no end, it's a challenge waiting to be accepted); Regardless, I'm going to make it work. I'm also going to use synergy - music and publishing at the same time, one boosting the other. I'm in a position I can do that. I believe I've learned (i.e. failed) enough to succeed in my endeavours. All right, it's a mix - too easy to poo-poo our successes isn't it? We need not talk about the latter here. That's not the point.

That said, here's MY IDEAL AGENT: He/she understands my digital capabilities (making video, graphic design, audio books, sonics, etc.) and utilizes them. My ideal agent recognizes my burning ambitions, and helps focus them. My ideal agent recognizes I will learn whatever is necessary to make the work a success, and won't be afraid to suggest materials to study. My ideal agent understands my ability to work hard and focus like a laser beam. My ideal agent won't be afraid to tell me what needs fixing, and can feel at ease I will tackle the problem until it is solved. My ideal agent doesn't believe in talent, only hard work. Above all, my ideal agent and I inspire each other to achieve new heights together.

When I took a break from music for a few years, I also stopped communicating through the social blogosphere (myspace / facebook / twitter, etc.). Am I ready to start that up again? I think so. it was fun, after all. I've been thinking of a lot of ideas lately that I think deserve sharing. I'm ready to contribute once again.

Now bear with me as I work out the kinks. The gears have gathered a bit of rust; just have to add a bit of oil ...

Sever

So what have I been up to all this time? The answer - working to become an author.

In mid 2010, Tribal Machine was put on hold as one of its long-term members moved away. A rather turbulent time followed where I forced myself to have a hard think on my future and what it is I wanted out of this existence. By then I got to experience the joyous, climactic highs of the stage as well as adventuring and working with a great group of guys; I got to hear Tribal Machine's music play all around the world; I got to interact with amazing fans from every nationality; and I experienced being on TV, radio and in print.

I had a song in a feature length film and had my third record mastered by one of the best in the world. I released three albums, the last of which, a concept album, taking almost four years to complete - by far the most difficult, most ambitious thing I ever took on in my life, and by a wide margin. If I was to compare how difficult it was, I'd say writing a 100,000 word book and re-writing / editing it to death is at least ten times easier - and that is no exaggeration.

So after reviewing my life and realizing I have been doing music for most of it, I decided to pursue another dream of mine - to become an author. I spent the next year or so writing and re-writing two books in a series that will likely consist of between 5-7 volumes. I always knew I would one day become a writer, just didn't think it'd happen so soon. So that's where I'm at; I've finished two books and as I start the third, I have begun the process of looking for an agent to represent my work.

Whereas the back-end of Tribal Machine was done without the help of a record company and manager, I am looking forward to working with professionals in the literary field. The books are young adult fantasy set in a medieval-inspired world. I can tell you it was incredibly fun to write, and from the feedback, it's looking promising. That's all I'm saying right now ;)

For those wondering what's going to happen to Tribal Machine, don't worry, the writing and music compliment each other like matching puzzle pieces, and I'll be doing both till the day I die. Right now I'm focusing on writing, but I still jam, and when the right moment comes, you will hear new Tribal Machine again.

With all my love,

Sever Bronny


"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
- Beverly Sills

Flags, dreams and cold sweat. Thoughts from the plastic edge.

Friday night. I still feel like I'm coming down from a very crazy few months. I'm standing on the edge of a very large chasm, looking into the depths of many possible futures. To jump or not to jump? I have so many big decisions to make, yet I've put them pretty much all on hold. The time just isn't right.

You ever get that feeling? The time just isn't right?

So I just came back from Poland. It was incredible seeing how large the family is. Here in Canada I've only really known my immediate family. Over there, the family is large and has an extensive history. It made me feel like I have really big shoes to fill. Most of the family is made of doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, etc.

And here I am.

The black sheep.

The "artist".

I picked a career in music at a time that is, in the history of histories, a difficult one for this profession.

I think great-grandpa is rolling over in his grave.

Did someone say loser?


Look at me sitting here on this digital couch trying hard to express myself [which as you probably know from my few posting I find difficult at best].

Connecting the dots between the many feelings that come and go through-out a single day is a tall order for one such as myself who's natural tendencies are closer to a hermit than a gregarious rock musician.

Speaking of which.

All right I'll say it. Fuck it. I am seriously contemplating becoming a hermit on a nearby island and making music + art and releasing it from home. I'd feel quite comfortable choosing such a destiny. The land near here is wild. Really wild. Some of the trees are over a thousand years old. There is a peace, a stillness in those dark, empty woods that I crave. A peace I believe would help not hinder the art.

So let's note it. Decision 214: Move to a large city like Berlin or on an island and live as a hermit. Possibilities? Plenty. Time? Unknown. Pressure? Fuck it.

There we have it. Another one for the mental notebook.

I can glance over to my instruments right now and see the pileup of dust. It's happened before, many times, usually after an album release too. This time, come December, it'll be almost a whole year off from recording. Inevitably, the itch comes back, dragging its sorry ass to the forefront of my brittle mind.

Next up? After more promo work for T.O.N., I'll be extending and remastering the first album, which sold out years ago and which many of you have been asking me about (I feel so guilty for not doing it earlier!!)

*Sigh*

I'm a sonic pilot with instruments made of plastic. It's dark outside, the plane has no lights, and I'm flying through clouds. When I peer back into the cabin I see you there ordering a cocktail, no fear registering in your eyes. What belief you have in your pilot!
And I'm such a flimsy human!

You ever get this feeling like you're re-energizing for something? I've had this feeling over the last week. It's very strong. Although I have some big decisions to make, I know I'll be making music for a very long time still. And I know I'm in a good place in my life. Mentally that is. There is a wonderful distant strength there that I can rely on and use when I see fit.

I've chosen not to use this strength for about two months now.

Burn out? Perhaps. Perhaps likely? Maybe? Just a wee bit?

All right it's burn out. I've been working like a maniac before my 'break' promoting the album. [I need to get back into that soon too, can't let things like that sit *wags finger at self*.]

Did you know in Poland they say "I'm going to step outside to burn" when referring to cigarette smoking?

That's so fucking appropriate.

Are you ever hard on yourself? What is the price you pay for perfectionism? What is the price for leniency? How do you compensate for your procrastinations?

You know, since the release of The Orwellian Night I've found it a far easier thing to feel good about accomplishing something. The damn album is finally out there, and should a lightning bolt strike me down at this very second I would die a happy man knowing I contributed something.

Look at that. I even put it in bold =P

While we're on the topic of accomplishments; Chain D.L.K. has just posted a review of The Orwellian Night, which you can read HERE.

The following from the author struck me:

"Only the music buying public can determine whether this album will be an underground classic or fade into obscurity."

I feel the same way. I'm here alone, and I've always been at your mercy. And I'm OK with that. As the writer and producer, I know how much work I put into the album. I know that it was the very best thing I could have made at the time. I did my job and i could sleep at night knowing I did the very best I could with the tools I had at hand.

So there we have it. Tribal Machine's true future is up to you, dear listener and reader.

Would you have it any other way?

-Sever
TRIBAL MACHINE

P.S. If you love the work, I invite you to support it.
WWW.TRIBALMACHINE.COM

And for the many who have supported it?

From the bottom of my heart, you have my gratitude :)

Thoughts from a bomb crater.

Feeling strange and remote. My thoughts are spilling out like foul milk. Mother always said don't cry over spilled milk.

Inspiration is meted out with swift justice to those ready and receptive. How are you feeling? Are you inspired? Ready? Receptive? Sometimes that's what it takes to live. To really live at your best. Allowing that inspiration to course through your veins like the harshest of liquors. Or, for the glass half full crew, like the purest of country wines.

It comes and goes doesn't it? Almost at will. I've beaten my head against the wall countless thousands of times trying to force it to surface, to get a glimpse of its light through hard, black curtains.

Yet when it comes it's not usually a sordid petite tumble of raindrops. No, it's a torrent of unfulfilled desires ready to be awakened and harnessed as brutal energies, whipped up into a frenzy for the taking. A waterfall of creativity. And so, if you're ready and strong, you can take that energy and create something out of it.

They say that if you only followed through on 0.1 % of the ideas that come into your head on a daily basis you could really change everything.

Operating on 0.03% right now. Right now! At this moment! How many ideas have i dreamed and let go? Too many. It's a total crime. I should be locked up in the prison of the unmotivated - a shallow little shack on the dirt floor of a crater somewhere in Iraq.

All right I'm warmed up. Are you?

Getting into the swing of things.

So I posted a completely new track. "Treason" is about a girl who falls in love with a guy who ends up turning her in because she is out of a job. See, in the story of the album, the song preceding this one is called "The Factory", which is about this very same girl (named Marie) who gets fired by the factory owner because she is too human, and thus inefficient.

We're being compared to robots in our work places. Even expected to behave like robots. God help you if you show feeling or emotion, caring, sensitivity or, that most ghastly of human traits - weakness! We are to be models of efficiency.

Now, it's funny that we are responsible for this system. In a way, we are like foul wandering hungry dogs feeding on each other, desperate for that next piece of meat, that shiny nickel of freedom known as monetary wealth.

You taste like chicken.

Nickel and dimed to death.

The shoe factories. The sweatshops. Your office. Batteries in the matrix.

So. Am I putting food on my table? Fuck it, I made it at home and I am selling it from home. What better way to live. There is no Miller Beer banner atop this stage! I can say and do as I please (for now!).

So back to the song.

What you hear is how it sits, finished and complete, though out of context based on the concept of the album, and missing the end segue. This track serves as the final emotional pinnacle of the record, a climax of tragedy born from a system bent on total control. Sound familiar?

I think you've guessed that "The Orwellian Night" is a parody of today. A simple narration and comment on the drivel of the corporate line, the corporate life. God help us all. Can we control this beast of burden that we created? WHat is the end result of this line of evolution?

With love,

-Sever
TRIBAL MACHINE

So the album has been released. Some thoughts + review

First off I just want to say how deeply grateful I am to the many of you that support this project. It has taken me many years to get to this stage. For the first time, I feel I can let the music do the talking for me. But beyond that, it is you that is doing the talking.

Let me explain.

Years ago I set this project up to have success through a traditional platform - record label support, touring, etc. The music industry has changed though. Some may argue for the better, some for the worse. But one thing has become real to me. This doesn't need any platform other than the one we create together.

I built it to withstand any medium at any level. I am prepared to tour intensely and for long periods and achieve the highest levels of success that the music business has to give. But I am also prepared to quietly work on this at home, play the occasional show, and let it spread organically. Right now, that is the path it is seemingly taking. The path of least resistance. It feels right, and I am shining with joy doing it.

In either case, on a public level, this project will live and die by support from you. You are its backbone. And I am happy about that. Because TM does not have a record label per se (LDP is my own label) I feel I can write freely and take my time on the projects.

With your support, this is all possible. An artist can do this from home, work at the highest caliber level, and release it from home directly back to you. You are the funding behind this work. Thus, you are part of it. You are shaping it as much as I am.

What a time we live in. I feel anything is possible, and I fear nothing.

Who knows though, perhaps one day I'll find a business guy that I can work with and we can together take this project to a whole new level. Or a team of people. A record label? Maybe. Maybe not. I am unconcerned. I am having a blast.

Right now it's day by day, order by order, personal note by personal note..

I am grateful for your support. In a way i feel like we're in this together. My work isn't squandered. It has a purpose and direction. It has listeners who enjoy it. And it has a story to tell. That's one thing about this album. I insured it wasn't about me. it was about the story I was writing, a story begun by my predecessors.

My job is to make the highest possible quality music. To think it through with maximum resolution and vigor. Quality. That is my job. To hit it out of the park. And I will always endeavor to hit it out of the park.

I feel with this record, The Orwellian Night, I have done that. I can sleep at night knowing I did the best damn job I could have done with this album. I can smile. And what gives me pleasure is you listening to it and feeling the same joy of creation I felt making it.

Let me direct your attention now to a review of the album posted this morning. You can find it HERE.

And for those of you that have been asking where you can order the album, it is only available for purchase HERE. You won't find it in a store =)

I'll be posting a new track at some point today. It may be on myspace or it may be on the homepage www.tribalmachine.com

With love and gratitude,

-Sever
TRIBAL MACHINE


Photo by Darshan Photography.

P.S. Did you want to be part of the street team? Let me know and I'll send you the access link =)

ALBUM RELEASED!

At long last, it is my great pleasure to present you the 71 minute concept album The Orwellian Night.

It's been four years since the last record, Soldiers in a War of the Mind. I am ecstatic today. A huge weight has been lifted off my back.

You can get it, as well as all the new merch from HERE.

To celebrate, I put up a totally new track, one of my favorites from the record (though they do change every few days). It's titled Two Brothers. Stay tuned though as there will be more tracks uploaded today (and over the course of the next few weeks in fact).

It's a wild time here, who knows what might happen =P

For those of you that pre-ordered T.O.N. there is a special bundle called the Icarus Bundle
that will allow you to get all the new merch on special. In fact, I highly recommend that everyone take a close look at the bundles if you're thinking about ordering merch.

I wanted to sincerely thank all of you for your unlimited patience with this album. It's been a very long and very difficult road to get to this point. With this album I am turning professional, and I do not plan on looking back. I am figuring on releasing ten albums over the course of my life. This is number three, and it's my life's work to date. There is not a second of music in the 71 minutes I regret. Every part of this album was painstakingly thought over and edited to my own particular anal brand of perfection.

Because I wrote it as a concept album, the lyrics are extremely important. Though few people buy CD's nowadays, I feel this record will be an exception because of the lyric booklet you get with the CD.

And because of the care taken with the sonics and production, you'll also want to hear this album in maximum fidelity, which can only be heard on a CD. I hope that if you're sitting on the fence, you do not go down the mp3 path but rather choose to get the CD. I feel you'll thank me for it later when you hear the scope and clarity of the album.

The Orwellian Night is designed to have success in the clubs, on the radio, in the car, on your home system, and especially on your headphones, when you sit there alone, vibing to the story and sound of The Orwellian Night.

I am extremely happy to share this album with you. I feel like this is my contribution to the world, and it was worth the time and trouble to complete. I hope you'll agree.

There will be plenty of updates to come over the new few weeks, so stay tuned. Later on today I'll be posting some more new tracks as well =)

With love,

-Sever
TRIBAL MACHINE