NASHVILLE MUSIC NEWS – ED HALE ANSWERS 20 QUESTIONS


Singer / songwriter / recording artist Ed Hale‘s latest single “Scene in San Francisco” from his current solo album, Ballad On Third Avenue, quickly climbed atop Billboard’s Top 40 in the Adult Contemporary format reaching #25, making Hale the #1 Most Active Independent Artist eight weeks straight. The song also reached #13 on FMQB’s Adult Contemporary Chart. His alter-ego, the Britpop/Indie-rock outfit Ed Hale and the Transcendence just released their fifth album, the epic rock-opera styled All Your Heroes Become Villains to widespread critical acclaim. It debuted at #16 on the CMJ Most Added Chart and continues to garner new fans on college radio as well as commercial Modern Rock stations.
Hale took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down and answer 20 questions.
 
 
The latest book or movie that made you cry? A Separation, the Iranian film that came out last year and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. What a magnificent piece of work that was. As was his acceptance speech.
Name a fictional character most like you? Uhhh, just one? Impossible. But off the top of my head… Catcher Block in Down With Love, Cary Grant in Philadelphia Story, Sherlock Holmes as revamped by Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr., Oskar Schindler as played by Liam Neeson in the Spielberg movie. Captain von Trapp in Sound of Music… Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady… It all depends on the mood I’m in I guess.
The greatest album ever? We get this one a lot. And I repeatedly say that it’s an impossible question to answer. But if I had to choose, it would come down to attempting to choose between The Beatles (White Album), Springsteen’s Born to Run, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs, Lou Reed’s Transformer, Roxy Music’s first album, Radiohead’s O.K. Computer or Kid A, Jeff Buckley’s Grace, U2?s Achtung Baby… And that’s just the tip of the iceberg really, as anyone will tell you. But how’s that for a start?
Star Trek or Star Wars? Neither. But if forced into it, Star Wars for sure. Preferably the first three and definitely not any of the last three.
Your ideal brain food? Seriously? Well if you really want the secret, go to your local health food store and grab a bottle of Advanced Gingko Smart by Irwin Naturals and skip trying to get smart with food ’cause it aint going to happen. Not as fast as it can with a good smart supplement. But prepare to fly. You need to have something to DO if you take things like that. Your brain starts working at hyper-speed! But from a different angle, Sunday morning news shows turn my brain on, as do seventies Woody Allen films, or Californication. That show, for as vulgar as it is, still has some of the best writing on television. Or anywhere for that matter.
You’re proud of this accomplishment, but why? Depends on what we’re talking about. Career wise? Entering the Billboard Top 40 as an independent artist with no help from a major record label. Or the last Transcendence albums Nothing Is Cohesive or Rise and Shine. I also have a non-fiction book I’ve been working on for the last seven years with a small group of kickass pop-culture geeks that is just about to be released. Major proud of that. But we’re leaving out the big stuff. I think getting to go to Iran as a Civilian Diplomat to discuss peace with their government was a major highlight. Something I will never forget. But more than anything, meeting my wife, discovering that true love really does exist… that it wasn’t just in my imagination, or something I fantasized about, but that it was real. But the catch is that you have to commit. Through that commitment, the other in turn commits and then it really kicks in, in a way that we never really understand until we experience it firsthand. That was something I wanted my whole life but was never sure really existed until I experienced it myself.
You want to be remembered for…? The fact that I never gave up on art, that I stayed committed to the very end no matter how bad it got. And that I loved madly passionately deeply unconditionally uncontrollably and gave it all I had.
Of those who’ve come before, the most inspirational are? Lao Tsu, Siddhartha The Buddha, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Einstein, Picasso, Jesus of Nazareth, Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi, Nikolai Tesla, Malcolm X, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Ram Dass… These are all people with a courage and inner strength that I am still waiting to develop or be gifted with, you know. And then of course there’s Prince and Bowie, Marc Bolan and Donovan and Lou Reed, Roger Waters, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Ray Davies, John Lennon and Paul McCartney and George Harrison… musical inspirations. Hundreds of them.
The creative masterpiece you most wish bore your signature? When I was a kid I would have said The Wall by Pink Floyd. Or The White Album by the Beatles. Or maybe even The Plastic Ono Band album by John Lennon. Now I don’t know. I mean, there are so many. Have you ever seen The Statue of David up close and in person? It’s quite the site. It’s mind boggling really. How someone can become that good at something. Almost anything by the man known as William Shakespeare… forget about it. Or perhaps Apocalypse Now by Coppola… a real masterpiece.
Any hidden talents? None. Absolutely none. I have no rhythm, extremely uncoordinated, not double jointed. Not very good at sports. Just nothing. If I’ve got it, I try not to hide it ’cause I haven’t got much. (laughs)
The best piece of advice you actually followed? My old man gave me a coffee mug when I was sixteen years old that read on one side “Do What You Love” and on the other side it said “Love What You Do”. I used to stare at that thing every day for years and contemplate what it meant and how deeply profound those simple words were… I’m actually quite good at following advice. For being so rebellious. I’m kind of a split personality when it comes to that.
The best thing you ever bought, stole, or borrowed? Who me? Steal? C’mon. My personality! It’s all stolen!
You feel best in Armani, Levis or what? Neither. Jeans suck unless they’re big and baggy and even then… For me, a skirt and a t-shirt. If no skirts allowed, then leather pants. Just something about them. And frankly I don’t care who makes them.
Your dream dinner guest at The Ritz would be? When are we going to The Ritz? (laughs) Oh I don’t know man. Too many to choose just one. And too many to fit in the ballroom there that’s for sure.
Time travel: where, when, and why? Time travel, definitely. Without question. And soon. Within our lifetimes I would wager. Not much of the past in terms of going back to check it out interests me. Because we’ve already been there and done that. Unless we’re talking way back, as in back to the Jurassic Period to be able to see what the earth looked like and to get a real feel for dinosaurs. Or even thirty-thousand years ago to get a tangible feel for what prehistoric humanity looked and acted like. That would be cool. But for me it’s all about our future. I’d love to go forward in time enough to see what other life forms other than humans are like. To be able to communicate with them, and share data with them. To see what kind of technology we come up with. That’s the ultimate trip. Way hipper than going back to like ancient Egypt or “the old West” and all that other shit people fantasize about.
Stress Management: hit-man, a spa vacation, or Prozac? Again, that all depends on what we’re talking about. All of the above! They’re all essential elements of surviving this business.
Essential to life: coffee, vodka, cigarettes, chocolate, or…? Coffee for sure. Though I prefer espresso even more. Vodka, hardly. Not much of an alcohol person. There are other things that do the job much better, as Rufus Wainwright once so elegantly put it, “…and then those things that we don’t mention…” Cigarettes, I quit smoking when I was 25 because I knew that was one of those things you don’t get a second chance with. Smoking fucks your whole life up. IN every way. But God did I love to smoke. Cigars even more. When I’m older and no longer need to run around big stages singing my butt off I’ll return to my love affair with cigars. And chocolate, you know, compared to love and sex… I can take it or leave it. I never crave it. Though Fran’s Grey Sea Salt Caramels in Dark Chocolate… I can eat a whole box of them! Easily.But essential to life stuff is more like, a good connection with the Divine Force in the universe, true love, regular sex and passion in your life, music, loyal friends and family, making the world a better place and the thrill of victory celebrations after winning those small battles when fighting the good fight, things like that. You’re speaking more exogenous and I think we transcend that kind of thing after a while here.
Environ of choice: city or country? And where on the map? Definitely BOTH. Can’t have one without the other. For me personally I mean. In the States, New York is where it’s at. The City. And on the weekends you’re only an hour from upstate where it’s totally secluded and woodsy. Anywhere in the Hudson River Valley area like Woodstock… That’s paradise up there. It’s the best of both worlds. Or even further up like rural Vermont. The Colorado mountains. It’s beautiful out there too. But again, there’s no city like New York City. Just nothing close in the US. Where on the map if not in the United States, that’s easy. Italy. Hands down. Rome, Florence, or Venice. Live in the center of Florence as your primary home. The art and culture that surrounds you there is unparalleled on earth. And then you take the train into Rome when necessary for business and spend your weekends in Venice or on the beach just outside of Venice, or even down in Gaeta or Bari. That’s the life.
What do you want to say to the leader of your country if you could? Without fear of being arrested or worse? Stop threatening, invading, attacking and bombing other countries. Or else stop talking and acting like you’re different than any of the other evil bastards who have ruled nations before you. Talk is cheap. And so is charm. Ever heard of actors? (laughs) So if you’re really “the change guy”, then show us some change. Stop perpetrating the reputation of the United States as being the big bad bullies of the world and start leading through example. God knows we need it now more than ever.
Last but certainly not least, what are you working on now? HAHA! Where do you want to start? Promo’ing the latest single “Scene in San Francisco” is a full time job. The music video for that song is complete and looks amazing! I’ve got a few photo shoots coming up with a new stylist that are very cool and cutting edge. There are three different albums by either me solo or Ed Hale and the Transcendence that have already been recorded but still not released that we are working on getting out to the fans sometime soon along with the new Ex Norwegian album called House Music. That’s all very exciting. In the background of all that of course I am still in the studio almost daily recording three new albums, all very different from each other… that’s the most challenging aspect of the career, fitting everything in. Mixing the creative with the business. Wearing all the different hats. And you know, more than anything perhaps, I’m most excited about doing the tour this year and playing live with the guys. Can’t wait to get up on stage again.

ED HALE CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS TRANSCENDENCE DIARIES

MULTIFACETED ROCKER WRITER ACTIVIST ED HALE SHARES HIS UNFILTERED INSIGHT ON LOVE, SEX, POLITICS AND OTHER CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS AS HE CELEBRATES THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS ‘TRANSCENDENCE DIARIES’ BLOG
Ten years ago Ed Hale (www.edhale.com) was at the forefront of the blogosphere, which at that time had not yet become the phenomenon we know today. The role of blogs has become increasingly mainstream as political consultants, news services and pop culture lovers began using them as platforms to share news, views and opinions.
This month marks the tenth anniversary of Hale’s very first post to his long-running ‘Transcendence Diaries,’ a collection of the singer’s online musings and personal journals. It is where Hale has expounded upon his unfiltered thoughts over the course of the past decade discussing politics, love, sex, work, music, life, science and religion all uncensored and at times shockingly personal. The first post went live on July 12th, 2002 when Hale’s team built the website for “the Diaries” as they are called from scratch, because “there were no examples of how to do it back then, no WordPress or Tumblr,” the singer commented this week. “We were winging it. It felt like the Wild West. I’d email the entries to the guys every night and they’d figure out a way to get them online by morning.”
The Transcendence Diaries have gone through a variety of redesigns through the years and now host over three-thousand entries and nearly ten-thousand pages. “You never know who’s reading them,” Transcendence drummer Ricardo Mazzi stated. “Ed’s smart. And funny. People like reading his crazy ideas.”
Those who have followed Hale’s extraordinary career over the past decade know that he is not just about penning insightful online offerings but is fresh off the success of his recent hit single Scene in San Francisco— which reached the Top 15 on the FMQB AC40 Chart and Billboard’s Top 30. The modern rocker turned Adult Contemporarystar is currently working on a new solo album due out in early fall; and his band, indie-rock stalwarts Ed Hale and the Transcendence, are releasing yet another new album, entitled The Great Mistake, less than nine months after last year’s rock epic All Your Heroes Become Villains.
2012 also celebrates another milestone for Hale and team: the ten year anniversary of the debut of the band itself and their first album, Rise and Shine. It was released in January 2002!
For more information visit www.transcendencediaries.com and www.edhale.com
Contact: Andrew Purcell, LUCK Media & Marketing, Inc. (818) 232-4175

ED HALE KEEPS THE MOMENTUM GOING WITH ‘I WALK ALONE’ AS A TEN CITY TOUR IS ANNOUNCED

One New Single, TWO New Albums and a New Tour Announced for Ed Hale
     Modern rocker turned Adult Contemporary star Ed Hale has been feeling the love of thousands of new fans since he set the “Scene in San Francisco”—his most recent hit single which reached the Top 15 on the FMQB AC40 Chart and Billboard’s Top 30. They’ll no doubt be joining him in spirit as he takes a solitary stroll on “I Walk Alone,” the new single from his solo album Ballad on Third Avenue.
The brand new digitally remixed and re-mastered radio version of the moody, melodic pop-rock anthem — which differs significantly from the track that appears on the album–will be released to iTunes on the same day (July 9) it hits radio nationwide. “New Orleans Dreams,” the first single from Ballad on Third Avenue, also hit the Adult Contemporary Top 40 climbing to #10.
Those who have followed Hales’ extraordinary career over the past decade know that he is not just about those soaring ballads. His band, long time indie-rock stalwarts Ed Hale and the Transcendence, are releasing yet another new album less than nine months after last year’s rock epic All Your Heroes Become Villains.
      Songs from the oft rumored about and much anticipated bubblegum pop/indie garage rocker The Great Mistake have been making rounds on the internet for years, but it will finally see an official release by mid-summer. “This isn’t exactly a ‘made for commercial’ kind of thing,” Hale says, “it’s loose and raw. But it’s one of our all time favorites as a band and we figure if you can’t make the kind of music that gets you off, then why make music at all?”
Hale and his band will soon embark on a ten-city tour that will feature songs from both Hale’s solo albums and all the Transcendence albums. The shows will feature the entire crew of Transcendence alumni reunited and playing on stage together for the first time since 2008.
The tour kicks off with a homecoming show at the Gibson Showroom in Miami before heading to other Gibson Showrooms in nine major U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, Las Vegas and Nashville.
Ever the prolific musical over-achiever, Hale is also currently working on a new solo album due out in early fall. The project is being produced by Ex Norwegian frontman (and Transcendence bassist) Roger Houdaille and features contributions by all the usual members of Transcendence and honorary members of the band.
Hale is recording the as yet untitled collection at The Shire and Bear Creek Studios in Seattle, where many notable artists have worked over the years, including Fleet FoxesTrain, SoundgardenNirvana and The Foo Fighters. The singer is so far mum on the overall vibe of the album but is thus far telling fans it will be “more electric and upbeat glam-pop than the last one”—consistent with the Brit Pop influence of his recordings with the Transcendence.
Bear Creek Studios engineer Jake McCaffray recently commented, “Ed Hale’s bareboned and hyper creativity is thrilling. It’s an honor being a part of putting it to record.”

 

ED HALE SIGNS DEAL WITH FIELDHOUSE MUSIC/BMG

Two months after his latest hit single “Scene in San Francisco” entered the Billboard Top 30, the second from his last solo album Ballad On Third Avenue, Dying Van Gogh Records announced that Ed Hale has signed a licensing and publishing agreement with Fieldhouse Music, a division of BMG. The deal comes fifteen years and eight albums into the multi-talented New York based singer-songwriter and recording artist’s career, who has amassed a catalog of thousands of songs and had numerous placements in films, television shows and commercials over the years. John Loeffler, President of Fieldhouse Music/BMG, commented, “Fieldhouse Music/BMG is very excited about the signing of Ed Hale. He has an extensive catalog of great material and is a true talent.” Fieldhouse Music/BMG is a company that offers a new breed of music production which specializes in discovering and promoting new talent for film, commercial and TV soundtracks. Hale, who has been riding a wave of landmark successes over the course of the last two years both as a solo artist and with the rock band Ed Hale and The Transcendence, commented “The universe has been very good to us lately. I felt like I knew these guys at BMG from the first minute I walked in the door. In fact, the security guard at their office didn’t even bother to check me out or make me sign in or anything. She just looked at me and said “BMG?” and I said “Yep” and just walked right in. It was wild. Felt very comfortable. I’m psyched to see what we accomplish together.”

ED HALE LATEST NEWS: BMG, GIBSON GUITARS, IN THE MOVIES AND TOUCHTUNES INTERACTIVE

It’s Been Reported That Indie Breakout Recording Artist (and Accidental Adult Contemporary Super-Star) Ed Hale Has Signed a Publishing Deal With Fieldhouse Music/BMG and Has Been Picked Up by TouchTunes Interactive Network — the World’s Leading ‘Digital Jukebox’

THE GIBSON GUITAR ENDORSED SINGER-SONGWRITER CONTINUES TO RIDE THE SUCCESS OF HIS BILLBOARD CHARTING SMASH HITS “SCENE IN SAN FRANCISCO” AND “NEW ORLEANS DREAMS”

NEW YORK, NY, May 08, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Ed Hale’s been a critically acclaimed force in modern rock for years as front man for the eclectic band, Ed Hale and the Transcendence. Since becoming an accidental Adult Contemporary star via his latest solo hit, the acoustic-driven “Scene in San Francisco,” the New York-based singer-songwriter’s career has been in overdrive.

Hale just signed a lucrative publishing deal with Fieldhouse Music/BMG, a company offering a new breed of music production which specializes in discovering and promoting new talent for film and TV soundtracks.

John Loeffler, President of Fieldhouse Music/BMG, commented, “Fieldhouse Music/BMG is very excited about the signing of Ed Hale. He has an extensive catalog of great material and is a true talent.”

In addition, the entire catalog of Ed Hale and his band The Transcendence — eight albums in all — have been picked up by TouchTunes Interactive Networks, which introduced the first digital jukebox 14 years ago and is now the leading in-venue entertainment network, streaming music through jukeboxes and piped-in digital feeds. TouchTunes reaches consumers in over 52,000 bars, restaurants and retail locations in North America.

“Scene in San Francisco,” which is Hale’s second single to break into both Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Top 30 Chart and the Top 15 on FMQB’s AC40 Chart — putting Hale in the company of pop superstars like Maroon 5, Adele, Kelly Clarkson and OneRepublic — has also been picked up by the Landmark Theatres chain for their In Theatre Music Program where the song will be played in more than 500 movie theaters around the U.S. in May.

Hale says he’s been “walking on clouds,” and enjoying the many perks of his most recent rise in popularity, including endorsement deals with Kurzweil Music Systems, Nord, Ultrasone, Gibson Guitars and Dean Markley Guitar Strings. “All these companies have been super cool, and the new gear will really help us with recording the new albums,” Hale stated. He is set to release at least two new albums in 2012.

ED HALE’S “SCENE IN SAN FRANCISCO” FEATURED IN ALL LANDMARK THEATRES IN MAY

Ed Hale‘s latest Top 20 single “Scene in San Francisco” will be one of the featured songs during the pre-movie music soundtrack in all 256 uber-cool Landmark Theatres around the United States in the month of May. Other artists featured in May include Keane, Rufus Wainwright and Kris Allen. In 21 metropolitan cities and reaching an estimated 29.4 million arthouse Theatre diehards, if you happen to live in one of the following cities you just might have a chance to hear the song for yourself, at the movies. Cities include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington D.C.

VIDEO OF ED HALE AND BAND PERFORMING ON CANADIAN TV SURFACES

This little nugget just surfaced. A Canadian television show called After Hours recorded and aired an episode featuring interviews and live concert footage of singer-songwriter Ed Hale and band while on tour in late 2010. The band had been on the road for five weeks and was ending their tour in Vancouver BC. The editing is a bit sketchy but it does feature two nearly full versions of the songs “Incompatible” and “Marsha’s Sleeping” being performed live, along with various other interview footage. You can see Ed and the band trying not to laugh a few times. But it’s all in good fun.

ED HALE INTERVIEWED IN LIQUID HIP – PART 1

Liquid Hip Magazine interviewed Ed Hale in it’s April 25th edition in a piece entitled Ed Hale On Your Heroes And Villains.
“These bands that get in the studio for two years and are forced to record 50 to 70 songs in order to come out with 10 tracks and the record companies are still not happy … they’re looking for ‘hit singles’ rather than a great fucking album. Well, we haven’t been working that way. — Ed Hale And The Transcendence
Nothing Ed Hale does is by the numbers. Even his band, Ed Hale And The Transcendence, isn’t structured like others. It includes five core members, five guest members on every record, and another five musicians who sit in with the band for live productions. That doesn’t count Karen Feldner, who has provided vocals for the band since their first album, Rise And Shine.
Yet, despite its sheer size and scope, the band has managed to maintain a distinct sound, even if it is one that can be hard to pin down. Their fourth studio album, All Your Heroes Become Villains, has been described as everything from a concept album of Brit-pop and world music to seventies glam rock and progressive alternative, but it is really something else all together. Continue reading…
“It wasn’t supposed to be a concept album, but we were trying to make sure the songs were connected in some way because critics had said our albums ‘weren’t cohesive enough.’ We didn’t know that was one of the rules to making albums,” Hale laughs. “It was only later, with a lot of it coming from DJ Kamran Green, that we started hearing how the songs could be tied together. This guy smoked more pot than anyone I had ever seen in my life. He’s got this medical marijuana card, right? So he smokes out 24-7!”
It was also Green, Hale says, who would stay up after everyone else had called it a night between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. When the band would return in the late morning, Green would still be working — creating brilliant little snippets of music that would be incorporated in all the songs, tying them together, and giving it a “rock opera” like quality.
All Your Heroes Become Villains is a collection of personal insights.
One of the most powerful songs on the album, “Blind Eye”, carries a potent message. Hale has always been regarded as an outspoken social and political activist, but this song throws its hands up in the face of everything, moving from protests that feed the system and toward passive apathy, just to survive.
“Sometimes I want to feel that way. I did when I wrote it. I mean, regarding how evil all the governments of the world are, yes, I feel that way,” Hale said. “You and I know that I can’t get into that here, in a public domain. But that’s what the song is really about … the fact that we are forced to turn a blind eye to all of it.”
Instead, Hale points to a host of entertainers that mostly stay away from politics and take matters into their own hands. People like Bono for his work in Africa, Sting and his wife Trudy saving rainforests in Brazil, and Matt Damon attacking water shortages, he said. Instead of trying to change legislation, he points out, they go out and get it done.
“Blind Eye” isn’t the only politically charged song on the album. “We Are Columbine” is equally poignant, laying the ownership of what Hale considers injustices on the societies that make them possible. Musically, it’s one of the best rockers on the album. Lyrically, it is among several songs Hale says he didn’t write as much as they wrote themselves.
“It’s a hard song to stomach if you don’t agree with the position it takes,” says Hale. “It didn’t take anything to write, but I had to ask myself if I had the courage to write it. To say those things.”
To read the complete article head to Liquid Hip online by clicking here.

CONNECT WITH ED HALE ON PINTEREST

The multi-cultural musical ambassador has been using the new social app Pinterest to engage a few steps deeper with his fans. Pinterest allows users to “Pin” anything visual they see on the internet onto “Boards” they custom design and then share these boards with their friends. Hale said of the internet’s newest craze “We get hit with these things every day. It’s insane to think we’re going to keep up, because now there’s some new website or app we’re supposed to join everyday or else we’ll evaporate into thin air by midnight. But actually I quite like Pinterest. It’s intellectually stimulating. Can be at least. You can learn a lot from spying on others!” To follow Ed Hale on Pinterest click here.

TRANSCENDENCE GUITARIST FERNANDO PERDOMO TALKS ABOUT RECORDING ALL YOUR HEROES BECOME VILLAINS

The fifth album by Ed Hale and the TranscendenceLongtime Ed Hale and The Transcendence guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Fernando Perdomo talks about the recording process of the band’s latest album, All Your Heroes Become Villains, available at music stores everywhere, amazon.com or the iTunes music store.
“The All Your Heroes Become Villains album was recorded in a very interesting time of my life… a thrilling two week love affair I had with a talented singer had just ended and I was down in the dumps. I had an awful haircut ordered by a Latin artist I was touring with and I was totally ready to make an amazing record with Transcendence.  (We ended up making two but that’s another story!)’ [Editor’s note: Perdomo is referring to the band’s often leaked and lauded but as of yet unreleased The Great Mistake album.]
“Upon arriving to the studio, I knew instantly this was gonna be an interesting project. Ed now lived in New York City but he had flown down to stay indefinitely to finish the album with the band. He was so amped up. Everyone was. He had this artist, Gina Rowland, who he had met online, there working on her art for the album cover in the studio with us while the songs were being recorded. She sat quietly and listened to get influenced and inspired by the music. We fell in love instantly…

“Recording my guitars was hard on the record because Ed had strict rules for what he wanted … No Santana, No Blues, No Allman Brothers, No Clapton, No Springsteen… He had all these annoying signs hanging up on the walls. He was constantly making signs with big magic markers and hanging them all over the studio walls. “There’s no such thing as over produced” and “There’s no such thing as not enough production”. Contradictions everywhere. All the time. The process was confusing. He was searching for something…. He was being very fluid. Also, the songs had some heavy metal influences and electronica elements to it that did not make sense to me at the time… but again he was searching for something else, something we hadn’t done before.
“Halfway through the making of the record I went off to LA to join the band PRICE. That’s when Zach Ziskin took over…  He had already tracked guitar on the album. He’s like the fifth Beatle of Transcendence. My LA and PRICE days ended with my mom getting diagnosed with Cancer. I came back and added my guitars to the album. We panned Zach’s guitar part towards the left, mine towards the right, and Ed’s rhythm guitars dead center. The crazier I played the more it fit the album! That’s Transcendence.
“Years later… I almost cried listening to the finished record in my car… The album is a masterpiece… and a real testament to Ed Hale’s writing and vision and the whole band’s genius… and EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE. And so is life… you never know what will make sense in the end…”