The Year of the 7's
Well what can I say? The year of the "7's". It's hard to believe really that for only the third time in the history of the world the date abrubtly changed to 07/07/07. Like so many people in this world the number seven has always had significant meaning in my life. It seems for me personally that roughly every seven years or so my life has scattered to pieces and changed very abrubtly without full knowledge of why or how.
Sometime around my 7th year of life on this planet I remember having a strong passion for sports. Approximately around my 14th year was when I found a new love, the guitar! And roughly at the age of 21 I made a strong conscious choice to make something of writing and performing songs.
In the spring of 2006 I made another conscious choice, that was to start a band. This band would play mostly original material, and this band would be called the 7even Levels. After nearly a year of getting our feet slighly damp we realized that soon enough it would be 2007. "The year of the 7's" was soon used frequently to describe all of the magical things that we would do in this magical year. And what a year it's been.
Of course not every moment of this year has been "magical" but it certainly has been a year to remember. For those of you who have been there with us throughout this year, Thank You. For those of you who are just joining us let me tell you what you've missed.
The beginning of 2007 was a trying time for the band. Parker was nearly completed school and most definately going through a world a change for himself. Kwas took a job less suited for his skill-set and more suited to the bands practice schedule, and I chose not to work at all and devote a couple of months to working on the first ever full length 7even Levels album. Turmoil and uncertainty always in the mix, it was a challenging time, one that we are all glad is over but also glad we experienced.
In mid-March production of our self-titled album took off and by then end of April the songs for the album were nearly complete. We practiced for the few shows that we had, but nothing was certain with the band. Our fourth member at the time and good friend, Jerame Stack (Jars), made a decision to move on in a different direction shortly into the summer season, and by the end of the summer it almost seemed forced to play a show.
We gathered ourselves just in time to play at the University of Saskatchewan for Welcome Week and the show went well. Recieving some positive feedback from the show we decided to carry on as a group of three. From there on things have been happening just as fast as we could have imagined. It took some time and some shitty days but as we expected it didn't last. We've met more people, toured, played more shows, had more jams, had more fun, and worked harder than we ever have before.
So here we are, our self-titled CD has nearly hit the shelves and we are fucking pumped. We know full well that we have not met our full potential as a group, but this year has been the first time that as a group we've tasted what the journey will be like. After this year, I couldn't agree more with Paul McCartney when he sings, "In the end the love you take is the love you make".
Certainly after a year like this it would be dangerous to guess what could possibly happen in 2008. With our new found drive and endless support from friends and fellow music types, the possibilities are only limited by our own vision, and to me that's a beautiful thing.
So if you are liking what we're doing tell a friend, share it, tell everyone! If you've never seen a Levels show be on the lookout. If you haven't had the chance to pick up a CD yet, well make sure that you get one. If you're looking for a good time call Kwas (kind of kidding-mostly true!). And if you ever need to hear a good song, we'll keep em' coming.
Keep it real and we'll do the same
Kelly McTavish- 7even Levels