Blind Alley

Exit had been a one-man project throughout it's existence up until 2010. The last full-length album I released, 'The Way Out Is Through,' came out in 2005 to a fair amount of critical acclaim. But by 2010 or so, I had grown somewhat burnt out on music - I hadn't been writing and was performing live increasingly sporadically. A friend, Patrik, approached me at a club one night and essentially told me that I had to reinvent everything I was doing. He said the first move should be to step outside my comfort zone and start playing with others - something I hadn't done in over 15 years. Pat ended joining the band on bass, and we recruited Nathan (from The Holocaust Humanity) to play drums. I've been reinvigorated ever since. This collection of songs I never thought would see the light of day. Previous albums had all been written in a specific span of time, while these are years apart. Something ties them all together though, and while I'm not entirely sure what it is just yet, it might be their one-time mutual abandon. I had made a good amount of headway on these songs throughout the years at my home studio, but when Nathan and I got together to finalize them at his studio everything came into clear. Stepping outside of my own little world and collaborating with someone else far more talented than me was the best thing that could have happened. Nathan has exponentially helped me breathe new life into every one of these songs, and in turn has helped create the strongest record I have ever been a part of. There is a cohesion here, and a sense of experimentation - neither of which I feel were apparent in previous albums. I think you can hear that we have a confidence in what we are doing, and that we are actually enjoying this as well - neither of which I *KNOW* were apparent in previous albums! When I initially thought to call the album 'The Blind Alley,' I meant it in the truest, most down-trodden sense of the phrase: a mistaken, unproductive undertaking. Once I started feeling really great about what we were doing, I decided to scrap the title because I didn't want to lend any sense of self-imposed failure to the record. Upon further thought, I decided to keep the title as very tongue-in-cheek. Almost a reflection on what this musical endeavor used to thrive on - a nod and a wink to times hopefully long past. Making this record has restored and rebuilt my faith in myself as a songwriter and performer, and has reborn my passion for this project. For the first time in quite some time I sincerely want people to hear the final product, and I hope that people are moved by what we've created.