December 2015 Status Update for Niels Kunze (.com)

by nielskunze on December 15, 2015

Here I am.

December 15/15 Early Morning

December 15/15 Early Morning

Four years ago, I quit my job in order to concentrate on being an author and establishing an internet presence. During those four years I was typically publishing original content nearly every day. Despite the bottom line of my general message throughout being “don’t follow me; go your own way– uniquely, creatively”… I still managed to reach a peak readership of about a quarter million people a month hitting up my blog. I still find that to be astounding… considering my expressed adversity toward the accumulation of “followers.”

Recently, I appear to have “gone dark”… and “dropped off the radar.” The blog posts are far and few between, and the email Newsletter hasn’t been issued in months. Allow me to explain.

Things change; you can feel it… or, at least, I can. 2015 has been a most interesting year. The global dialogue has shifted– significantly– at least among a few self-appointed pioneers in consciousness exploration. The New Age platitudes circulating among the online masses four years ago just aren’t cutting it anymore; the ascension narrative seems much more like recycled, old news… or just downright bullshit… to all those who have been paying attention longterm.

As for myself, I retain very little interest anymore in penning articles about the state of affairs like I so avidly did before. They were only ever aimed at piquing curiosity among readers anyway, so that they might initiate their own explorations into reality and its many many facades. We’ve collectively reached a point now where enough people “get it”… or are at least beginning to ask the right questions. The saviour myth, in its many guises, is finally dying an overdue death. It really is up to us after all.

(Please note that I am not referring to the masses here; just the few cutting edge explorers who are determined to see humanity regain its sacred right to self-determination.)

In lieu of “bulk” content, I have decidedly turned my efforts toward qualitative endeavours which are more likely to bear fruit in the long run. My free online improvisational novel Running Dialogue is one such project. It is proceeding at a reasonable pace– 10 chapters in 5 months– and will continue on at the same rate for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, I have resurrected a mammoth project from about 15 years ago. As some have come to know, besides my interest and fondness for writing, I also occasionally immerse myself in original music projects. I was a member of an original rock band, Missing Peace, for six years. We released an album back in 1996 and toured quite regularly at that time. Before I decided to leave the band in 2000, we had taken a few runs at laying down the tracks for a second album. When the band completely disintegrated in 2001, those ADAT tapes languished in my basement for years.

I’m the sound-engineer-technical guy. I have the wherewithal to make something of those aborted children. I’ll be turning 50 this spring, in May… and my Mom kept asking me what I wanted to do for my birthday. After a moment’s thought, I decided that the best thing would be to have a reunion with my bandmates– my other family. I wanted to be on stage again, playing with my band. Between geographical challenges and scheduling among work and family commitments, I knew that I was requesting something extraordinary from my mates. To sweeten the pot, I promised to reawaken the prospect of that elusive second album… so that we could have an official album release coinciding with the live gig on my birthday. Everyone readily agreed and even expressed considerable enthusiasm for the whole scheme.

The second album is nearly complete. It has required, however, literally hundreds of hours of my time, processing and polishing up all those tracks recorded ages ago… in a rather haphazard manner. It looks like there will be 12 new songs comprising the official album… and then I’m pushing for a few additional bonus tracks to be included from some of our better live recordings. Like any creative project, it has been enormously fun and sporadically frustrating at times; but overall, I love it!

Here’s some direct indications of what this thing is starting to look like:

Whitman’s Gauntlet… remastered yet again.

Black & Blue… still needs a few minor adjustments and final mastering… but you get the idea.

Handful of Sand… another remaster showcasing a more countrified Missing Peace.

And among the live stuff:

Apple Tree (Have a Nice Day) or… The Song Formerly Known as Typically Tormented… I wanted to display this one here, as it represents the song-crafting ability of the other guitar player, Cory Price. This is his baby. Many of our songs over the years never had set lyrics. Shane, our singer, liked to ad-lib new lyrics from day to day as the mood struck him. None of us are particularly fond of the lyrical content in this version… but they’re not bad enough to make any of us hate it either. It’s unlikely that this song will make the album… but you never know… in a democratic collaboration such as Missing Peace.

Tumbled Leaves… and this I wanted to include here because it is composed by our bass player, Ian Borenheim. Every one of the five members of Missing Peace were ridiculously prolific songwriters… but, somehow, Ian’s songs always got pushed to the back burner. Well, this one was on the set list as a regular for a couple of years. This version can’t really be included on the album either because of an obvious tape glitch on the vocal track. (I think the ADAT tape got eaten or some such thing.)

Anyway, if you like what you hear, you might consider coming out to The Hoodoo Bar and Grill this May for the reunion gig and the album release. (I’ll be more specific once we firm up the date.) Note: there will also very likely be a limited edition vinyl version of the new album too for retro-heads.

On other fronts, I am beginning a new collaboration with a certain online “celebrity” with whom I will be co-authoring a new novel. We are intending to have a release in the late spring perhaps. (I’m pretty excited about that. Sorry about the paucity of details at this point… but discretion is warranted.)

And finally, I am particularly pleased with the weekly chats I am engaged in with the admins of Earth Soul Group. We are committed now to recording these group discussions which are unscripted and free-flowing, so many of them may begin to appear online. The topics are always cutting edge, and fresh insights come fast and furious in our lively collaborations.

These things, which are taking so much of my time, are undoubtedly worthwhile. There really isn’t much I’d rather be doing. I am living my intent and my passions.

I hope that this little update will satisfy the many concerned inquiries flooding my email and messenger. Don’t worry, all is quite a bit more than well.

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