Archives Vol. I
There is nothing fancy here, just the first repository of old No Turning Back news items that are no longer very relevant to the main News page. I did not want to erase any part of our history, so I decided to throw whatever was not needed anymore in here. This should allow the main News page to load quicker and allow for easier access to the most current information.
8/2/05: Greetings, and welcome back. I apologize for the short outage but it looks like things are back to normal (subjectively speaking, of course). Anyway, here is today's update. These come directly from Erik, all pertaining to his many endevours in California.
"Erik Deutscher to be featured artist in Hollywood!
For the first time ever, selected Erik Deutscher photographic and digital art limited prints will be available for viewing and purcahase at the Groundwork Coffee Company in Hollywood.
Groundwork is located at 1501 N Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood, CA, 90028 and features a rotating display of local artists' efforts. Erik will be the featured artist come this September.
Pieces such as "The Mirror", "Self 1", "Dead Red" and "The Dream" will be shown as well as other, yet to be determined, works.
Please inform everyone you know and stop by to view the work and enjoy the best coffee Hollywood has to offer!"
Followed by...
"Hello everyone!
It's time once again to bring you news from the Animal Instinct Studios frontline. Here's what's been going on...
For all of you Star Wars fans, The Beginning of the End is in it's post-production stages. We're looking at an October 25th release date for the DVD. As many of you know by now, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith will hit the DVD shelves on November 1st and we thought it would be great to have the documentary released a week prior to help get those force-juices flowing. Schedules have been tight lately as Tom Rowles has been continuing his personal efforts and additional episodes of FromTheShadows and as Erik Deutscher continues with his short film production and his photographic and digital art efforts.
In movie news, Erik's short, Confrontation Pt. III (working title), has been casted and the required locations have been set. Actor/Comedian Miguel Fierro will be playing the lead and shooting will begin this weekend. Miguel is more known for his stand-up and musical efforts. You can catch him at many of the big venues in the LA area, such as The Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store as well as the comedy open-mic he hosts at Groundwork Coffee Company in Hollywood every Friday night.
And speaking of coffee, you already know that Erik will have limited prints available for viewing and purchase at Groundwork. And so, now it's time for the big question:
Which of pieces would you like to see in print?
Go to the AIS website. Check out everything in the galleries. Then link to the DeviantArt and Flickr accounts and do the same. then send an email to masterjedi76@yahoo.com stating which ones you like best and why. This will help us decide which ones to display and how many to print. There's no limit to how many times you email, we're just looking for feedback. If you would like your feedback/comment posted, then please say so in the email. Remember: Your vote counts!
And finally, in music news, the short issues that the No Turning Back site was having are no more. The site is back up and running flawlessly. Thank you for being so patient with us. Now here's a little incentive for you to help us out:
As usual, we would like the word to spread like wild fire about all of these projects going on. And, as usual, we're always looking for new people to sign the GuestBook and sign up for the newsletter to help spread that word. So, a FREE No Turning Back CD 2-Pack will be sent out to every NEW person who signs the GuestBook and/or signs up for the newsletter. These CD's will include the 7 track NTB demo: For All Intensive Purposes, videos, pictures and more! Here are the rules:
1) Be sure to include your address in your email. If there's no address, we don't know where to send the CD's!
2) Only one 2-pack person. Sorry, but this is coming out of personal collective pockets. You know the whole starving artist routine...
3) And this one's important, please also include who recommended you. This way they, too, can receive the CD's (it's only fair)."
Finally, Chris now has added himself to the craziness that is MySpace.com. Go here to check it out...
As always, thank you all for your support and remember to stop back here for all of the latest No Turning Back news.
7/16/05: Ahoy, boys and girls. I am pleased to inform you that the "Big" site update I mentioned below is finally ready for consumption by the masses. Nearly one year ago (at the end of this month), ntbmusic.com went live and has been serving as repository of assorted files as well as an access portal to the current state of affairs within No Turning Back. As a thank you to everyone who has stuck around for us (even without a whole lot going on), I have undertaken a project during the past couple of months that nearly equals the scope of the entire site itself (in terms of shear size and time involved).
First, as you will notice above, a new button has been added to the navigation bar. It leads to a page dedicated to (wait for it...) links. What kind of links, you ask? Click on it and see for yourself. However nice that may be, the larger project is what I am most proud of...
Here is the big one, people... Ever since I first dreamed up this site, there has been one thing I wanted to include, but never got around to creating. Well, it is finally done (or at least begun--the pieces are in place for it [them?] to be continued). My friends, I present to you the No Turning Back photo galleries. Where, you ask? Either click on the links below or go to the Cast page. The original member pages have been redone as individual photo galleries for each member. A gallery of the band has also been created.
I would like to inform you of a couple of things before letting you loose for the day: 1) The images are very large (>400KB each) and will take some time to download if you are visiting us by way of a dial-up internet connection. 2) You may need to refresh your browser once or twice when you first get there. If you do not see nice, orderly collumns of pics, keep refreshing the page. You may also need to empty your browser's cache.
OK...with that geeky stuff out of the way, feel free to have you way with the links below. Happy birthday, ntbmusic.com!
Photos of Chris
Photos of Erik
Photos of Scott
Photos of the Band
7/5/05: Just letting everyone know that a small update to the site is underway. It is nothing big, but something that should have been done when the site first went live. I have been slaving away in my little, dark corner of the world for many weeks working on several projects simultaneously. This has been one of them and I am proud to report that things are progressing smoothly and the update should be ready to go live by the end of the month. The news will be posted here first when it is ready.
6/17/05: Attention, kiddies: With the addition of so many external links recently (you know, to places outside of this site), I would just like to remind everyone that No Turning Back is not, in any way, responsible for any content outside of this site's boundaries. By clicking on any of the external links, you are potentially exposing yourself to all of the magic, wonder, beauty, damage, and possible horror of "what's out there." You have been warned. Now, click away! Have fun. Enjoy yourself out in the wilderness. Just make sure you leave a trail of crumbs to find your way back home (here!). Till next time...
6/16/05: OK... It seems Erik has had a bit too much time on his hands, lately. He is currently clogging up the internet with a bunch of sites about, well, him. A few have been listed in the post below, but for those of you who just need a full list, right here, right now, here you go:
http://www.erikdeutscher.com/ (Erik's main Animal Instinct Studios site)
http://aistudios.deviantart.com/ (Erik's photos)
http://aistudios.blogs.friendster.com/ (Not quite sure just yet...)
http://us.z.webhosting.yahoo.com/gb/sign?member=masterjedi76 (This one gets a questions mark, as well)
http://www.studioonline.com/playvideos.asp?crypt=D6EA3D7F8BF923FC (Some nifty saber rattling)
http://www.flickr.com/people/ais (More self-promotion)
http://www.myspace.com/ntbmusic (A little No Turning Back info/promotion)
http://www.myspace.com/aistudios (Animal Instinct Studios promotion)
http://www.myspace.com/ntbsoulman (well, actually, that one is mine...)
http://www.friendster.com/useropen.php?uid=19551769 (Again, more self-promotion)
Apparently, he is working on more to come. As they become available, they will be added to the list above.
In other news... ummmm... there is no other news to report at this time. Stop back and see what other sites Erik has populated the web with. Until then, later...
6/10/05: Another quick update... I spoke with Chris tonight (he is currently in Michigan for a family reunion this weekend) and we discussed the mixing of all of the wonderful songs we recorded at the end of last year (and into the first half of this year). I am going to hand off the mixing duties to him. My personal schedule is getting more and more busy as the days go by, so instead of holding everyone back for quite some time, I will gracefully bow out. I will make myself available from time to time, when possible, during the process to add my seven cents and assist wherever I can, but Chris will bear a majority of the burden for this project. I have 100% confidence in his abilities. If things don't turn out well, it will be all his fault. When all is said and done (and when more time happens to cross my path), I will do another mix of all of the songs at SEPtic Sounds, just to see what happens. Don't hold your breath.
In other news, Erik has created a couple of additional pages on the great world wide web. Another Animal Instincts Studios page and one dedicated to No Turning Back (a band whose name sounds strangely familiar...). These are MySpace pages, so create a profile (if you haven't already) and join the gang. *Update*: I just created a profile as well. I don't really have anything up there yet, but it is a placeholder if I ever want something else to spend some time with.
OK. I said this would be a quick update, so there it is. Take care and stay safe.
6/1/05: Holy crap!!! Four months since I last updated the site?!? I truly am sorry. I have a thousand excuses, but the biggest one is...I just got married! That's right, the Soul Man now has a Soul Woman of his very own. Because of all of the planning (creating a website, coming up with a guest list, designing/printing invitations and programs, coordinating schedules, burning CD's, re-printing programs {because of typos}, etc) I have been a little lax with band duties. I hope everyone understands. OK...on with the news...
So much has happened in the last 4 months, I will try to cut it down to the most important items. 1) The recordings are done! Chris and I still need to plan a schedule to work on mixing, but no more recording. 2) Erik came back home a few weeks ago (a slight surprise, to say the least) and we all got together and jammed for a few hours before he had to go back home. We shot a lot of video footage that Erik is still processing right now for a couple more videos to be posted here when they are done. 3) Erik now has his own production company (and website) called Animal Instinct Studios (AIS) and he is currently working on a documentary about a bunch of freaks standing in line 3 months too early (and in front of the wrong theater) for some movie called Star Wars (or something like that). They even have a website devoted to them. Maybe next time, instead of shooting video of these people, he may just want to hand out a schedule of when the movie will be released. It will help avoid a lot of confusion and needless loitering tickets. But, I guess that was the best he could do in the quiet little town of Hollywood. :) 4) I just got married. 5) Chris and I wrote and recorded several new songs for the wedding. All are acoustic and sound beautiful. 6) I finally got my hands on an M-Audio 1010lt 10 channel input card for my computer (to go along with Logic Express) so I can now import several channels of clean, high(er) resolution audio simultaneously (vs. 2 channels of noisy 16 bit/44.1k audio). I used it to mix/master the wedding songs and it surpassed even my own expectations. 7) I got married!
Well, that is the story in a very small nutshell. Please be sure to visit Erik's site and sign his guestbook. Let him know how much he is missed. Don't forget to check out his collection of photos (especially of the beautiful Rae-Rae). Later...
2/1/05: Well, I did it! I faced the dreaded vocal booth and I came out victorious! With the proper mixing (having my vocals buried), a few songs finally have the kick they needed. Only a few more things to finish and we will be able to wrap up the recording process. Mixdown is on the horizon. We can almost see it. Cross your fingers...
Erik has finally broken the silence and made contact with us once again. He finally got connected to this wonderful thing called the internet and sent his first electric messages across this cyber sea. He has requested his new phone number be posted on the Cast page and it will be posted here as well: 1-323-382-6043. It was so nice to hear from him again. Now, we just need him back in physical form so we can jam. We miss you, little buddy! Don't forget it!
Anyway, I spoke with Chris about the orphaned song detailed below and he reminded me of the whys and wheres and whatnots. Apparently, we have tried recording it in the past (vague, clouded memories welled to the surface) but it never really worked right. It seems that song was only meant for the stage and we failed to tame it enough for the studio environment. At least we have it in some form at the moment.
Wow! Two updates in just a few days! I don't know if I have the stamina to keep that up, but I will make sure this channel does not go dark for too long. We thank you for visiting again and we hope you keep checking back.
1/30/05: Just a small update today. We are closing in on the final steps of our current recording project. I will be entering the feared vocal booth to lay down a few backing vocal tracks (yes, I do sing, but prefer to leave the heavy lifting to Chris). We then will only have a few more small things to finish off before mixdown begins. Updates will come as more progress has been made.
On a side note, I was in the cleaning mode last night and came across a few things that I had forgotten about ("out of sight, out of mind") since over the years things tend to get buried under the new day's collection of junk. One of the items found was a 2-disc bootleg recording from a birthday party we played (as Bluefire) for Erik's mom at 3D Greenhouses in Mukwonago on July 21st, 2001. If memory serves, I think I know who recorded the show and I would like to take a moment to thank Katie Atwell for giving me a copy of these discs. I apologize they had become forgotten amongst all of the other items of my life. While listening to them last night, memories came flooding back (I actually remember that night as if it were only a few weeks ago). In fact, there is a song we played that night that somehow was never recorded on any of the Bluefire CD's and somehow escaped the list of songs this time around. It really is too bad since it was one of my favorite Bluefire songs. I am going to have to give Chris and Erik a talking to about letting that one slip by our collective attention. Oh well, at least it was found. I have unofficially dubbed it "Greenhouse Boots" and as far as I know there were only a single-digit number of copies created. As a whole, it was not our best performance, but if you were there, it was a great show.
Well, on to other things. Take care and come back soon for more updates...
1/13/05: Hello once again. It has been a while since last updating everyone on the latest happenings in the No Turning Back camp and I thought this would be a good time to bring visitors up to speed. First off, we hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday season. This new year brings with it a fresh beginning and a new hope for what is to come. Let’s get started, shall we?
As always, I would like to remind everyone that No Turning Back has not broken up and we are still actively working, though not in the sense that can be physically witnessed by the outside world.
While Erik is in warm and sunny California soaking up the sun and having fun sight and people seeing, Chris and I have made ourselves busy, buried in the cold and dark confines of Rainbird Studio, tracking the vocals to the songs we recorded before Erik moved. Things are going quite smoothly and, except for odd schedule issues (holidays, personal engagements, etc.), a lot of progress is being made. Everything is working out better than we had hoped and we are both very excited about what we have accomplished so far. We all approached this session without time limits (other than tracking the music), and because of that, we can take as long as we like to get what we want onto tape. The pressure is off and we have never looked so forward to the end result of a session.
A couple of weeks ago, Chris and I had a meeting to plan out the remaining steps. Once the vocals are down, we plan on taking a week or so off, coming back with fresh ears, and listening to each track to make sure we like what we hear and no compromises are made. After that, we will get together again and do some aggressive mix demos, taking copious notes on every setting so final mixing will be expedited and not such a chore. We then plan on building a pseudo mix room to prepare for the final steps. Once that is done, we will mix into the computer and finally master the tracks, preparing them for distribution.
After all of that, we have some more plans, but I am getting ahead of myself. Basically, we have plenty of work on hand to keep ourselves busy for quite some time and I will be sure to keep you up to speed as to our activities.
As stated above, no timeframe has been put into place for the completion of our current project, but I can say that we are more than half-way finished. Please stay tuned for the big reveal sometime in the not-too-distant future. We believe you will be happy you stuck around.
11/11/04: My apologies for the lack of any updates. Things will be slow here for the time being as we prepare for Erik to embark on his journey to (and through) film school. As has been stated earlier, No Turning Back is not breaking up, nor are we looking to audition any drummers. While Erik is away, his spot will be kept open for him in the event he decides to return. In the meantime, Chris and I will be getting together to work on new music (lyrics are already starting to pile up and we may even have a song or two, or three waiting for Erik even before her leaves!).
In other news, No Turning Back has returned to the cozy confines of Rainbird Studios for a little (frantic) round of last-minute recording. We are spending as much time on the weekends as we can possibly squeeze in to finish laying the tracks of roughly 18 songs! We are wanting to create the definitive collection of Bluefire/No Turning Back music (only one "cover" song is included and it is more of an interpretation than a true cover song). This will be a very special collection. We will be taking the rest of November to finish tracking the instruments (while Erik is still here). Once that is done, Chris and I will focus on vocals and any other overdubbing (if needed). Then, it is off to mixdown. The timetable is a bit of a mess right now because of holidays and personal schedules, so we can not say when a finished product will materialize. However, with luck, the fruits of our labor will be realized before the end of January.
So far, things are sounding great. This very well could be our best-sounding recording yet. We are not concerned with a polished product this time around. Perfection is not the name of the game. We are focused on capturing the raw emotion that each song brings out of us together. The three of us are playing together live, recording at the same time. If one of us goofs one note or beat while the intent of the song remains, we keep it. However, if one (or more) of us has a complete mental breakdown in the middle of the song, we will come back to it later. Trust me though, when I say that so far, this sounds sweeeeeeeeet!
Take care, everyone. We will be around and when there is something to report, you can bet it will be posted here first.
9/20/04: Thank you, West Allis! No Turning Back was part of the Steel Horse Pub's Grand Opening Party on Saturday night. Things were really rockin'. Plenty of bikes and beer and a whole night of great music. For the first time in No Turning Back's (or Bluefire's) history. we had a request from an audience member to come on stage and propose. After 13 years of being together, they are now going to get married. Thank you to everyone who made it out and had a good time with us.
We also want to thank Act Your Age for inviting us out to open the show for them. If you have never seen them before, be sure you make time to do so in the near future. They are a great set of musicians and you will love what they have to offer.
One last note. This comes with a heavy heart from myself. After nearly eight years together as musicians and many more beyond that as the best of friends, I have just been informed that Erik will be taking some time off from No Turning Back starting in November or December. He is going to Florida in pursuit of a dream. He will be going to school, learning what it is like to look through the eyepiece of a camera and maybe make a special movie or two. Obviously, this means we will not be booking anymore shows in the near future. As it stands right now, Chris and I will still get together and work on the writing of new material, but we will also be keeping Erik's spot open for when he comes home. Please note: No Turning Back is not breaking up! Feel free to send messages of support to our friend, Erik.
Good luck, Erik.
9/14/04: No Turning Back has an opening slot for ActYourAge on Saturday, September 18th at the Steel Horse Pub in West Allis. We should be taking the stage around 9:30 p.m. There will be no cover charge! This will be a great show after playing a 4 hour gig in East Troy and rocking hard at the Rave in the past few weeks. All of the cobwebs have been pretty well shaken out and the rust is quickly disappearing. Please come and join us as we introduce ourselves to West Allis.
As always, check the Schedule for the latest info on where and when we play next.
8/30/04: Greetings! First off, a big "Thank You, Milwaukee!!!" goes out to everyone who joined us in the Vibe Room at The Rave this past Friday during Collective Soul's Pre-Show Party to celebrate No Turning Back's first Milwaukee show. It felt like the gig was over before we got a chance to begin. The crowd was great and we loved every minute of it. Collective Soul had a great show as well. A great mix of soon-to-be-released material as well as the favorites from days gone by. It brought back a lot of memories for all of us. If you get another chance, be sure to check them out.
On a more personal note, Chris and I would like to extend the biggest "Thank you!!!" to our dear friend (who also happens to be our drummer), Erik. He has gone to extreme lengths (and an undisclosed amount of personal financing) to cover as many miles as possible handing out our FREE CD's, fliers, etc. as well as making an unknown number of phone calls just to promote and book No Turning Back. Promotion is often a thankless job. We would like this to be a moment full of thanks. Your deeds have not gone unnoticed. Keep up the good work!
We would also like to tip our hats to the official No Turning Back Street Team, Roadies, and Photographer (you all know who you are). Without your help, we really wouldn't be at the stage we are right now.
8/23/04: First off, we would like to send out a big "Hellllllll Yeah!" to those who stopped by to witness the debut of No Turning Back at The East Troy House (those of you who were there will understand) on Saturday. We played about 4 hours of the best Bluefire and No Turning Back material and everything sounded great. The crowd was pumped up and we gave them what they wanted. The show was a great way to get warmed up for the gig at The Rave in Milwaukee.
7/30/04: We have made the move to our new home. No Turning Back finally has its own domain! Plus, the address is (much) easier to remember. We now have (much) more space and (much) more bandwidth to play with. Not to mention, everything loads (much) faster. Again, we hope you like the change. More to come...
7/26/04: No Turning Back now has its own listing at the MilwaukeeRocks site. You will finds 1000's of other local bands listed there as well...
7/24/04: No Turning Back finally has a home on the internet! It has been a long time coming, but we are here. We hope you enjoy your stay and come back often to see what is going on. Content will be added and improvements will be made to the site overall as time goes on. In the meantime, please pardon our dust.
If you happen to pick up one of our FREE demo CD's (For All Intensive Purposes), please feel free to copy and distribute it as you wish. Be our guest and host it on file-sharing services (Kazaa; Limewire; etc.). The only thing we request is that you do NOT ask for any money in exchange. We are simply looking to spread the word and share our music with as many people as possible. Remember, if you still need a copy of your very own, please contact Erik.
Well, that's about all for now. Take care and never look back! --S.E. Pagac
©2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 S.E. Pagac & No Turning Back. All rights reserved.
Brought to you in association with Animal Instinct Studios and Spendthrift Sai: