The Last Generation of Lovers Available NOW!!!

The Last Generation of Lovers available NOW at:

http://thecurseofhalos.bandcamp.com/

You can check it out here also:

https://soundcloud.com/thecurseofhalos

Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

The Spark

This image was the spark that started the fire in my mind that was this album.

It was late December 2010 and I had just entered into a new relationship with the woman who would become my wife. She gave me a journal as a gift and this was the cover. As I studied the cover image I wondered what the woman on the cover looked like before she became this vision of death. Then a story sprung to mind.

In September of 2010 I had turned 30 and I went to Chicago with my best friend to see Roger Waters perform the Wall. It was the greatest spectacle I had ever seen. I wondered why no one did albums like this anymore, or spectacles like this, and I vowed to make one. I just needed a story, and I would come up with that story just a few months later. The Last Generation of Lovers.

This blog is an attempt to clarify my vision for this album. To further explain the story and add to it in a way that music can't convey. I would love to eventually turn this into a stage production, but unfortunately that is probably a dream that will never come to fruition, but who knows.

The Title

So how did I come up with this title?

Earlier in 2010, my best friend and I were having a discussion about relationships and how the divorce rate is so high, and how love in general just wasn't how it used to be. We talked about how our Grandmother's generation was truly the last of people who took the vow "Until Death Do Us Part" seriously. So I deemed them "The Last Generation of Lovers" and really like that title. I had no idea at the time what I would use it for, but when this story came to my mind, I just knew that would be the title. I wrote this title page on January 1st, 2011.

The Process

For this album, I decided to not go about how I normally did things, and see how that went. Usually when I write music, I come up with the music then add lyrics that reflect the tone of it. This time, I decided to go lyrics first, then music. More specifically, I first wrote a line or two or just a title in my journal. That gave me a direction and a theme for each song. Next, I went through song by song and thought about what part of the story I wanted to tell in each, and then just started writing. I didn't know if it would work or if I would write too much or not enough. Surprisingly though, I didn't have to cut or add much, and everything worked out pretty perfectly lyric wise.

After finishing lyrics, which took actually a couple months, I went to the task of writing music. To accomplish this, I set aside one day a week to lock myself in my studio and I recorded video of what I would come up with as a way to remember it all once I was done. As I approached each song, I would think of how I wanted this song to sound, even down to instrumentation and how it would sound next to the song before and after it. And I knew that I would try to repeat musical themes throughout, much like The Wall.

Writing the music took quite a while, and once that was done I made some crude demos to flesh them all out and make sure they were all structurally sound. I think I went through a couple rewrites, and lots of happy accidents happened along the way.

After demoing them all, I tried to lay down some final tracks. My original plan was to lay down guitars and vocals and get a drummer to do play real drums on the album, but that didn't happen. I finished what I thought would be final tracks, and went back to listen and decided I hated it all. I realized that I would have to start with drums FIRST then build upon that. So I built drum tracks using samples, loops, and a MIDI keyboard and went from there. It was the best call I made and finally got me somewhere after being stuck it seemed for the past 2-3 years. Once I built drum tracks, the guitars and vocals came easily and I had re-recorded everything in just about a month. I even had my wife play violin and piano on some tracks.

The final piece of the puzzle was my friend Kyle Snyder. He and I had been in a band previously back in our hometown and he had just moved to Nashville. I told him about the project and asked if he would play guitar on it and help me with mixing since I knew he had worked in a studio previously. Not only did he play some amazing lead guitar on the album, but he also did all the bass work and mixing as well. He was a tremendous help.

The Last Generation of Lovers

This post will be the beginning of me sharing lyrics and further explaining the story. Enjoy!

The Last Generation of Lovers

They grew up down the street from each other

Used to chase bugs and dreams

It always pained him to see her with another

When he got the chance he would not leave

He asked for her hand before he left for the war

Promised he’d be back one day

He never broke his word

He came back for her

Their lives began that day

“Darling, don’t you understand

I will love you ‘til the world ends

It’s you and I for the rest of our lives

You are my soul’s sunshine”

Holding hands like the day that they first met

Every kiss was filled with fire

Every tragedy that they faced was met

With determination and desire

They shared every sunrise and sunset

The day wasn’t long enough

And every night they laid together

Couldn’t wait until they woke up

Seemed nothing in the world could break them

No earthquake could shake them

They never felt forsaken

They never knew where life would take them

Until it was too late

No love like this love will be

No love like this love will be

No love like this love will be

No love like this love will be

No love like this love will be again.

Vocals, guitar, keyboards, drum programming - Nathan Shouse
Lead Guitars, Bass - Kyle Snyder

This is the story of a boy and a girl who grew up together. Both were born in 1920. As they grew older he fell in love with her and while she may have dated a few other fellas, she eventually fell in love with him. They even attend college together. She studied to become a nurse, he double majored in chemistry and medicine. When they graduated college in 1942 he proposed, but also joined the army to fight in WWII. He promised to return to her and finally marry her. He kept his promise and they were married in 1945.

The Penalty of War is Death

The Penalty of War is Death

It came back with them

It started as a fever and ended a mess

A thirst and a longing

For blood and for flesh

One thing is for certain

It spread like a wild fire

It demanded the courage

To tear your world apart

Was it a gas?

Or radiation?

No one is for sure

Was it a test?

A consequence?

Many theories washed ashore

Chemical reactions

He always understood

But this one was different

To it there were no rules

It started in the cities

But nowhere was safe

Could it be the water?

Or could it be the rain?

Barricade yourself inside

Board up your windows and doors

Best now to keep quiet

Noise draws them close

Breathe in destruction

Breathe out your dreams

A world in dysfunction

Where living is a luxury

Ask yourself now

If it came to be

Could you bring yourself

To kill your family

“Can we make it through the winter?

Or any season at all?

How did it come to this?

Where did it all go wrong?”

“I guess we’re being punished

A price put on our heads.

The cost of fighting wars

The penalty is death.”

Vocals, guitar, keyboards, drum programming - Nathan Shouse
Lead Guitars, Bass - Kyle Snyder

Once Vets return from WWII, something starts to happen. A mysterious outbreak? It's a full blown epidemic by 1949. The world starts to crumble. No one knows how it started or why. Pure panic. Everyone blames everyone.

A Few Became Too Many

A Few Became Too Many (A Story of Survival)

Been days since they seen the sun

Forgot what fresh air meant

Their best friend was now a gun

Each other was all they had left

Supplies had gotten low

They had to venture out

The others came from nowhere

He knew he shouldn't have shout

That day had started like any other

Their future up in the air

Hard to think not too long ago

Their lives not filled with dread

Their only heat was each other

The only company they kept

Long as they had one another

They could face the day

From that fatal call out

Running from the horde

The dead and hungry look in their eyes

They knew what was in store

And so they fled

With short supply

Into the woods

With a thousand eyes

Vocals, guitar, keyboards, drum programming - Nathan Shouse
Lead Guitars, Bass - Kyle Snyder

Since the end of the world, they have barricaded themselves in their house after acquiring supplies. After a while though, their supplies run low and they must go searching. They both go because they do not want to be separated and they can watch each other's backs. While searching, a horde approaches and catches Her off guard. He screams to warn her, therefore attracting more. They run into the woods to lose the horde.