TFK Collab Video

Hey TFK Army! This is a post to explain a little idea I had that thought would be fun for us TFK fans.

As the title says, it's about making a collab video for a song from Thousand Foot Krutch. It should look something like the video at the end but with a totally rawking tune (couldn't find a better example to show you, that song doesn't represent my musical preferences).

So the first thing to do is choosing a song. Personally I'd like something like Down or Let The Sparks Fly, but it's up to everyone to pick one. To do so you can either leave a comment right here or send me a tweet to my username @Disciple777 (you can even follow me if you can't resist). Probably I'll make a poll later or we'll just go for the one with more mentions.

For the video itself it'd be as simple as recording yourself singing the song with all you've got. The more creative the better. It doesn't need to be any fancy recording, it can be done with your cell phone or any camera you have. Later I'll gather it through e-mail or Youtube uploads, but I'll get into that once the song is chosen. When it's done it'll be published during a tuesday's #TFKTwitterParty. Maybe we can even get Trevor or some of the guys from TFK to watch it if there's enough of us spreading it over.

Of course this will only be possible if there's enough of us participating, so help the cause and let's unite our rawkfists!

Sample Video:

More than Music

I was thinking the other day about the music of my favorite band, Thousand Foot Krutch, and how much a part of me it has become. It's been my favorite band since I first listened to them back in 2006, when The Art of Breaking was their newest album. It all started with the song of the same name, which I can still listen until this day without it getting old.

It's the only band whose albums I get on day one (and earlier in the case of The End is Where We Begin). I consider Thousand Foot Krutch's music a part of my life, and I just can't imagine not having their songs in my playlist. You can ask any of my friends what my favorite band is, and (though they don't ever remember the name well) most know which one it is.

There are songs that I just love, and not only because of the music itself but because of their meaning or the powerful powerness they inspire. I remember a lot of times alone with God singing Lift It, or screaming Bounce out loud like a mad person, singing New Design in my car and that moment when I first knew it and I thought it was amazing, also singing Broken Wing so many times over and over and never getting tired of it. More recently I've enjoyed Be Somebody, singing along with Down and feeling that awesome moment when you nail it all along, and so many others.

Talking about this I want to share something that happened to me and was one of the most awesome things in my life so far. It's what this article is about.

I live in Guatemala and I'm probably TFK's biggest fan in the territory (don't know anyone around with my krutchness around the block). Therefore it was a bit unlikely that I was able to see TFK live. There are some things that I really wish (and believe) must happen someday. One of them is watching a match of soccer team FC Barcelona in the Camp Nou (their stadium) in Spain. Another one is seeing TFK live in a show.

One night I was listening to "So Beautiful" by Manafest and Trevor McNevan (lead singer of TFK, in case you're not familiar with them). While I did I was dreaming about ever watching TFK live and how great It'd be. I was going through a bit of an unmotivating moment at the time, and I just thought that one day I was going to be there, watching my favorite band at a show. I wanted it so bad. I prayed God for it.

Another day, on May 1st, 2011, on their Twitter account they tweeted about an upcoming show in a place I can't recall right now. I replied that I'd like it so much to see them live and they replied "come out to a show!". Having one of my tweets replied was great! I told them that I wished so but I lived far away.

I constantly checked on tour dates on TFK's site to consider traveling to one of the states they were heading to. One day my mother told my sister and I that she was traveling to Washington D.C. because of her work and that she was considering on taking us with her (from February 12 to 18, if I remember right), though it wasn't something final. I'll be honest that I was a bit doubtful at first because it was going to be expensive for my mom and I didn't quite know what D.C.'s attractions were other than the White House, the Capitol (which I thought was the White House) and being the capital of the U.S., though the idea was really exciting.

When she told us about the possible trip I took the next logical step and went to my computer to check on TFK's tour dates (which was a healthy practice I had). Then it was the awesome, movie-like, are-you-kidding-me moment. Right there it was the date, TFK was performing on February 15 on Washington D.C. It was so great to see how God moved the things around here and there to make one of my dreams come true. And I can even say that I didn't see that tour date before, probably I didn't notice it since that moment, but I didn't see it prior to it when I checked earlier. Then I went to my mom and told her I was totally in for the trip. Knowing that TFK was performing there was a heavy factor to consider.

And it got even better, TFK was performing with Manafest (another of my favorite artists) and Red (not very much of my taste but still awesome) on the Redvolution Tour. Nine Lashes and Kyros were also playing, but I didn't know them very well at the time (which I ended liking a lot, by the way). I purchased VIP tickets through the internet to get them at the place of the concert. It included Meet and Greet so it was even cooler (or so I though).

The day of the concert my sister and me got there early to be able to meet the band members, but then as we approached the end of the line I realized TFK wasn't there, it was only Red. I asked the guy in front of us (who was with his son) if they knew if we were meeting TFK as well and they thought it was only for Red. Indeed it was. Man, I got a bit upset. The reason of the existence of those VIP passes in my hand were to meet TFK and they weren't there. I got to meet Red though, and take a pic an chat with them a bit which was great, but they didn't have rawkfists, puppets, broken wings or knew the fine art of breaking. I didn't feel that bad though, because I was going to try my best to get to meet TFK anyway. 

That's Red's drummer in the meet and greet

Before the show we got a chance to talk with the man that was in front of us in the line who was really nice and outgoing (let's call him John). He talked to us more than his son (let's call him Johnnie) which was closer to our age. Then the show started. It began with Kyros, followed up by Nine Lashes. Both were amazing on stage. Kyros did a great performance and were energic on the stage; they even made some jokes. Then came Manafest, which I enjoyed, because I knew most of the songs and I liked them lots.

Then it was time for what I was waiting for so long. The drumset was amazing, with the characteristic TFK flame in front. They showed up, and there they were, right in the stage... my favorite band which I have just listened to by records and videos. It was so full of energy, so insanely rawking! Trevor just nails it with the vocals, and so does every member of the band. I knew that there was another guy that backed them up with guitars but seeing him playing there was a bit strange for me, as I picture the band in my head with the 3 members: Trevor, Joel and Steve. He did an amazing job too! I didn't even took pictures during the show (my sis helped me with that) as I wanted to throw up my rawkfist as hard as I could .

I sung the lyrics with all my lungpower; those were the songs that I had listened to for the past 6 years. I even prepared for the new songs of the new album The End is Where We Begin, which was still unreleased at the time but due to a Kickstarter campaign, I was able to have two of the songs earlier, plus I listened to another one (Let the Sparks Fly) which was in a battle against another band on a site. This one was great to listen live by the way, though I didn't know all the lyrics. I remember listening to War of Change and Courtesy Call on the plane while I was heading to the U.S. to sing them if they were played.

TFK rawing the stage

So the show was awesome as I expected, and it closed with "Puppet" which was the best way to finish, in my opinion. Sometime between the different band performances Trevor came out to speak about a campaign about helping people (I don't remember where), and that was great, because I could see that they're not only a great band, but also great people.

The people in charge of the concert said that TFK was going to be in the back to meet the people so when Red came out and played I was more aware and worried about not missing TFK than the actual show that was going on. Red was great as well, my sister even liked it a lot. I don't know much of their music so I liked it but it wasn't as rawking as TFK for me (it's not their fault, no one can be as rawking as TFK).

After a lot of checking and asking if TFK was showing up, and even asking if I could go backstage, they finally did after everything finished. I spotted Steve first and was very excited when I got to see them, and began looking for the other members. Finally I found them all. I went to Steve and Joel to meet them and to get my just-purchased "Live at the Masquerade" album (ironically when packing my stuff back at home, my CD's somehow were left aside of the suitcase and I didn't take them with me and freaked out at the airport when I found out; thank God I could get some stuff at the concert). When I talked to Joel I realized he is a really nice person. I told them they are my favorite band and how much they influenced me going to that trip, and how much I wanted to go to a show.

Then I went to meet Trevor. I told him the new songs were awesome and that they are my favorite band and everything. He was like "cool, thanks man!". We took some pics with them, got autographs and it was awesome! In the end it didn't matter if the VIP passes were only to meet Red, thank God I could also get to know my favorite band in person.

Trevor and me

After the concert, the guy we met invited us to have some pizza. Each slice was basically the size of a pizza itself. It was rad! He even took us back to our hotel and gave us a good advice when he dropped us: next time don't accept invitations from strangers that easy, not everyone is nice people. Good piece of advice.

On a side note there was something surprising that happened months later. I was waiting for a live streaming that Trevor did, I think, before the launch of the new album, or after it, not sure. Prior to the actual streaming there were some videos playing of previous streams that Trevor ran back in the day. One was from when they released Welcome to the Masquerade. He was reading some questions the fans sent in. When the video was finishing he said he was going to read one last question. My surprise was that the name he read was Johnnie, the son of the man we met at the concert. It was quite surprising.

So this was overall my experience on having the chance to watch TFK live and meeting them. I am really amazed at how God works, because there's no small or big for him when it comes to you and your wishes. He is our Father, and He always seeks the best for us. Never stop believing, God has something in the drawer for you. You might not even imagine, it's already there or being crafted. All of this can seem silly or not important to a lot of people, but for me it wasn't, and God knows it. It was a way of Him saying, I'm here son, and I care.

I'm looking forward to watching TFK again, I can't get enough of it! I keep checking on tour dates, so maybe someday everything aligns again. In the end the tweet TFK replied, "come out to a show", ended up coming true. I did, and hopefully I will again. And I'll post another blog entry when it happens.

Thanks for reading, God bless!

Rapture

So yes, the title pretty much expains what I want to talk about. For those who still don't know what I'm talking about I'm referring to the awesome game called Bioshock. At first when I played the game I was like "and this is the game that everyone say is so awesome??!!". I just didn't understand what was so special about it, with a messed up city where everything was ugly, including everyone. But yeah, as I got deeper into the game I was able to discover the charm of the city, Rapture.

Even when the whole scene is very dirty and messy, it is an excelent background for a game that involves so much mystery into its story. It puts everything into context in a city where everything has been going wrong for the past years, and where Ryan's (the city's leader) philosophy has been proven wrong. So that apocalyptic style is just a reflection of the city's history and every tiny piece of level just adds to the whole mood.

I played the first Bioshock and wasn't shure if I was going to play the second one because at times I thought it was a bit too bitter for my taste, but after a while I just wanted to get a new experience in that involving Rapture. And it didn't disappoint. While Bioshock 2 is just like an extension of the first one, not making a big twist in the mechanics or innovations, it certainly is an awesome sequel for the ones who just want more of what we had in the first one. It still has the whole mood that makes Rapture that special disaster. I'm waiting to see what comes in the next one, when Rapture isn't there anymore, replaced by a whole new floating city.

Another blog...

Hi there, this is a new blog I've just opened. The reason for this is just to talk about anything. Sometimes I'd just like to comment about something but it is unrelated to my other blogs, so this will be kind of like a quick comment on stuff, and that's why it's "biggertweet", it's like a tweet but bigger.