Album Notes

The release of The Light in the Eye marks the culmination of over a year's worth of recording, mixing, and design with Mergeworks Media (www.mergeworksmedia.com) and over two years' worth of songwriting and composing and performing from the band Kung Fu Fax Machine.

Songwriters Trevor Matthews and Mike McClellan started collaborating and performing at open-mic nights in Provo in the fall of 2007. After jamming with various percussionists, it was obvious that the guitar/viola/djembe combination had a unique sound that people wanted to hear more of. The sound is earthy and real, like the three wooden instruments that produce it, and it allows for a wide variety of styles and dynamics. The mood of the Light in the Eye ranges from the aggressive and rebellious to the hauntingly melodic. It is music that makes you think, and music to rock out to as well.

The songwriting explores the imperfect world in which we live. Things go wrong. You don't always get what you want. Mankind struggles on through conflict, in search of peace and beauty. The album comments on the conflicts and struggles of our lives from the circular nature of relationships in "Deja Vu" to the balance between security and freedom in "Learn to Play" to the question of identity and acceptance in "Screens." The answer is learning to find beauty in all aspects of life, even the struggle. The slow ballad "The Sun is Setting On Us" comments on the beauty one can experience in the midst of loss. As sung in "Beautiful Soul," "You see the silver lining in the darkest part of me." We all face problems. As we stand over the broken guitar and contemplate where to go from here, we must realize that life is "Fire From Olympus", a "blessing that we never could deserve."

Fans will recognize favorites from local performances like "More Cliches" and "Kill the Messenger." There are soft, contemplative moments, but mostly the album keeps an aggressive pace. Rock out to it, but pause and think about these lyrics. A lot has gone into them.