Album Notes

The story of Fusion began on the night of September 6, 1996, when Charles Shy and Rya Sechrist met through several friends in a local nightclub district of Cleveland, Ohio. After several days of talking with each other about their diverse interests and backgrounds, both had realized that they shared a strong enthusiasm for music. They discussed their own preferences for the different genres; Rya mainly listened to pop, lite rock and techno while Charles' interests focused mainly on electronic, alternative and rock. A strong bond was formed, and the future held many possibilities.

After exploring the subject of music more thoroughly, both had noticed that their musical backgrounds and talents complimented each other perfectly. Charles' areas of expertise were primarily in songwriting and music production, while Rya's talent in vocal performance was refined through practice with various albums and several years of performing with the Singing Angels. They soon realized that they could effectively combine their talents and interests to create their own unique brand of music, and the decision was made to form a music group. first came the task of finding a name for themselves; both felt that a name was needed that would represent the diversity of their styles and that would also signify the futuristic aspect of their sound. After creating a list of possible names, it was decided soon after to call themselves Fusion.

From the beginning, Charles and Rya decided to set themselves apart from other recording artists by sharing the spotlight as lead vocalists and musicians. They both felt that the formula of a male-female duo would add a strong element of variety to their albums and live performances, and would also grab the attention of the audience as something creative and different. They also wanted to establish themselves as singer/songwriters by writing and producing all of their own music, and by mixing and combining categories as diverse as rock, electronic, techno and pop they felt that they could fulfill their ambition of creating their own revolutionary sound.

After a short period of planning the direction of the group, the decision was made to create a complete in-house music studio. Fusion planned from the beginning to produce their own professional independent albums, and felt that a home studio would allow them to learn the art of creating complete songs on their own. Selecting only top-of-the-line products, the basic equipment included a studio-standard Yamaha keyboard, an Ibanez electric guitar, an electronic drum machine and a state of the art MiniDisc multi-track recorder. A high-level computer workstation was later added to the studio and would soon become an integral part of their futuristic sound. After purchasing microphones, digital effects processors and several miles of wiring, the studio was ready for recording.

After the completion of the studio, work soon began on the practice of writing and creating songs. Charles and Rya both felt that the lyrics should aim to express the inner feelings of the artist, and that music should have substance and depth. Both had in common the fact that thay wanted to establish a connection with the listener. They also wanted to make songs that had a universal and timeless appeal, and felt that this could only be accomplished by taking as much time as needed on the creation and production of their music. They adhered to strict standards in the studio by only finalizing songs that they were personally proud of; both strongly felt that each song on an album should have the quality and appeal to be able to stand on its own as a radio single. After many hours of practice and production, Fusion began to build a strong and professional repertoire of songs, and was ready for their next stage of developement.

After developing enough quality songs for their first full-length album, Fusion decided to find a way to make its music available to the public. Striking out into new territory, Charles and Rya decided to form Infinity, their own independent record company, to deal directly with the promotion of their albums to fans and record labels. It was decided that this would be the most effective and direct way of gaining valuable presence and local interest. The group also relied on several of their other talents to help create Infinity; Charles, a self-taught artist with prior training in graphic design, was able to enhance the visual impact of Fusion by personally designing and creating the artwork for albums and various other related products for the group. Music is a multifaceted art form that involves the expertise of many different fields, and Fusion intends to use all of its collective talent to create an experience that people will remember.

Music has always played an integral part in Charles and Rya's lives, and as Fusion they have learned to appreciate every aspect of their combined lifelong endeavor. Fusion will continue to remain on the cutting edge by producing albums that anyone with an ear for creative and exciting new music should be able to appreciate. From the beginning Charles and Rya had an exceptional and unique vision, and as Fusion they plan on nothing less than revolutionizing the world of music.