*Note: AP will not be playing the last 3 shows of the tour in order to make it to Sweden in time for the Arvika Festival*

Aesthetic Perfection and Necessary Response have just been added to the lineup of this years Kinetik Festival in Montreal, Canada! This comes as a last minute addition because sadly Unter Null and Headscan had to cancel for various personal reasons. I am very honored that the Kinetik team has asked me to fill such big shoes but I'm excited to try!

In addition, over the last year, I have found that focusing on two projects equally is not only difficult, it's nearly impossible. For me, progressing as an artist means living your art. It's not a 9 - 5 job that you come home and forget about, it stays with you 24 hours a day. You eat, sleep and breathe your craft.

At this point in time Aesthetic Perfection and Necessary Response are two separate entities that I can't be simultaneously. The time it takes to be one monopolizes the time needed to be the other. Right now I can't do that.

So, with that said, the upcoming Necessary Response performance at this years Kinetik Festival will be my last for a while. I need to put this project on hiatus and figure out a path for Aesthetic Perfection. A path that doesn't set limits on what songs belong with what band and so on. I will almost certainly release another NR record. Probably the same as the first, with material that I didn't see fitting with Aesthetic Perfection. But NR as it is now will probably never exist again.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this project since the beginning. It has served its purpose for now. Hope to see you in Montreal!

Here's a small taste of what we have in store this Summer!

Supporting Combichrist's Demons on Tour UK Tour:

05.22.09 Tivoli de Helling - Utrecht, NL
05.23.09 Corporation - Sheffield, UK
05.24.09 Bongo Club - Edinburgh, UK
05.25.09 Independent - Sunderland (Newcastle), UK
05.26.09 The Robin - Wolverhampton, UK
05.27.09 Islington Acadamy - London, UK

Also looking forward to our first gig in Sweden, a co-headlining spot with Icon of Coil at this years Wave Gotik Treffen, and our first ever South American Tour.

05.31.09 Wave Gotik Treffen / Parkbühne - Leipzig, DE
07.04.09 Arvika Festival / Andromeda Stage - Arvika, SE
07.23.09 TBA - Santiago, Chile
07.24.09 Club Gotico Dark Society - Bogota, Colombia
07.25.09 TBA - Lima, Peru

Recently our friends at tasteittv.com dropped by our gig in Belgium and recorded an interview with me. Most definitely not your typical set of questions, which made for a very interesting and entertaining time. Thanks to Brigitte and TasteitTV!

As a lot of people are already aware of, my flights that brought me from the US to Europe were a bit, shall I say, hectic. Of course a bit of stress could be expected, I was traveling standby. Essentially, I only get a seat on the plane when full paying customers either don’t show up, or the plane hasn’t sold out. Regardless, I’m aware of what flying standby entails.
My flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta was uneventful. I checked in 1 bag and 1 “bulky” item. The bulky item was my custom modified keyboard stand, custom modified synthesizer controller, and 2 large “Aesthetic Perfection” banners. All items were tightly packed together using duct tape and bubble wrap. I made sure when checking in to ask the clerk if the item was flight worthy. She looked it over and didn’t hesitate in saying “yes”. As per FAA regulations, passengers must take all checked baggage to be x-rayed themselves, which I did. The security technicians who put my item through the machine had no questions about my strange looking thing, and sent it on its way.
I arrived in Atlanta to endure the fiasco I’ve already explained numerous times. Fuel leaking from the plane into the combustion engine, plane possibly goes “boom”, yadda yadda, and so on. Luckily, the only catastrophe was a cancelled flight, and me, left to find my own place to stay because “standby passengers aren’t given hotel rooms for their inconvenience even if their delay is caused by a mechanical fault in the plane.” Fine. I remain patient, call a friend in Atlanta, find somewhere to stay for the night and hope for the best the next day.
The next day I do as I’ve always done before, sit at the gate for the next flight to Munich, hoping for a spot. As I expected, the flight was full and I was told to try and the flight to Stuttgart. After running like never before, I arrive at the gate and find there is room for me on the Stuttgart flight but I can expect my luggage won’t make it. I begrudgingly accept and board the plane to Stuttgart.
To my surprise, my suitcase arrives in Stuttgart! But alas, my musical equipment does not. I’m told by airport personal that my bag is safely in Atlanta and will arrive the next day, and if I wanted they could even forward the item to the nearest airport to me! Excellent, I ask that they forward my equipment to Salzburg Airport and forget all the stress because “shit’s gonna work out.”
Fast forward 2 days, I arrive at Salzburg Airport after calling and being told my “strange” item is there waiting. When I excitedly arrive at the Lost & Found desk what am I presented with? The base of my keyboard stand, with pieces of duct tape hanging off every corner, my baggage tag hanging off one side. The base of the keyboard stand only! No synthesizer, no banners, not even the top portion of the stand. I’m told that Salzburg Airport have nothing to do with Delta airlines, and I should take my complaint up with them.
After numerous calls to Delta, I’m told I’m a low priority because of my standby flight status. I’m told that neither my baggage claim number nor my ticket numbers bring up any information regarding any of my bags. I’m told that items that lose their baggage tags are left in a special department, but there is no way they can allow me to speak to that department because there is no record of any of my bags. I’m treated as if it’s ok to lose my baggage because I didn’t pay for a full fare ticket. Well, I think all the bullshit someone has to endure flying standby evens the playing field! All this surrounded by the fact that the tape hanging from the keyboard stand base does not appear to have ripped under the stress of traveling, rather, it looks like it was cut. Somewhere between LAX and Salzburg Airport, sits my entire show.
So now, here I sit, at a Coffee Shop in Hamburg. 2 days before the start of the largest European Tour I have ever embarked on, without a single piece of equipment. My custom gear, that I spent weeks building, modifying and preparing, lost. I’m given a half assed apology from Delta, and told to file a claim. Sure, I may get the face value of the items refunded to me, but to be honest, this isn’t about money. Money wouldn’t bring back the time I invested into this. Money won’t fix the fact that those of you who will be seeing us perform on this tour aren’t getting the show I so desperately wanted to give you. The show I was excited about giving you. So this letter is my apology to you. Will this stop us from delivering the best show we can? Fuck no. And despite this rant, and my outrage and my lack of fancy stage instruments, we’re going to give you guys everything we have. So when I think about it, this isn’t really an apology to you, it’s just a big FUCK YOU to Delta Airlines.

See you on the road.

A little insight on what makes me violent:

Aesthetic Perfection ReGen Interview conducted by the lovely thedevilsrobot.

See you on the road!

Ah the illusion of safety...

As my plane to Munich sat on the tarmac of Atlanta airport, our pilot calmly announced to the passengers "there is a minor mechanical difficulty, we will be taking off about 15 minutes late." Sitting in first class full of xanax and sipping my champagne I chuckled and thought "no problem."

Half an hour later the pilot returns to the PA to explain to us that this "minor problem" will take a bit more time to fix but we would be on our way in another 30 minutes...

Two hours and two cocktails later the plane is full of technicians, lifting up carpet and descending through secret compartments in the cabin floor. After some time one emerges and addresses my cabin "I know I'm only a mechanic and I shouldn't be talking to you passengers, but here is the situation: There is a fuel leak. We didnt realize it before but to put it simply, the fuel from the wings is pumped to a combustion area in the middle of the plane and that is where the leak is. Had you tried to take off, this would have been a big problem."

"Big problem?" Did he mean it like "You would have fucking exploded?

With that, my flight was cancelled. Being that I am traveling on standby means I was not given a hotel room for the inconvenience, I will NOT be rebooked to the next flight to Munich, and I can not guarantee when I will be arriving in Europe (should my plane not fucking explode!)

Thanks to my friends I didn't have to sleep in the terminal again, but this just goes to show why I fucking hate flying.

A little something before I fly back to Munich...

Sphere Webzine UK Interviews Daniel Graves

It's been grand...

12pm tonight (Pacific Time) I will release the first ever Aesthetic Perfection music video. It's been decided to release it through YouTube and MySpace first because of the high quality of their video players. Be sure to view it on Youtube's website and that you click on the "View in HD" option to take advantage of this, otherwise you'll just get the standard lo-res version.

Of course in the following days the video will be posted on various other sites, on Vampirefreaks and pretty much everywhere else!

Thanks to everyone for their patience. It will be worth the wait!

Dont forget Necessary Response will be performing a special Christmas Eve concert this Wednesday, Dec 24th at Clube Xile in Garden Grove, CA.

We will also be giving away a couple Christmas gifts from the band to you!

Club Xile @ The Can Nightclub
14241 Euclid St.,
Garden Grove, CA

Hope to see you there!

Last night, after two long grueling days of shooting, we finished all filming for "The Great Depression" music video. It was a great experience and everyone is excited about what the final product will look like. Our director and editor Hendrik Schmidt will return to Frankfurt this week and begin putting it all together. We hope to have a final cut ready to go sometime in late October.

The t-shirt promotion will continue until September 20th. Dont miss your chance to get the exclusive Great Depression T-Shirt that will only be sold in conjunction with this promotion and will never be printed again.

Also, I have received some e-mails from those who have bought shirts and are concerned they haven't received them yet. If you are also worrying about this DON'T! Remember, I am only printing the EXACT amount of t-shirts ordered, which means the shirts will not be printed until the end of September. All orders will go out as soon as I receive the shirts.

Cheers from FHaim in good old Berlin.

Next month, we will fly to Berlin to film the first ever Aesthetic Perfection video. To promote and fund this abmitious endeavor I have decided to sell a Limited Edition T-Shirt. All the profit made will go towards making the video and all who participate will be thanked in the videos credits. Ordering info can be found on the front page of the Aesthetic Perfection MySpace or on our Vampirefreaks Journal.

A number of weeks ago I completed a remix for L’ÂME IMMORTELLE and their new remix album Durch Fremde Hand. Details on the release can be found on their website. I'm very proud of the work I did for them as it was a challenging and new experience. Other bands featured are Grendel, ASP and Dope Stars Inc. Definitely an album worth looking into.

Imperative Reaction - Minus All - North American Tour
With Special Guests [:SITD:] and Aesthetic Perfection

09.20.08 - Hollywood, CA - Safari Sam's
09.21.08 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
09.24.08 - Portland, OR - Mt. Tabor's Legacy
09.25.08 - Vancouver, BC - Red Room
09.27.08 - Calgary, AB - The Underground
09.28.08 - Edmonton, AB - New City Suburbs
09.30.08 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
10.02.08 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Avalon Theater
10.03.08 - Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
10.04.08 - Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Music Hall
10.05.08 - St. Louis, MO - TBA
10.06.08 - Milwaukee, WI - Miramar Theater
10.07.08 - Minneapolis, MN - Ground Zero
10.08.08 - Chicago, IL - The Abbey
10.09.08 - Columbus - TBA
10.10.08 - Detroit, MI - TBA
10.12.08 - Toronto, OT - The Reverb (The Big Bop Nightclub)
10.13.08 - Montreal, QC - TBA
10.14.08 - Philadelphia, PA - The New Alhambra Arena
10.15.08 - Boston, MA - TBA
10.16.08 - Washington DC - Club Liv
10.17.08 - New York City, New York - The Knitting Factory
10.18.08 - Pittsburgh, PA - Pegasus
10.19.08 - Nashville, TN - Salvation @ Hollywood Disco
10.22.08 - Atlanta, GA - TBA
10.24.08 - Orlando, FL - TBA
10.25.08 - West Palm Beach, FL - Respectable Street
10.27.08 - New Orleans, LA - The Howlin' Wolf
10.29.08 - Tulsa. OK - TBA
10.30.08 - Dallas, TX - The Church
11.01.08 - San Antonio, TX - Atomix
11.02.08 - El Paso, TX - Lucky Devil's Bar
11.05.08 - Garden Grove, CA - The Can Nightclub
11.06.08 - Sacramento, CA - TBA
11.07.08 - San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick
11.08.08 - Phoenix, AZ - Sadisco