The Journey

This album is based on a story about 2 gods. one is god of electronical music and the other is the god of acoustic music. Take your time to read the story so you feel the music even more. It's an experience. THE INTRODUCTION The story of ‘The Journey’ begins in a place called Olympus in the year 2050. Olympus looked a lot like the ancient Greek Olympus; the only visible difference was the modern technology characteristic of the year 2050. Several Gods were living in Olympus; amongst them, Apollo the God of Music with his mother, Latona the God of Technology. Apollo had a band, and was busy practising almost every day, without paying too much attention to what Latona, his mother, was doing on Earth. Latona was, in fact, plotting to gain control of everything on the planet. Her main aim was to have power over all human feelings, and she was planning to do that by replacing feelings with synthetic emotions. These emotions were her own creation, a diabolical masterpiece that would turn the world into a lifeless, soulless space to be manipulated by Latona at her discretion. The rest of the Gods in Olympus had chosen to relax and let Latona take care of their business on Earth. They didn’t seem to care much about what was going on. The God of Love preferred to chase women in Olympus and let Latona sell emotions of love on Earth. The God of War was playing war-games on the Xbox 1200 and allowed Latona to spread emotions of hate on Earth. The God of Knowledge let Latona instruct people through implanted chips. Basically, almost every God had “delegated” the God of Technology to do their job on Earth. The truth was that Latona had a big influence on people, but what was even worse for Apollo was that his mother had developed an interest in taking over music with her electronic, computer-generated sound. She was intent on using her synthetic emotions to achieve this. Apollo soon worked out what Latona was up to and he was saddened and angry because he didn’t want his mother to interfere with his music. Playing his instrument was all he enjoyed doing, and he wasn’t going to let his power-driven mother take than from him. He was certain that Latona’s electronic music was not better that the sound of his pan flute. He concluded that the only way he could end this was to provoke the God of Technology to a fight. The rest of the Gods were intrigued by the idea at first, and they all agreed that a son could not defy and fight his mother. In the end, mother and son decided to have a battle with music. The fight was planned in an Omni theatre and it was advertised as the fight of the century in Olympus. God of all gods Zeus made the deal: the loser would be sent back to Earth. He or she would lose his/her immortality and god powers. Latona and Apollo agreed and the battle began. Apollo went first. He brought on stage a lovely string quartet and some percussion. He played a beautiful passionate song; the audience was moved to tears and they cheered and cheered until Apollo left the stage. Then it was Latona’s turn. She played a house-set with a DJ and Elettrica on guitar. Elettrica was Latona’s oldest son and Apollo’s half-brother. The crowd grew wild and cheered even harder than before. That was not a surprise because their feelings were manipulated by Latona through all the synthetic emotions she had spread before the concert. Latona was declared the winner, so Apollo became mortal and was sent back to Earth in the body of a young man in Romania. He had no recollection of his old life. The only thing he still had was his pan flute. THE JOURNEY Apollo is a young man living on a farm in a small village in Romania. Life on the farm is slow, rustic and relaxing. One day, he has a strange dream. He sees his old friends from Olympus who tell him that the only way to become the God of Music again is to fight back and win the battle. Apollo wakes up in a state of confusion, because he doesn’t understand the dream straight away. But he soon feels a strong urge to fight for something he believes in, so he decides to go and look for whatever it is that will help him win this mysterious fight. He leaves behind the idyllic life he had in the village and begins the journey that will change his life. On his way he meets a gypsy guitar player who wants to bring Apollo to his family to help him gain strength. The gypsy takes him to a camp in Italy were his folks are playing music, eating and dancing. At the end of the night, an old gypsy woman (the fortuneteller) reads the Tarot cards and tells Apollo that he used to be the God of Music and that he lost his powers in a battle with God Latona. To win his powers back, Apollo has to find and stop Latona’s helpers in New York (the epicenter of synthetic emotions). He has to try to prevent people from needing these synthetic emotions by playing his music and allowing humans to feel again. The fortuneteller also reveals that Apollo will lose if he does not understand the true nature of music. Apollo doesn't make sense of the old woman’s words straight away but, in time, he will put the pieces of the puzzle together. Apollo continues his journey with the gypsies towards Arabia. Over there, he comes across a village of rich sheiks. Apollo is taken aback by what he sees in the village. The sheiks and their people live in the desert, on rocks and in dirt. How can this be? They’ve been exposed to Latona’s synthetic emotions that make them think they live in rich beautiful surroundings. The merciless God of Technology has taken everything that the Arabs own from them, and they have been living an illusion. Apollo grabs his pan flute and starts to play. With his magical sound he awakens them all, and soon the sheiks realise what kind of life they’ve been living. To show their gratitude, the sheiks accompany Apollo to a nearby fishing village to talk to a boatman that can bring him around so he can help others too. In this little village Apollo meets Abu. Abu had heard Apollo play the previous night and his normal emotions had flooded back to him. He is an overseas trader that used to work for Latona to ship the synthetic emotions to England and Ireland. He promises to help Apollo on his mission and lets him get on one of his boats that go to Ireland. His sea trip to Ireland does not lack adventures. Playing the pan flute gives him strength and courage to face the rough seas, strong winds that rock the boat, and to brave the pirates sent by Latona to prevent him from reaching his destination. Fortunately, Apollo escapes unharmed from the confrontations. In Ireland, Apollo organises a really big concert so he can take over with real emotions again. He starts playing with a band, a lightshow and dancers. It’s an amazing performance, but there is no reaction from the crowd at all. It looks like Latona has been feeding them these synthetic emotions for so long that they have lost their real feelings. Apollo is devastated. He feels like he has lost another battle and wants to run back to his own village. But when he sees that his whole country (including his own family) has been taken over by Latona, Apollo doesn’t have the courage to go home again. He wanders around aimlessly, lost in thought. The weather is bad and he needs a place to sleep, so he stops at a deserted castle. He enters a room, lights a candle and looks for a bed or mattress where he could lie down. He is so tired. He ponders his life, the meaning of his journey and the chances of his success, but can’t come up with anything concrete. He can’t pinpoint the problem and, therefore, can’t work out a solution. Then he remembers what the old fortuneteller told him. ‘You will lose if you do not understand the true nature of music.’ So the only way to win is convert people’s feelings with music in its purest form. The only way to save the world is to let the sound of the Gods be heard. His problem has a shape now, and the solution comes in the form of his pan flute. Suddenly the castle starts to shake and the weather worsens. The ghosts in the castle come to life and try to scare Apollo away. He is frightened and screams for help. The one good ghost in the castle, the spirit of an old wise Asian man, hears him and comes to his rescue. He tells Apollo that if he wants to save the world from Latona’s claws, he has to travel to New York. Elettrica, Apollo’s half-brother and Latona’s right-hand, is managing all the synthetic emotions on Earth from there. By the time the good ghost finishes talking and disappears in a smoke, Apollo is exhausted and falls asleep. The next day, he wakes up refreshed and decides to travel to New York. The long journey through different countries and cultures helps Apollo grow up and refine his music. The world starts to listen and people open their hearts. From each land Apollo takes away a different style that he could use later on. Each experience provides him with a new outlook and each time a better, more elegant sound emerges. In New York, Elettrica is waiting, prepared for the confrontation. The battle begins and Apollo plays like he never played before. He plays fast and furious. He thinks of all the places he has visited and the memories give him inspiration and desire to win. But Elettrica is no rookie and plays like the devil on his guitar. His sound is aggressive and powerful. The battle is taken to a new level. People start to gather around and enjoy it. Elettrica seems to have fun playing with Apollo and entertaining the crowd. He misses the music and performances and an enthusiastic audience that claps along. He breaks down and starts to cry, because he finds himself in an impossible situation. He can’t believe that he is fighting against his own brother. He decides that things have gone too far. Apollo sits down next to his brother and tries to comfort him. Elettrica is suddenly overcome with human emotions and wants to help Apollo in his quest to save the world from Latona’s synthetic emotions. They decide that they will give as many people as they can their emotions back. Apollo and Elettrica start to play on the street and try to get people to listen. Alas, their efforts are not rewarded. People are too self-absorbed and never stop to take in the music. After countless attempts, when they had lost all hope, one person across the street hears them play and walks over. He likes what he hears and asks if Apollo and Elettrica want to perform with him. The stranger is Ambush, a rapper from the States, who works with a famous singer named Phatt. This is Apollo’s chance to become famous and accomplish his mission, that of recapturing human emotions and spreading them all over the world. So that night, Apollo and Elettrica join Ambush in a fascinating performance that rocks New York to the bottom and has the much sought-after effect of making people feel again. This concert is followed by others around the world and Ambush, Phatt and Apollo’s other artists and musicians he met throughout his journey slowly take over the world and human beings get their feelings back. Every place means a new experience and a new and deeper understanding of the art, human emotion and especially the nature of music. www.mihai-panflute.com