Honeylion: The Story of Samson

February 7, 2012

"Out of the eater came something to eat, out of the strong came something sweet." -Samson

Two experiences inspired me to start working on this project: a conversation with Bono and the story of Samson.

A Conversation with Bono

I met Bono several years ago; we mostly talked about music and how much of an inspiration he had been to me. I was star struck and the moment felt as if it had lasted several hours, but reality set in and Bono left me with his words of wisdom: “Always keep the wheels on the bus rolling.”

Not long after, my bandmates and I were chosen to perform as the opening act for Bon Jovi. The path was set and the bus was rolling smoothly; it was actually rolling pretty fast and as my bandmates and I were captivated by the blurring scenery around us and lost track of who we were and what our dream truly was.

After 21 years of chasing my dream, I realized that it wasn’t about reaching a destination, the dream had been with us all along; we had a bond, we had friendship, we shared our most intimate stories together, we had trust, we had music, and we had become a family. This awakening made me realize how music is just a different rendition of love; it’s not about fame and fortune or anything else the industry portrayed it to be. Music brought us together.

The Story of Samson

I then came across the story of Samson and was deeply captivated by it; I read the story over and over again until it sank deep into my soul and inspired me to compose a poetic album musically illustrating Samson’s life. Why poetic? I wanted to keep it simple and beautiful and as simple words carefully crafted together can create great emotional repercussions, I believed musical notes carefully crafted into melodies and rhythms can also have the same emotional repercussions. 12 instrumental songs were finally composed each representing a chapter in Samson’s life and as a reader reads a poem with his own voice, musicians can perform these poetic songs in their own style and sound.