Revolution On Canvas: Worth a Thousand Words

Revolution on Canvas is filled with poetry and prose from several talented musicians from indie bands and other artists. The range of artists participating is an impressive one.

We live in the digital millennium where technology is vastly changing each and every day. Technology has become a necessity, deeply-rooted into our daily lives. Checking e-mail is daily routine, and for some, an hourly ritual. As great as technology has been on the music industry and more importantly life in general, has it actually helped throw away simple art forms that expand our minds?

For our youth and the vast majorty, the days of picking up a book to read for pleasure are long gone. We now have the Internet and hundreds of television channels to surf through, so why do we need to pick up a book? Most of us are guilty of it and some of us just don’t have the time. Our society has become ever-moving, and in a hurry to accomplish everything in life, the time to read has vanished. But don’t throw away all hope just yet. Ad Astra Books, which branched from We the People Records out in sunny Orange County, is doing their part to get kids to read again. When co-president Chris Haynie was asked about how there is now less importance of reading in youth and how the activity is fast becoming a lost art form, he responded with;

“Depends on the kind of kid you are. We'll be selling these books to kids in line at A Static Lullaby show and I'll hear, “I'm not into reading,” and that's a shame, but we're not going to force this on anyone, if you want to shut out the most popular form of media in history because Total Request Live involves less investment on your part, then you're going to miss out on an incredible amount of good stuff. The aim of this is to get kids on the boat”.

Revolution on Canvas is filled with poetry and prose from several talented musicians from indie bands and other artists. The range of artists participating is an impressive one. You have Mike Burkett of NOFX, Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line, Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish, Joey Cape of Lagwagon, Jamison Covington of JamisonParker, and Scott Gross of From Autumn to Ashes to name just a few of the contributing artists. There is definitely variety and something there to please everyone. The book also boats some fine artwork from Chris Tsagakis of the RX Bandits and Jason Cruz of Strung Out.

Music amongst the generation has centered towards its ability to harmonize for accessibility, while the art of lyricism and great song writing has become watered down. The words are what make us feel the emotion and passion of and within musicians. It is the words that we relate to and compare them to how we are feeling inside. It is the words which are significant, and Revolution on Canvas is filled with them. The book offers these musicians their chance to express their words and feelings in a new medium, which hopefully will get the kids reading again.

The idea spawned from Rich Balling, the editor of Revolution on Canvas, as Chris Haynie explains;

“Our friend, Rich Balling, had the idea, and had compiled most of the work beforehand, and since we had been meaning to start a publishing company, it seemed like it would be a great release to get the name out, and now it's turned into this relatively big thing that lots of kids are in to.”

Since being released on Valentine’s Day this year, the book has done exceptionally well. So well that Hot Topic stores recently picked up the book for exclusive distribution in every outlet after selling out during the test run.

So the kids are going out and getting the book and reading it. The plan is following through. “That's totally the effect we wanted,” said Haynie. “The scene is linked to so many aspects of modern culture, intellectual, ideological, aesthetic, everything, making kids more receptive to ideas outside of music. I mean, we should never forget that music started this, but that behind all the image and the nice hair, there are some light bulbs going on too.” There is also another aspect of Revolution on Canvas that must not be overlooked.

Fifty percent of all the profits from the book will go to the National Center for Family Literacy. The foundation is a nonprofit organization devoted to improving and refining the literacy skills of kids and their parents. Chris Haynie talks about how giving back is so important. “The whole project itself is oriented toward that goal, getting kids into written word. Money-wise, we're pretty much giving this book away for free at the end of the day, after donations and costs are figured in, any extra money goes into reprinting, but that's what it's about, you know? We'd definitely be into more philanthropy beyond this, there are some needy arts schools in the area that need the help, and I'd love to work with them.”

Revolution on Canvas is undoubtedly a very positive outreach. From the talented writers sharing their work through the book’s pages, to the charity of giving back to those who are less fortunate; it is not just a coincidence that the word ‘revolution’ is in the title of this book.