A Year in Review...

I find myself asking lately, "Since when did I become the responsible one?" I find myself looking back at where I was a year ago - in an ICU, my neck and pelvis immobilized, withdrawing from cocaine and alcohol, and most of the visitors that were not hospital staff were lawyers trying to explain to me what was going on with a rather public and disastrous court case. It wasn't long after that the ICU turned into rehab, and rehab turned into a meeting with my fellow band-mates of Vaarallinen.

Who is Vaarallinen? More than likely if you are here reading this, you found this via my Twitter. And since I am typing in English when my native languages are Arabic and French, well, US and EU all speak more than their fair share of English. But, I am Callith Appleton, one of two guitarists and vocalists in yet another Finnish metal band named Vaarallinen, which is Finnish for "Dangerous." Admit it, you have to love band names. And in January 2018 we were in a near-fatal car crash near Manchester, England. Those that do not know, we had finished a concert that night in Manchester and four of us went to party with a local girl named Sarah Rosenberg, while Hannya went to a Noh rehearsal (for those that do not know, do not worry, it took me knowing him since 2014 that he has started to finally show me what it is - a Japanese theater genre that was created in the 14th century often involving masks, drums, Japanese folk song, and a lot of freaking demons!). Unfortunately we never made it far. Trish was driving and saw something in the road, and as he swerved to avoid hitting it, the car flipped. Erik was flung through the windshield. Gabe, Sarah, and I were in the backseat and flung forward. Sarah lost her life, Gabe was under a sandwich of Sarah and me but is a larger guy; he ended up breaking his left arm and leg, left ribs, and had some internal bleeding. I remember not worrying about the pain (despite concussion, whiplash, broken ribs, and dislocated pelvis) but instead trying to find my little baggie of drugs.

But how has a year made changes in my life. After the accident I was a mess. I could barely function, I remember being broody and trying to write music but nothing came. I would play and play until my fingers bled (and often they were scabbed over from trying so hard on guitar). I was struggling. One day I went out to sit in the yard where everyone else was relaxing. I was brooding; well to the others I looked like I was, when in fact I was stuck. Stuck in songwriting, stuck in life, stuck in trying to find my way. Hannya pulled me and threw me in the pool. It was not a good day and probably where my self-proclaimed titles of "Lord of Darkness" and "Destroyer of Mobile Phones" came from. Little did he know that less than a year later, this would happen:

Hannya and me enjoying a private moment alone at the Shinto temple where we wed. Even the priest left!

Yes, it's been just over a year since that accident. Three stays in rehab, two psychiatrists, and going from trying to date Erik, to dating Gabe, to being married to Hannya. And what a year it was. We moved to Idaho in America, then we were moved to New York City. And now we moved again to Colorado. I am sober! I remember asking Hann what I acted like when I was drinking and doing drugs all the time, and he said this, "You were either sleeping, fucking or getting high. I want to get to know the real Alex under there," (for those who don't know, my birth name is Alexander).

And that was one of three major influences that shaped my life from then on:

• Hannya showing me what everyone else saw.

• Gabe taking me under his wing and showing me how to live life sober (he's an AA rock-star!)

• Our New York manager teaching me how to not self-destruct and giving me more to live for other than just the band.

And now, I am here. I'm almost finished writing our upcoming album Phoenix, which will be available next month from your favorite distributor and free on YouTube. I opened my own recording and production studio, Phoenix Productions (and if you cannot tell, yes there is a theme here of rising up from the darkness/ashes). I got married. Yes, I actually ended up being a husband! I worked for awhile in A&R at Sony but found that other obligations pulled me away. I have been songwriting for other acts since November, when I got my mojo back and now am signed to Ace Productions in Geneva, Switzerland. And of course did I tell you that I'm an executive producer of my own place? Well, I footed the bill, but my band-mates and me co-own and co-produce under that label now too.

And that's all for now folks! The blog from now on will probably be more or less snippets from media here and there ((consider it a repository of sorts)) or times when I have longer announcements to make that won't fit on Twitter. And really, most of this all was made for that. There's probably a band website somewhere, well, I know there is. And I'll post here time and again when there are times when I have something more to say or share.

Peace out, and keep on rocking!

((ETA: so as this was actually my first post of the blog and things are being added in with backdates, well, I felt the need to explain why suddenly this felt like a first post when other things were here.))