Members quit; Dutton creates unique musical

By: Anna Clay

Posted: 11/14/08

If the other three members of your band quit, you give up, right? Not if you are Thomas Dutton.

In 2003, Dutton formed the band Forgive Durden, in Seattle, Wash., basing the band's name off the character Tyler Durden from the critically acclaimed film and book "Fight Club." In 2005, the band was signed to Fueled by Ramen Records and within the next year, released their first full-length album, "Wonderland."

All four members were excited about the release and expected it to do well. The album possessed a unique sound pushing the boundaries of alternative rock. However, despite the band's ambition, the album just did not catch on. While the bands they shared a label and a stage with were climbing their way up in the music industry, Forgive Durden was struggling to be heard. The members became frustrated with "Wonderland's" lack of success and eventually decided to call it quits-but not Dutton. He had the hope and the willpower to make Forgive Durden something.

Inspired by music and stories sprouting from "Moulin Rouge," Shakespearean tragedies and Disney films, Dutton set off to create a musical of his own. Dutton and his brother, Paul, spent two years writing and recording a new album, "Razia's Shadow." While fans who closely followed the band knew he was writing a musical, Dutton kept everything about it a secret.

About a month before the album was released, raziashadow.com appeared online. Slowly, "cards" with characters on them showed up on the site along with song clips. The site was linked to fueledbyramen.com and people began to connect "Razia's Shadow" with Forgive Durden. Dutton had a lot more in store for this album than most people anticipated.

He needed a cast of characters and therefore brought in a guest vocalist for each one, including Panic at the Disco's Brendon Urie, Say Anything's Max Bemis, and Save The Day's Chris Conley. Dutton finally came forward announcing the release of his new album while fans waited for new characters and clips to be posted-trying to guess the guest vocalists.

"Razia's Shadow" was finally released Oct. 28 and all its mysteries were solved. The album includes two stories, narrated by Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou, which are set in a mythical world split in two. They are connected by the exploration of merging light and dark themes as well as love and fate. The first story centers on the character, Ahrima, and the second on Adakias who both believe they are destined to fulfill a prophecy of their lands. They meet opposition as they fight to unite the world, the light and the dark.

The musical is complicated, unique and could easily be interpreted in a multitude of ways. Musically, its core sound is reminiscent of "Wonderland's" uncommon rock, but includes a variety of instruments and barely any guitar and, of course, the album has a show tunes vibe. The album is truly a work of art-true art is something not easily described in words. It needs to be experienced and it would be a mistake to pass up an opportunity to listen to "Razia's Shadow."

Its creativity is vastly impressive. Dutton put a lot of faith and hard work into creating a musical from within a rock genre, which is greatly admirable. The LP is already gaining more attention than "Wonderland" and hopefully will receive the success it deserves.

Forgive Durden will be heading to the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia Nov. 28. Dutton assembled a touring band and plans to play new arrangements of songs from "Razia's Shadow." Forgive Durden will be supporting Dear and The Headlights and Steel Train.