It was early 2003 and Onward seemed to be on the mend and refocused. We were rehearsed and ready to enter the studio to record "The Neverending Sun". Our belief in the new music and excitement to take it on the road had bonded us a bit, we were trying hard to get back to the mindframe we were in during the "Evermoving" days. The riffs bit like Akira Takasaki, Michael's lyrics were intelligent and angry, Jon Pereau's drumming kept improving and bassist Chris Payette was the guy who kept our spirits up and his musicianship had drastically stepped up.
Our problem now was the standoff with Century Media regarding the unacceptable recording budget they had proposed. CM finally broke the silence begging me to accept their offer and get the album done. I called Brett Hansen at Audio Art Studio in Las Vegas and he basically said "Let's make the budget work, I want to see Onward continue". I emailed CM and after weeks of silence, caved in to their meager budget of a few grand. Their reply was "you are released from obligations". It was a douche bag power play on their part to get us to accept the offer so they could turn around and dump us.
I didn't give one fuck and was relieved. I wrote a farewell letter to our audience on our website and disbanded Onward immediately. I also made the rough demos of "The Neverending Sun" available to everyone in the form of a $6 cd. Hundreds of orders and letters came in and I spent at least a month packing envelopes with cd's. The post office even contacted me wanting to know what was with hundreds of letters coming in from all corners of the globe.
Drummer Jon Pereau was disappointed but also a bit indifferent. Chris Payette was okay with whatever the future was to be; Onward or no Onward. Michael Grant immediately scrambled for a plan and called me often saying "Let's try to get on Nuclear Blast or Metal Blade Records". Nuclear Blast and Metal Blade were the last places I wanted to be. Century Media Records were the biggest Metal label at that point and I just didn't want to talk about or shop for a new record deal. I wanted to clear myself of Onward and prepare for completely new musical terrain. I wanted to get on an underground label and do my weird little albums.
Michael wouldn't let it go. I told him “You should hire the bassist Melanie Sisneros in LA, find a great drummer and turn your side project, Crescent Shield, into an actual band”. Michael, fresh from a somewhat successful tenure with Onward, had enough clout in Los Angeles to get top tier musicians together. No one realizes that I pushed him to make Crescent Shield his top priority band. Partly to get him off my back but also because I knew he'd get the success he wanted. I was correct. We agreed that someday, when the time was right, we would reunite Onward.
To quote the lyrics of John Fogerty; "Someday Never Comes".
I never saw Michael Grant again and Onward never played again.
The story doesn't end here however..........