Daniel Wheeler’s blog

i want to write albums like one would write novels.

but i don't want it to just be like a novel
because it's delivered to the senses in a whole different way
the package itself should be different.

the best way i can describe it is this:

for this first album i'm working on producing, 'Things Unseen: The Story of Nowhereland', think of the alanis video for 'Precious Illusions'

in it, one half of the screen is a fairytale
and the other half is something that is happening at the present day

that's where the similarities stop though.

you can look at the album like this : it's a collection of little vignettes, with obvious ties, and you can listen to it like you'd read a book like House on Mango Street

and take each song and taste it individually

or you can take it and listen to it like a novel
with themes
and plot
and characters

for example, i wrote a song last year called 'Mother Raise Me Up'
i'll put it on this page when it's closer to christmas time
or you can look me up on rockerie.com and listen to it there

but this song is a cubic song

view one: the story of mary and jesus
joseph is in there too
but it's mainly about the journeys to bethlehem and calvary.
this is the face value side

view two: a young girl, about 15 years old, finds herself pregnant today
a modern day mirror of Mary
she would have been very young
she would have been human
and she would have been very scared
and it's about all the things this girl would go through
including (though very fleeting) thoughts of aborting jesus
and these things are conveyed through the language
used by joseph and other that mary encounters

example:
"could ya help a brother out/ is there anywhere for my wife to stay"

and symbolism
example:
"and under red skies she'll carry her mustard seed/ as her heart bleeds for him/ unto the saraphim"
this is her abortion
this is her fear and her pain
there is a lot of red
and blood
and she is carrying the baby through this until it is with the angels.

view three: the novel
this is the birth of the character Lucifer
this is the story of his mother and how he came to Nowhereland
everyone thought she would give birth to this beautiful child
and she does
just not the kind of beautiful child they expected
and this view s conveyed through looking at the big picture
all of the Lucifer songs have common themes in them
words and phrases that tie them together

for example:
mary shows up again in 'Lucifer Christ'
as do other images and symbols used in 'Mother Raise Me Up'

and every song on the album is like this
only some are even build differently, but deliberately

like Photographs of Angels

look very closely at the song structure itself
the music

this is a song about the idea of continuation
of rebirth
of things being different
like being born in a different time
but still exactly the same
like remembering the person your soul is connected to

and as the song progresses, you will notice that the music in the chorus is exactly the same as that played in the verses
and though the lyrics and the vocal melody change
the music comes full circle.

main point of this bulletin:
i really like the idea of actually thinking about what you are writing
and putting effort
and time(Things Unseen took me about years to fully develop)
into albums
and being able to take them and turn them around in your hands like a block
and on one side see a picture of a blue duck
on another side see the red letter 'Z'
and on another side see the green number '6'

so it's not really like your average album
it's sort of an entirely different thing
kind of like a painting, a movie(or a musical, i suppose, since music is involved), and a book put together.

i think it would be really interesting, one day, for instead of getting all these books to analyze and what have you
you could get an album

so, i am doing this again
and i have a rough idea of what i'm going to do for the second one
but i'll be real good.
i promise

This is a powerful, deeply moving and uplifting song by Daniel Wheeler. The sweeping piano arrangement and genuine, unique lyrics hold an intensity and truth that's hard to come by. The song captures a very eloquent, yet accessible story of life, unconditional love, growth, death, reincarnation, and everything  you may find in the middle. Contact Daniel Wheeler by email at mrdanwheeler@hotmail.com

Photographs of Angels

Daniel Wheeler

My name is Daniel Christopher Wheeler. I was born to Thomas and Constance Wheeler on May 24, 1990 in Colorado Springs, Colorado and lived for the first five years among the mountains. Eventually we returned to my parent's home town of Erie, Pennsylvania. I attended a Catholic elementary school up until third grade. Even in those early days, while I began to find some spiritual roots, my inquisitive mind would prove somewhat... intense... or maybe unique is the right word... for even the teachers. From a young age I've had a knack for entertaining people. At age 9 I secured the first of many lead roles in the local theater, which is now nationally accredited and works closely with Disney and other companies. I even got work in a few commercials. I learned my first piano piece, a song from the opera Carmen, by ear when I was about 7, after my sister received a keyboard for Christmas. When I was 10 my mother passed away due to colon cancer. During the next few years my siblings and I would endure the wrath of the woman who acted as our care-giver when my father was at work, but that's an epic in itself. Eventually my father remarried and we moved out of the country and into the city. During my eighth grade year, I was accepted into the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, a school heralded by organizations such as Newsweek as being among the top 20 percent of high schools nationally. After my freshmen year, the music program, which had been my incentive for even attending the school, was slowly cut, until the musical doors had literally been slammed in my face. So, I decided that if I could not make music at school, I would open my own doors and make my own music my way. I wrote my first song, and I have been writing ever since. During my junior year, I conquered my city when I created an annual, half a million dollar music festival along the shores of Lake Erie, known as Sounds of Summer. It was attended by bands and listeners alike from all over the state. The best part was, not only had I virtually single-handedly orchestrated the entire event, but we also raised all kinds of crazy money to benefit victims of domestic violence. As for the future, I am going to become a Legend. There's no doubt about it. I also love reading, literature, thinking,casual 94 block strolls from my house at 3am, tea, coffee, chocolate chip cookies, Vincent Van Gogh, and not wearing shoes.