Inhale has released ten albums over the years. Of darkness. Seventy-three songs . Of darkness. In short, I have put an awful lot of darkness and sadness into the world and I've found that it is coming back to me tenfold. Maybe that is a load of crap, but it's all I have to cling to right now. I have to stop putting darkness out into the universe, because the universe will and has balanced itself out. It's shown me exactly what I am – a speck of dust, at best. Even a song like ...Love Fades (a sentiment with which I completely disagree with now), a simple but pretty song, is, in actuality, very dark. If you can't hear the darkness, you are misunderstanding the implication inherent in the first forty-six seconds of the song. Sure, the guitar may be pretty, but the song as a whole is one of the darkest songs I ever did. It's simply enough.

Some of you may have noticed that I'm referring to Inhale as “I.” It essentially always has been me. It's been my vision, from the artwork to websites to the presentation to the titles to almost all of the music. I take full responsibility. When I say this, I am in no way discounting the contributions of others to Inhale. Even complete tracks. And I will acknowledge them by name at the end of this. And thank them. The one that was written for Inhale simply wouldn't exist (obviously), and the songs they contributed to creatively, or simply inspired would be less than they became. However, Inhale is me. Vance.

I'm done dropping my grains of sand onto the mountain of darkness of this world. Ten is a nice round number, and those of you who know me better than others know that numbers mean something to me. It was no accident that the first album had thirteen tracks. It was no accident that the song 237 on that album is exactly 2 minutes 37 seconds long (for those of you not familiar with that song, “Room 237” is mentioned in the samples, thus 237). It's very easy to manipulate the length of a song on a computer nowadays, but that album was recorded on a four-track and, while not impossible obviously, extremely difficult. It's no accident that the second album has seven tracks to offset the thirteen of the first. There are ten tracks on the third album, and each of those tracks is exactly five minutes long. The sixth album is one track and is fifty-five minutes forty-four seconds. Six, Five, Four. The eighth album has nine tracks in deference to John Lennon, but purposeful nonetheless. Both E.P.'s (although each are technically full length as far as total time goes) I released were each five tracks. Because I wanted them that way.

Which brings us to Eternal Loop Dream. It's all there. An eternal loop. Eight tracks. An eight turned on it's side is what? And “dream.” That word can be applied to every Inhale song. And my life as well. Recently, I've been jarred awake, and I don't like what I see. Now, when I say I don't like what I see, I'm not referring to a particular person or event. Anyone who reads this and takes offense at that comment is simply wrong. Here's the truth. I'm referring to the world as a whole. And I'm referring to myself. That is the simple truth. All that considered, by definition, the eternal loop dream takes me back to the beginning, and I refuse to repeat myself.

I'm sure all of you have surmised exactly what I've been saying for the last several paragraphs, but for those of you who need to see it in black and white, here it is.

Inhale is over. Forever.

The Inhale Facebook page will soon disappear. As I became deeper and deeper into whatever I'm going through, it became filled with nonsense, vitriol, and self-hatred. In short, it became a freak show. What's worse, what I was saying hurt certain people who simply misinterpreted the meaning of some of those posts. That is the worst offense of all. So, depending upon when you are reading this, it will either be gone in a week, or it is already gone.

As far as this page and the Bandcamp page go, the simple answer is I don't know. The Bandcamp page will remain untouched for the foreseeable future, and the untouched final form of this page can be reached HERE for the foreseeable future. I will, however, will no longer update it or respond to missives directed at the email address associated with Inhale. Sorry.

For participating in my neurosis, thank you to Chris Reid (wrote a song by himself and presented it to me as Inhale, transformed a couple of others, and contributed to several more), Jeff Bellew (his voice appears on one song), Rob Patty (his indiscernible voice appears on one song), Beth Reiland (the true voice of Inhale - beautiful and dark. I so wish I had more for you to sing), Dan Davis (remixed an Inhale song and made it indiscernible from the original), Nattie Quinonez, R.I.P. (her voice appears on one song and scares children), Doug Reid (his bass line on a song elevated it to a new level), Eric Fugate (for allowing me to pervert his doodlings), Rebecca Heyer (for being the cover figure on a promo CD), and to Rosemarie Fuentes (for allowing her likeness to be used on a promo CD).

Thank you to everyone who has ever listened to an Inhale song. Thank you to everyone who has ever liked an Inhale song. Thank you to everyone who has ever bought a physical CD in a store or directly from me, downloaded an album, downloaded a song, played a song on their radio show, or heard Inhale in passing. Thank you to all of you who have shown your support and understood a very idiosyncratic piece of art. Yes. After all these years, here at the end, I am finally willing to say that what I did was art. Without the quotes.

With Love,

Vance

Inhale