Ok, Arjen appreciation elevated! Sent him an eMail two weeks ago, he sent me a reply today, one that pretty much confirms something I really wanted. Man, I am so happy.
Hi Arjen!
My name is Cael McLeish and I live in Bunbury, Western Australia.
== Hi Cael
I love Drama and Music and perform in those areas whenever I can, and because of that, Ayreon really speaks to me.
== Good to read!
I first heard of your music as a Dream Theater fan, and while looking at one of their albums one day, The Final Experiment came up as a recommendation on YouTube. I instantly fell in love with it, and from there proceeded to check out The Human Equation, which was miles beyond anything I'd listened to before!
== I'm honored...
The idea of having so many different vocalists and musicians all coming together to do such a project seems like such a difficult task, but yet listening to your albums, it seems like such a great joy to be able to work on for a living.
== Not difficult at all, quite the contrary... all these great vocalists and musicians make my work a lot easier!
Recently, I auditioned for my School's production of Into the Woods, and they wanted both an acting and musical component, so I chose to do the song Pain, and through that I managed to get the role of the narrator for the show.
== Congrats!
Your music has also inspired me to start working on more 'epic' music and get more people involved in my projects.
== Glad I've been able to inspire you.
So for all of this and more, I would like to say a great thank you.
== You're very welcome, my pleasure.
Your music is truly awesome and unique and I'm very glad that I made the choice to spend my first ever payment from a gig to buying the special edition of The Theory of Everything, it is one of my favourite possessions as a progressive fan.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.
Cael McLeish
Bunbury, Western Australia
== Thanks for your kind words, much appreciated!
PS. Please make a DVD of The Theater Equation!
== I'm working on it! It's pretty expensive, but it would be a shame not to do it :-)
Cheers,
Arjen.