RELEVANT is a very popular magazine that combines postmodern spirituality with music and art...here is the article:

The first time Matt Antolick brought his djembe over to guitarist and singer Ryan Costello's back porch in 1999 the two could not have imagined how the events of September 11 would ultimately bind them together. Seven years later they are the lead band members of The Oaks, a band created to affect change in Afghanistan and even the world.

When Costello thinks back to the year of the terrorist attacks, he remembers it as a year of searching. "September 11 happened, and I found myself—like a lot of people—focusing on that part of the world," he says. "Shortly afterward, I went through an experience where everything that I had ever valued in my life was pulled out from under me." In a short span of time, Costello experienced everything from watching his car catch on fire, to losing his job.

"In that state I eventually became quiet enough to be forced to look at my life and where it was headed," he says. "I confronted some difficult questions about myself and the vanity and spiritual irrelevance of my life to that point."

It was at that "moment of surrender" when God started to draw Costello to Afghanistan. "I knew literally nothing about it as a country, but somehow I knew I was headed there to be a part of the change that was going to happen."

Costello began investigating various humanitarian organizations and ways he could be involved. That is when he discovered Global Hope Network International, an organization that focuses on helping the "hidden and hurting." By 2003 Ryan was preparing to move to Afghanistan for two years with GHNI. He would take part in providing agricultural resources and education about agriculture, hygiene and nutrition.

Much of Ryan's time in Afghanistan was spent bringing aid to a central mountain village named Yawcalang. He says, "Many of the villagers were returning after living as refugees during the time of the Taliban and were coming back to find their farms destroyed and seed stock gone. I was able to help them get back on their feet by teaching them agricultural techniques and by seed distributions."

As God used him to serve the needs of the Afghan people, He also brought Costello to a place of important introspection. "Afghanistan completely changed me as a person," he says. "Not just through my interaction with Afghans and their culture, but also internally as I was stretched beyond where I thought I could go, and was forced to confront dark, selfish parts of myself. I realized that what I had experienced needed to be shared.

"There were times in Afghanistan where I would sit and think about my generation back here in the States—about the sense of powerlessness and lost-ness that we seem to have absorbed. I wanted to make it known that yes, you can confront yourself."


While Costello was on the other side of the world, Matt Antolick was undergoing his own life changes back in the states. "The funny thing is," Antolick says, "Ryan and I both graduated college at the same time. He went to Afghanistan, and I got my masters in philosophy and entered the work world."

The change of talking about the "real world" while in college, and living in it afterward, was important for Antolick. "Leaving the insulated environment of the University and becoming the sole support for my wife and son was a big eye-opener," he says. "Ryan and I, in this sense, were both thrown into the 'real world' at the same time. The particulars of our experiences were vastly different, but the process of growth and personal change was identical. Actually, I should say 'is' identical, because it is still going on, everyday."

His vision and philosophy on life had been aligned with his friend's from the beginning, he says; by the time Costello returned from Afghanistan, both musicians wanted to "express very similar life lessons that we had come to on opposite sides of the world."

After Costello returned to the States in 2005, the two began collaborating on what would become Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind. Fourteen months later, they had an album and knew it was something special. "We realized that this album was very unique in that it was deeply rooted in Afghanistan, and also in the idea of giving of yourself," Antolick says. "We felt that a natural extension of these concepts was to give a portion of the profits directly to those in need in Afghanistan."

Ultimately the decision was made to give 50 percent of the album's profit to relief in Afghanistan through GHNI. "This is really important for both of us, because it means that as we promote this album we are tangibly affecting change in the world," Antolick says. "As a result, anyone who purchases the album or helps to promote this project is aiding widows and recently returned refugees in Afghanistan."

For those who have a burden for the remote reaches of the world, or who are just curious, Costello says the best thing to do is to just go. "Getting over there and actually putting yourself in the situation is the only way to begin to understand what the real needs are and what you can do about it. When I left Afghanistan after my first short trip of just two weeks, I was never the same."

As far as the future of The Oaks goes, Antolick says the band wants the profits of each of their album's "to be associated with a particular region of the world that is in great need."

Costello says, "I feel like, as a band, we've barely scratched the surface of both our musical potential and our ability to directly link people to avenues where they can affect change."

You can learn more about The Oaks by visiting www.myspace.com/theoaksband.

Hey everyone --

The following just posted on INK19.com

This is a very cool Florida-based magazine that has covering independent music for years...

---------------------

The Oaks

Our Fathers & the Things They Left Behind

Rising Oak

In the midst of a controversial war in the Middle East, a musician in Orlando packed up his belongings and shipped off to the mountains of central Afghanistan. Living amongst newly returned Afghan refugees, Ryan Costello worked as part of the humanitarian organization, Global Hope Network. He learned Farsi, taught agriculture and nutrition development -- all the while the seeds of a new musical adventure were being planted.

Meanwhile, back home in Florida, his writing partner Matthew Antolick was finishing up a Master's degree in Environmental Ethics and teaching undergrads philosophy. When Costello returned to the States after two years overseas, he brought with him the experiences and influences of that life-altering experience in the form of melodies and words.

The Oaks have produced a uniquely moving debut, Our Fathers & the Things They Left Behind, that is reminiscent of the '60s folk songs of Simon & Garfunkel, but updated for a generation living in the midst of a new Vietnam. The Middle Eastern vibes play themselves out in the form of mandolins, the marimba, vibraphones and bell sounds.

That's not to say The Oaks are just another folky protest band. Layered on top of the folk foundation are layers of textured atmosphere a la Radiohead, or more accurately, The Album Leaf. What's really special about this band is their commitment to their cause, "to inspiring us to wake up -- to introspect and to look with new eyes at how we can change the world around us." Putting their money where their mouth is, 50% of the profits from every album sold will go directly to benefit widows and recently-returned refugees in the mountains of Afghanistan. The album can be purchased through the band's website.

The Oaks: www.theoaksband.com

Jen Cray

BAND CALLED THE OAKS GROWS MUSIC WITH A MISSION
Its first CD, which features original music, raises money to aid Afghanistan.

Debbie Barr | Special to the Sentinel
Posted November 12, 2006
ADVERTISEMENTS


When it comes to making music, Ryan Costello of Winter Park and Matt Antolick of Winter Springs are marching to the beat of a different drum.

Costello and Antolick, co-founders of the band The OaKs, believe in creating music with a message and a mission.

Their first compact disc, titled Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind ($10, Jupiter Studios), uses original music to further humanitarian aid projects in Afghanistan, where Costello, 28, recently worked to help refugee families find creative ways to cultivate the land for survival.

In the process, he connected with Afghan fathers, mothers and children who made a lasting impression on him.

"I experienced all these different things that I felt like people in America don't get to experience but need to become aware of. Music is one of the best ways to express thoughts," Costello said.

Half of the sales from the album will go toward funding two programs in Afghanistan sponsored by Global Hope Network International, a humanitarian and aid organization with a branch in Orlando.

The nonprofit agency heads up the Hope Center for Agriculture and Nutrition based in the capital city of Kabul, where Costello worked as director of agricultural development from 2003 to 2005. The agency also runs a program that teaches Afghan widows employable skills, such as jamming fruit and making quilts.

The 10-track CD was pieced together from song ideas Costello began working on while in Afghanistan.

When Costello returned to Central Florida a year ago, he and Antolick, 31, set those impressions to music.

The lyrics of the songs are meant to inspire introspection, selflessness and the search for truth "woven into the kind of music that just moves us," Antolick said.

Antolick and Costello embodied these themes in two anchor songs telling the story of Hugh Thompson, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam who risked his life to save Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai Massacre in 1968.

"We felt like it was a great story that needed to be told, but we also felt like it was the perfect vehicle to illustrate the concepts we wanted to talk about," Costello said.

"The message is just the search for truth; the struggles along the way are just part of it."

In the song "My Heart Is Weighed and Found Wanting, Kabul," Costello writes about "the dark parts" of himself that surfaced while in Afghanistan: his struggle to stifle his own selfishness amid the suffering around him and his fight to avoid desensitization to it.

"Even having 'given up everything' to go to Afghanistan, I'm still sitting in the middle of all these refugees, and sadness and need, and being selfish. . . . I'm still having to push away the selfish parts of myself and learn how to help people," Costello said.

In the divider track of the album, the band has interwoven music with audio of Afghani men and women speaking in their native Farsi accompanied by the everyday sounds of children crying, laughing and playing in the background.

The audio for the track, titled "Survey for a Distribution of Winter Clothing," was recorded by Costello on videotape while he was assessing needs and handing out winter clothing to squatter households in the poorest regions of Kabul.

The audio is a poignant reminder of the similarities all people share in the small, everyday activities that make up life, Costello said.

Antolick added that hearing the voices of Afghani families transported him directly to Kabul.

"This track in particular evokes a lot of imagery for me. It's really emotional and inspiring because I feel like I'm there," Antolick said.

Costello and Antolick became fast friends and bandmates during their college days at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

After graduating and going their separate ways to experience "real life," they joined up again last year.

"When we started to write songs together, there seemed to be such a deeper message and concept to it," said Costello, a social worker at the Children's Home Society in Orlando.

Antolick works as a musician at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center.

Beginning in January, the musical duo spent eight months working around their day jobs to piece together the album in Costello's living room.

Costello provided vocals, guitar and keyboard tracks for each song, while Antolick laid down tracks for percussion, drum set, marimba and vibraphone. Naomi Schalm of Orlando contributed backup vocals.

Now that the album has been recorded, Costello said the band has expanded to six members to begin live local performances.

Newest members include Greg Willson on guitar, Jeremy Siegel on bass, trombone and mandolin and Tim Cocking on keyboard, harmonica, accordion and trumpet.

The band will promote the CD during shows, which will also include a combination of audio, video, photos and Afghan artifacts collected by Costello.

Costello and Antolick will begin pounding the pavement to partner with local retailers to sell the CD, available at Park Ave CDs in Winter Park and Orlando.

"People really do want to do good. This gives a clear outlet for that. Here's a clear channel for change," Antolick said.

The OaKs will be performing at the Anti-Pop Musical Festival on Wednesday at the AKA Lounge, 68 E. Pine St. in Orlando. A festival pass costs $10, and the doors open at 8 p.m.

To listen to tracks or find out more, go to theoaksband .com.

After spending 2 years with a humanitarian organization in Afganistan and teaching agriculture to recently-returned refugees, Ryan Costello returned to the states with a number of songs inspired by his experience. Partnering with longtime friend and former bandmate Matthew Antolick, they started The Oaks. The songs are very well-written, and the band does a stellar job of encompassing guitars, drums, horns, bells, organs, and mandolins into a big beautiful sound. The vocals are perfect, only adding a strong element to each piece and never taking away from anything. Go buy their debut album, Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind, as the band is giving 50% of each sale to Global Hope Network.

The Oaks.. debut album, Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind is a thought-provoking recording of several songs that have their roots in the soil of Afghanistan. Songwriter Ryan Costello spent two years there on a humanitarian mission living with recently returned refugees, learning from them, and helping teach them nutrition development and agriculture. He was incredibly moved by the experience and expressed these emotions through his guitar. These musical expressions became the seeds for the songs featured on his first full-length album.

After returning from the Middle East, Ryan joined with his best friend and long-time musical partner, Matt Antolick, to expand these songs and refine them for recording. Over the next eight months, they worked together to produce their first album, recording it entirely in their living room with the help of several friends.

The album begins with beautiful, fluttery acoustic guitar, a prelude to their musical homage to Hugh Thompson, Jr., one of the heroes of the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam who saved a village of wounded civilians from being massacred by US troops. The song, ..For Hugh Thompson, Who Stood Alone. My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, 1968.. is quite possibly the best on the album, with flowing guitar, fluid drums, bells, horns and back-up vocals that frame the inspiring lyrics, ..In the line of fire you raised your hands / as the silence slowly descended / between infamy and fame your name was on the lips / of both angels and demons...

Another song, ..Hugh Thompson, the aftermath.. laments the result of the My Lai incident, in which Officer Thompson was punished by the military and rejected by who he thought were his close friends. ..The silence still remained as you lay in your bunk that night / as your friends prepared to make of you a sacrifice...

..Message from the Moon.. is another great song, with beautiful rhythms and a full sound created by layers of guitars, vocals, and marimba. The lyrics, ..my light won..t shine forever / so lift up your head and look around at the cave you..re in.. urges the listener to live life now because, ..all our days are numbered / until we stand before our maker...

All of the songs on the album are very well written, and they are as inspiring as they are introspective. You can hear their influences including Guided By Voices, Sigur Ros, Paul Simon, Radiohead and Donovan, with a fluid mingling of sounds that creates a musical atmosphere well suited to their poetic lyrics. This album is worth a listen, and with 50% of all profits going to aid Afghan refugees, you can feel even better about purchasing the CD.

-Alicia Olivant
10/30/06

The OaKs get the word out:

Everywhere we're turning we've found people interested in our message and what we're doing to try to raise awareness for Afghanistan.  Here's some of the media outlets that have featured us so far:

Music blogs and online magazines:

Buzzgrinder - http://www.buzzgrinder.com/2006/online-music-the-oaks/
MSSVision - http://www.mssvision.com/talks/?aid=45
Obscure Sound - http://obscuresound.com/?p=341

Radio stations:
Insomnia Radio (shows 7 and 9) - http://orlando.insomniaradio.net

We also have write-ups in progress in alot of different online and print media.  We'll update our blog as new ones come in - keep checking back!

the OaKs Street Team

We need your help to get the word out where you live and work and make your world.  Half of the sale of each album goes directly to Global Hope Network International to help returned refugees and widows become self-sustaining.  You can approach retailers in your area - coffee shops, bookstores, anyone who you think would be interested to stock our CD on their countertop using our attractive display. Or just help us get the word out in the media - be creative! Drop us an email at theoaksband@gmail.com to talk with us more

Well the CD is back from the presses and available for shipping...
we're so very happy with the sound quality, and the artwork turned out beautifully, thanks to our dear friend Hamayun Nawaz who managed to crank out the design ideas with the help of Ryan's photography.

Hamayun squeezed in some time to came down from South Carolina in the middle of studying for his medical boards just to help us out, and we will forever be grateful.

OASIS CD did an excellent job turning our ideas into a concrete fullcolor production we can be proud of. The picture on the cover is even more touching now than it was inside of our heads.

We're busy promoting the album and letting people know it's out there. And, as of TODAY, in fact, we've just come upon what we feel is an amazing development in terms of sharing this music with the world and for the overall good. The next blog will describe it all in more detail, although it's just a baby of a concept at the moment...read on...www.theoaksband.com

We have just made arrangements to enter into a partnership with Global Hope Netwrok, a wonderful aid organization responsible for so much good work all over the workd, but especially, in the past few years and right now as i write this, in Afghanistan.

Here is the arrangement we have come to -- 50% of all profits from the sale of each copy of our CD, OUR FATHERS AND THE THINGS THEY LEFT BEHIND will go directly to aid recently returned refugees in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Since Ryan's experiences in Kabul fed so much into the creation of this album, we want to give back -- and this seems the best way to do it. It makes the album more than just about us and our frail egos -- it gives it a greater purpose, and we feel pretty good about it.

Stay tuned for news on upcoming benefit shows sponsored by Global Hope Network.
In the meantime, go to www.theoaksband.com for more detailed information, which we promise to have up in the next few days!

Much LOVE!
The OAKS

The Hugh Thompson Story: Two of the tracks on our new album are about Hugh Thompson, who was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam during the My Lai Massacre in which American soldiers laid waste an entire village of civillians. Hugh was on duty that day, and flew down into the war zone when he saw some frightened civillians huddled in a ditch. He told some American soldiers nearby to help them out, and they said to him, laughing, "yeah, we'll help them out alright". As he flew away, he suddenly realized what they meant as he saw them firing their automatic weapons into the ditch, killing men, women, and children. He made a decision in that criticial moment: to be the agent of change. He flew back, turning the helicopter around and landed in the middle of the worst of the battle, confronting the commander on duty, who ordered his men to raise their weapons. Fearlessly, Hugh loaded his helicopter with civillians to bus them out to safety, and the other soldiers just stood there with weapons raised.

Afterwards, he found himself rejected by what he thought were his close friends and made a pariah by the Military itself as they hurried to cover up the incident in a worried nation's mind. It wasn't until the early 1990s, after pressure from the media, that he and his helicopter crew were finally recognized as heros and awarded Soldier's Medals. In 1998 they returned to Vietnam and visited some of those they had rescued on that day. Hugh Thompson died this year on January 6th, 2006. Go to this website to read more: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/Myl_hero

Hi everyone. Well, Ryan and I just completed mixing our album in Seattle! We flew in on Sunday morning (May 28th) to Seattle, where it was characteristically rainy and 67 degrees -- perfect mixing weather!

We had the pleasure of working with producer/engineer Martin Feveyear. We can't say enough about Martin. He is a genius with his craft, has a musical ear like none we have ecountered in any other producer, and is just an all-around GREAT guy! Check out his website to see his credits and get a taste of some of his talents: www.jupiterstudios.net. Recent projects include Damien Jurado, Presidents of the United States of America and Rosie Thomas. It is a true honor to have worked with such a great talent.

The next step is mastering. We're sending our mixed album to West-West Side music in NYC, where it will be mastered by Alan Douches, which we're also very excited about -- he recently mixed Sufjan Stevens' Illinois. After that it's off to Discmakers for printing. The album will be back and ready to ship to you by the first of August.

So the tracks you have before you on our page are mixed but not yet mastered.
Please let us know what you think!

Much Love,
The Oaks