There was a time when Philip Zach thought he’d never sing again.

He had spent a decade creating music with his brothers in Remedy Drive. He’d toured the world, won tens of thousands of fans, seen his dream come true and, in the process, built up thick lines of dull, white scars along his vocal chords.

Surgery was imperative. Full recovery was doubtful. His future, uncertain. The doctors told him that his only chance of ever singing again was to spend the 3 months following the surgery in total silence. No singing. No talking. No communication at all. It wasn’t a guarantee but, with absolute silence and a small miracle, he had a shot. For Philip, it was a shot worth taking.

He resigned himself to total silence. He shut up entirely. He didn’t talk to his family. He didn’t catch up with his friends. He didn’t answer the phone, order at restaurants, or respond to friendly “hello’s” on the street. When his fiancé told him she loved him, he could only mouth the words in return.

He became an observer, a tagalong. He followed conversations instead of joining them. He listened to people and watched how they reacted to the things around them. He learned that being quiet was almost like being invisible. It gave him a chance to look at people, relationships, and the world in a new way.

And as he did, he started learning how to speak without saying anything.

Music isn’t just what you sing. It’s a quality. It’s an intangible something that gets in your ear and pulls you, prompts you, spins you around and pins you down. It’s a movement and an impulse – a magic spell and a catapult. You have no more power over what it does to your heart than a kite has power over which way it blows.

Philip found that he didn’t need to sing to make music that moved people. Sounds are arrows enough. And it was out of this that a new album took shape.

Eventually, Philip did speak again, and he can even sing again. But he learned something important in the silence. He sings on Arrows & Sound, but he doesn’t rely on himself. Instead, he trusts your own ears to do the heavy lifting.

All he has to do is give you the sounds to point you in the right direction.

Those sounds, right now, are all dependent on getting enough money to actually record the music. Making Arrows & Sound a reality won’t take much. There are even some special thank-you’s involved. How special? This special:

Check out the rewards page and get familiar with what is being offered. You could be a part of the record in very tangible ways. You could even have Philip come to your house to record part of it in your space. You could end up with the bass that tracked most of the record. You could even have Philip produce a song that YOU wrote and have it for your own use. Make sure to check those things out.

So, give what you can. Or get a group of friends together and you can all give what you can. Take part in a special musical experience that, just a year ago, didn’t even seem possible. Philip spent enough time in silence to feel like he has something to say. The only question is, are you ready to listen? Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.