Matt Pittman, Dan Castady, Mark Rhoades and George Castady

It all started with a magnet on a friend’s refrigerator in Atlanta. The magnet read, “What would you do if you could not fail?” It got Dan Castady, the lead singer of Chicago-based alternative rock band The Fold, thinking.

As Castady considered how easy it would be to give up on making music for a living, he came up with the lyric “Dear future, come get me.” Suddenly, the concept for the band’s first independent album, Dear Future, Come Get Me, was born. However, the path to this revelation wasn’t an easy one.

After releasing two well-received albums on indie power label Tooth & Nail, The Fold decided that it was time to go their own way. The idea of leaving the label and going independent was scary, but Castady and the rest of the band rallied to produce yet another quality project, but this time one that would be crafted on their own terms.

“Leaving our label could have felt like a big failure for The Fold, but it provided the opportunity to tap into our unrealized potential,” says Castady. Even when the band lost a member, The Fold managed to press forward toward answering their call to play music as an independent band. Instead of fearing what lay ahead, the guys of The Fold decided to take their future into their own hands.

Released in October 2009, Dear Future, Come Get Me takes a proactive approach, encouraging listeners to live out their dreams. A month before the album’s official debut, The Fold released “Neverender,” the standout track on the album. Initial reviews were mixed about The Fold’s mature new sound, but fans grew to love “Neverender,” realizing that, while The Fold had stretched out in a new direction, they had really just built on their already strong melodic rock style.

The album’s title track, “Dear Future,” is the cornerstone on which the album is built, according to Castady. “This album is about reconnecting with our dreams again. It’s saying, “Bring on the future. I’m done with the past.’” Other strong tracks like “File: Under Ground,” “Sink or Swim,” and “These Are My Dreams” provide a passionate ideological base for The Fold’s trademark energetic vocals and strong melodies.

The guys of The Fold are carving out a path for themselves in the competitive world of independent music. “We know our sound and we know what we can do well,” says Castady. “This doesn’t ever have to end as long as we have the passion to keep doing it.”

“Neverender” isn’t just the final track on “Dear Future, Come Get Me”. It describes the band’s whole outlook on their future. With their new creative independence, the Fold’s story is far from ending. In fact, it’s just beginning.