Friends!
I hope you have all had the chance to buy wonderful adornments for your loved ones this past Valentine’s Day… and i say this not purely out of pseudo-cynical smugness, but also in a genuine desire that we can take advantage of this time as an opportunity to create a sense of open-ness in our relationships, to fulfill the sometimes stilted wants-to-communicate. I’m unsure how narrow my specific tunnel is sometimes, but often i feel that too much time is spent not communicating just how important people are to us. That we stay superficial either out of fear of rejection, insecurity or other inner traumas. We do need things that promote an easier path to understanding, especially as the world continually provides more and more technological ways of distancing and distracting us from one another. So go ahead, buy that overpriced box of chocolates but use it as an excuse to get to the heart of the matter.
Speaking of the heart of the matter - i would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those that have noticed the track that was on xlr8r.com as a featured song and given me feedback, criticism and encouragement - it’s been a really great surprise. And… well the spike in Myspace page views has been kinda neat to witness too. Power of the press, eh? I can’t wait to see what ripple effect happens when the magazine itself — and accompanying CD comp with the track on it — hits news stands.
Work has continued on the album, though not without many distractions. My fascination with tumblr has continued, and after going through my page there and noticing how voracious my habit has become with that i’m a little embarrassed to see much i’ve put into it versus all my other commitments lately. Even so, you’re welcome to take a look at my other blog here. You’ll find a full description on the page, but basically i’ve been putting everything non-album specific that i do [mostly doodles] as well as key curiosities and things that have influenced me in a significant way on it.
The next interview in the series has been scheduled — it will be with Jfrank, of Brainstormlab.org. It’ll be happening sometime this sunday and i’ll hopefully have some time to transcibe it by early next week. Along with the interview, i’ll be posting bits of his remix for my track ‘Drowning Coins’ and bits of my original version from the album… which may or may not be done by the time it all goes down.
Maybe i should backtrack a little here… When the album was first being dreamed up, i had most of the the tracks started in at least sketch/pattern form, and had started performing them live in different ways to see how they could come together. At this point i also came across the music of Jfrank and Dirty Fire Project, and knew i wanted them to participate in the album. It was agreed that what would happen was a set of remix trades — and everybody that offered a remix i’ve either remixed already (like Hecq), or i will be remixing a track for them as a return favor/cross pollenation thing. So anyhow, as the potential remixers responded, i went into the hospital and was unable to really work as much as i would have otherwise. In my weakened state the remix packs came together for all the artists, though they didn’t include my original version of the songs in their arranged form. It’s definitely influenced the outcome, giving the remixes a flavor probably impossible to have had if things had worked otherwise.
Back to the present, ‘Drowning Coins‘ has had a bit added to it since Jfrank’s remix was finished, but it’s still around 80% done. There’s been an incredibly long gestation period for all of the tracks on ‘From Unity To Segmentation’ but they are being finished in roughly the same time period. The narrative element to this album was built-in more or less from the beginning, as i’ve been living it… but compressing it and weaving only the essentials into the album in a non-invasive way — in a way that doesn’t detract from the songs as individual things — has been pretty tricky, and is probably the hardest part of writing.
Finally, the last thing on the initial ‘stuff i want to do with this blog‘ list; taking studio pics and generally boasting about the machines i use will finally happen sometime next week… prepare to be shocked at the luxury of Sinterbox Studios Room 1c! …otherwise known as my booze-den and insomnia palace. The digicam is sorted, i just need to find a box big enough to put all these dead bod—– i mean, ahem, “garbage bags” and we’ll be in business!
Stay tuned, there is more to come soon!