New 2009 CD: Disorganized Fun!

Click here to preview and download the MP3's!

Finally done! I'm extremely excited. I had a lot of neat things accidentally happen in some of these songs. Took longer than I thought to get out, but I'm glad it did because of the way a few of these tunes progressed over time.

The album art was done in watercolor by Kori Michele Handwerker. She's the reason I can't wait to see what the actual physical copy looks like. I'm ordering them in a matte finish. They should be really neat.

Here are some more things about the new CD I think some people might want to know:

- iTunes: It's finally up! Click this hyperlink to buy from iTunes
- Physical CD: You can now order my new CD! All pre-orders (before Sept 10th) were shipped on schedule (Sept 10th). If you live outside the US, shipping usually takes 10-14 days, sometimes less.
- Physical CD Signing: I will still be signing the CD's if you buy 2 or more, including if you buy the old+new CD.
- New MP3 Store: Starting at about 2PM today, all downloads come from a new server. That means if you buy my CD, it should download pretty fast. Yeeah!!
- MP3 quality: 320 Kbps

PS. Thanks everyone for the nice comments on the about this new CD. REALLY REALLY appreciate them.

STS9 charity remix album, get it!

STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) - Peaceblaster (The New Orleans Make It Right Remixes)

Or click here to download in MP3 or FLAC directly from STS9. My track is second to last, but be sure to check the rest out.

This is a remix album that STS9 put together called Peaceblaster (The New Orleans Make It Right Remixes) - 100% goes charity. The STS9 collab thing I did on youtube is on this album.

Details on the charity can be found here. Basically, the sales go towards building some futuristic/green homes in some hard-hit areas of New Orleans. Katrina seems like a long time ago, but to anyone who's been there since, it's easy to see they still need help.

I think the whole album is awesome. If you like electronic music, there's a really good chance you'll dig the whole thing. Big thanks to those guys for helping a good cause and for including my collab tune on there. Too cool!!!

Fifteen Fifty (new song preview)

Finished another song this week for the CD! I had no intentions of including this tune but after I started it, I kept wanting to return to it and all the sudden, it was finished. Very unexpected. This one is called "Fifteen Fifty". I thought I would throw up little a preview on my sixtyone page if you want to hear the beginning. It's very electronic sounding, I guess. The end of the tune turns crazy and a bit less electronic, but I want to save that fun for the second CD.

At this point, it's great to have some traction. If a song or two isn't "done" (in my opinion) by the time July rolls around, I'm releasing the dang thang anyways. I'm itching to get it out there. Thanks for the patience!!

Back to work. :)

PS. I should mention, the sixtyone is a great place to quicky find good music if you're looking for some other artists to check out.

Update, USA

I'm going to post some random jams on the tubes pretty soon. As soon as I have something interesting to share, I promise to share it.

I finally finished Disorganized Fun. It was a blast to work on, and I have to thank my friend "McFeezy" for giving me some company tackling that project. If you're like me, the hardest part about being solo is working alone, so it's always a blast to have like-minded company chillin w/ ya. Which makes me want to give this advice, for what it's worth.. All you need are a couple of really good friends. If you don't have a hundred fans to give you feedback, that's perfectly cool. Find the people who generally enjoy what you do and give you honest feedback at the same time. It's tricky though.. Some people try too hard to give feedback (saying too much, with great intentions of course), and some just jive with whatever you put out even if it's not up to your standards. Always go with your own gut in the end, but listening to others reactions can also give you some direction and new ideas. So make sure you REALLY appreciate those in your small feedback circle, whatever your art may be. Thank them a lot, and if you appreciate something they do, make sure you spend some time genuinely checking out their stuff and being encouraging.

I have a few more songs to wrap up on my album. I'm not "holding out", it's just the nature of how it is right now. Throwing Fire, the STS9 collab, and Disorganized Fun will be a blast, I think. Those are pretty much done, as with a few other random tunes. The "outer space jam" is still in the works and right now I'm working on "messin w/ a guitar sound". Trying to capture the guitar without it being so murky by the time I lay it over the rest of the beat in FL Studio. I'm using Edison now in FL. It's helping my workflow being able to drag WAV's from that directly into the project instead of recording in the old Adobe Audition 1.0 and then importing those WAV's. Huge thanks to Didier from FL Studio for encouraging me to try it that way.

I was fortunate enough to have met Papa Roach again last week when they played a show close to home. Their show was excellent and they were a blast to hang with. I admire those guys - they're extremely hard workers and they appreciate tons of music. Backstage they were bumping some classic Dre on vinyl. We discussed me doing a remix - I'm all for it. Might approach it like I did with STS9 and write more of my own tune based on their drums and possibly Jacoby's vocals.

Thanks for the continued patience. This is the summer of my second CD. If not, I will record 1 youtubes per day for 3 months after I shave my head, all except for the very back where I will grow a really long rat tail.

Almost forgot: I turned in my final version of the Jenkees/STS9 Collab today after working on it all day. More news on that as soon as I know something, but it should be available soon and I'll tell you where you can get it. It'll be for a good cause. I'm pumped to be a part of that.

little snippet of somethin new

Just a bit of a beat I started, purely done in FL studio so far. Really digging one of the sounds I found using the free VST called Synth1. I started this beat out thinking it was going to stay tough and 808-ish but then those strings came out of nowhere.

Synth One

Thankfully the power has been back on. We were out for 6 days but many were out longer. I've put a ton of music hours in the last week and it's been a good time. Once I'm feelin a new jam good for the tubes, I'll post there too.

Thanks a ton for listening!!!

PS. Shoulda posted this G4 TV spot a few months ago.. The people that work there are super-cool. Here's that clip.

No power again! Cold this time

Wow, the two worst power outages in our State's history.. Last time it was winds from Ike. This time it's an ice storm. It's cold up in this piece, seriously! LOL.

Our power has been out since Tues (posting this from my phone) and it might last 10 days total. Still not as bad as some. Friends of mine have no water in their city along with no power. I think that's when you need to head south.

Anywho, I started a brand new tune last week in FL Studio using Synth1 (free VST I found on kvraudio) and some 808 drumz. I want to post a snippet when the power comes back on. It's very recharging to start new stuff once in a while. Helps everything.

CD work continues too. Tis going well. Thanks to those of you who show patience in comments and emails with the delay. The positive stuff is awesome. Can't wait till I'm ready to post a serious update on it.

PS. Weezer finally posted that video I'm in (Pork and Beans mashup). That was exciting to finally see that up.  It's on my Youtube profile page on the Internet. The crew that produced that vid were a bunch of really nice people. It was cool to watch them get so much done. Also there are some very cool covers of my outer space beat on my page right now (guitar and drums).

Late Friday update: Finally on a generator! Definitely scared to hook my music stuff up to it, but at least there's heat, a lamp, and a laptop. Turns out this is THE worst power outage ever around here and it's still crazy. I hope from here on out, people keep their generators outside where they belong. Only YOU can prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Wherever you are, if you're reading this, you should take 3 minutes and get a CO detector

second album: still workin on it, still fun.

First I said "late summer". Feeling a bit pressured, I then said "December". I'm looking at where I'm at with the album and I'm not sure I'll have a complete December release. I could, but it's just not ready. You know that moment right before you completely go to sleep? It's a time when you're kinda vulnerable - if something worrisome pops in your head, you're awake all over again a little bit startled. Lately, that's about the time where my brain has faithfully reminded me that my album isn't done yet and there are people waiting for it, as if I didn't think about that enough all hours throughout the day. Should I get out of bed and work on music? Sure. What would it hurt? Lets go work on some music. 2-3 hours later and sometimes that process repeats itself - back to bed, back to the Motif. Sometimes I have some recorded media to show for it, sometimes not. Never do I beat myself up if not - music is always worth the time you put in.

Things continue to be fun though. Just the other day, I found myself adding a minute of newness to the end of "Throwing Fire". It's the kind of stuff I love to do - just go anywhere I want to with the song. All else is moving along too - some songs quicker than others.

Back to deadline speak, I (thankfully) don't have a label beating me up to release a second album, just people interested in hearing new stuff and I'm grateful for that. Just be patient with me while I have fun with music and get it recorded. I'm just thankful I don't have a label imposing arbitrary deadlines on my creative progress. I do that well enough on my own. LOL. Late summer. December.

PS. A friend and fellow YouTuber, David Choi, finished his album (there's a buy link on his myspace). All original stuff. Threw it in the car and I was digging it even though it's different than stuff I normally listen to. It's calming and he's got a great singing voice. I think it'd also make a good gift if you have a female friend who digs love songs.

PPS. Got to meet STS9 when they toured through KY. Zach (the drummer) had me come on the tour bus to meet the band before they played. Very nice people and the show was a blast. Thanks to my hat guy, Sam at Livity, for telling Zach about my music and making that collab possible.

New Album Status: December

Hello peeps!

I'm not a fan of deadlines when it comes to music but for the sake of you being in the know, my hopeful goal for the new album is sometime in December (digital release, physical CD's take a while to get pressed). "Late summer" has already past and the work is slower than I anticipated. All the basic groundwork is laid out though - the ideas are all there in front of me. All the tracks are pretty much picked out. Disorganized fun, messin with a guitar sound, throwing fire, stay crunchy (released ), and others that some of you have told me you like on youtube will definitely be on there.

I could have rushed things and had something sooner, but I'd rather not release something I'm not 100% comfortable with. Does that mean it'll be perfect? Probably not! LOL.

I don't know about you other musicians, but for me, finishing tracks is the most difficult and time consuming part. That's where the "work" creeps in.  I've been told that goes along with all creative work. It's a weird balance between keeping it fun and actually having some organized recorded media to show for that fun.

Also, a new video should be out super soon. I'm doing a VERY VERY fun collab thingy with a cool band. I want that video to be a surprise though. It's been a BLAST working on it. It's got me charged up every time I sit down to jam with it. Kinda has that same vibe as "throwing fire".

And some quick thanks to Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park for shouting out to me on his blog yesterday (WHOA!?!), Katy Perry for her flattering post that I forgot to mention a while back, and to Papa Roach who continues to stay in contact by email to encourage me on my new music and videos.

Thanks for your patience and all the cool emails that keep me going.

No power!

We had a huge windstorm here in KY thanks to Ike. I love storms. Without any rain, it looked innocent enough until it knocked out power to the majority of people in this area and killed/injured a few poor folks. We haven't seen power outages like this since the mid-1970's when some huge tornadas hit. Still nothing compared to what some in TX are going through though. Gotta hook the red cross up with those donationz.

Anywho, I'm up late without power, using the Wordpress app on the iPhone to write this. Hopefully we'll have power ASAP but they're saying it may be up to a week for some. Might have to seek out a coffee shop tomorrow so I can do some CD labeling/shipping.

While I'm at it, my long-time friend and fellow independent musician Brad released his second CD last week. His fans (me included) have waited 5 years for it. I'm digging it - it's solid. And I'm encouraged to see him complete it because albums are tough when you're pretty much doing all the work by yourself (he's a 1-man show too).

Update: 3 days later (9/17), we still have no power. LOL. Ice and D Batteries are hard to find at this point. This Coleman LED lantern is amazing though - still has a lot of life after 3 nights. Totally recommend it - just keep 8 D batteries handy.

Update: Power came back on Thursday. Awesomeness.

Stay Crunchy – YouTube Jam Download!

Edit: You used to be able to purchase this song right here but I'm working on my new store. It'll be up in a bit!

So here we go. This is an early cut off of my next album. A lot of people have requested more of my YouTube-style jams, so this song is pretty much the exact jam I did in "messin with an e-piano sound" mixed down to 320Kbps. Figured this would be a good way to experiment with this fancy new shopping cart AND to see how people like it when I leave the grime in a track. Can't wait to hear your feedback. This method of blog-posting and selling music is new to me, but maybe it beats waiting on a complete album to be finished (still working on that!). Anywho, I hope you like the tune!!! It was definitely a fun one to create.

iTunes - this won't be a single release on iTunes, but it's not too hard to buy it this way and drop the MP3 into iTunes. It just adds an extra step.

PS. Thanks to my friend Fil Smyth for always telling me (and pretty much anyone he comes in contact with) to stay crunchy.