Hey guys, been so long here I know...since management changed it's been flat out work in a way I never expected. I think it's good as in a way I do feel I need to play catch up for poor prior decsions.
The things that make it good are really good, but I admit it changes the 'color' of it all... to take it to the next level all of a sudden theres endorsements and lawyers and corporate stuff that ultimately brings me closer to my goals of doing Z2 in a big way, but it also affects my writing...
I found as a reaction to the complications of decon and the sheer bulk of work thats been going on (seriously, it's insane) my writing ended up going in 3 ways recently:
1) A very commercial sounding (for the most part) but beautiful and melencholic album full of easy to digest dev songs...Epicloud. I don't know why it came out, but it did, so I'm going to get it out of my system
2) Casualties of Cool: a duo with myself and Che (ki)... it sounds like haunted Johnny cash songs. late night music, completely isolated sounding and different than anything I've done. Che sings most of the leads, and it's probably the truest reflection of who I am in life at this point. Trying to release it in tandem with Epicloud.
3) Z2 epic epic epic, complicated, musical, sci-fi, immense expense, the goal of it all I suppose.
Lost focus on Ghost 2, but mainly because I wanted to release it and everyone got their shit in a knot about it...so I'm trying to find a way to get it out for free, but thats a bit dicey with folks too.
I do understand why things need to be monetized, it's expensive and everyones on salary and each month is a struggle, so box sets, dvds , vips etc are pretty important to the big picture. I still feel embarrased about it all though and fully advocate not being obliged to buy it if you're unsure... the bigger things get, you'd be suprised at how much control you need to give up just to stay musically creative...
Once the dust settles a bit (a year?) I hope to be able to 'give back' a bit with free stuff and everything...
The Peavey situation was intense and a real eye opener in terms of how things REALLY work in the business side of endorsements, and I can't say I really enjoyed it, but we got the guitar out and everyone is nice to each other so all good...I really like that V.
However, I decided to use other guitars for other stuff as well, a Sadowsky tele set, a Framus hollwbody group of guitars, and the v's. No one is entirely happy with that decision, but I find it difficult to not be straight up with folks about what I want to play and do and have typically pissed people off as a result... the bottom line though is I like what I like and it is important to the music to be accurate with tones and vibe. The guitars I actually play, I really like...regardless of brand.
Again, things are changing in a big way, and I find myself more insular than ever... performing is getting easy, and big shows are becoming the easiest, however the grass roots element of it is rapidly becoming something I have to sneak in... my mind tells me that for the sake of the future vision, to not do it is a mistake...however awkward the transition may be for me, long time listeners and family... maybe thats why the casualties of cool record is important to me... no one in the 'grand scheme, big business' side of my world seems to think it's important. But it's important to me because its very very personal.
Epicloud is a real stormer though, it sounds like a beautiful army... summer music, very little metaphor... I needed that in a big way...
talk more soon
d
The things that make it good are really good, but I admit it changes the 'color' of it all... to take it to the next level all of a sudden theres endorsements and lawyers and corporate stuff that ultimately brings me closer to my goals of doing Z2 in a big way, but it also affects my writing...
I found as a reaction to the complications of decon and the sheer bulk of work thats been going on (seriously, it's insane) my writing ended up going in 3 ways recently:
1) A very commercial sounding (for the most part) but beautiful and melencholic album full of easy to digest dev songs...Epicloud. I don't know why it came out, but it did, so I'm going to get it out of my system
2) Casualties of Cool: a duo with myself and Che (ki)... it sounds like haunted Johnny cash songs. late night music, completely isolated sounding and different than anything I've done. Che sings most of the leads, and it's probably the truest reflection of who I am in life at this point. Trying to release it in tandem with Epicloud.
3) Z2 epic epic epic, complicated, musical, sci-fi, immense expense, the goal of it all I suppose.
Lost focus on Ghost 2, but mainly because I wanted to release it and everyone got their shit in a knot about it...so I'm trying to find a way to get it out for free, but thats a bit dicey with folks too.
I do understand why things need to be monetized, it's expensive and everyones on salary and each month is a struggle, so box sets, dvds , vips etc are pretty important to the big picture. I still feel embarrased about it all though and fully advocate not being obliged to buy it if you're unsure... the bigger things get, you'd be suprised at how much control you need to give up just to stay musically creative...
Once the dust settles a bit (a year?) I hope to be able to 'give back' a bit with free stuff and everything...
The Peavey situation was intense and a real eye opener in terms of how things REALLY work in the business side of endorsements, and I can't say I really enjoyed it, but we got the guitar out and everyone is nice to each other so all good...I really like that V.
However, I decided to use other guitars for other stuff as well, a Sadowsky tele set, a Framus hollwbody group of guitars, and the v's. No one is entirely happy with that decision, but I find it difficult to not be straight up with folks about what I want to play and do and have typically pissed people off as a result... the bottom line though is I like what I like and it is important to the music to be accurate with tones and vibe. The guitars I actually play, I really like...regardless of brand.
Again, things are changing in a big way, and I find myself more insular than ever... performing is getting easy, and big shows are becoming the easiest, however the grass roots element of it is rapidly becoming something I have to sneak in... my mind tells me that for the sake of the future vision, to not do it is a mistake...however awkward the transition may be for me, long time listeners and family... maybe thats why the casualties of cool record is important to me... no one in the 'grand scheme, big business' side of my world seems to think it's important. But it's important to me because its very very personal.
Epicloud is a real stormer though, it sounds like a beautiful army... summer music, very little metaphor... I needed that in a big way...
talk more soon
d