Upon returning from visiting with family out to the Lake in the midwest — where I had a grand time — I was hit with a sweeping wave of negative energy throughout my life.
It seemed like every day there was something new and upsetting that I had to deal with. Something fell apart, something was ruined, something was canceled. Things were postponed, people were disappearing, and even dying.
I felt mournful, cursed, abandoned, rejected, betrayed, made a pariah, shadow-banned and canceled.
I rode out the negative wave for at least a fortnight, perhaps two or even three, smoking tea, hypnotized by favorite films, practicing flow-yoga, and reading one of my favorite autobiographies, Really the Blues by Mezz Mezrow.
I refused to power up the studio for I didn’t want to energize it with the negative energy I was dealing with. I rode out several weeks until everything around me had settled down and I became restless and eager to get back to the studio.
I listened to the tracks completed for the canceled Tabby Cat show and knew then I was on the right track. I was compelled to move forward — the music demanded it.
TEARS of the PHOENIX
WALK AWAY
FAILED to HEED
After tweaking the Tabby Cat mixes into something deeper and richer with added texture and harmony, and even adding another part repeat here and there, I'm now polishing these phase one mixes — everything but guitar and voice — and preparing for phase two: guitar. Phase 3 includes my singing voice.
It's been several weeks now and I'm finally satisfied with phase one and can share it with you here.
I’ve been working every available moment, and hope to have FAILED to HEED complete sometime in January or by February at the latest. The official release for SUBLIMATE was in 2021, and I was hoping to have the next album released in 2022 but alas, it looks like January or February of 2023 at the earliest.
The < redux > in the titles of the songs refer to the fact that these songs were inspired by arrangements on SUBLIMATE.
At the time, I thought of SUBLIMATE as a demo, something I would use to let musicians know what I had to offer — I wanted to be part of a group. When the pandemic swept the world, and the Feds opted for lockdown-type quarantines, I waved all my thoughts of co-labs goodbye for the foreseeable future. I decided to upgrade my entire studio. SUBLIMATE was guitar and drum machine. FAILED to HEED re-imagines the most popular songs with a Kurzweil synthesizer and an Alesis drum machine — a totally different palette — one I'm really in love with.
The follow up single, FOOL'S PARADISE is also in the phase one stage — feels good to have it so far along. We should see at least two releases in 2023 if not more.
take care
keep cool
stay in tune
JCS
