Currently I’ve got more than enough IRATA material for an EP. I don’t think its that great but, that said, I’m also my own worst critic. I’ve also got a bunch of unreleased remixes/edits of stuff that I’m slowly working into an IRATA DJ Mix.
I recently took over the job of knob twiddler/synth/keyboard guru for a local Industrial Rock band called Sangsara. I have a ton of rehearsing and catching up to do if I want them to take me seriously. So. Going forward in the short term Sangsara is my priority. It fits in with my day job well enough and seems to be leading me somewhere… which is more than I can say for IRATA at present.
I have no idea how to prioritize shit in my life. IRATA is my thing. I’m sad that it’s a solo thing now but shit happens and Major Malfunction’s split from the project was entirely clean and not entirely unexpected. We remain good friends. Going the solo route is what I thought I was going to avoid with this project. Sangsara fills in the collab gap in it’s own way but I would really like someone else to help stimulate IRATA into going forward.
I’ve thought of having me as the nucleus of the project and having a revolving door policy for collabs but I usually end up hating other projects that do this. It’s more than I can manage on my own anyway.
I need an Agent/Manager or one of each. I also need to focus on the music and less on the “image” half of things the way I’ve done in the past. A Stylist/Image Consultant would be nice too. All of these things cost money and I have none.
So in short, I have material. I can’t afford to release it myself. I hesitate releasing anything online anymore because of the rampant piracy. I’d go through iTunes but I’ve been rejected one to many times for them to even bother with my applying again.
So here I sit. A bunch of material wasted until I can get my shit together to do more than sit.. here.
Sorry if I come across as some pompous tortured artist moron. That wasn’t the intent. I know, I know, The road to hell etc…
Maybe this blog is too much of a distraction. I’m having so much trouble getting any actual music written lately. It definately doesn’t help that I work full time either.
Unfortunately I’m also the eternal procrastinator. If there is ever a task to do I’ll always wait until the last possible second to get it done. I really loathe that aspect of my personality, as I think most procrastinators do. I don’t know how to change it I just know I work much better under the pressure of an external deadline.
I know I want to eventually get to the point where i can make music full time. I’ve dropped every extra penny I’ve had into my studio (okay.. but kicks are important too) and my instruments. I live and breathe music when I’m not working my full time gig. On my days off I sit in my studio and surf the internet and do anything other than write music.
I’ve been noodling on my guitars a bunch lately and I think it’s helping a bit. It definately is helping me come up with phrases and arpeggios that I may not have come up with otherwise. But I still keep finding myself distracted.
I need a bandmate or manager or agent or someone who can hold my feet to the fire. I won’t find someone like that in Edmonton as far as I can tell. I suppose I shouldn’t blame the city I live in, but it’s hard to deal with the knowledge that I have no one really to blame but myself.
I need to get this show on the road.
An impatient procrastinator ftw! I’m a walking talking oxymoron. That, or i’m just a…
Tonight I think I figured out how I can finally combine my passion for music and my day job. Tomorrow I have to email some bands about the possibility of playing a gig on my home turf. Should be fun times!
I’ve been scouring music blogs a lot lately and have decided that I LOVE the concept of sharing my music with the most dedicated of fans. These are the people who will actually purchase the music anyway regardless of whether or not they can get it for free on a blog somewhere.
I’ve been making music semi-professionally for nearly 10 years now. The music blog explosion of the last few years totally threw me off at first. Giving away music seems to be completely contrary to logical procedure. But I’m realizing every day how logical it really is.
I’ve discovered countless amazing bands on these and other blogs over the last year or so. And my music spending habits have increased exponentially as a result.
There is at least one caveat that I can see though: posting everything. Posting everything is just asking for trouble. It’s like showing your hand before the first flop. You might as well just pack it all in and give up completely.
It reminds me of the resurgence of burlesque a few years ago. Show the audience just enough to wet their appetite. Then cover up and sneak away… It drives the audience wild and is much more entertaining.
So here’s the first of hopefully many more blogs. I’ve been very active on twitter lately so I’ve made sure to put my twitter feed on here.
We’ve been fairly busy in the studio lately and have been getting prepared to start playing some DJ sets to help promote the new tunes. We’ve got some awesome merch ideas percolating in our heads as well.
