And the lack of movement after I move.
(A quick note to those who aren’t in the know, my album, Cancer, is now complete! It’s taken me years, but Intelligi now has an album ready for recording!! I’ve recorded guitar and bass tracks for the demos, and Dustin Yewell is hard at work writing drum tracks. If you know any musicians that are looking for a band. . .)
IT'S DONE!!!
Well, the writing is done.
BUT THE WRITING IS DONE!!!
Image credit: Johanna Andronis crazpidge
That’s how I feel right now.
It’s taken. . . well, it’s taken way too long. To me it feels like it’s taken forever. What with all the other bands that never went where I wanted them to go, or with the fact that it actually has taken me my whole life. I guess that’s subjective; the pessimist believing that it took me almost 27 years to complete and the optimist believing that I only put my energy towards completing an album two and a half years ago. Either way, it just feels like it’s been a long trek; one that’s been filled with lots of personal struggle, lots of riffs and and bass lines thrown away, me banging my head against my writing desk, annoying my family and friends with unfinished tracks, recording tracks, deleting tracks, re-recording tracks, weeks of editing, and so on and so forth. The album saw it’s biggest progression and growth over the last year and just after July 4th I wiped out half of the last song and restarted. The last track then came together in a matter of hours and proudly took the 8th spot in the 13 tracks on the debut album. After then listening to the track over and over again for the next three days, it stuck, and the album was officially done!!!
Anyways! The new track!! Feel It is definitely on the side of more groove oriented tracks on the album, probably alongside Turdmoil and Hat Tip. Less of the driving metal riffs that have made up the core of tracks like New Life and Heavy Aught, less of the complexities of Calm Before Crazy and The Mix (The Butcher’s Medley).
Image credit: Monku
This of course comes just a few weeks after the completion of the last four demo recordings and the New Life trailer, which was a whole new undertaking for me. I’ve never been one for making videos; always more taken with photography than videography. But the Machine Head auditions led me to garner a few YouTube channel subscribers, and I feel I owe them a little something every now and then. And of course, It’s just another way for me to get my music out there. As a matter of fact, the process isn’t incredibly hard or time consuming. I’ve had quite a bit of fun with these recent videos, and there’s going to be a new video coming up shortly of Dustin recording drums for the even more cleaned up demo recording of the album. I feel like I’ve got so many new things going on, and that I’m trying out new things in the name of my music. It seems like it’s almost fitting that all of the new stuff has been centered around releasing a track entitled “New Life”. . . Or maybe I’m just reaching for a connection. . .
I’d been writing it for months and months, never ever finding the right structure or the right riffs. It always seemed out of place and had none of the “flow” that I strive to have in my songs. Then on the extended July 4th weekend, walking home from my lunch at my favorite burger bar, I decided to delete half the track and start all over. It took just a few hours to finish the song. Which just reaffirms my point form my last blog post: writing can be incredibly annoying and rewarding at the same time. And thanks to it’s groove metal roots and straight forward power, it was almost too much fun to record the demo for. And I may be my own worst critics, but I’ve received generally positive responses from those that I’ve played it for.
How I felt recording Feel It
One of the issues I’ve noticed though with completing the writing stage of my album is that for chunks of the day I feel as though I’ve finished. I feel as though I’ve completed the album. I’ll relax for a bit or sit down and feel less agitated about ignoring my music than I used to. And I have to keep reminding myself that these are demo tracks that I’m using to gain interest in fellow musicians so that a proper band can be formed. These are not tracks that should be released as anything more than that, or than teasers for what is to come. Aside from the general mix down for this almost no other processing is done, and it’s still just a mic and an amp for each instrument, no vocals. INCREDIBLY raw. I can’t get too ahead of myself. . . or behind myself. It’s as though I’ve reached a point of movement, a point where things start to pick up momentum, and then sit back and figure it will take care of itself. But I can not do that! I need to keep pushing to find people, no matter how annoying that process is. I need to move on to the next step of the recordings, even if I’ve never mic’d and recorded drums myself before. I need to push myself to not only think about recording time for this album with new musicians, but thinking onward to the next album. No reason to ignore the fact that there will be a second album! So many things that need to keep moving, no time to stop.
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Also! New website layout, look, and feel! Hopefully the site comes across as generally easier to read and navigate. I’ve cleaned up and then updated the photo albums in the photography section, laid out some options for future Intelligi updates, and tried to get everything just a smidgen better. I’m also looking into a few more features that I can incorporate, but they’re definitely a ways away, cause like I said above, I need to concentrate on the music!!! But there is something to look forward to in terms of the site, so keep looking for that.
If you were wondering why there didn’t seem to be a whole ton of photography updates coming through the site lately, don’t worry. I’ve still got my camera in hand, and have been helping buddies out with their photography too. Photography has just taken a backseat to Intelligi for the time being and it isn’t as prominent as it had been in 2012 and early 2013. I’m sure that I will not only have a good chunk of time during the recordings to take photos of the process, but also have the chance to get back in the swing of taking shots!
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So, long story short, I’m very proud of the new demos. I’ve still got the last song to finish writing, and then I’ll be even more proud. I’m sure all of this will go to my head here sooner or later. Probably the first show I play of my music. Holy fuck, that just seems like a pipe dream. SEEMED like a pipe dream. Never thought I’d get this close to having my own album. Here’s to the future! *hat tip*
CeeDubH
Shout Outs
So apparently this IS becoming a regular thing. It’s good! I’m not an incredibly vocal person (Yes, I know I rant when I’m typing or if I’ve had a few beers, but the majority of the time I struggle to vocalize most of what’s rushing through my brain) and it’s good to have a small soapbox to preach the wonders of the people I have in my life. And today is going to have a couple of shout outs, since the album has been completed with the help of many of the people around me. They really do help and make a difference in my understanding of both my writing purpose and the view I have on the people that listen to my music. An important aspect of my music is that others actually connect with it. They help me understand this.
Jo is pretty much the go to person for all of the rough Intelligi tracks. She has almost zero filter, which allows me to get a really great view of how people may react to my music. I also get it instantly, and very loudly. It never ceases to amaze me how she can seem both loud and overtly excited, even through iMessages on an iPhone.
Thanks Jo!
Dan has been all over the place in terms of inspiration, help, motivation, and generally everything else. Currently he’s the guy that’s been coming up with all the amazing photo shoot ideas and he’s been the one actively keeping the photog stuff at the forefront of my brain. That and Gizmodo, which give him all the ideas.
Thanks Dan!
Johanna
Dan
My dad, Brad
I usually tire of hearing people brag about their families or even talk about them in general as though they think that they’re the only ones in the world with a family that they love. Of course you love your family. I’d say that a great majority of the world loves their family. (I also feel the same way about babies. You didn’t do anything amazing, you did the exact same thing humans have done for millennia) But my father has always been an important part of my music and photography. He’s a bastion of brutal honesty, unfiltered wisdom, and absolute love. There’s no way I could have finished this album without his input, even if he can’t stand a lot of the stuff that I write. . . or the band name. . .
I love you dad. Thank you!
