Hello from the distant future

Ive been in Köln, Germany for the past week visiting my cousins, thats why I havent posted anything for a long while. I havent been able to record anything, although, I did have a guitar with me so I came up with a few riffs and chord progressions. I am eager to try it them out and find my new sound. Ive had a pretty good time here. Whats great about Köln is the beautiful countryside that kind of surrounds the inner city. The thing is, teens here are always venturing into the city, going to clubs and disco, instead of exploring the nature that engulfs them. They want to escape nature. Its the oposite for me, living in Toronto, I dont get to see any of that. If I lived here, Id spend all my days getting inspired by trees and fields and forests. But I guess if youve been in one place your whole life you might want something more. Like living in a cave with a small glinter of light and knowing that the light is your escape. The light is your glimspe into another reality, another future. A different path. I have visions of these paths, little wormholes I experience in my dreams and thoughts. Theyre wonderful, really...

Anyways, as for the album. Im still trying to pinpoint a sound, a way it should be produced. With the songs I have now, I might just put up a couple of EPs. But the album is still in the works, Id say I havent even started the real record yet, Ive jut made little fragmentated pieces of music, experimental music.

When I get back to Toronto, Ill start putting things up. Ill try and squeeze in a Radio Contact show. As for now, rest...

Soul. Xerathryn. Love.

Almost End of Summer

Shazam

It is nearing the end of the summer. I am tired and I am also excited. The whole "summer record" experiment was...somewhat succesful. I did make enough songs for an album or two but I didnt make ones that I particularly loved. I didnt hate them, but they werent amazing. I think for me, it was a good learning experience, in terms of the creative process and really finding my sound. And still, I havent found it. Generally, all the songs I wrote were in a spur of the moment, stream of conciousness kind of fashion. I liked that I everything I made was so immediate, but I didnt like the fact that the songs had no real direction, they were all over the place. I'll be posting more of the songs I made over the summer. So, there wont a record coming out anytime soon, but maybe I'll put a group of songs in a small EP.

As for Radio Contact, that might be put on hold. I'm going to Germany on Thursday, to visit my cousins. I'm looking forward to travelling somewhere else. The blog might be inactive for a while, we'll see how things go.

As the summer comes to and end, I'm reminiscing all I've done. This summer was a summer of firsts. First attempt at making real, full fledged songs, first blog, first trip to Germany in 13 years, a first for all the small things that wont mean anything to you, but mean alot to me. I've learnt alot, I've known a little bit more about myself.

Here's to the new season.

Good evening

Sorry I havent been updating the blog. Been busy.

Initially, this summer, I wanted to create a summer record. A really light, lo-fi production, Beach Boy harmonies type album. Essentially a day album. With reocurring references to the sun, the beach, surf, ocean and waves...you get the idea. But as the summer progressed, I found a job, which took up most of my time during the day. The only time I had to write and record music was at night or on weekends. These became late nights, often staying up until 3 am writing and recording. And I found my themes centered mostly on darkness, and night and things were much more etheral, and sombre. It all sort of changed into an exploration of night themes. At night, everyone is asleep, at least everyone in your city. But all around the world things are happening. People are experiencing things that may change their lives. It is this feeling of interconnectedness along with feelings of deep loneliness that I truly find interesting about the night. And so I'm changing the course in which the album was taking form. Get ready for some all new material. Soon.....

Yesterday night, if you were aware, was an excellent time to view a meteor storm that happens every 160 years. Apparently the best times were from 11:00 pm - 4:00 am. I decided I'd check it out with some friends. So I headed down to my friends place and met up with two other guys. We climb onto a school roof and made our way up to the highest point we could find, hoping to catch a glimspe of this meteor show. After a while, we saw nothing. We did however, admired the beautiful skyline. The night was dark and the long cityscape stretching around us seemed endless. This was our small moment of remoteness, it was our time to own. And yet, somewhere else in the world, another group a teenagers is doing the same thing...

So I went home at about 12:45. I still hadnt seen any real meteors, so I went out onto my garage roof and I just laid there for about 10 minutes. I saw nothing. Then suddenly out of nowhere a large purple streak crosses the sky. It was a light bluish, purple ember. It had a light filled head and a long dragging tail. And then in an instant it disappeared. It was incredible. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. But it was only for a feeting glimspe. And so with my new found desire for meteors, I got my backpack and went out looking for a darker and higher place. I went over to Elkhorn Middle school and climb their roof, I was a good two storeys and a half up. The night was silent. It was peaceful, no one was awake, small lights dimly light dark buildings, distant sounds of cars and late night meanderrings were heard. The ambiance was eerie. Even though I saw no new meteors in the sky, the night was not a disappointment. The night was peaceful, it was silent, it was mysterious. Darkness cloaked every corner, discovery was waiting to be made......darkness was my friend.

And so I laid there, for about an hour or so. Looking into the sky, staring at the moon, listening to the drone of the city. There was no 9-5, there was no sun, there was no schedule, there was no job, there were no rules, there were no cars, there were no signs, there was no cling, clang, clunk, vroom, chkchrrkbrr, krrk......there was only freedom. There was only the moment in which something was experienced, not by me, but merely a moment happening in this stream of time.......

Soul. Love. Xerathryn.

Crushed Oranges

Hey

So here's the newest addition in my set of songs. Again, like Washing Machine, this is another attempt at more shoegaze/avant-garde sound. I really wanted nice harmonies and a smooth production style. I wanted it to sound like ocean waves washing in your mind. Crushed Oranges is really about entering a void, a place where the induvidual is destroyed and unity is complete. It is in my fictitious belief (as all is) that we are liquid souls sepperated by fields of concious thought. It is when we let go of all conciousness, when we pull the plug that we can truly experience unity. But this doesnt mean a natural state of nirvanic bliss. I dont know what it is. When we crush the orange we get juice, the liquid soul......

Anyways, take a listen and tell me what you think.

Peace. Love. Lux and Crossbones.....

Washing Machine

Hey

Here's a new song. My first real attempt at the shoegaze sound. Trying to build up alot of layers, expecially in vocals. I wanted the song to sound really smooth, like it was being washed over by soundwaves. I wrote it after a night with my friends. It's just about being empty. The idea that when you're alone and you feel like everything is hollow, there's still a joy there, a small hope that can fill eternity. The image of a washing machine came to mind. Like our bodies are washing machines waiting to clean our past lives away. Rejuvination.

The song was intended to be heard after a long night out with friends. Your legs are tired, your arms are hanging and your body is wrecked after a long night of dancing, walking and fucking around. Sit back and listen to this tune, let it wash all over you. Let it clean you....

Radio Contact No. 2

Hey

Here it is, the secon Radio Contact show. The show is still roughly me doing an improvisational set. Until I have more time and a clearer idea of the show's program, I'll have to put this up. But soon, and I mean soon, there'll be a guest, a artist of the month segment and a discussion on various artistic works, be it literature, film or music...

In this set, I used two delay pedals, one on the organ and the other on my vox. I would describe this sound as drone organ music in the dark...and I'll leave it at that. Here's the set list:

1. Petatonic Scale Jam

2. Don't Follow the Light

3. Improv Jam

4. Howl

Have a listen and tell me what you think.

Also, if you'd like to send any requests or artists would like to hear on the show, write a comment and let me know.

Radio Contact No. 1

Hey everyone.

Here it is, the very first ever Radio Contact show. This is a pretty rough rendering of what should come in the future. This is primarly a live improvisational set by me. That's about it. In future shows there will be guests and all sorts of neat stuff, so watch out for that. I'm still pretty busy right now with planning for school, my job and running errands. I'm trying to put in as much time into this blog as possible. Weekends and late nights...

I'm still trying to find my sound, in terms of production and all that. I think I might have ditched the whole lo-fi, four track, rusted tape reverb sound. I might just go for a more sparse recording style, like Eat Darkness.

Anyways, here's the improvised live show set list:

1. The Dub Song

2. Take It Back (Floating)

3. The Cello Song (Minor)

4. The Hazy Song (The End)

There you go. Enjoy. I'm alway sup for some feedback as well...

Vandals

Shazam!

Here's a new edition to the darker/more hopeful stuff ive been doing. It's in the same theme and concept as Eat Darknesss and Eyes Lashed/Tunnels. I wanted this song to sound like the soundtrack to a horror movie with teeange ideals and stuff. Like Donnie Darko or the Teenage Apocalyspe Trilogy by Gregg Araki. Like being the teenager is the end of the world. Once again, the song is laced with reverb. It's about the tribe called Vandals that almost overtook the Roman empire. The idea that a group of meek warriors with no rules or boundaries can actually destroy one of the most powerful societies in the world. That's the whole teenage existence, testing limits and bending the mainstream ideology.

This is also my first attempt at a true pop song.

Picture this:

A young man is on the verge of self-discovery. He is told that a portal will open from his future and that this portal will collaspe with his present and as a result, destroy everything. This is scheduled to happen on prom night. He travels into the future and destroys his future-self and returns back to the present, assuming that all will be corrected. But on prom night, while the Vandals (a pop group in the same likes as the Supremes) play their smash hit 'Lead Me On' the portal invevitably opens. This vortex sucks everything into it, making the future collide with the present and thus causing a chain reaction in all dimensions to converge of become on. All existence ceases to exist and the unviverse begans all over again............

This was the kind of movie that the song would have accompanied. Teenage appocalyspe.

Here are the lyrics:

You are the vandal of these mean streets

The ghost in the corner dancing to hearbeats

His bones do show outside his own skin

Exposing himself as a skeletal being

You said 'it'll be the end of it all'

You said ' not until the end of the world'

Will he see his zombie girl

Teenage wolf had a love of his own

The scars on her back do always show

But the streets still 'em like vandals...

You had to grow up in this place

He's says not until, until the end of it all

Do you treat 'em like vandals? (on these means streets)

Do you treat 'em like vandals? (on these means streets)

Do you treat 'em like vandals? (on these means streets)

Do you treat 'em like vandals? (on these means streets)

Do you treat 'em like vandals? (on these means streets)

Do you treat 'em like vandals? (on these means streets)

Long live the Vandals!

Lost Recordings of A Mysterious Sea Traveller

Shazam! (proceeded with puffs of smoke and lightning)

Picture this:

A man is suddenly given the news that he has terminal cancer. He is given approximately 6 months to a year to live. With the knowledge of his emminent death, he spends all of his funds on a sailboat, food, supplies and clothing. He sets off on a 6 month-year journey around the world, crossing both the atlantic and pacific oceans. He brings along with him a guitar and a 4 track recorder.

He burns all his belongings and gives the rest of his money to friends and family. He leaves nothing behind and on a cold Sunday morning at 5 am in the morning, he sets his sails and embarks on his journey of self-discovery. Along the way to mystical lands, sacred tombs and temples, majestic natures and wildlifes, he records all he feels and all he sees onto the four track recorder. His audio letters are sparse, using nothing but his voice, the guitar and found pieces of metal objects. His life is one of solitude.

He spends his days fishing for food, or at other times, stopping by the shore and trying exotic foods of Africa, India and Southeast Asia. His journey is a roadtrip, a roadtrip across the vast Earth. His beard grows long, his skin darkens to the rays of the sun, his ribs press against his body. He slowly becomes at peace with the world around and within him.

Everday he sits at the corner of his ship awaiting the sun to sink into the sea. He closes his eyes along with the sun and he feels the rays soak his body. The sea smells of fish and ocean mist. The echo of waves crashing against his boat signal the rise of the tide. He is ready, he is calm. His 4 track recorder indents the sound frequencies of the waves, the sun and his voice....He closes his eyes as the sun submerges into the deep blue sea...

His recordings are found years later. The tapes are encapsulated within plastic bags with labels marked, India, Australia, Perth...Chile, Sao Paulo, SeaGulls and Sunsets. The recordings are rustic and bare. The tapes have been warped and cutup by the sea, they are undoubetly low quality. The sound of sea waves cloak all the tapes in a distorted blur. His voice is weezy, the guitar is old but finely picked. At times he seems to be going out his mind and at others, his voice is deep with melancholy. He sings of birds, memories of his past life, wildlife, the sea, the sun, the sky and the vastness of his loneliness.

I hereby present to you one of his songs...It was found in the tape labled Blue Bell Signal Birds....this is the third "track", it is entitled Chromatic At The End Of Day.

......picture that and listen......

Eyes Lashed/Tunnels and Eat Darkness

Goodnight

Here's a new song. I recorded it two days ago. Soaked in reverb. I changed the whole tone and mood from the other "summer" songs. This one's a bit darker. I wanted to create this kind of world-ending vibe. I had this image of the world ending, it's all dark and stormy but this one guy is still just surfing off into the ocean. That's the whole image behind it. The song's subject matter is more about really late nights where you cant sleep. I was going to call it tunnels, like subways. Because me and my brother would sneak out at nights and eat at this great Korean place called Owl Minerva. Pork bone soup, it's amazing. And we'd get there by subway, but on the way back it'd be too late for the trains so we'd take an hour long walk back home. This song's about the feeling I get when i stay up late. Like there's no one else. The city is asleep but the world is awake. Shit is happening all over. It's about isolation, the idea of solitude.

In terms of recording, I've been heavily influenced by Grouper and her muddy echo-y recording style. Simple. Lots of layers. I tried to find ghost sounds and stuff.

Eat Darkness is another song in the same darker mood. It's about conquering your fear. Like seeing the black, almost oil -like texture of a lake on a hot summer's day. You want to escape the heat, but you know you'll be met by blistering cold water. And the water is so dark you cant see anything. Eat Darkness is about taking the unknown and devouring it, just taking the fear and making it fear you. Both these songs are really hopeful, even though they might not sound like it. It's about conquering fears. It's about late nights, the ocean, subways, my brother and the idea of being able to jump into the lake...

I have a picture to illustrate the mood I wanted.

Long live the late nights....