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2023-11-27 (Week 2295): No Need for Profundity
Another week has sped by, with a Thanksgiving feast in its midst (and a day off from work). It’s been a time for deep reflection, and I hope I can hit all the plot points.
First, I finished reviewing all the original entries for this iteration of my website and reposted them on the blog page. Once finished, I dove deeper into older versions of my website but cringed when I looked at them. It feels like I’ve changed too much from those times to repost those entries, but I will sit with them more and see if there are things I’m willing to bring forward.
Second, I found an article about Bandcamp’s recent acquisition by Songtradr, which laid off half of the staff and has the potential to make it similar to any other distribution service. I put out my earlier works through CD Baby and my current ambient oeuvre through DistroKid. I don’t need to add another distribution service for my music (especially since I’m happy with DistroKid). If anything, I’m considering putting everything together in a torrent (both for my works and the Concatenation Records releases) and hosting them here. Any new releases would head to DistroKid.
Speaking of new releases, I had a lot of time to think this week, with work being a little slower due to machinery issues and having Thursday off for Thanksgiving. I realized I was putting too much pressure on myself to create profound music. I appreciate what Devin Townsend is doing with his art and weekly updates, but I’m taking them too much to heart. Doing so has more or less stopped me and was part of the reason for all the abstract ideas I had (and wrote about in previous blogs) over the past 80+ weeks.
That said, I stepped back and did my best to figure out what I was trying to accomplish with music. I dialed it back a fair bit, but the idea that occurred was to create an album I wanted to listen to while writing in the morning, working on this website, and driving to work. Then, I’ll make a new one when bored with said album. That’s where I’m at.
It seems very simple, but it’s a process that will work for me. As for what it will sound like, I’m aiming towards the idea I spoke of in last week’s blog that blends downtempo, dreampunk, slushwave, and ambient. I might end up with a bit of classical influence since I put on classical radio whenever I drive the box truck between the two breweries to deliver products.
As much as I loved metal growing up and can still appreciate its structure and aesthetics, it’s not really where I’m at anymore. It influenced me a lot during my Dwelling of Duels days, but that was many moons ago. While Devin Townsend still tries to incorporate it into his sound due to his history with it, I never had any marketability with it, so I might as well pursue what I want to with the freedom to express myself as I need to without any external constraints.
I also have a book idea in the wings about all the experiences and ideas I’ve had over the years. It would be non-fiction and more philosophical, but it’s hard to say where it would end up. It will throw my ideas into a blender and separate the wheat from the chaff.
I would hype the two projects above more, but when diving into past blogs, I realized I was a hype man for projects that never materialized. A quote in the Tao Te Ching says, “A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants.” While I was following that intuition, I was motivated to be profound instead of actually making music that felt genuine to my temperament. With that in mind, whatever comes next musically should be authentic, even if it isn’t incredibly profound.
As for what comes next, I’m at a bit of a crossroads. There are a lot of different draws, and I think if I schedule my time more efficiently, I can get a little of each of them in. No idea in particular compels me to pursue it currently, but if I come across one in particular, I’ll get after it. Or perhaps it would be wiser to try a little of each project and see which one compels me to dive into. That feels like the route to take.
Until next week!
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