Getting Off The Wheel
Four Is Old Enough
Woo, my son threw me for a loop the other day. While reading a book, he saw an image of a kitchen that reminded him of the kitchen at our friends’ house – one he hasn’t seen in almost a year and a half, when he was barely 3. He then said something that really stopped my in my tracks. He said “Covid is long…, I want to go visit them.” in a rather somber tone. One that I’m not used to hearing from him. I did my best to quickly acknowledge his assessment while also trying to encourage him that we’re almost through and we might be able to visit soon. There’s not much else I could say though, and that part is frustrating. Caution is still relevant that this point, but at what cost? I would love to be able to hang out with friends again, especially the aforementioned family. However, that is completely out of my control still. Four is definitely old enough to understand that a pandemic has changed the way we live, or at least, has had a big impact on our lives.
First Family Visit Imminent
It’s hard to believe that it’s mid-June already. This year is flying by, but not always in the best of ways. The monotonous days really make it hard to tell if it’s been 1 day or 180 days since January 1st. Ultimately, does it really matter? Anyway, for the first time in 1 (or 450+) days, something different is going to happen. My brother-in-law and his family are going to visit. I’m looking forward to it, but at the same time, it’ll be somewhat subdued as we won’t be able to participate in much more than the same old hanging out in the in-laws backyard. I’ll take what I can get though. It might be nice to see some different faces for once. I just hope I don’t get stuck watching all the kids.
Latest Musical Activities
I managed to put together another short (2 tracks) EP. This one is a bit more experimental than the previous couple releases. I had some recordings I made when I had the cocoquantus. To me, these jams really capture the spirit of the mystery machine that is the cocoquantus. The idea was to try to blend the very loose, abstract and freeform cocoquantus recordings with sequenced material. Originally recorded digitally, I re-recorded the jams onto tape in hopes of gaining some of that famous tape mojo. I don’t really think I can notice any difference, but it was still a fun experiment. The first track came together rather quickly, and it only involves a cocoquantus jam and the Elektron Model:Cycles. It’s minimal, but that’s what I was going for. The second track took much longer to come together but that is partially due to me learning a new piece of gear. I recently (and somewhat impulsively) picked up an MPC ONE. I have only had it for about a month, but I can already tell that it’s going to be around for a while. Without going into too much detail, there’s something about the MPC’s hands-on workflow that is inviting. The learning curve has not been too difficult to overcome, either. I promise to dive deeper on why I like this new machine in a separate post. After a few takes, it was time to break out of the trap of endless tweaking and refining. Perfect is the enemy of good, and all that jazz. So, without further ado, check out the link below to find my new project on bandcamp.