The Joy that is "Life Is Peachy" by Korn

So, yeah... I do realize this album is probably their most angry album, but I will say... this album... every fucking song on it is solid!! I don't think there is one song I don't like, and listening to it lately... really enjoying it!! I do think their first "self-titled" release is probably their strongest, but there are a couple of songs on it that I feel are kind of filler. With "Life Is Peachy", absolutely every fucking song is solid! The other thing I like about this album, is that... it seems every fucking song runs into the next one, and it feels like a very consistent record between the tracks. Everything seems to fit together nicely! I'm not sure why the songs were placed the way they were on the album, but it feels very natural! Even the quality of the mixes and mastering, and the general quality of the audio is excellent as well! I feel it is very clear!

The track list is excellent; when "Twist" kicks in and it kind of sets the tone of the album... then "Chi" kicks in immediately after... there's all these weird sounds on the tracks, weird noises and shit... which have been created with guitars. Personally, I think it's awesome! I will say from a sound perspective, I find this album... well noisy, but not in the white noise sense, I find it noisy in the sense that there is a lot of interesting distortion on the guitars and as already stated, the weird noises and shit! It feels very crunchy I guess! Even the vocals, Jonathan Davis' vocals seem to have some kind of distortion on them, likely they're not, but there definitely a nice crunch to them (it could actually be the choice of mic they used for the recording of the vocals). I will also say, even though I found this album noisy, everything seems to cut through in the mixes... which to me makes this album even more interesting cause, despite the noise, everything seems to fit in place and makes the overall sound of the album better!!

As most of you know, Korn is a huge influence for Twitch! And, I love going back to these earlier releases and really just listening and not only just enjoying the album, cause of the sound quality of the mixes, but finding inspiration within these tracks and applying some of this to my own endeavor!! There's also a lot of memories associated with these albums, a time and place of where I was at and my first time actually listening to this album. I think when I first heard this, I was in my first band Adam Hates You! at the time... and I remember seeing the music video for the song "A.D.I.D.A.S", it was fucked... seeing the band in a morgue and writhing around and all that kind of shit... it's kind of funny, cause that song is about well, their use of the acronym is: All Day I Dream About Sex... and the video is of them in a morgue. If I'm not mistaken, that was the only song off that album, that saw a music video treatment, but such a great song!!

Even though their first "Self-titled' release was explosive from the get go, this album seems more focused and refined in the sound! Yet, still explosive!

I will say here; outside of the genre nu-metal... I don't really listen to any other metal genre... unless we are talking about industrial metal... then that is whole other beast (Fear Factory anyone?). I will be honest here, I was tempted to put something in here about sound design, but out of all honesty, I think most metal bands, don't really do a lot of sound design type stuff (unless there is major use of synthesizers; ie: Industrial Metal)... I will say though, there is a certain quality of sound here... not necessarily sound design aspects, but certainly in the way the album was recorded, mixed, and mastered!

Love this album... and I will say, out of all honesty I think my favorite tracks off this album are "A.D.I.D.A.S." and "Wicked"!

What do you folks think of this album?

P.S.: Hey we released a new album called "Databomb", you can download it here!

Studio Diary: Night... Structure?

(Night... Structure?)

Yep, today's session (June 9/2020) was excellent! Very productive, got everything done at around the 8:30pm mark! Today's track was, once again a lot of fun to make! This whole process has been a lot of fun, and I'm really enjoying the new things I'm learning, and new ways I'm doing things! 

It's very exciting, and I will say this again I love working with my synth pretty much exclusively for this challenge! Moving forward... for future albums, I'm exclusively gonna be using my hardware synths (Yamaha EX7, and DX100) for all sound creation, outside of guitars!

I will say this again too, even though I don't really have the luxury of time, and once I'm done writing one album, I should move on to the next... I will say, I'm glad I did take the time away from writing/recording for the length that I did (10ish months). The sound design and programming is vastly different than what I had initially envisioned, and I think this album will be better for it! I will also say, even though I don't like the isolation, it has truly been an inspiration! After a certain point of this period of self-isolation, my ideas and thoughts around what I was gonna do for this has changed... and like I said, I think this is better because of it!

I've also got a lot of new ideas for performance aspects and the live show and all that kind of stuff! When this challenge comes to a close, the way I do things musically, will be vastly different from what I normally would have done things! The one thing that is sticking in my mind? Get the ideas out, as they come out!! Personally, I feel the songs are better off this way... and is waaaay more natural, than sitting for hours deliberating on things that ultimately don't matter in the communication of the song!

Sooo much inspiration out there! So much to do, so much to learn! Loving every minute of this!!

Studio Diary: WeeoooWeeoooWeeoo!

(WeeooWeeooWeeoo! What is this..?)

Well, another productive evening in the studio!! Once again knocked off another song! Making a lot of progress these days!! The song for this session (June 8/2020) was taken from concept to completion today! Once again, the vocals were the last thing to do, though this time around, the session was coming to a close around 8:20pm... so it wasn't quite the end of the night, but did vocals, and song done!!

So far this challenge has been a lot of fun!! I'm getting things done a lot quicker than I normally would, which ultimately is making me think that, my normal process, does not need to be as long and drawn out as it is, at least for some of the stuff I do! I have made it a goal to write at least one song per day during this challenge... it really forces me to really only utilize the tracks and not get too fuckin detailed with shit. A lot of the tracks I've written out of this process have been very minimal, I think the highest track count I got to for a song was near 18 tracks (I think)... The other thing is, is after a track is considered finished, I'm not going back to them to listen to what I have done, I just get to a point, where I feel the track is done, and finish things up, and then move onto the next song! I'm also writing the songs one at a time, typically in the past when I was working on an album, I would start a track, and work on it, till I get to a point where I have no new ideas, so I set the track aside, start a new one... and kinda work that way, and then when it felt right, I would go back to the unfinished tracks and eventually finish them. The process sometimes took weeks or months, sometimes there was a lot of listening too, but now that I'm trying to do a song a day... I'm just focusing on one song at a time, trying to get my ideas, as soon as they come out... which is helping me finish the tracks, cause I'm not really messing around all that much, everything is more focused, and I've found when getting my ideas out in this fashion, it is actually a lot easier to finish songs!!

I will also say here, I'm not recording any (new) guitars on my own, and actually, I'm using royalty free and creative commons samples for various guitar parts, as well as stuff that I recorded a long time ago, in the past that I've never used before (thank fuckin christ I built a guitar sample bank, with a bunch of stuff that I wasn't sure what to do with)!

This process has been a lot of fun!! The challenge so far has been very eye opening, in what I'm capable of, and there has been a lot of learning (I know I've already mentioned this, but... I'm just having a lot of fun, and when this challenge is done, I can't wait to share this stuff with you)!! Ultimately, this challenge will end eventually, and I'll have to figure out what the next challenge is (already have an idea, but I'll get into that another time)!

Studio Diary: Light everlasting?

(Light everlasting?)

Ye, today (June 7/2020) was a very productive day, have knocked off two songs! Today's session was full of happy accidents. I was initially gonna create a neat little arpeggiated sequence, but as I was playing, this recorded bit started playing in the background, but at a higher speed and pitch... when listening to it, in context of the song, it worked with the song, and fit exactly what I was going for! Sometimes these little happy accidents happen, and the results end up being amazing!

I will say, the first song I worked on today... I was intentionally going in one direction, but as the song started to take shape, it turned into something entirely different! I'm loving this! I'm loving this challenge, I'm loving the output and stuff that is being written, the way it's coming out, and all the learning in the process! I'm well ahead of where I want to be!!

Sooo, much inspiration out there! 

I will say this again folks, I know a lot of you typically don't do something creative, unless you feel inspired, but I will be honest, sometimes you just have to sit down and pick up the pen/brush/pencil, play guitar/keys/drums what have you, and put it on paper/canvas, record/write etc... it may not look/sound perfect, it may be crap, but at least you are doing something, and sometimes that's all it takes! I know for myself, as of lately, I've been doing something creative every day, and sometimes I don't feel like it, but if you wait until you feel like it, it may never happen or get done. You gotta do these things despite your feelings! I know I've found, after years of doing this consistently (at least once a week), the ideas come out much more quickly, and easily, and sometimes it's inspiration, and sometimes it's just me going through the motions. The last little bit I'm gonna say here, I know some of you folks have heard me say this before, but I will say it again, ultimately life is very short, if we are lucky we live to 100... 100 years isn't actually all that long... think about the last 10 years, how quickly did that go by? I think you are getting what I'm saying!

Hope you folks are staying safe and are well!

Studio Diary: So, I achieved a very nice goal today!!

(Achievement unlocked, part one! Lightshift... dark!)

Ye, so today (June 6th/2020), I achieved a writing and production goal in my music endeavor. Today I took 2 songs from concept to completion, and even started a third song today! I am extremely happy with this achievement! I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to do it, but I did!

Once again, I will say, this entire challenge and process has been very fun, very inspiring, and there is a lot of learning that I'm doing in the process! The way this is rolling, I'm loving this!! I will say it again, this whole process reminds me a little bit of the early Twitch days when I was using Tracker software to write my first album (as well as my second)! This is all coming out quickly, and I'm getting it down as it comes out, it's lending to intuitive songwriting, and I truly understand why certain music producers do things in certain ways!

I've kind of gotten into a rhythm now, and we'll see what tomorrow brings, I would love to get out another 2 songs tomorrow... we'll see...

So, much inspiration right now!!

Studio Diary: That is the way... What is this vision?

(That is the way... what is this vision?)

Ye, it was another productive day in the studio today (June 5th/2020)! I spent the majority of the afternoon and evening (up until about 9pm) working on this song for the day. Once again, we did vocals at the end of the night, this time though, because we finished the track a little earlier (8:30pmish) we did the vocals, got them down in one take, and that's just the way we've been doing it lately! Not sure why it's coming out that way, but doing vocals these last few days on the various tracks that we've been working on, have generally been done in one take! Then I'll go in and tweak things here and there, add any effects and there you have it!

We've also been in the last couple of days, finishing one track per day (not including lyric writing), so things have definitely been going well!!

So, what is the overall feeling from today's session? 

This is awesome, and has been the most fun I've had writing in a long time! I'm trying to spit out tracks as quickly as possible, but I'm not gonna get into too many details here... other than, outside of a few things (drums, and guitars), every sound is from my synthesizer! I've either been using sounds that are already in the synth, or creating entirely new ones (with the synth), ye... I'm loving it! Lot's of learning going on!

Studio Diary: Is there light?

(Is there light?.. Photo courtesy of Natalie Torosian)

We are officially over the halfway point now, in the songs and tracklist... I wanted to do 15 songs, I'm now sitting at 8 that are done! These tracks have been coming out every 1.5(ish) days, so I'm not at the point I want to be (I would like to do 1 per day), but I am waaay the fuck ahead of where I wanted to be initially, so for me that's a win!

Today's session, was very intuitive, very quick... things came out quite quickly, I didn't over-complicate the song... I got down what needed to get down, and as of lately, it seems as though... the last thing I do, is vocals, just before 9pm (9pm is the cut-off point for doing vocals, as I live in an apartment)... for some reason lately... it's usually 10 - 15 minutes before 9pm, and I record the vocals, in one take! Not sure why it's happening that way, but for some reason that is the way it's happening! Then I'll go in and quickly edit them, put them through an Effects Bus, tweak the effects to taste... and song done! Obviously, if I need to, I'll carry things out a little longer in the tweaking stage, but generally 9pm has been the time I finish the song and get vocals!

So, what is the overall feeling of these sessions?

I'm loving every minute of this! I like the workflow, I love working with my synth a lot! Outside of a couple of things, all the sounds are generated by my synthesizer, and yeah... loving working with my synth in this capacity! It's really helping me to get out ideas quicker, and understand the internal architecture of my synthesizer and how it works! Initially, when I started this challenge, I was worried that I may not be able to meet the challenge (I hadn't actually touched my synth in like 10 months, so I was worried that I would be fumbling around trying to figure shit out, when I should be productive), but after working with my synth a bit and re-familiarizing myself with the way it works... it wasn't such a struggle to pick it up and work with it in the capacity that I am!

This has been the most fun I've had with it, since I got the thing... but I'll get into that another time! Loving this shit!!

Love you guys!

Studio Diary: Slump, but it picked up!

(Slump, but it picked up... inspiration is out there!!)

Ye, the start of the last couple sessions were a little tough (June 2 & 3, 2020). After the last sessions, I wasn't sure I would be able to keep up the same mindset, and keep the juices flowing. I spent June 2nd, writing lyrics from scratch, got them into some kind of complete state, then June 3rd I started and completed the track those lyrics were meant for... and then tweaked the lyrics a little more, and at the end of the session (around 8:50pm) I recorded the vocals and track done! I feel good again! Even though I was a little nervous about starting and finishing this track, it got done!!

A part of this process, I was meant to write guitar for the various tracks that I'm working on, but my guitar decided to not work anymore, so to replace it, I've started using free guitar samples off the net and such (Royalty free, as well as 0 Attibution creative commons stuff), it's been interesting, cause I'm manipulating and slicing the samples to fit into these songs (I will say it's a lot of work too). I think the way I've done this... well... I'll let you decide when you hear this ;)

Note: I really do gotta stay away from the alcohol these days, I felt like shit for two days after having a couple of drinks during the Terminus: Isolation feed. So, it put me off for those two days, and I felt I really couldn't write or do a decent vocal take. I mean, I did write, but my energy levels weren't there... of course this whole situation would be different, if there wasn't this isolation shit going on (as I wouldn't feel disconnected, and I wouldn't be ruminating on things as much), but I guess it is what it is!

Studio Diary: Today was almost not the day... but inspiration prevailed!

(Today was almost not the day... but inspiration prevails, and just getting the job fuckin done!!)

Ye... today (June 1st/2020) was tough... my vocals were not where I want them, but I pushed through and got them out. I was getting a little frustrated today, I felt like I was getting into the same head space that I was in before I did this challenge, and the ideas weren't coming out as quickly, but once again, powered through those feelings and finished this fuckin song! I did spend a bit more time on it, than the other songs that I've done, but I couldn't take this track any further, and I said fuck it, finished things up, tweaked things here and there, did the vocals, manipulated them a little bit, and song done!! This track is definitely different, but I think I got across what I wanted to!

I've shut everything down for the evening, and will start the next song tomorrow! Overall, despite the difficulties of finishing this track, I finally got to a place where I feel it's done, and I'm just going to leave it the way it is.

Studio Diary: Today was not the day...

(Despite not feeling it today, lot's of inspiration out there, and was still productive!!)

Ye, today was definitely not the day to be as productive as I would have like to have been. I had some drinks last night, while enjoying the Terminus: Isolation live stream, and was a little tipsy by the end of it... and I woke up today, with quite the hangover and just wasn't feeling it today... Also attempted to do vocals, nope! Just not happening. I have noticed that during this period of self-isolation, that drinking right now, is just not the same... and quite frankly, generally after the evening of drinks... the day after, I generally feel like shit, and unproductive. So, I think while this self-isolation shit is going on, just gotta stay away from the alcohol. Of course, there is one exception to that rule, which is, if I'm performing a live stream... then I'll have a glass of something, as that helps calm the nerves, but outside of that, that's it!

Despite not being as productive as I would have liked, I still got some stuff done, and added some layers to a track that I'm working on! I think tomorrow evening, I'll be able to knock this song off, and get the vocals done, and be able to move to the next song! Once again, I'm very excited about this whole challenge, and I'm definitely doing things and thinking outside the box when it comes to writing this music! Lots of inspiration, and learning a lot of new things, and I will say there's a lot of things I'm realizing about my process, and why a lot of other industrial musicians, or musicians in general do things the way they do... in regards to organizational structures, and setting up your recording environment to get out your ideas as easily as possible!

After this challenge is done, I will likely do some other blogging or vlogging or something like that, getting a little bit into the process, and how my process has changed, and how I went about doing the things I did.

Twitch may be retiring... it's guitar...

Yes, that is my guitar! I've written many albums, singles, EP's with it... with the exception of this most recent album "Databomb", and my last EP "Instructions To Your Revolution". This last Friday I decided to plug it in and play around a bit... unfortunately, there was no volume. Every time I touched the volume knob, it crackled... and I eventually messed around with it enough, to get a tiny little bit of volume... (although it was cranked to 10). I unplugged it and took a look at the internals... everything is connected and seems to be fine... no fucked wires or loose wires or anything. The pick-up switch is also fucked, makes noise, and volume will cut out if you touch it fuckin weird.

This guitar I've had since the beginning of my music career, I purchased it when I was around 17 years old from a friend, I paid $75 for it. It was one of those cheap starter guitars, that is some weird brand name, that you wouldn't recognize... the company that made it, probably doesn't exist anymore. When I originally purchased it, I didn't have an amp for it, but I plugged it into my parents stereo and played through that. A couple years later, I would start a band called Adam Hates You... that was my first industrial band (although, we didn't really write any songs, and we didn't play any shows), but this guitar was there. Eventually, I would move to Calgary, and this thing followed me. That's when I started to write the first Twitch album. I sampled the guitar, and threw it into the tracker program (sequencing software) I was using to write music with. Course along with those samples, I had a friend that helped with other guitar parts and recorded those onto the album. Over the years, I used the same technique to write the guitars (sample it, then sequence those samples). Eventually, I would acquire a different kind of writing/recording/sequencing software, and I would finally be able to actually record parts without having to sample in little chunks, "ant" and everything moving forward, outside of the two most recent releases.

There have been countless times I've brought this thing back to life, so many times that it somehow got fucked, and I fixed it. The last time, I had a friend fix it. It worked for a long time, and then this last Friday... it looks like there is nothing I can do this time to bring it back to life, and quite frankly... I will likely not be taking it to some guitar tech to repair it... the repair will cost more than the guitar is worth. It is time to retire this guitar, I will miss this friend, (although, I'll probably keep it, and mount it on the wall or something like that), the last 25 years have been amazing, and I'm glad I got so much life and use out of this thing. Time to hang this piece of history up, and replace it with... well, not sure yet, but I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be great!!

See ya "renegade" guitar!

Studio Diary: Was in the studio last night... things need to change (May 22nd/2020)

Yep, was in the studio last night, and things certainly need to change! I tried to fit everything and make sure everything has it's place and there some kind of sense of organization a few months ago, but... this current set-up is not optimal to being creative, so... I'm probably gonna have to move some things around and kinda see if there is a better way of setting up my gear, so that it's good for live streams, and it's good for being creative as well... (although, I like the idea of standing at my synth to do whatever playing, sound design, synth tweaking and all that)... we'll see... Not gonna get into all the details, but if you want a confirmation, yes last night I was being creative... in what capacity, well... you are going to have to wait and find out 😉! I will post another update later today, regarding the solution to this situation... just feel my Yamaha EX7 Synthesizer is too far away from my main desk.

It's 2020... No excuses! Time to start your Industrial Music Project!

(Skinny Puppy in the early days)

Yep, I think that title says it all! It's 2020, matter of fact we are just about halfway through the year... and there should be no excuse! It's time to start your industrial music project!! First of all, let's get into the mentality of it... This year has definitely been rough, we are seeing a pandemic that has essentially stopped the world. Everyone around the world is experiencing a lockdown, or a period of self-isolation of some sorts. I personally have been in self-isolation here in my province in Canada for 2 months... so, what does that mean... First of all, if you were working, and are now not, now is the perfect time to start on your endeavor! Second, time is very short, if we are lucky we might live till we are 100... that actually isn't a lot of time if you think about it... so what better reason do you need to start!

I know some of you folks may not even have the option of purchasing gear right now, as there is no delivery service, or even curbside service. So, what does that mean for musicians, or people who are just starting out, or are considering starting an industrial music project. If you can't order gear, or go pick it up... look at all the options, and resources we have online! I mean, if you have a computer and an internet connection, you are already ahead of the game! There's some software out there, that is capable with the soundcard that already comes with your computer... so, here's a couple that I suggest to get started with, first is:

Jeskola Buzz Tracker: this is a tracker based program and it is Windows based. I personally have used Jeskola Buzz, and have written a couple of albums with it. It comes with built in synths and a tracker style sequencer and all kinds of other stuff! Here's a video about Jeskola Buzz Tracker (*Just a quick note this is an older video from an older version of Jeskola Buzz, but it gives you a general idea of what it is about! This video is also quite comedic!)

You can find a download of the latest version of Jeskola Buzz here! There are all kinds of YouTube tutorials to help you get started with this software or any other music software out there! So if you are stuck, or just want to see more of what these pieces of software are about, YouTube is the resource to find that kind of stuff!!

Audacity: now I personally haven't used Audacity in my own endeavor, but it is another option for at least recording audio and editing or modifying that audio! If you are using Jeskola Buzz Tracker, and you need to do vocals for your tracks... Audacity would be the way to do it! Here's a video about Audacity:

You can download the latest version of Audacity here!

Garageband: now I've only used Garageband very briefly, but if you are a Mac user and looking for something to get you started in your industrial music project, this is the free option that I do believe most Mac's if not all have already loaded onto it. This is basically band in a box, everything is included to get you started, and if you are looking for a relatively affordable upgrade from Garageband for your Mac, Logic Pro is the answer (when it is time to upgrade, and you feel a little more serious about your musical endeavor)! Here's a video about Garageband:

You can find Garageband on most, if not all Mac's, and if you do not have it on your Mac, then go to the App Store and download it (I think even in the App Store it's absolutely free)!


There are also demo versions of some of the pay-for Digital Audio Workstation software out there, but they are usually limited in what they can do... but I'll list a couple that you may find useful:

FL Studio: this is the current software I've been using to write most of my albums these days (although, I have a fully featured version), and I think it is quite excellent software and would recommend eventually getting a full version of it (if you feel this is the right software for you)! You can find a demo trial of it here!

Cockos Reaper: This software I've been using these last few years for running my backing tracks for live shows. This software is fully featured, you can record and sequence and all that kind of shit with it! You can find a demo of it here!

Ableton Live Lite: I've played with the trial version of this software, that's about it! However, Ableton is a great piece of software, and even though it is made for live performance, it is and can be used for recording and sequencing and all that kind of shit! You can find Ableton Live Lite here!


I figured for this blog, I would just suggest the "Free, don't need anything else to get started recording and sequencing software" out there, cause I know some of you folks may not have mail or delivery or really anything available to you... So, I hope that this was helpful and you are now on your way to becoming that underground industrial music artist!

(Twitch: August 26/2016 @ Lord Nelson's Pub, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.)

If you are already an established or even smaller industrial music artist, and you have suggestions as to other free options out there, please leave them in the comments! Anyway, thank you for reading and I may make a small series out of these blogs... we'll see!!

*Note: Just want to make a quick note here, I'm sure you're wondering how to do vocals when you have no way of getting the vocals into the computer, or you don't have a microphone to properly record your vocals. I think I want to stress here, be resourceful. When I wrote my first song, I had no way of recording vocals, I didn't have a mic, but I had these really old pair of headphones, and I thought "Why not plug this into my computer soundcard, and sing through them..?", I didn't know if it would work (these were really old like 1970s headphones), but I plugged them into the back of the soundcard, and sang through the headpieces... and, it fuckin worked, course my vocals came out all distorted and shit, but at least I got them, and it worked for what I was doing! So, nowadays... you might be able to use a shitty pair of headphones, or the headphone mic on your earbuds or whatever... be resourceful. I mean, if your computer has a mic on it, or you have a webcam with a mic, that might be another way of doing it! So... if there is a will, there is a way!!

Skinny Puppy: The Process

Well, I'm listening to an older Skinny Puppy album called "The Process" today, and I absolutely love this album! I started listening to again recently, and I just love the way this album sounds... not just musically, but the production and sound design that went into it. This album certainly sounds different than all their previous efforts... If you haven't followed Skinny Puppy for very long and you're interested in their history, you can find the wiki here! I will touch a little upon this album... Ogre and Cevin Key, and Dwayne Goettel were fighting with each other, Ogre was trying to stay clean, and get off drugs, and from my understanding Cevin Key and Dwayne were using drugs excessively, which made the process recording it very long... which in turn their label at the time, reduced their contract of three albums to only one. A lot of the process of recording was plagued with fires, and floods as well. Ogre moved to L.A. in this period and was finishing up "The Process"... then eventually Goettel and Key went back to Vancouver with the master tapes... and Ogre quit the band... it was a couple months later that Dwayne Goettel died of a heroin overdose. Eventually, the album would be released... and dedicated in the memory of Dwayne Goettel. The circumstances surrounding the album are very sad, this would be Skinny Puppy's last album, until they rejoined forces in Dresden a few years later... I do love this album, just for the sheer fact that it sounded soo different than their previous efforts... the production and song structures, it is definitely more accessible than their previous efforts, and probably their most "poppy" endeavour to date! This was either the second Skinny Puppy album I picked up or the third... I remember popping it into the disc player and listening to it for the very first time and being surprised by the way it sounded... it sounded soo much different than "Brap 3 + 4"... at first I wasn't sure what to make of it... but listening to it now, I realized I really do love this album, it may not be my favorite Skinny Puppy album, but, if I haven't said this enough, it sounds soo different than their previous efforts, that it really stands out as something different for me!

Here's "Hardset Heat" off of "The Process":

and here's "Jahya" off of "The Process"

What do you think of "The Process"?

Isolation, and Maybe The Answer to Having A Semi-Social Life...

(Photo courtesy of Katja Moeller)

Well, as you may have read in one of my previous blogs "Embracing The Isolation" here, the last little while I've experienced a bit of isolation, a kind of forced isolation (not really my choice, more of just, not being able to get out with friends as much as I would like to, and also kind of trying to achieve some goals monetarily-wise), and I want to touch upon the subject again, as a couple of days ago, I went for a long walk, and I was thinking about some things I could do to get out and just be in social environments... and I was reminded, that waaaay back in 2001, I used to have this routine, where every Friday, I would hit up an internet cafe, here in Calgary, and surf the net and just be around people, every-once-in-a-while I would play some team based games (Counter-Strike) that they had available as well, I fuckin sucked, I died a lot but, I think just being in that environment allowed me to just be around people, even if I was only there to surf the net. I remember when that stopped, cause I got internet at home, so there was no reason to do the usual internet cafe routine...

...Sooo, I was thinking about it, and I'm like "Maybe I need to do that again..?", so I think I'm going to re-introduce that into my routine... just so that I'm out and around people, even if I'm just doing my own thing... then at least it's an evening that I'll definitely be out, and get in some social time. Not sure where I'm going to hit up yet, but I'm thinking I could spend a couple of hours in a pub or a coffee shop with my laptop, and work on creative endeavors... I mean if I wanted, I could work on writing music (as the software I use to write is on my laptop), or other creative things I want to do... The time I spent in that internet cafe, even though I wasn't really chatting with anyone, it was good to just get out and be in an environment where I could be social if I wanted to... sooo, I think in this New Year I'm gonna try that again and see if it helps alleviate some of this isolation (I know I can't get away from it completely, but at least I'll be doing this)! Not sure what day I'm gonna pick to do it, not sure I'll be able to pick a specific day anyway, as our rehearsal schedule is generally dependent on when my live guitarist is available, and shows can be on weird fucked up days too, but maybe it doesn't have to be a specific day of the week, maybe it's just, a day during the week I have available that I make the decision to force myself to get out and be around people.

(Photo courtesy of Katja Moeller)

If you folks haven't guessed yet, I'm a very social person, and I need a lot of social time... that's why I feel isolated a lot, cause I'm not getting in enough of the social time I need. I think the one thing right now, outside of my job (Mon-Fri) and the one day I have set aside to do music stuff (Saturday), I don't really have a routine thing I do (like I work-out almost everyday of the week, and I do meditate on Tuesday evenings, and spend the evening not doing anything music related [need to have one evening just to relax], but outside of those things, my social schedule is all over the place)... our rehearsal days could be any day of the week, and as I stated above, my guitarist, his work schedule is usually all over the place, so we have to work around it, unfortunately... and we never know what day shows happen (not that I mind that though)... and I never really know when I'm getting together with friends (there have been times I've gone a couple of weeks or longer without actually seeing anyone, except when I have to get groceries or I force myself to hit up a coffee shop or something), so I think I've got to make more of an effort every week to get out and be in a social environment. I guess the other thing is, I feel like this isolation is actually helping me to be productive, and creative, and I want to maintain that level of productivity... so maybe when I do go out to a pub or coffee shop, I'll make sure I'm working on something creative, whether that's music or music related stuff! What do you typically do when you feel isolated? Let me know!

Thank you for reading,

(Your Canadian Goth / Rivethead)

Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence

Resources for Industrial Music Production, Recording, Writing!

(Trippingonacable Studios)

These days there really isn’t a lot of Industrial music production forums and blogs anymore, so I thought I would share the resources from as many sites I could find, that have been archived or are still around to help anyone who is interested in getting started in writing, producing, recording, or performing industrial music. I figured I would try and compile all the resources I could from places that I frequented on the internet, and various sites and such, from when I was younger... I hope you find these helpful!

New York Industrial Front: this site is now archived... but I found this site very helpful when I was getting started, and to kinda get perspective when doing industrial music, and performing live and all that stuff. Here is the site: https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/

Here is a couple of resources from that site:

How to make industrial for free: https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/howto.html

How to make industrial for next to nothing (You’re all spoiled): https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/howto2.html

Advice for Industrial bands playing out: https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/howto3.html

Note: I do realize the content from these links are a little dated, but the advice is still solid, so take a read and apply this to a modern industrial band.

Knobs & Sliders: This blog is/was run by Michael Arthur Holloway, you probably better know him as Dead When I Found Her. You can find tips and info regarding industrial music production, especially when creating sounds that are reminiscent of older Skinny Puppy: http://knobsandsliders.blogspot.com/

Koney-Industrial Blog: now this blog was a little more geared to industrial techno, and industrial hardcore, but they listed a lot of cool VSTs (software synthesizers for you noobs), and the odd production technique and such: http://koney-industrial.blogspot.com/

Gearslutz (Charlie Clouser forum): I’m sure some of you are aware of this but, Charlie Clouser of Nine Inch Nails fame (The Downward Spiral, and The Fragile Era’s) participated in a very long discussion regarding gear and such that was used for the various eras of Nine Inch Nails… the forum posting is quite massive, but there’s a lot of good stuff there if you are patient and curious… you can find it here: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/605445-nine-inch-nails-synths.html

WaveFormless Blog: This blog was run by Tom Shear of Assemblage 23... there's gear reviews as well as reviews of VSTs and stuff like that, all stuff pertaining to the electronic/industrial/ebm type scenes, you can find it here: http://waveformless.blogspot.com/

There are also Reddit forum topics discussing this as well, but I am not too familiar with Reddit, and have only used it a couple of times (but not for industrial music production itself)... so, I'll leave it up to you to find those specific posts!

Here are a couple of Reddit posts that I found about Industrial Music Production:
https://www.reddit.com/r/industrialmusic/comments/2eexk3/anybody_else_starting_to_make_industrial_music/

https://www.reddit.com/r/industrialmusic/comments/9wih9w/industrial_music_makers_how_do_you_make_your_music/

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndustrialMusicians/

Note: There are also a ton of resources out there on Youtube and such, when it comes to general knowledge in music production, mixing, and mastering! There are not a lot of resources for industrial music production specifically, but there are tips and tricks for general music production.

One word of caution; if you are new to industrial music writing/recording/production/etc... don't get too caught up in who used what gear to achieve what sound for what album type shit. In the end, it really doesn't matter what gear you have or don't have, be resourceful and create those sounds with what you have. I find too many people get caught up in the "What gear should I buy to achieve 'x' sound?" syndrome... nowadays it really doesn't fuckin matter (if you read through the New York Industrial Front stuff above, you will understand where I'm coming from)... get creative, and maybe you'll create a sound that sounds like you, rather than someone else!

Anyway, let me know if you find these links helpful! And, if you have any other resources that should be added to this list, please leave those sites in the comments… I would like to make an exhaustive list of all the available resources online that we have today!

Time and My Musical Endeavor

So, I just wrote a blog (note) about how I've been constantly reminded lately, that life is very short (we have maybe 100 years to live, if we are healthy), and that we should live life to the fullest, with no regrets, and no fear... this particular blog is about that fact, and how it relates to my musical endeavor.

Being that recently I've been reminding myself of how short our lives are...how we shouldn't be afraid to be ourselves and live life to the fullest, I've been really reflecting and thinking about what exactly I want to do and achieve with my musical endeavor...

(Rivethead in Toronto)

... First, I recently made a very quick and short trip to a city that I always wanted to live in (it's pretty obvious where I was from the photos), for a synth expo, and after being in that city, and realizing, I still want to live there... and that it was waaaaaaaaaaaay better than I ever I expected it to be..

... and then flying back, and then the following week I attended a day of the Alberta Electronic Music Conference to see a very well renowned audio engineer in the goth/industrial music scene give a talk about some of the production and audio engineering techniques he used on, if I remember correctly, the song "Smothered Hope" by Skinny Puppy (it's amazing that, when broken down, that song is only 16 tracks), and also some of his time working with Nine Inch Nails and such...

(The National Music Centre [Studio Bell] where The Alberta Electronic Music Conference took place)

...it was very enlightening (I had a couple of questions for him, that I didn't have to ask, cause he answered them without being prompted), there's things that my heroes of industrial music did, and still do, that I had figured was the case, but after this audio engineers talk, confirmed exactly what I was feeling and thinking! I found it highly motivating!

Something that I’ve been thinking about recently... I've had sleep issues for almost as long as I've been doing Twitch... so roughly 18 or so years (Twitch is 20 years old)... I think it might be time to embrace that... and just get done what I need to get done (of course it all has to be within reason, we all need rest, and lack of sleep will catch up with you, but)... if I'm not able to sleep, fuck it! Work on music! My lack of sleep issues are not actually stress related, they are generally because, my mind doesn't turn off like everyone else's does when it's time to go to bed, I may not even be thinking of anything... my brain just doesn't shut off... it's weird too, cause I don't generally feel extremely tired, or tired at all most of the time when I can't sleep... I do normally work-out and such, and read, as well as all my other creative endeavors, and I generally have full days and such, but the problems seems to persist... I think it's time to embrace that...I’m awake so I might as well do something! The trip and AEMCon really made me reflect on what I've been doing, and where I want to go... Life is short people! My friends already call me a workaholic when it comes to my music endeavor, but I know in my heart and my mind that I can be doing more... There's a lot in store for Twitch this coming year (fuck yeah, we're almost in 2020 here), and there are a lot of changes coming... I'm not gonna share them all here, but keep it locked to our Facebook page here for those announcements!
If there is one (or several) thing(s) you want to do this coming year, what are those things? (I really want to know!) Leave your answers in the comment section of this post!!

(Your Canadian Goth / Rivethead)

Thank you for reading,
Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence

P.S.: Oh yeah, forgot to mention... in the last few months I've been getting up earlier in the morning on the weekends, cause, I know I can't say this enough, but time is short, and I would rather spend a good full day on my creative endeavors, and get shit done!! Life really is too short, and sleep... well, I don't get to sleep easily anyway, so fuck it! I'll take it as a sign, that I should be productive on my music (as well as other creative shit)!!

Breaking from the norm, and making a... mistake...

Normally, I spend every Saturday in the studio, working on music or some other music related stuff, I find that day works for me… but, every-once-in-a-while, breaking from the norm, I’ll venture out of the studio on a Saturday, and every time I do that, I regret it… today I tried to do something a little different, and decided to get out of the studio this afternoon (around 3:30pmish) and went and had a coffee, and worked on some other music stuff. The result… it was a mistake… I’ve made this mistake a few other times as well in the past… whenever I do something like this, I always come to the conclusion, stay in the studio… stepping outside of that on a Saturday (with a few minor exceptions) is just not a good idea… mental health-wise Saturdays for me, are reserved for strictly being in the studio working on music, or music related stuff. No breaking from the norm. I now realize that. Saturday will always be the day that I have to remain in the studio and either be making music or music related stuff! I was trying to change up my environment today, to get some fresh ideas… but I find when I step out of the Saturday routine of being in the environment, either nothing gets done, or I just don’t get as much done, and I suffer mentally cause of it… sorry folks, that’s just the way it is… I’m glad I learnt this lesson today… if I plan on being in a different environment on a Saturday, it has to be after my allocated studio hours (which is between 9:30am to 7pm). Of course there are the rare exceptions, like when I’m travelling and such… and I have no other options (even then I try to take some time out of the day to work on stuff), but yeah, those are the only exceptions. For some, that may not seem logical, but for me… I need that routine… that is just a fact of my life... is it a blessing..? A Curse..? I view it as a blessing, cause I’m forced to be in the studio doing something musically, or music related, that’s it!

Today's lesson; Saturday will always be reserved for being in my studio and working on my musical endeavor, whether it's writing music or working on other aspects. After everything that has happened over this last 20 year time span of Twitch's existence, there is no diverging from the original routine of being in the studio and working on music, or music related stuff!

Time to get back to work!

Industrial Music, Inspiration, and some Tips

This last little while I've been highly inspired! I'm not even sure why... not that it's a bad thing or anything (I welcome it), but the other night I decided to get out and grab a coffee, I hung out in a coffee shop, and then afterwards I went for a walk, and now I know what direction I want the album that's coming after the next album to sound like musically, and lyrically (I actually forced myself to go for a walk, and because of it, I benefited)! Inspiration is a funny thing... sometimes it comes at unexpected times, sometimes it comes out when you are wanting it to come out... (I was actually listening to Pop Will Eat Itself, when this inspiration decided to strike... not that I wanted to sound like PWEI, but the combination of getting out, going for a walk, and listening to them, I felt inspired)! I love music! I love being creative! I love where things are going right now!! Soo, much inspiration out there! If I were to offer up advice or tips for anyone that is a creative; keep a notebook around, take it wherever you go... cause you never know when all the sudden you feel inspired, and you need to get those ideas out! Also, if you have a small recording device of some kind (your preferred iOS device has a nice little voice record function)... you can record little audio pieces to get out ideas and such! You never really know when inspiration will strike, and you want to be ready to get out ideas!! I will say, sometimes changing up your environment is also helpful in being inspired and creative! I know when I travel, I find that the writing process almost seems effortless... for some reason the change in environment aids in the process of writing music and such! Anyway, I thought I would share some of these tips, and I hope that some of these tips help you get inspired, and you feel forward momentum in your projects!

What has been inspiring you folks lately??

Movie - Beats

Have been on vacation this last week and a bit; spent some downtime watching movies and such, one of them was "Beats", it was such an excellent movie! The movie is basically about this kid out of Chicago, who his sister and him get shot, he survives, but she doesn't... as a result, he ends up with severe PTSD... and spends a large portion of his time making beats in his bedroom, never leaving his house. Along comes a school cop/security guy, who used to be in the music business managing bands and rappers and such... and he is tasked with the job of getting kids who haven't been in school for awhile, to actually show up. In his journey to find these kids, he meets August (the beatmaker) and figures he can get back in the music business with this artist savant. Not gonna ruin the story for ya, but it is an excellent movie, and I would highly suggest you check it out! If you are into beatmaking or just music writing in general this movie is definitely inspiring, even though it is fictional! I will be honest, I couldn't tell if this was a promo for the beatmaking machines that appear in the movie, although, I don't think you see any logos or anything in it, but at first it did come across as a bit of a promo for these specific machines... I think they were trying to attract actual beatmakers that use these specific pieces of machinery to watch this movie, but... still a decent movie!!