As some of you may know, I do have another endeavor other than my music... I write and illustrate manga styled comics... well currently they are just mini-comics a one pager type deal, but now that I've been consistently doing it for the last couple of Christmas', and I'm doing another one this year as well (sorry if you are on my Christmas gifting list this year... I spoiled it, lol!), I'm realizing this is exactly what I've needed to really re-invigorate my love for Japanese Manga, and just my love for drawing! Some of you may know that I have been working on a long-form comic for quite some time... and these miniature Christmas comics have really energized me and are really motivating me to get this first long-form comic done! All these years of waiting for the right moment to do this, and realizing that the time is now with this endeavor, and quite frankly, I don't know what the fuck I was waiting for... but ye... I think I have to set a concrete goal for this long-form endeavor... and just get the fuckin thing done! I'm not sure on the exact time frame yet... but I figure, after this years Christmas comic is done... I may try to get the long-form thing done and ready by next years Christmas! That means I've got a full year to finish illustrating, inking, putting the book together... and then printing off copies! I think I can do it!
...ye excited!!
I just thought I would share that with you... cause why the fuck not!
P.S.: No photos for ya yet... but maybe I'll do an update blog with a little bit of a sneak peak to show you what I got!
Well, I can now honestly say... I've taken on a lot creatively lately, and I do feel a little overwhelmed, and a little stressed, but the sooner I get these projects done and off my plate I'll feel a lot better. I had sooo much on my plate in the last couple of weeks, that there were moments that I just wanted to curl up under a blanket, but I also know if I didn't/don't get these things off my plate quickly I'll feel more stressed... I was actually ready to drop a couple projects off the list, and push them further into the year... but surprisingly I ended up finishing one of the major video projects way ahead of schedule. The evening of finishing that project, I felt it was a perfect opportunity to go and film my second video project on my list (I won't get to the editing stage for awhile yet though).
After getting the first video project off my plate, and starting the second one... I felt really good, cause I got more than what I wanted done, waaaaay ahead of schedule! Course I've got all kinds of shit going on in the background too, from episodes of "The Making of Darkness_Rise!" to filming/editing the new "Fuck Yeah, Industrial!" series... plus all the other minor shit, like our "25 Days of Twitchmas" posts and shit, this blog... plus all the Christmas preparations (which involves my other artistic endeavor)... lot's of shit going on! I'm glad I decided to take a brief hiatus of our live stream performances, cause I honestly think it just would have been waaaaay too much on my plate.
(We felt we were in a downward spiral)
This year has been productive, despite the situation... I mean, out of all the years that I've been doing Twitch... this year has probably been my most productive, at least creatively (we DID release two albums this year)! Course the stuff that I've been working on, will end up spilling into next year... maybe those two video projects will see the light of day, maybe early next year..? Buuuuuuuuut, this blog is about creatively feeling overwhelmed... So, what I was getting at was that, I have felt overwhelmed the last little while, to the point it was affecting my sleep, and I was having dreams that I was spiraling downward... and then I would wake up several times in the night... like, were talking 6 to 8, maybe more... and then I wouldn't reach REM and in the morning I would feel like absolute shit... then have to go into work and be tired all fuckin day... then that would go on for a couple of days... and then I would get some rest, then a couple of days later this whole thing repeats...
...but, as stated above, I've gotten the first major film project off my plate, and I started filming the second one, and got most, if not all the footage I need from that... I am waaaay ahead of schedule, and there's one more piece for the first film project that I've got to do, but it won't be long and that piece will be good to go! My time period for both of these projects was to be completed in 3 months time. I'm confident they will both be ready waaay ahead of schedule!!
The one thing I've found with the way my body works is, if I don't sleep... then I might as well get up and do something, cause it's just a waste of time for me to just lay in bed for hours on end, trying to sleep. My thinking is "I'm up, I might as well get shit done!", and if I'm not sleeping cause these projects are on my mind... then fuck it! There's no time to waste! Let's get shit done!!
I do feel elated that I've gotten so much done, and that I'm way ahead of schedule! I will say though, I will not likely take on so much creatively in the future, moving forward, cause the no sleep thing, even though I use that time to get stuff done, it's still taxing on your system... and eventually you'll need to sleep at some point, or you will burn out... and I don't want to do that! I think it's important to maintain mental health, and have a healthy sleep schedule... and even though this endeavor does give me energy, and I'm always being inspired in some way or another... you still shouldn't and can't take on more than your system will allow, and when things start to feel overwhelmed and stressful... it's time to push things back in your creative schedule... and maybe drop things. I love this endeavor and don't want to lose the energy to do it! If I need to drop something, or push things further back in the schedule, so I can maintain my health, mentally and physically... then that's what I'll do!
(Photo courtesy of Eric Lemieux)
I'm in this for life!
Shayne "Daemon_W60" Lawrence / Twitch / Trippingonacable Records
.
P.S.: Twitch is giving away our latest album "Darkness_Rise!" for free!! All you have to do is sign up to our mailing list here!
We don't get too annoying with this, you get our monthly newsletter as well as first to know about upcoming releases, music videos, future free music, and all kinds of other things going on in Twitchland! And hey, you get to say you are part of the exclusive Twitch community... and we might send you shit in the mail too!! 😉
Twitch is taking a bit of a hiatus from live streams over the Holiday Season. However, beginning December 1st/2020 we'll be celebrating 25 Days of Twitchmas on our Instagram here! As well as on our Twitch Facebook Page here!
What will it entail..? From watching black and white horror movies, to drinking eggnog... to watching live industrial concert replays... to watching industrial music documentaries... to reading industrial history books, or scene related books, decorating the Twitchmas tree... and even some Christmas shit too!!
...Why? Cause hey... Why the fuck not!! In the same vein as Halloween, we feel this year has gone by waaaay to quickly, and we kinda just want to slow things down, and really enjoy the holiday season, and really just enjoy life in general! This is a new tradition for us... in celebrating it for 25 days (usually it's just a day), but we've got all kinds of stuff planned!!
We hope you join us... and there might be a surprise or two as well! 😉
Ye, you read that right! Twitch surprise releases new album "Darkness_Rise!"! Here's a bit about the album:
So, how did this all start..? A long time ago, while I was writing another album (5 or more years ago), I was inspired to take some photos of some of the buildings here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at night, there were a lot of new structures going up, around that time... and I thought it would be awesome to get some nice nighttime photos! After, taking the photos and taking a look at what I got... I had an idea... I would write an album inspired by darkness, and the idea that it is time for the goth scene to rise, and be seen and grow into something larger! Course, that was 5(ish) years ago. I didn’t know what the album would sound like and what songs would be on it exactly, but that is how the name came about... and kinda what it would be about. Then as I was somewhere in the process of writing my last album, I decided that I would do a music challenge of sorts.
So what was the challenge? I wanted to take an album from concept to completion within a months time frame, and strictly utilize my hardware synthesizer, outside of the few exceptions of, guitars and drums.
Yeah, we are announcing, we'll be performing another live stream performance on our Twitch Facebook Page here! On November 13th/2020 at 7pm-8:30pm! We'll be playing some old, some new... and there might be a surprise in there too! So we hope you folks join in for this living room dance party, and maybe dance a little, maybe mosh, maybe circle pit in your living room... and celebrate with us!!
Well, lots of shit going on right now, lots of inspiration... I happened upon a replay of Daniel Graves' (Aesthetic Perfection) latest YouTube live stream "Watch Me Work" for October 2020 a couple of days ago, and basically it was a live stream of him working on possible future music, and out of all honesty, I found it inspiring... I think it was really just seeing a part of his process and how he works on music and shit... Normally these things are reserved for his Patreon members, but he decided to do one for folks not on his Patreon.
It was really interesting, and as I stated above I did find it highly inspirational, he was playing with a new synth that didn't work exactly as expected, and he was forced to find work-around's to get the sound that he wanted out of it... it kinda reminded me of the early days of when I was just starting in music and how there was a lot of experimenting in the process, just trying to find my voice and sound... and how I had to find work-around's for what I was doing, in order to write my first songs! Not that he was just starting out, I mean Daniel has been doing this for many years now, but it did remind me of that... it's also inspired me in how I'm currently utilizing my main synthesizer... and the possibilities of what I can do with it in the future...
...Yeah there's a lot of inspiration right now!
Here's one of Aesthetic Perfection's songs that I'm digging right now:
Hope you folks are doing well!
Stay safe, stay positive!!
Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence | Twitch | Trippingonacable Records
Not sure why, but I'm really digging System Syn right now, not only their recent album "Once Upon A Second Act...", but also their older stuff too! I'm really enjoying the production values on each album, and the sound design! For some reason the music is really resonating with me right now, maybe not even the lyrical content so much... but I just love the way everything sounds, and the way the songs are constructed... the music seems to be helping me get through this period right now... and I'm actually finding it really inspirational! I feel the majority of his music, is very clear sounding... like there's a level of clarity in the mixing on the albums... and everything, all the different sounds and instruments really stand out!
I will be honest, the first time I came across System Syn was at a gig here in Calgary, at a now long lost club from the days of yore... they played that night, as well as Imperative Reaction... I actually really liked Clint's performance... and it wasn't until many years later, that I actually ended up seeing a video of them performing their song "Abrasion Collar"... and I think out of all the stuff that they've put out, that has to be one of my most favorite songs by them... but, a little while later, I ended up finding out about Clint's side-project Fake... and I really dug the only album that came out from that project, and I think if I remember correctly... I actually purchased the Fake album, before I picked up System Syn's debut release "Premeditated"! A short while later I did end up picking up System Syn's debut album and I've picked up every subsequent album after that! I'm pretty sure I have every System Syn album and release (outside of compilations, and remixes they've done for other artists)... although, I don't think I have all of them in physical form...
(Clint Carney of System Syn)
...I know I mentioned this in the blog about System Syn's new album "Once Upon A Second Act..." here, that I think the production team of Ted Phelps and Clint Carney... have really made these albums stand out... I think Ted has had production credits on every System Syn release if I'm not mistaken... and I think that they make an amazing team... every System Syn album has been solid!
I know Clint doesn't really reveal too much about his lyrical content on the albums, in interviews he typically let's the listener decide what it means to them... but I am curious what his lyrics are truly about, and too be honest, I would kinda like to get into his mind to understand what he sings about... I honestly think it would be really cool to have a chat with him about his inspirations and even his other creative and artistic endeavors!
To me it's really interesting hearing the directions an artist or musician goes on their albums, and to be honest, when I listen to albums... I listen to the sound design and the sampling and the way things have been produced, cause I'm quite interested in what were the artists/musician thinking when they were writing these albums. What are they trying to evoke in their expressions on these songs... sound-wise and even lyrically. The thing that I get from Clint's albums is that... there is a level of maybe, well... I would call it experimentation... cause his songs tend to be dancey, in some instances, but in others some of the way things are sequenced and programmed they certainly seem to be in an experimental fashion, cause they may not be entirely dancey in their production.
I guess the important thing, is that these albums and songs are really getting me through the whole situation right now... and I'm finding them inspiring... maybe not so much in the musical style aspect of my own endeavor, but definitely they are keeping me going and motivated in my own endeavor!
I hope this blog finds you folks doing well, and I hope that you may find inspiration in this stuff too!
Stay positive,
Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence | Twitch | Trippingonacable Records
