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??

Mix Sessions: August 28/2019

Another day in the studio mixing! This was another short session, as had to start things a little late due to the software being a little finicky, and I did a quick virus scan (you know, gotta do those things), but we still did some mixing! Only got to one song today, "DC", but things went fairly well... gotta come back to this tomorrow and mix the drums and bass synth a little better, but things are shaping up! We got another question for you folks, what are your favorite Twitch tracks?

:Wumpscut: and it's Influence on Twitch

Well, being that we are on the topic of Wumpscut I thought I would tell you a little bit about Twitch's second release "We Are Here To Dance!" (2002). When I wrote this album, I was healing from being in a not too good place mentally, and this album was the transition from negative-hate to positive attitude! The album and lyrics were written between 2001 and 2002, and finally released in January of 2002! One of the songs on the album, "What Good Is It!?" was heavily inspired by Wumpscut's "War"... when I was writing "What Good Is It!?" I was trying to capture some of the feeling of "War". Lyrically speaking the song is much different than Wumpscut's track... I was trying to get across that nothing can come from war, and that it doesn't solve anything... and that we should smash all our weapons, put our differences aside, and work towards peace! The major influence that "War" had, was probably the delivery of the vocals, granted my vocals are slightly distorted, and Rudy's vocals on "War" was fairly clean, but I tried to capture a similar feeling. Have a listen:





What are your thoughts? Let us know!!


If you would like to support us, you can purchase our albums here!


Thank you for reading, and listening!

Mix Sessions: August 27/2019

Well, another mix session in the studio! Today's session was a little shorter, but that doesn't mean we aren't productive! We mixed "R" today! Session went fairly well, but this one I'm definitely gonna have to come back to, and listen to again... there might be some tweaks I need to make here and there... will come back to this either tomorrow or the following day! I'm sooo excited!! 😁 And on that note, I wanted to ask you folks, what are some of your inspirations? What get's you energized to crush your fuckin day?

Mix Sessions: August 26/2019

Well, as the last blog mentioned, we've gotten all the guitar stems back, and now we are in the mixing process! Things seem to be going well! Got to three(ish) songs today ("STF", "WAWP", and "DB") ... I expect things will be done in quick order here... I'm setting aside most of my evenings to get this done...and, obviously after the mixing process... I'll be mastering the tracks, and then we'll set a release date, and get it out to you guys!! That's all for now!


P.S.: I'm very excited, and I can't wait to get to performing these live for all you folks!!

The Mixing Process has Begun!!

Well, all of the guitar tracks have come in, and the mixing and mastering process has begun, and boy, is it ever good to be back in the studio working on music stuff!! Not quite sure how long it's been since I've been in the studio (think 3 or 4 months). The first song that I ended up mixing today is shaping up, and sounding good!! I think I've taken it as far as it can go today, so for now, I'm putting it down and gonna focus on another song! I'll come back to it in a couple of days and see what it sounds like, and see if I need to adjust anything! At some point, I may bring someone else in the studio to listen and see if anything still needs to be adjusted to the tracks when everything is completed... just so I can have a second set of ears... and determine if things need further tweaks! If you are an industrial musician (here in the local Calgary, Alberta scene) and feel you could contribute, or lend a second set of ears to these tracks, let me know! There might be drinks involved 😉!

:Wumpscut: - Dried Blood of Gomorrha

Been listening to :Wumspcut: a lot these days (yeah, for now I've put down the Ministy, lol), and I remember my first :Wumpscut: purchase and how I felt about it... the very first :Wumpscut: track I heard was "Soylent Green" (it was being played in the clubs at the time)... but my very first :Wumpscut: purchase was actually "Dried Blood of Gomorrha" (went into the store hoping to find "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe", but unfortunately they only had "Dried Blood of Gomorrha", so I picked it up, without actually ever hearing any of the tracks off of it)! I remember listening to this on CD way back in the day (probably late 2000 early 2001), and the feeling it evoked for me... well, there's a long story that goes with this... if you purchased our "20 Years of Twitch" retrospective, included in that is a digital booklet that details the story of Twitch from the early days (1999) until now (2019), and I get a little into detail about struggling mentally in that story, well it was during that time that I had purchased "Dried Blood of Gomorrha" and it was really weird feeling, I really liked the music on this, but in my mind it's associated with bad memories... and every time that I had listened to it in the past, it would evoke the feelings I had when I was not doing very well... obviously now new memories are being formed, and as I've started to listen to it again, I am actually starting to really love this album, it's creepy and dark, it's bleak... the imagery in the CD artwork is a combination of what is, I do believe, World War II and possibly photos from the Vietnam War, and various images of decaying bodies... I typically don't look at them anymore, but I think the music and the whole package is very bleak. I will say, the sound quality and the ambiance that the album creates is quite different... at the time my only exposure to :Wumpscut: was the album "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe", (maybe "Embryodead" too) and I loved it! This was very different... I would say it almost seems mellow and dark compared to any of the tracks off of "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe"... (I realize some people think this album was a lot harder than "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe", but this for me was definitely a lot mellower sounding), I will also say this album definitely creates an ambiance that isn't there on "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe"... "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe" was definitely more harder electro-industrial. Right now, I'm not sure why I'm starting to love this album, but my feelings around it are changing and I'm starting to form new good memories (probably because things are good right now). If you haven't yet, please listen (maybe you hear what I hear?), and let me know your thoughts on this album!





Also, if you have the cash, please support Rudy, and purchase this, or any of his other albums on Bandcamp!! You can find them here!

P.S.: Wumpscut slightly influenced Twitch's sound back in the day... but that's a story for another time! ;)

Twitch Vlog: August 19/2019

Industrial Music Monday - Thegn

It's that day, and you know what that means... Industrial!!! This week we have a project originally out of Vancouver, BC, Canada. The music is in the vein of dark ambient/industrial/noise. The project is the sole creation of Joy (not sure if that is a stage name or not, but from the info I could find, it seems to be the name they go by)! This endeavor is called: Thegn! Check it out!!






thegn Facebook

absurdtrax.bandcamp.com

absurd-creation Soundcloud

Thoughts on Dystopia: RANT TIME

**BEGIN RANT**

Well, it seems like a lot of people out there are saying we are currently living in a dystopia because of current politics and what is going on in the world right now. And it seems as though people are almost romanticizing the idea... Truthfully speaking, I love cyberpunk fiction. However that form of fiction was written as a warning to not tread the path laid out in those stories... it was meant to be a warning to not end up in a dystopia. (EDIT: Dystopia isn't fun. When the fiction was created, it was meant to be a warning for us not to end up in that situation! William Gibson was intelligent enough to know that this could be a possibility if we don't do something about the situation we are in... what I am saying here, is if he was intelligent enough to see and know that, then we are intelligent enough, to not end up in that situation!) I also think we are not living in a dystopia... and quite frankly, I'm willing to do anything, so we don't end up in that reality. And, here's my point, if you truly don't want to live in a dystopia, go out there, get involved in a local charity, or a cause of some kind... stop fuckin saying we live in a dystopia, and start actually doing something about what is going on around you and your fucking communities... I actually view being in a dystopia, is not a good thing, it's not an intelligent thing... I think we as a human species are more intelligent than to let something like that become a reality! If you truly don't want to live in a dystopia, get out there, get involved in your communities, make the world a better place, cause if you don't, we'll certainly end up in that reality!


By saying we live in a dystopia, means you've already given up, and you are ok with what is going on around you... you've thrown in the towel, and accepted that it is not possible to do anything about the world situation, the political situation. You think when we went to war in World War II that we thought that nothing could be done about that whole situation..? People gave their lives so we could have our freedom... and they changed the world for the better for us! It is not impossible, if we put our minds to it, we can change the world!

Once again; as with the last rant: Violence should be the last resort!!

**END RANT**

Note: I know I've ranted about this before, but I want to get across the point, you have the power to change things! No matter how big or how small! If it wasn't possible, what is the fuckin point, we might as well lay down and let the world end... Sorry folks, that's the reality of life, if we can't affect change within ourselves and ultimately influence others to take action... then why live?! Each one of us has the ability to change! You are not fated to do anything, society isn't fated to do anything... You always have a choice, and you will always have the ability to change, and in doing so, you influence others to take action! That's all I gotta say.

EDIT 2: I removed something earlier… and censored my blog a little bit… and now I feel I should have left it in, with a bit of an explanation… so I’m putting this back in it; the reality of Dystopia, is that corporations rule… Government pays lip-service to the people and capitalism has run rampant, with no checks and balances. Secret wars are going on, mega-corporations are taking out competing corporate executives by hiring, hired-guns, or anyone that is a threat, or could pose a threat… everyone carries weapons, cause no one knows who’s next and is not sure who is competing against them for the same space. Violence is normalized… no one is safe. What I had taken out of the blog is, I don’t want this to happen… and quite frankly, the idea of me picking up a weapon, whatever it is… to protect myself is something that I don’t want to do (violence actually makes me physically sick; one of the reasons why I can’t watch horror movies anymore, or even watch violent movies and shit, or even the news for that matter, cause there is too much negativity, and too much violence)… I believe in peace… maybe not a true peace (we still have to be able to defend ourselves, cause unfortunately there is people out in the world that want to hurt you), but I definitely believe in peace! I also believe that we will overcome the current world situation, by accepting each others differences (that doesn’t mean you have to believe what I believe, but accept that we are all different… and as long as you are not infringing on anyone’s rights, or going out there hurting someone [I believe we all have a right to life], and you can change and grow within those beliefs then that is for you)… This can all be done without violence, I believe we will overcome it without violence. What I was getting at in this blog Rant is; there seems to be a lot of people in our community (especially, the goth/industrial community), that are saying that we are living in a dystopia, and the idea is almost romanticised… and what I am trying to articulate is… if you truly think we are in a dystopia, or we are on the verge of becoming a dystopic society here in Canada or even the U.S., is go out there and get involved in your communities, donate time to a charity or worthy cause… whether it’s volunteering at the local drop-in centre or raising awareness for mental health issues. Do something to circumvent the dystopia! It’s one thing to say we are living in a dystopia, or are on the brink of becoming a dystopia… but if you are not taking any actions to circumvent it, then we will truly end up in that situation, if you truly don’t want it to happen, go out there and get involved in your communities and make the world a better place! I realize it’s one thing for me to rant about it on the internet and social media… but I’m already, working on the making the world a better place part ;) ! We can’t make the world a better place, unless all of us are doing it together!

I hope I got my point across!


What are your thoughts?

Documentary - The Great Hack

We all know what the political climate is like right now, we all know that because of social media being exploited, "hacked" and politicians using it to manipulate the general populace, the results of the election didn't turn out for the good, and there is a joke of a president in power... who is only interested in benefiting himself and his family. If you are curious how social media was involved and used to manipulate people, then watch "The Great Hack" on Netflix! Such an excellent documentary! A little commentary here: If the laws change around the internet and social media to not be able to use our data without our permission, and fake news also not being allowed, we might be in a better place, but so far nothing has really changed all that much... which means this shit can still happen... as you'll see in this documentary, know that your data can be used against you, and used to manipulate you... You would not believe how much data your leaving online with simple interactions, even with playing "games", such as those online "fun" questionnaires (eg: what is your spirit animal, etc).

Terminus Override 2019

It's been another year, another festival... this year there wasn't a lot I wanted to see, but I do feel it's important to support these things! Here were some of the bands I was looking forward to seeing:

Freak Dream:

They were the surprise for me for this years festival. Wasn't too sure what to expect, actually hadn't heard very much of their music previous to their set. Although, I had heard a podcast (if I'm not mistaken) with an interview of the lead singer and main songwriter Elliot. Their performance was excellent! Their music is a mix of indie rock with industrial elements.

Neuroticfish:

I've never seen Neuroticfish before, but I've generally enjoyed their music (my favorite song is their cover of "They're Coming to Take Me Away!"). Their performance was excellent!

RabbitJunk:

I walked in part way through RabbitJunk's set, but their performance was excellent! I really dig the digital hardcore sound and the breaks! I did see them a few years ago at a previous Terminus (can't remember which one), I didn't really enjoy them all that much at the time, but this time I though their set was good!

Haujobb:

Everyone knows, Haujobb puts on excellent performances! This one is no different! Excellent performance!!

HEALTH:

This was the main band I wanted to see this year! Their set was excellent! Although, I did find it a little mellow, but maybe that's how their music translates into the live spectrum, mellow and cerebral.

Standalone:

Standalone was another band I wanted to check out this year, I really enjoyed when he brought his other project Hate Dept. here to Calgary for one of the Terminus's (there's been so many now, that I can't remember which one he was at), and I was interested to see what this particular endeavor is about! It was just him on stage, with some synths and some percussion instruments, and him doing vocals! It was an excellent set!

OHMelectronic:

I originally heard OHMelectronic on a podcast interview, by IDie:YouDie, and was interested cause Craig Huxtable used to be in a project (not sure if he still is) called Landscape Body Machine which has some history here in Calgary, as that particular project was signed to a label here called: Interdimensional Industries! So, after they were announced to play Terminus, I knew I definitely wanted to check out their set! They put on an excellent show!

Covenant:

I didn't take any photos/videos of Covenant... but Eskil and crew were in top form and put on an excellent show! The last time they rolled through here Eskil was pretty drunk and fumbled the lyrics for some of the songs, but it seemed this time he was sober and pulled off the set flawlessly!

That's it for this year!! I will be honest, I did find this year a little mellow and lackluster lineup-wise (not a lot of the harder acts), but there were still some things I wanted to check out! I will also say, I was a little anti-social this year, really didn't want to communicate unless it was my close social circle of friends, so I do apologize if I didn't chat with you, or was in a party mood (not really drinking all that much these days right now)... These last few months I've been really reflecting on what is going on with my life and where I want to be in life... and looking at the time I have left with it (yes, who know's when an individual is gonna die, but I turned 41 this year, and I'm really trying to put the right steps forward, to a long and good future)! I guess the other part that affects this is, I'm waiting on some stuff to get finished for this next album I'm working on, and I find it really difficult to stay fucking mentally healthy when there is really nothing I can do musically (doing music stuff is basically my sanity), and I've done everything I can for now, for this upcoming stuff... so just trying to find stuff to occupy my time with, to stay mentally healthy... I'm managing, but yeah, sometimes it's difficult, cause I'm used to constantly working on music, or music related stuff all the fucking time (within reason)... Anyway, love you guys, and thank you Chris and Ambor for putting this on for it's 8th year now! I'm glad I have a home with like minded people, and a place where I can feel safe!

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!!