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RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook (Halfway through)

(RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook by V. Vale)

I've started reading through some of the "RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook", and so far the images and the interviews and all the other shit is really excellent! Buuut, a lot of the interviews so far in the book, they get into a lot of violent (in a physical way) topics... and they are really descriptive about it... which makes me kind of sick to my stomach, as some of it is based in reality, and some of it is based on horror movies and such (neither of which I like, and matter of fact make me physically sick)... it is quite like watching a horror movie with the descriptions and such in the book... I love industrial music, and there are a lot of modern industrial bands that use imagery like that in their live performances and such... I will be honest, I usually skip out on a band that has quite graphic imagery... as I don't like violence, and I can't even stomach modern horror movies... I have a hard time with even some old black and white horror movies...

(Throbbing Gristle)

...I mean in a way it's not surprising that a lot of the pioneering bands used this kind of imagery in their performances and such... but also in another way, it is kind of surprising. The impression I'm getting from these interviews is that, the bands used a lot of imagery or even did physical acts to kind of shock people... to elicit certain reactions... or to really shake people out of the daily bullshit "be a drone" mentality, and to think for themselves and realize there are these control structures around us. I guess for the time, that's what it took to get people to notice and maybe think about things differently, and to really get a reaction in some way or another... or to influence people to choose a different path, or whatever...

...I'm just under halfway through the book... I pick this up in stints and read for a bit, then set it down... There is a lot of inspiration here... (other than the violent stuff)... and so far, this really does seem like an "Industrial Culture Handbook"... it kind of guides you to the ideas, visions, etc... that industrial music embodied at the time, who the pioneers of the scene are... what philosophies they follow... They even get into books, movies, discographies, and all that kind of stuff each band reads, watches, has written, etc...

(Cabaret Voltaire)

...I would call this a guidebook/handbook, if you take all the ideas, philosophies, movie suggestions, etc... it guides you to the things that influenced the various artists within the book... granted, even if you read what they read, watched what they watched, you may not come to the same conclusions as they did, but it really gives you an idea of what they were thinking, and kinda how they came to the philosophies that they did!!

As I stated in my last blog, there is a lot of inspiration right now! Lot's of inspiring music conversations about all aspects of music production, music gear, all that kind of shit! This book is definitely adding to that inspiration! I will also say on that note, I am missing the live performances and such right now, and reading this book is definitely making me miss it more... I guess hopefully we have viable vaccine option here sooner than later... cause I would like to get back to attending industrial/goth events and shows (local and not local)... I'm missing the culture, I'm missing the conversations, I'm missing the dancing, the performing in my own act... miss seeing familiar faces in the scene... miss being around my kind!

Love you folks!

Your Canadian Goth/Rivethead,
Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence / Twitch / Trippingonacable Records

(SPK)

P.S.: I'll update you folks again when I've gone through the book in it's entirety! Sooo much inspiration here!!

P.P.S.: Hey! We got a new album! Sign-up to our mailing list here and get a free download of our newest album "Darkness_Rise!"!!

Inspiring Music Conversations, Winter, and Intentions for the Future!!

(System Syn "The Privileged... such a great track musically!!)

Another conversation with another musician friend and another inspiring night! There's a lot of music talk these days, and a lot of exciting and great conversations about music, gear, mixing, mastering... all that kind of stuff!! Even talk of discovery of industrial bands, EBM projects, Industrial Metal bands, all sorts of different projects and endeavours... 

... A few weeks ago, I had mentioned to a co-worker... that I have a feeling this Winter is going to be good... I don't know why I feel that way, I just have a general sense and feeling that the season, is going to be good... maybe that is just my intention moving forward, but despite the situation, I'm not letting this pandemic get the better of me, and sit in worry and despair... this Winter is going to be good, and nothing is going to get in the way of that! Life is already too short, no sense in sitting in shit, might as well make the best of the situation and enjoy life to the best that I can right now. I know some of you may not feel the same sentiment, but out of all honesty, what you put into life is what you get out! I want this Winter to be good, and productive... and inspiring... there's no reason why it can't be that!!

(A friend introduced this to me tonight! Great Power Noise artist, Imminent Starvation)

I will be honest, this has been my most productive year creatively... I have a lot of projects on the go... and so many, that I actually feel slightly overwhelmed, but... I've decided not to take anything else on creatively, until I get through a large portion of these projects! I've felt sooo inspired lately, although, I will also say... today (Dec 20/2020) I finally started to write again, it felt weird cause it had been since Halloween since I had written, and before that... it was early June the last time. I do feel a little out of practice and anxious, cause there were a lot of doubts about what I was working on Today, but... tomorrow I will take a listen to what I had, and add or tweak accordingly... maybe this project will get done sooner than later, and I'll have a couple things in the tank... and maybe, just maybe I can focus on the next endeavor... we'll see...

(Korn's song "Can You Hear Me" is really inspiring me right now... although maybe not this version, but this seems to be the only one blogspot will allow me to use...)

... it is tough during these times, to know what to do, cause... are we going to be able to do live shows in the near future, or are we gonna have to still do the live stream performances... how long is this period of self-isolation gonna last for... I know what I want, but is that gonna happen... I personally am planning for A, B, and C... maybe we'll have to do a bit of column A, and B... live shows, plus live streams... that's kinda what I'm planning for (option C)... obviously, like everyone else, I would like a workable vaccine... so we can get back to maybe not a normal, but definitely back to doing live shows... although, I will be honest... I'm, in a way, kind of thankful that all that has happened... happened. It's given me a lot of time to think about what I want, and what steps I want to take, moving forward, whatever that looks like!

(Here's your answer!)

Life is too short folks, might as well set yourself up for success whatever transpires or happens!

What do you guy's feel?

Your Canadian Goth/Rivethead,
Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence / Twitch / Trippingonacable Records

P.S.: Here's another great song that came up the conversation tonight!! 

An Inspiring Music Conversation About Hardware Synthesizers!!

(My main synthesizer: Yamaha EX7)

Last night I had an excellent conversation with a longtime friend and ex-bandmate about hardware synthesizers... and all kinds of other music related shit! The conversation really got the creative juices flowing, and I was highly inspired!! That is one thing I've certainly missed during this whole period of self-isolation, and social-distancing... the conversations about music, music hardware, and all kinds of other music related shit... stuff that is really inspiring! It's sooo, refreshing to have those kind of conversations again! It got me into thinking about my own synth, and the things I want to do musically with it. There are sooo many ways I'm currently not utilizing my synths... and there are certainly ways of using it that I want to utilize in the future... just for the simple fact that it would be a great challenge to see what I can do with those features! Lot's of inpiration, and lot's of future plans and ideas!

Sign-up to Twitch's mailing list and get Twitch's latest album "Darkness_Rise!" for free!!

(Sign-up for free music)

Yes, you read that right! Sign-up to Twitch's mailing list here and receive Twitch's latest album "Darkness_Rise!" for free, as well as a bunch of other goodies!!

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!! 😉

My Other Artistic Endeavor... Drawing In the Fashion of Japanese Style Manga

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!

Taking On A Lot Creatively... and that Pervading Feeling that I Might Be In A Downward Spiral

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!! 😉