Databomb: Save The Freaks

(Our new album "Databomb")

The song "Save The Freaks" started as an idea, a loooooooooooooong time ago! There were some sound aspects that I had in my mind, that I thought that would be kinda cool to put in a song, and maybe perform too! This song is basically about being a freak/goth/rivethead/etc... and ultimately in the end accepting yourself for who you are and learning to love yourself. For me that involved exploring my dark side, the darkness within me. And personally, I don't think anyone truly knows themselves until they explore their entire being, and that includes our darkness. For me ultimately, in the end... I realized I loved the darkness (literal and non-literal), I love dark things, I love graveyards, I love cyberpunk literature, I love vampire fiction, I love the moon, I love going for walks at night, I love goth and industrial music... ultimately after exploring darkness, I realized that within darkness, you will find light... or even create it. I think the whole keyword here is "love"... these things I love, and these are the things that bring me happiness! As a piece of commentary, the dark doesn't have to be dreary or sad, or depressing, it can be a place of happiness, a place of love, a place of understanding there is beauty in it. That is what "Save The Freaks" is about!!

Here is "Save The Freaks"

If you haven't yet, you can download the album "Databomb" for free on our Bandcamp site here!

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.

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.

"Databomb" Self-Isolation Album Release Party

If you haven't been keeping up with our Twitch Facebook Page here, take a look, and maybe consider following us there, as we'll be doing a live stream performance on the Facebook page this Thursday, April 30th in support of the upcoming album "Databomb"!

We'll be playing some new and old stuff, as well as doing a giveaway for some lucky viewers! You can confirm your attendance here!

We would love to have you folks join us during the live stream, to help us celebrate our upcoming album "Databomb", we will be giving away a digital quarantine package of sorts to lucky viewers, but you gotta tune in to find out what it's all about 😉!

What is the meaning of the song "Death Cult"?

Here we discuss the meaning of the song "Death Cult" off the Twitch album "Databomb"!

Twitch announces "Databomb" release date and artwork!

Yes, you read that right, Twitch will be releasing our album "Databomb" on May 1st/2020! The above image is the amazing cover artwork from Liam Hayes of Logo Monster!

If you missed our last album announcement, here's the tracklist for "Databomb":

1. Blue Screen Of Death
2. Instructions To Your Revolution
3. Activate
4. Save The Freaks
5. We All Want Peace
6. Databomb
7. Refuge
8. Dirty City
9. Machine Heart
10. Dystopia For You?
11. The End Game
12. Worldwide Maniac
13. No Face
14. Death Cult
15. Yeah, Fuck It... Let's Go!!
16. The Cloud
17. The End of War / The Beginning of Humanity

Also, if you want to be the first to know on Twitch going-ons (album release dates, track lists, artwork, first look at music videos, merch and all that kind of stuff), sign-up to our mailing list here! You'll get our latest single for free, for signing up.

The Making of "Databomb"

Here is a little video about the making of the upcoming Twitch album "Databomb"!

Nine Inch Nails... Further Down The Spiral...

I've gone on a very long stint, of not listening to Nine Inch Nails... but the last couple of days, I've been really enjoying them! I think it was probably good that I hadn't listened to them in a while, cause listening to Nine Inch Nails these last couple of days is reminding me why they are my favorite band of all time! Today, I was listening to "The Downward Spiral" and the various singles and EP's that came off this album... and something that came up in the playlist was "Further Down The Spiral"... now, "Further Down The Spiral" is a remix album... but as it came on... I realize I really enjoy this... when I was younger, I remember hearing "The Downward Spiral" at a friends place, and when I went to go and purchase it, I couldn't remember the title of the album, and mistakenly picked up "Further Down The Spiral"... I remember popping it into my CD player and realizing it was not "The Downward Spiral", I didn't return it to the music store and exchange it though... I kept it, cause I liked it.

The first thing that stood out for me, was the abrasive sound it had throughout the album... it was noisey! (A side story: After I purchased it, I remember taking it over to an girlfriend at the time, parents place and popping it into the CD player, and her mom said "...wow, they must have been on some serious drugs to write something like this!”)... This remix album has several collaborators on it, including Aphex Twin, members of Coil, J.G. Thirlwell, as well as Nine Inch Nails live members! Now listening to this remix album... it really is further down the spiral... like I feel like it takes the songs off "The Downward Spiral", and really fucks them up! I feel like this is the last statement of "The Downward Spiral", and pushes the songs into a deep and dark territory! Kinda like a last gasp of breath before drowning.

So, I guess... I'm just really enjoying it, and remembering why I like this remix album... I kinda feel like out of all the remix albums that Trent has done, this one stands out, cause there was a list of collaborators, as well, I feel like... when you listen to traditional remix albums... there really isn't an artistic statement associated with it, typically it's just other bands doing remixes and that's it... with "Further Down The Spiral" I feel like there's an artistic statement, that takes the story of "The Downward Spiral" and expands on it... and goes deeper.

Yeah, really enjoying it right now!

What do you folks think of "Further Down The Spiral"?

Time and The Urgency of Living a Full Life with No Regrets

Well, recently, like in the last few months I've been reminded of the shortness of our time to live on Earth (we maybe have 100 years if we are lucky, and in good health), and being that time is so short, I might as well live life to it's fullest, and do the things I feel and want, cause yeah... time is extremely short, and quite frankly, I might as well do the things I want and feel! As of recently, I've decided to wear makeup whenever the fuck I feel like it... sometimes I don't leave my apartment, but fuck it... I'm gonna put on eyeliner and get dressed up! It doesn't even have to be a special occasion... or even if I'm going out for a coffee with a friend or solo, why the fuck not get dressed up and put on eyeliner and shit! We are certainly not getting younger. And, if life is so short, why the fuck not get the tattoos I want? Why not do the things I want? And a tip for you folks reading this... fuck what others think! In the end, what someone else thinks of you has no effect on your life, and quite frankly you shouldn't let it! Here's the mental side of it... through your entire life the one thing that will happen to all of us... in the end we all die... so do you want to live your life in fear, worrying about what others think and say of you..? Or do you want to live your life how you want, walking the path you want, not giving a fuck about what others think... no fear? I don't know if I can reiterate this enough, we are all gonna die someday, do you want the end of your life to be full of regret not doing the things you wanted to do.. fearing that you may be ostracized, or picked on, or called a freak, or whatever..? Or do you want to live life to fullest, knowing that you may die someday and that there is no time like today to do the things you want and feel, cause fuck... you never know when you are going to die..?

There you go folks... there's a mental, motivational lesson for you... I do realize for some it may be hard, but do everything in your power to live that full life, if it means to get help from a professional, so you can finally start to feel happiness, fuckin do it! Do whatever you need to do to finally achieve that peace! Find people that are supportive... fuck the rest, cause they are not worth your time or energy!

Note: I do realize sometimes an individual can feel lonely at times, stepping out of their comfort zone and doing the things you want or feel like doing, and sometimes it is lonely, but be the person you want to be, live the life you want to, be yourself... you will find your true friends are the ones that love you for who you are!


Love your Canadian Rivethead,

Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence

(Your Canadian Goth / Rivethead)

Skinny Puppy: Rabies Turns 30!

Apparently, this is 30 years old now... I was too young to appreciate it when it came out (I was 11, lol), but this is a great album! I will say it is probably not my favorite album of theirs, but it is good! "Rodent", "Worlock", and "Choralone" are probably my favorites off of this album ("Tin Omen" might be in there too)! I remember I bought this particular album when I went on a Skinny Puppy spending spree and found this at the A&B Sound in downtown Calgary! If I remember correctly I got several of their albums on sale... got me Skinny Puppy fix in one go! I think for me, what I really enjoy is figuring out how they created these songs (or any of their songs for that matter), it is highly inspiring to try to figure out how they went about in writing these songs and figure out the "sound design" that went into creating the different tracks and such! I will tell you another memory regarding Skinny Puppy and some random goth I never had the chance to meet... long story short, before I was a babybat... when I was starting to discover myself... and figure out what I like, I remember being on the bus... can't remember if I was going to school or what exactly I was doing on the bus... but, I remember we passed a bus stop close to the "arty" area in Saskatoon (Broadway Ave.) and there was this dude sitting at the Bus stop, his hair was all done up kind of like old school Skinny Puppy (deathrock) style (Leeb era), with tons of hairspray and dyed black, he was wearing a black trench coat... and yeah... I wasn't quite a babybat then, but I will tell you, I loved his look, I loved the clothing, just the general darkness that surrounded him... pretty sure he had make-up on too... Then not entirely sure when I had seen that look again when I encountered Skinny Puppy for the first or second time (maybe I saw an interview on TV, or maybe after I purchased "Back & Forth: 3 + 4" and checked out the digital content that was included on the two discs)... but yeah... if that guy hadn't been sitting at the bus stop, I probably wouldn't have been interested in discovering what the scene was about... when I saw him, I was attracted to the darkness... I was curious what the darkness inside of me was...

Yeah, memories...

Curious what attracted you to the goth scene? (I get Skinny Puppy aren't exactly a goth band, but if it wasn't for that dude dressing the way he did, I wouldn't be doing what I do now... I wouldn't have discovered myself, or the scene).