Nine Inch Nails, Memories, and a Live Stream!

Yes... it's been quite sometime since I've given Nine Inch Nails a good listen. I found that during this pandemic, the lyrics are a little too depressing to really focus on it and enjoy listening to it, but last night "Head Like A Hole (Soil)" randomly came on my playlist... and it reminded me, that first I love Nine Inch Nails, and second... I love industrial music... not sure why, the mix just really clicked, and I felt inspired! So, the rest of yesterday and today I've been listening to NIN's back-catalogue... and really enjoying it. Not sure what changed there... but it seems to be what I want to listen to right now.

I thought I would share what tracks in particular are inspiring me right now:

(Nine Inch Nails "Head Like A Hole (Soil)")

I remember when I first heard this track, total inspiration, has a bit of a hiphop vibe:

(Nine Inch Nails "Closer (Deviation)")

This particular track, I remember when I first got this CD, loved it! Lot's of inspiration, and I actually prefer this mix of "March Of The Pigs" rather than the original mix:

(Nine Inch Nails "All The Pigs, All Lined Up")

It's really a lot of fun right now being back to having NIN in the playlist, there's sooo many memories, and reminders of why I love industrial music in general, and there is so much inspiration. I remember when I was first jamming with my first band Adam Hates You, and we would listen to stuff like this... and take inspiration from it. There were so many ideas, and truthfully speaking, I was finding my voice (vocally, and musically) and even though we didn't really go anywhere with it (and a lot of it was, us really jamming out), there was a lot of fun... I remember at the time, going into the music instrument stores in the area (H.E.L. Music), and checking out synthesizers and figuring out what I really wanted in a synth, and how I was gonna translate the stuff that I was creating into a live show. I remember looking at initially, the Alesis Q synth if I'm not mistaken, and testing it out, and playing with the sounds and stuff... and there were some patches in it, that kind of sounded like NIN patches... there was another synth I checked out (I can't remember for the life of me, what the name of it was), but ultimately I decided not to purchase either of them... I remember walking into Mothers Music (just down the street from H.E.L), and playing around with another synth, and it looked like a really cool synth... and I looked at the price tag... and at the time I thought "At that price ($2500), it's gotta be a good synth", for some reason the name of that synth stuck with me (Yamaha EX7)... and then eventually I ended up picking it up (years and years later)... and I still have it! 

(Nine Inch Nails "The Art Of Self-Destruction, Part One)

Lot's of memories from that time. There was a little goth/industrial scene in that city (Saskatoon) at the time, and a lot, if not all of my friends were doing industrial music in some way... Adam Hates You had a rotating roster (basically whoever showed up to jam), and even though I ended up dissolving that band and moving to Calgary, Alberta... it was really a time of exploration, and my first foray into writing industrial music, and kinda figuring out what exactly I wanted to do. A friend had given me a copy of a freeware DOS program called Impulse Tracker... and that's how I wrote my first track... really experimenting, finding my voice and sound, and then eventually some of those tracks ended up turning into Twitch's first "Self-titled" release.

(Nine Inch Nails "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)")

Definitely, not feeling nostalgic, definitely don't want to go back to those times, but definitely reminded of why I love industrial music, and what got me into it in the first place!

I hope you folks are doing well, I hope you are staying safe, I hope you are staying positive!

Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence / Twitch / Trippingonacable Records

(Your Canadian Goth/Rivethead)

P.S.: We got this live stream show coming up on September 24th/2020 on our Twitch Facebook Page, which you can confirm your attendance here!

We hope you folks join us!!

Yeah, I turn MATH this year... According to "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy"

(You'll get the joke if you read the book!)

Yeah, I turn MATH this year! Yes, I turn 42 on this day, July 3rd/2020! So, what does that mean... fuck I had a lot of plans for this year... there were a lot of things I wanted to achieve... some of them I achieved; I released my 9th album "Databomb" this year! I released it despite the current circumstances... I mean, you know, I know, we all know the current situation the world is facing right now. I think everybody was dealt a pretty heavy blow this year... All of us having to self-isolate or social-distance to some degree, due to a world pandemic. I'm not gonna get too into the political situation in our neighbors to the south of Canada, but yeah... that's not looking good. Then the recent protests and riots surrounding the killing of George Floyd by police officers in the States. A very important issue surrounding systemic racism. Like I said, not gonna get into the dire political situation down there... but I mean anyone following current events or even connected on social media, fucking knows what's going on... all while there is still a pandemic with no vaccine. And then the current issues going on in our own country, and even our own province here in Canada. A lot of worrying situations.

("Databomb" was released, May 1st/2020)

Despite all of this shit, I'm remaining positive! Initially, when I was getting prepared to release "Databomb" I wanted to play live shows (in person) at local venues and beyond, but everything changed, and I was forced to do live streams in place of the live in-person shows. I did a series of those, up until the album release. I also did a bunch of experimental videos of the songs off the album, released some of them before the album release, and some after. Also, did a making of "Databomb" documentary style video, and did a series of "Meaning of" videos for each of the songs off the album! We, or well... I  was very productive! We also did some special stuff for the live stream performances as well, that if you didn't tune into them, you will have missed them... and I don't know if I'll ever make these "Digital Quarantine Packages" available ever again. I also ended up pairing down my performance rig, to something more portable, that is easily transportable, as well as easily set-up and torn down really quickly... like were talking 10 minutes for set-up and likely 5 minutes for tear down. I ended up replacing my old failing laptop with a new laptop, and purchasing a relatively small MIDI Keyboard of sorts, for live shows, as well as another piece that, will make it really easy for someone new to come in and play drums, even if they've had very little experience doing it!

Course there was some fallout this year, my guitar decided it was done working for good, and right when I was starting a music challenge... but that situation was remedied. I honestly don't know if I'll ever replace it... I might, we'll see... I also had a video camera mishap, and I managed to ruin my video camera, but that situation is getting remedied as we speak!

So, where are we here... it's my birthday, and I'm still hesitant about really committing to live streams... although, there is something in the works for sometime in July, but I can't get into too many details as it's not confirmed yet. Will I do live streams for now? I really don't know, I think for now, if I'm invited to be a part of a live stream show, then it is likely that I'll do it, but right now... I'm not quite ready to commit. I kinda want to see where things go, and when I have a better idea of what this whole situation is gonna look like, then I'll decide what is right!

(Lot's of inspiration out there these days)

There are other goals and plans I had for this year... some of them I've almost achieved, what they are... I can't say yet! You are just gonna have to wait for those... but I'm sure you'll be nicely surprised! There are also some things I wasn't planning on doing this year, but because of this period of self-isolation, I decided to do them and kind of expand my knowledge... I did do an Audio Mixing Bootcamp online course... some of you may have seen my post in the recent last little while regarding that. I've also done a Mastering Audio course as well! Why? I have the time now, to do these things, and it was something I was gonna do at some point in the future, but I thought now would be the perfect time. 

Keeping a mind occupied during these times is really important for mental health as well, as some of you may have come to learn during this pandemic. We can't be out and about, and this is especially important if you are single, and living on your own. Sometimes your mind wanders or thinks, or even overthinks things, or you start to regurgitate things that have happened in the past, or whatever... Keeping your mind occupied, and learning new things certainly helps with mindset, and mental health! At least it is for me!

(Despite the circumstances, Terminus did happen, but as a live stream festival)

One big thing that isn't happening this year, that has been tradition for me, is the Terminus Festival, I mean every fucking show or fest here and everywhere has been cancelled, or postponed to the following year. I will be honest though, I wasn't planning on going to the fest this year, as quite frankly the money that I was going to spend on going to the fest, I decided to spend on my own musical endeavor and purchase a new laptop... yeah, sometimes you have to make those sacrifices... for me it was well worth it, even if live shows aren't a thing right now, at least I've been able to utilize it for the live streams I have been doing! I will say though, I'm really missing the community... and being able to hang out with goth/rivethead types. I miss the shows, local bands, or larger bands that roll through here on tour! I miss being able to have conversations with like-minded people about music, as a general fan, or even discussing music gear, or just general inspiring conversations! I miss being inspired by live bands and such too! I will say though Terminus Fest did kind of happen, as most of you know, it was a live stream Fest rather than an in-person fest... So, I did attend most of that in the comfort of me own living room.

(Balzac "A Dark Affair"; Currently at the top of my list of favorite coffees)

I guess another thing that happened this year, I realized I love coffee... I mean if you've seen my Instagram account, I post a lot of photos of me in my studio, with a very large cup of coffee! I will be honest, I've become a bit of a snob when it comes to coffee, and quite frankly... why would I drink shit coffee if I don't have to?? I'm not sure where I would rank on the amount of different coffee I've had, but I'm always looking for a good, or an amazing cup of coffee... I'll list some of the stuff I've tried here: Starbucks (various types, this is my go to when there is nothing else available, and I drink this pretty much everyday, brewed in my own coffee machine), Van Houtte (can't quite recall exactly what types I've had... but I haven't had any of it since the first couple of bags), I've also had Kicking Horse (If I'm not mistaken, I've tried almost every type of ground coffee they offer... really excellent stuff, but I think I've found something better...), Balzac Coffee (I had my first and only bag a few weeks ago, the stuff I tried is amazing, and I do intend on drinking more of it in the future), I've also tried Phil & Sebastian as well (not sure exactly what type, but it was decent... I also received a bag of it from family friends for my Birthday, which I plan on brewing my first cup of it this weekend)! I've also had shit coffee too, but that stuff isn't important... just thought I would mention, I didn't go straight to the good or recommended stuff, in the beginning of this endeavor... there was a lot of garbage coffee, some of it I had to throw out, cause it was absolutely garbage.

(Reward for meeting my health goals!)

There were some other things too, last year... I decided I needed to do something about my overall health (mental, physical), and I joined a program called: Healthy Transformations... long story short, I was there more for health reasons than anything, but the plus side to it, was that I lost a lot of weight, and I'm back down to my ideal weight (when I was younger; around 170-180lbs). I also found that this diet (it really is a lifestyle, you eat this way for the rest of your life), really helped with my mental health, I feel a lot more clear headed. As a reward, for reaching my goal, I ended up getting a tattoo on my stomach of a special kind of ant, kind of as a way of not letting myself ever get that unhealthy or overweight ever again (no one, or well... at least, I don't want the tattoo look like shit cause of the stomach stretching cause of being overweight, and then returning to a my ideal range... and then the tattoo looks all stretched and warped)... it's a way for me to maintain my health! I also don't really drink beer anymore... my drink of choice now, when I want to celebrate, is gin with sparkling water.

There were a couple of other things that have happened in this last year, first I made a trip to a city that I've always wanted to live in (for the first time), and it met and exceeded every expectation I had, and I still want to live there! I initially went there to attend a synthesizer expo of sorts... it was a quick little trip, but as I stated, I still want to live there! The week after this trip, I also attended an Electronic Music Conference here for a day... my whole reason for attending was to see a well renowned audio engineer in the industrial music scene give a talk, Dave "Rave" Ogilvie! I had some questions for him, but I didn't even have to ask... he answered them. There were all kinds of other talks that various other speakers that I attended that day, but I was specifically there, for Mr. Ogilvie!

I guess the last piece here is, the last couple of years for Christmas, I've been doing 1 page comics, as a kind of a prequel to a larger story that has been in development for a looooong time! I intend on carrying on with these prequels until the long-format comic is done! I may not have mentioned that to some of you folks, but that is what the plan is... when will the long-format first issue comic be released..? Can't say yet, it's taking a little longer than expected, but... it will get done!!

So, that is what this last year has been, I've got plans for this coming year as well... but you are gonna have to wait and see what those plans and things are all about! As stated above, there will likely be some live streams happening! Something is definitely in the works for sometime in July, but as I said, it's not quite confirmed yet. All the plans really depend on what happens with the pandemic, whether there is a vaccine developed, and if one is, how soon we can be out and about again? Whatever happens, we will be adjusting to the circumstances!

(Your Canadian Goth/Rivethead)

Saying goodbye to 41 and hello MATH (42)!! And, if you haven't read it yet, do yourself a favor, read "Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy", you will not regret it!!

P.S.: Twitch also turned 21 this year, as of July 1st! I mean we celebrated the 20th anniversary last year with a retrospective here, but I can't believe we've been doing it for this long now!

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!

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!

The Tale of Mr. Kissy Face

(This photo may have been from said show, not sure... but it occurred at the same venue)

I can’t remember what show this was exactly (it was quite some time ago, probably more than 5 years; may have actually been a show in support of our "This D1sk" EPs), but I think it was a set with the full band lineup, me, Guitarist and drummer. We ended up playing last, but there was this guy in the bar, I’m not sure if he walked in drunk, but as the night progressed, he ended up sitting right up at the stage, and while we were performing, he was making kissy faces at me… he was definitely drunk, but… I had long hair and was wearing eyeliner, I think he mistook me for a lady, and during our set he motions that he wants to say something to me, so I go to the front of the stage, and he tries to kiss me… I quickly get out of the way, one of my friends (who is in the audience) comes up and says to him, “Have a seat dude! They are trying to play a show.” was probably the funniest shit that has happened to me during a live performance. Our set ended and that was it, we pack up our shit and drunk dude leaves. I would say, that is the first time that has ever happened, at least during a live show… although, out of all honesty, I don’t think that has ever happened outside of a show… anyway, funny story.

A Twitch Story: Halloween 1999 London, England

Here's a Twitch story for you... a loooong time ago, around Halloween 1999, I was living in London, England, and there was an industrial event happening that I figured would be great to go to and check out some amazing bands, as well as celebrate Halloween too! So, I ended up at this show:

This was my first time seeing several of these bands... I think out of all of them Das Ich couldn't make the show for some reason, but every other band on this bill I did see... The most obvious one I saw once and only once was C-Tec... it was also my first time seeing them, as well as Covenant! C-Tec show was off the hook, I wasn't too sure if they were fucked on drugs or alcohol or a combination of them, but if I remember correctly every member of the band had these hand held strobe lights, that they would fucking pick up and stare at... it was interesting! 

Covenant was good as well (this was my first time seeing them), it's kinda funny cause seeing them here in Calgary at Terminus (many, many, many, years later) Eskil was doing similar things and saying things that he said at this Halloween Festival in 1999, while on stage... interesting and funny! 

Leech Woman was great! They set up all these metal objects on stage for the drummer (I think one of them was a propane tank)... there was a bassist and one other dude if I'm not mistaken... they also set up these projector units that showed images of war and violence and shit on the screens... their music was kind of a mix between Einsturzende Neubauten, mixed with industrial metal/punk... definitely excellent!! 

Chaos Engine... well... their set was excellent, although I barely recall what they sounded like (although, after doing a search for them on the internets, I found some soundcloud playlists; which I'll include here)!

The last two bands The Borg and Man(i)kin didn't really stand out for me... (I had actually seen both of them at other shows previous to this Halloween show, and wasn't really interested in them), so I will not be including their stuff in this blog, but yeah... overall the night was excellent, lots of excellent music that night, and I figure I would tell you folks about my experience there (or well, at least this part of it), and a little bit about the Twitch Story...long story short, I went out there to kinda see what the music scene is/was like and to determine whether or not it would be a place for me to really have a life-long music career, but that is a story for another time! The reason why I include this particular memory in the Twitch Story, is cause there was a lot of inspiration that night, a lot of realizations when it came to my music career... and this show and these bands were a part of it!

Stay safe, stay positive!

Our Favorite Nine Inch Nails Album, and Why?

Ok, so most of you know, if you've been reading our blog (or you have the digital booklet for our "20 Years of Twitch" retrospective), that we are heavily influenced by Nine Inch Nails, but what is our favorite Nine Inch Nails album..? I could tell you where it started, how I initially got into NIN... I can't quite remember how I came across them in the beginning, but something influenced me to pick up "Pretty Hate Machine", I may have seen the video of 'Head Like A Hole' and that is kinda what started me into the downward spiral 😉 of trying to find and purchase anything I could get my hands on! I loved NIN, and still do!

I could tell you how I purchased "Further Down The Spiral" by accident, thinking it was "The Downward Spiral"... and then putting it on and realizing it was not what I thought it was... but decided to keep it anyway! Then, a little while later I picked up "The Downward Spiral"... and then somewhere between purchasing "The Downward Spiral" and purchasing the "Closure" VHS tapes, I picked up the "March of The Pigs" singles, as well as the "Closer" single, and also somewhere in there "Broken" and "Fixed"...

...I could tell you sometime after moving to Calgary a friend of mine gave me a copy of the "Broken" snuff video... then moving to London, England for a 4.5 month stint, I was thinking about Nine Inch Nails, and was hoping that they would release something new, not knowing that I would randomly walk into a music shop there like 10 minutes later, and found the "The Day The World Went Away" single that they just released, and it would carry on like that, I found out they were releasing a new album "The Fragile" and picked that up as well...

...then I came back to Calgary, and found "Things Falling Apart", then "And All That Could Have Been" live album... then a few years later, I was wondering if they were going to release something again, initially called "Bleedthrough", "With Teeth" was announced! I managed to win a contest at a club here and won the CD and a poster as well... a little while after that, I picked up "Every Day Is Exactly The Same"...

...Then the next year "Year Zero" came out, and the "Survivalism" single... course I don't have everything NIN... I don't have all the Halo's, but I do have a large chunk of them in physical copies... I also managed to get the "And All That Could Have Been" live DVD, as well as the "Beside You In Time" DVD as well...

...I downloaded "The Slip" when it was available online (I would like to find the CD though), I ended up with a collectors edition of "Hesitation Marks" and picked up digital versions of the "Head Like A Hole" and the "Down In It" singles (would love to find this in CD as well), I also have the CD version of "Add Violence" and "Bad Witch", and I managed to get the special black package of "Not The Actual Events" (that was a lot of fun to open, lol)!!.

There's other things I have too like "Ghosts: I - IV", and "Still"... there's quite a few pieces I don't have... but I figure I'll find them someday... soooo, what Nine Inch Nails album is my favorite, and why? To be honest with you, I can't pick one... everything Trent has put out, I love, and I think every album speaks for the time that they were created... and I think each and every one, has their own character and sounds different... the only exception was the last 3 EP's that they did; "Not The Actual Events", "Add Violence", and "Bad Witch", I thought they were great, but I didn't feel Trent (and Atticus), where moving in new territory... I do understand that Trent was feeling nostalgic at the time, and wanted to honor the early days with these EP's, and they are great in that context, but like I said... they weren't really breaking into new territory, and I just felt that it has already been done, but I still do think they are great, just not the best in the Nine Inch Nails spectrum! So, there you have it, now you know what is/are our favorite album(s)!

So, what is your favorite NIN album?

Keluar... My Current Music Obsession...

Well, as of the last couple of days, I've been listening to the band Keluar! Keluar was the project of Zoe Zanias (vocals, lyrics) and Sid Lamar (music composition, and production)... I guess lately, it's been my current obsession... I'll turn it on at work, I'll listen to it at home... and I can't seem to get enough of it! I just love the way it sounds... I've been pretty much having it on repeat the last couple of days! I'll even turn on their live performance videos and such (I prefer live performances over just studio produced stuff... Aaaand, out of all honesty, I'm really curious what gear they used for their live shows, as it looks quite minimal [Lot’s of live inspiration! We are retiring some pieces and trying to pair down our live kit... to something small and really quick to set-up, but also fun and interesting to play with live too])!

(You can see some of their gear here... so I guess my above question was answered, lol!)

I'm not really sure how to describe their sound, it's definitely darkwave(ish), with elements of EBM and minimal synth, and maybe some industrial elements thrown in there as well! Whenever I hear the various songs, it kind of reminds me of old 80's television... there's an aesthetic to the way it sounds, and the way it is presented... and whenever I listen to it, for some reason I feel like I'm looking at an old 80's TV show or something... not sure if that really describes it very well, but that is what the music evokes in me. Like, a distant memory, but I can't quite place it for some reason... I love their sound because of that! Whenever I see their live performance videos I'm trying to understand what they are getting across, and I feel kinda like they are trying to drive that "distant memory, old 80's TV show" aesthetic... I will be honest, I almost feel they are living in the past, but it's modern times... and maybe that is the point of what they were trying to get across in their videos and performances, they loved that older sound and aesthetic... and that they were trying to live in it... but that's what I get from it, it's not a criticism, just an observation of what I see... Like I said, I love their sound because of the images it evokes in me! I think my favorite song of theirs is "Instinct" off their EP "Panguna", don't know why... just love this song! Love the way it sounds, love the "distant memory that I can't place" feeling I get from it!

(Instinct)

(Surface)

What do you folks think of Keluar? What images and feelings does the music evoke in you?

My Favorite Bands that were on NOTHING Records:

Well, if you haven't read my blog post about record labels that I wish were still around, you can find that here! If you have read that, you would have noticed a record label called NOTHING Records that I mentioned that I wish was still around, well today's blog is about NOTHING Records and my favorite bands that were signed to that label, other than Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. So, here's my favorite bands that were signed to that label:

1. This one is pretty obvious, their mix of pop, hiphop, and electronics I find highly inspirational and may not have influenced Twitch in the early years, but definitely in the recent years is: Pop Will Eat Itself! I remember when I first came across this band... I remember listening to them in a music store for the first time from one of their earlier albums (before they were signed to NOTHING), and they didn't really jump out at me, and I thought it was kinda funny that they were called Pop Will Eat Itself, and their music was kind of poppy and catchy... it wasn't until many years later (sometime in the early 2000's) that a DJ at one of the local clubs here played "Ich Bin Ein Auslander" and after hearing that for the first time I loved it! It was such a good song... so eventually I went and purchased the album "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos"... It's too bad they dissolved after this album, I felt like this was probably their strongest album. I would have liked to see them produce more stuff, with Clint Mansell as their lead vocalist. I know the other vocalist Graham Crabb eventually restarted the project... and released a new album (I haven't heard it yet), but yeah... this was one of my favorites off the NOTHING Records label. If it wasn't for "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos", I wouldn't have started to pick up what's in their back-catalogue, even though initially it didn't seem to stick out to me, and kinda was more poppy than their NOTHING release. If you haven't checked them out, I would highly suggest picking up "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos" and take a listen! Here's "Ich Bin Ein Auslander":

2. Here's another band that was a favorite off the NOTHING roster; Prick! Now, I had seen their music video for "Animal" when I was younger, probably on a late night show on Much Music or something like that. Initially, I thought it was good, but at the time I felt the video was a little weak, and didn't really fit the NOTHING roster... then a few years ago, I was searching for stuff on Youtube, and I came across a playlist containing their full first "self-titled" album. I took a listen to it, and I realized I actually really liked them. I think what turned me off initially with the video for "Animal" was that I felt like everyone was jumping on the Industrial Rock bandwagon (it was getting very popular at the time), and I felt like it wasn't dark and angsty enough... but after listening to the full album a few years ago (probably 5 or 6), I realized they were actually pretty good, and I think I was too young to really appreciate the music and videos for what they were, when I initially heard them. If you haven't checked Prick out, here's "Animal", I suggest taking a really good listen to their stuff, especially their first "Self-titled" album:

3. Ok, the third band off the NOTHING roster might be a surprise to you folks, they didn't actually stick around for too long, but the music is excellent... it is Rob Halford's 2wo. Loooooong time ago (1998 sometime), I first heard 2wo, after my girlfriend at the time had returned from Germany, and she popped it into the CD player, I had no idea that it was Mr. Halford, and once again thought it was another artist jumping on the industrial rock bandwagon, because that what was popular at the time... but I quickly learnt, that it was Rob Halford, and that a lot of the production on the album was actually Reznor and Dave "Rave" Ogilvie adding elements after the songs were actually completed, and they kinda rebuilt the tracks... and that is why the tracks had that industrial element to them. Even though I initially thought it was another artist jumping on the industrial rock bandwagon, I actually thought, at the time, it wasn't all that bad. After all these years listening to this again, it really isn't all that bad, and it was kinda cool that Rob Halford did this, it was so different from Judas Priest, and really strayed off the path for most of his artistic output, but yeah this was definitely a favorite! Here is "I am a Pig":

These were my favorite bands off the label besides Mr. Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) himself, and Marilyn Manson. What are your favorite bands off NOTHING Records?

Twitch Travel Diary: Toronto & AEMCon: November 8 – 16: Part 2... + New Single Drops!!

So, some of you may have watched the Youtube video I posted about the Toronto & AEMCon trip… there were some things that I left out of the video that I thought might be interesting to read about. So, if you have watched the video here, you will know, I made my first trip to Toronto from November 8th to the 11^th… and I hit up a few places, and coffee shops, and my whole reason for going was to check out their Second Annual Synth Expo. The synth expo was alright, but the story that happened after was fuckin hilarious… so, after I left the synth expo I hit up a coffee shop, and then after the coffee shop…I headed towards Union Station to meet a friend… I was using the phone to play music, plus use the Map/GPS feature as well as dropping pins so my friend could find me, and communicating with her as well through text, and then just when I was about at the station my phone decided to reboot itself… I was soo worried that I was gonna get stuck in Toronto with no way to find anyone, or communicate with anyone, and obviously this fuckin had to happen… I’m not sure if the universe was trying to tell me something or not, but it was kinda funny! So, I tried to turn on my phone again and it rebooted itself for a second time, and then asked to be plugged in… fortunately I had my charging cable and all that, and I quickly found an outlet at the top of the station, plugged it in, and everything seemed to work ok… my friend found me at the location we discussed, and the rest of the evening, I had no issues… just kinda fucked up and funny little story. Obviously, I know I wouldn’t have gotten stuck, if my phone decided to fail, and not work anymore… I would’ve found a payphone or asked for directions or help or something like that, it’s just kinda funny it happened. Now I know, my phone can’t handle all that shit at once, and now I know better to not have a bunch of shit going on and apps open and running on my phone at the same time. It’s just funny that it happened, I was thinking that something like that might happen, and of course it did… Do you think the universe is trying to tell me something? Let me know in the comment section!

Oh yeah, we are dropping a new single off the upcoming album on November 27^th/2019, called “Machine Heart” on our Bandcamp… which you can find here!

Here's the artwork:

Dreamtime in Shayne's Dreamland: Part 3: I don't know what the fuck...

Well, this time around I have nothing to report... I dreamt last night, but nothing I could remember, unfortunately... but I think from the last couple of days, the two dreams that I do remember... have their own meaning separate from each other. While I was writing about the first one (here) I found it quite easy to discern meaning from it... and as I wrote the second one (here), once again it was quite easy to discern their meaning! So, on that note, I'm not going to continue to post this kind of stuff on social media, and in my blogs and such... as I don't really think anyone is interested in reading about my fuckin dreams in dreamland... but, I will say... as an exercise, I liked the idea of typing them out or writing them down... I may to continue to do that in privacy... but, as I stated in the first blog in this series, I do remember most of my dreams... and normally I can quickly discern what exactly they are about, and what my mind is trying to tell me, (granted that is not always the case, as some nights I can't remember exactly what I dreamt about, but that does happen sometimes) and if it's not revealed in the first dream I have it is often revealed in the third dream... but this time around, as stated above, blogging about this series... I was able to discern, as I was typing them out, what they were about! So, if I were to offer anyone advice when it comes to dreams and such, and trying to figure out exactly what your subconscious or mind is trying to tell you, maybe write or type out your dreams and keep a dream log somewhere... you never know what may be affecting you psychologically, and sometimes the answers come to you in dreams. Course this is all subjective, what I dream about I'll interpret differently than someone else who has had a similar dream, and the way I interpret my dream might be interpreted differently than someone else reading about and assessing my dreams. In the end, I look at the bigger picture of what is going on around me at the time, what is stressing me out, or other concerns or things I'm thinking about at the time, and then look at what happens in the dream, and determine what my mind is trying to tell me!


Speaking of dreams... I dream of a better world! We've got an album on the way here, here's something to listen to while you wait:

Dreamtime in Shayne's Dreamland... part 1: The War

Well, not many of you know, but ever since I was young I've kept a mental record of most of my dreams while I'm sleeping, I generally remember most of them. I've always been able to draw meaning from them... and if it doesn't happen the first night of a vivid dream then it's usually the third night in a row, that the meaning will come to me... Whenever, I've had problems or issues in my life, I've always found that a combination of meditation and studying my dreams has really helped me make decisions or helped me realize certain things, or let me know there is something that I need to do, or something that I need to address. Our minds are amazing things... it takes all the information that we've processed all day, and at least I've generally found, I've been able to take meaning from the dreams that I've had, and maybe learn something, or take action on something that I need to do. I know a lot of people say dreams could be just that... nothing more that reflections of our daily activities... but believe it or not, if you listen to your dreams and what your mind is trying to tell you about your daily activities (maybe it's work [I hate work dreams; as that means I'm getting stressed out, and will eventually wake soon cause I'm worried about work, and what I should be doing is relaxing], or maybe it's interactions with your friends, and conversations you've had with them throughout the day or week, or maybe it's other stuff like creative endeavors and possible directions that you've been stressing about and you are not too sure which direction... there could be all sorts of things... and it's all purely individual based cause each of us has a different job, we have different friends, we have different aspirations and goals in your life)... but when we are sleeping your brain doesn't shut off... it's actually working on problems while you sleep sub-consciously...and what I've found by studying and interpreting my own dreams (a long time ago, I was trying to interpret dreams by using dream definition book [ie: if you dream a certain animal, it means this certain thing], but I found it was never helpful, none of it's definitions were true for me, and I realized, every single "Dream Dictionary" type books is based on the writers definition of what these things mean... so, I started to listen to my own dreams and define themself)... and generally if the meaning does't come in the first dream it'll resolve itself, after a 3 day cycle, and I'll wake up with the answer! And, that leads to "Shayne's Dreamland: Part 1: The War!"

This dream started off with me doing a little wandering in the around and moving into this house (If I'm not mistaken it was a house I was living in with parents or brother... and a friend showed up (yes, Jordan Jaundice showed up in my dream... he wanted me to take care of his dog for a little while, so I agreed to do it, while I was taking care of his dog, I was looking outside, and people were preparing for war in our City (I think it was Calgary), cause of all that shit is going on in politics lately (with the election here in Canada, and in the US), I was afraid, cause I didn't want to pick up a gun, and possibly have to fight my neighbors or fellow Canadians, and I really don't want to use a gun, cause I have no fuckin idea what I'm going to do with it... when Jordan Jaundice got back... because I was sooo worried about this war, and I could see neighbors in the area planning and stocking up on weapons (think the neighbor right across from us had a modern military canon, the type that you sit in and pull ze trigger to launch some kind of missile or whatever). So, I told him I need to protect myself, and he handed my this shitty small revolver... then when he was about to leave again... he took his dog, looked over the dog, and I knew he wasn't gonna trust me with his dog (in real life I love all animals and I love dogs especially larger dogs; Huskies anyone??), but I also felt a little bit of relief because I new I would have to take care of him and have the added stress of having to dog sit, and also protecting myself if a war does happen... the dream got a little more vivid at this point, and I was starting to think the dream was real, and I hear this voice saying "You're getting closer" as I was heading into this upper room of the house, an I realized I was in a very deep sleep, and generally when things get vivid like that, it's time to wake myself up, so I shook (I literally force my body to shake) myself out of the dream and woke up!

...So, I suspect the next couple of days I will have a couple more vivid dreams like this and the meaning will be revealed to me (as that is usually what happens if it's not revealed sooner)...

... I will tell you my initial thought's I think I'm worried about politics, polarization, us vs them shit that certain conservative governments are trying to push forward...as a way of dividing people into us vs them, in order to divide us and make it easier to control us... cause that is what polarization is... and if you look at politics around the world, and especially here in Canada and in our neighbors in the South... a lot of the conservative agenda has been to push this idea that polarization is happening (I have another theory why they are pushing that idea, but that is a conversation for another time), and I'm slightly worried about the coming Canadian election, as if things don't go well, there's no telling what will happen. However, maybe I'm off on this... we'll see in the next couple of days... maybe there is another reason for this dream... I will keep you folks informed on this dream cycle and let you know if there is any meaning that comes to me in the next couple of days!


P.S.: At some point here, I'll also go into a little more details on the definition of what I mean by "Dreamland" as suggested in the title of this post!


What have you folks been dreaming about lately? Do you take meaning from your dreams..?

Wax Trax! Records and My Current Obsession

Well, lately I've been really digging the Wax Trax! back-catalog... I've been trying to listen to as much of it as possible lately, scouring YouTube and various other sites for playlists of old Wax Trax! era albums and bands signed to that label. I'm not even sure why I've been sooo obsessed with finding that stuff... I think it might be because I was too young to appreciate the music that came off that label, and now when I find stuff (in particular the industrial music related stuff), I love listening to it and can't seem to get enough... it evokes a certain feeling in me, like I'm almost living in that time and experiencing the music that was being put out in that time... but with the added aspect of also appreciating the bands that were on that label, that still exist today... and really enjoying it, cause a lot of them were my heroes (Al Jourgenson; Ministry and Revolting Cocks, Chris Connelly, Front Line Assembly, C-Tec, KMFDM, Cubanate... and others). I think the other thing is, being that the Wax Trax! documentary came out... it is really interesting to see how that label brought industrial to the Westerner (American) masses, and also helped spawn countless industrial side-projects (a lot of them with Al Jourgenson), and brought the "Ultra-Heavy Beat" (KMFDM) here, as well as several others (EBM pioneers Front 242, anyone?)! If it wasn't for Wax Trax! a lot of the music in the goth/industrial scene wouldn't exist, and industrial wouldn't have evolved the way it did... they were truly pioneers when it came to bringing that kind of music here! I will also say it's really great to see these bands nowadays, and seeing these fucking legends in industrial music... Like when Paul Barker (Lead Into Gold) rolled through here... it was sooo amazing! I got to see a part of industrial music history that, I never thought I would experience... seeing this legend and pioneer! I've also seen Ministry roll through here a couple of times as well, as well as Cubanate, and KMFDM... and also saw Chris Connelly in his project Cocksure (I realize that's not Wax Trax!, but just seeing him is fuckin amazing... as I never thought I would see one of the legends of industrial music history)! Yeah, I don't know how much more I can gush here... but it's just amazing to hear and see these legends and really appreciate the history that they created and the music that is associated with that... I love industrial music, and the scene... and I love digging into the history, and listening and reading about it... I really can't get enough... I'm sure as time passes I'll move onto something else that will interest me musically... like Skinny Puppy's back catalogue or even recent releases... I find that fascinating as well... same time, different place!

Here's some videos for you to enjoy!!

What industrial music are you obsessing over right now? I would like to hear your thoughts... there's sooo much good shit out there!

The Death of Physical Media

Well, the last few days I've been really thinking about physical music media, and if we didn't know this already, I'm really starting to think, physical is dead. Most computers and laptops nowadays don't include CD players or even DVD players... and, it's only gonna get harder to obtain that outdated type of technology (you can purchase USB connected external CD/DVD drives right now, but it won't be like that forever)... even physical CD sales are rare... I do like the idea of having physical (love the packaging and stuff), but as time goes by, it will get harder and harder to find tech that supports that outdated media. Sure, there has been a slight resurgence in vinyl, but for how long? Quite frankly, I'm not interested in investing in vinyl (the question is, how long is that gonna last for..?)... Even with my own musical endeavor... I'm at the point where I think selling a CD is kinda pointless, being that that media IS becoming rare, and no one really purchases it anymore... and as stated above, it's only gonna get harder to find CD/DVD drives to connect to our computers or laptops. I'm also looking at my CD collection and wondering if it's even worth trying to collect more, or even keeping what I have... with digital and streaming being the #1 way for people to consume and listen to music, why even bother with physical. Like I said, I like the idea of collecting and the packaging and all that stuff, but in the end, it really is a dead format... and everything I have in physical, has been uploaded and digitized into my library on my computer... so what's the point? I don't need to have a physical copy anymore... and quite frankly they are probably gonna end up in a landfill somewhere at some point down the road... which really has me thinking... should I sell it? To be honest, I'm at the point where I want to, save for a select few pieces (will probably never get rid of my Nine Inch Nails pieces, but the rest of it... I don't really care). Of course, there's memories attached to some of these pieces, but will the memory die if I get rid of them? ... I'm really not sure, there is dates and times, and feelings associated with some of these pieces... I feel like having them is a reminder of those memories... but could I actually get rid of the majority of my collection?

What are your thoughts on physical media (CDs/DVDs)? And, would you get rid of your collection, knowing that the technology used to play that media is becoming rare and outdated?

: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!

: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! ;)