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!

Happy New Years 2020!!

Well, I can’t believe we are almost here at 2020! I remember being younger, and being that I’m into cyberpunk literature, envisioning that the world would be a very different place. I thought technology would have advanced so fast that we would be travelling to other planets, there would be cybernetics (not just for limb replacement when someone had lost one or was born without one, but also made to make us stronger or faster, or even being able to connect to computers via a brain jack). Some of the tech has come to fruition, there are cybernetic limbs that are stronger and have more functionality than our real limbs (maybe except for actually feeling and nerve endings and such), but they are generally being used, or are, for people who need to replace their limbs. There is a brain jack in development that would allow us to have a physical, mind-to-computer connection (which would allow us to control and communicate with computers and artificial intelligence and stuff like that). It’s kinda funny, all those old cyberpunk stories, manga, movies, and anime… were way off, lol… but cyberpunk literature wasn’t written as something we should be striving for, it was written as a warning. The original authors of that fiction, wrote those stories cause they could see what was happening, and that situation (dystopic society) could very likely happen… and no it’s not a good thing, sure the tech is cool, the idea of a net or grid, that is highly graphic driven and being able to hack into people’s minds (burn out their brain), all that stuff seems really cool, but I don’t think any one of us actually wants that reality… it’s certainly not favorable to the one we have today. So, this is a New Year’s blog, what has this past year been like for me… well to start, we played a couple of shows at the beginning of the year in support of our “Instructions To Your Revolution” EP release in January, then at the end of February I went back into the studio to finish the next upcoming album. I worked literally, almost every day on it to get it done, and I think it certainly is the best album I’ve done so far! This last year I also made some lifestyle changes, regarding my physical health… what most people don’t know, I was overweight for the last... well 10 or more years (probably longer than that, but I can’t quite remember, cause it was so long ago), granted the lifestyle change was more geared for overall health, rather than trying to lose weight… but the benefit of the change was that I lost weight, and am much more clearheaded. I’m back down to my ideal weight range, and as a reward to myself, and also a motivator to never let myself get that physically unhealthy again, I tattooed my stomach. I also traveled out to Edmonton to see my best friend during the Easter vacation… who I hadn’t seen for quite some time. Typically when I travel I write music, but this time I didn’t… I ended up spending my time with my friend, and we both played Skyrim… it was fun stuff, I don’t do that a lot, and I think I needed to do that. As we started to roll into the summer Twitch celebrated its 20th year of existence with a “20 Years of Twitch” retrospective, that spanned the time from 1999-2019! Yeah, we’ve been doing it for a long time now! I also celebrated my 41st birthday, fuck… can’t believe I’m that old now, lol! Still feel young though!! Of course, there was all the other shit that was going on, from friends shows to Terminus Fest… I also managed to get all my synth upgrades for my prized synthesizer… I had to source things from the UK, US, and a couple of other places… but, I can finally utilize my synth to its fullest extent now, and not have to worry about being out of patch memory, or anything like that! I also made a purchase of a prized book called: “Re/Search: Industrial Culture Handbook” that I’ve wanted since I was I think 19 or 20 or something like that… it cost me a pretty penny to get it shipped here from the US… I haven’t read it yet, as I’m waiting for a special occasion to open it up and read it. In November, I made a last minute trip to a city that I’ve always wanted to go to, for a synth expo, and to kind of check the city out as well too! It was waaay better than what I expected, and it confirmed everything I was feeling about that city, I want to live there, lol! I’m sure most of you saw my various photos online of my trip there… so I don’t think I need to mention more here. Also, went to the Alberta Electronic Music Conference for a day to see a very well renowned audio engineer in the goth/industrial scene give a talk (all the questions I had, he answered, without me actually having to ask), it made me really reflect on what I’m doing as a musician, and confirmed some things that I was feeling! Also, I released the first two singles off the upcoming album (“Machine Heart” in November, and “The End Game” in December), and in January I’ll be releasing another single off the album, and then soon after… I’m hoping to release the new album! There’s also some changes coming to Twitch in the New Year, but I’m not gonna get into that right now… you are gonna have to wait for those announcements. So, what has this past year culminated into..? The one theme this year I’ve consistently seen is, isolation… unfortunately, the one sacrifice I’ve had to make this year to get all my synth upgrades, and some upcoming purchases, is going out and going to live shows and events and such. I really haven’t been able to get out as much as I’ve wanted to, to support shows or even just go to the local pub… I’ve been hanging with friends and such outside of those things, but unfortunately that is the one thing that has been the theme this year, I will tell you, I know I can’t do it forever, but for right now… it’s what I gotta do in order to get the things I want… (I’ve also cut out alcohol for the most part, for now, minus the minor celebration here or there)… I do try and make it to the shows/events that I can, but for right now, my attendance is on a limited capacity. I think this last year has probably been my most productive in the music writing department, the EP, the retrospective, and the coming album… I’m definitely starting to reach my goals in that respect. As far as the live show, I’m not where I want to be. I was hoping to start doing shows sooner than later this past year in support of this upcoming album, but I’ve had to push things off a little bit… I’m not sure I’m ok with that, but unfortunately there’s not much I can do about that right now, as there’s some things I need to attend to before I start playing live again (you will learn sooner rather than later what those things are). So, what are the plans for Twitch in the New Year? First and obviously, we plan on releasing our single called “Yeah, Fuck it… Let’s Go!!” in January! Second, we plan on releasing our new album codenamed: “DB” shortly after the single! And Third, we plan to tear this fuckin city a new asshole with live shows and various other shit! So, saying goodbye to 2019, and helloooooooo fuckin 2020! The future is definitely bright… or will it be dark? 😉

(Your Canadian Goth / Rivethead)

Happy New Year 2020!

Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence / Twitch

Embracing The Isolation

Well, while I was in the middle of writing one blog, I was inspired to write this one… Right now, I feel sooo motivated! In my musical and other creative endeavors… what inspired me this time was, well… my current situation… I’ve been feeling a little on edge lately, there’s a lot I want to do in life, and I’ve been feeling isolated lately, and unfortunately, it’s a forced isolation… I don’t really have a choice in it, it’s partially due to just not being able to get together with friends as much as I would like to, it’s also due to some goals I want to reach monetarily, and just not being able to get out to events that I want to due to the funds being allocated to something else. Normally, I would be a little stressed about this, because I’m a very social person, but as of lately, I’ve started to embrace this forced isolation as an opportunity to work on my creative endeavors and get ahead in that sense! I will tell you, after living in this city for as long as I have (21ish years), I’ve started to realize that isolation is a normal everyday thing in this city… I’m coming to expect it… Something that you may not know, is my first “Self-titled” album, that album I was dealing with my first, but once again, a forced isolation, I was so depressed and that album was pretty much born out of that isolation. As I stated above, I’m coming to expect it here, and after all my time here, I’m starting to embrace it… I don’t get to hang with people as much as I would like, I’ve put in a lot of effort in maintaining the relationships that I do have, and unfortunately what I currently have is not enough for me. However, despite that, I’ve put in a lot of effort trying to have some kind of semblance of a social life, but the results of all that effort, well… I’m still struggling to actually have a social life… but as of lately (as stated above), I’m starting to embrace the isolation, and I’m using that time that I would “normally” be out socializing, to work on my creative endeavors… and I’m finding it highly motivating… of course this is only temporary, until I can figure out how to actually get out of this city, but for now I’m embracing the isolation, and getting ahead on my creative endeavors! I may have another album lined up as well, lol... (There’s the one we are releasing soonish, I’ve got some themes for the one after, as well as the one after that one… they even have names now)! No rest for the wicked!



Here’s some tips for people who are isolated, to help you break up, or make use of a forced isolation:

1. Get Creative; If you are isolated but it’s a forced isolation (no choice), work on your creative endeavors (write music, draw, paint, write… whatever it is)!

2. Learn something new; learn a new skill, maybe pick up and teach yourself how to play guitar, or whatever instrument you are interested in learning that you have access to. Or teach yourself new drawing or painting techniques!

3. Another tip to get out and be semi-social: Head to your local coffee shop and work on your creative endeavors there (if possible), for instance when I feel I need to be around people, and friends aren't available to do stuff, I will go to a coffee shop and write new music on my laptop, or write lyrics, or even just get out some ideas of where I would like to go creatively for the next release. I mean, there’s a multitude of other things you can do, take a sketchbook with you and draw, or plot out your ideas for your next painting.

4. OR, it doesn’t have to be a coffee shop, it could be a pub or bar… sit in your own booth or seat and work on things there (Although I would say, careful not to spill your beer on your shit, cause that could ruin whatever you’re working on… especially a laptop [can’t exactly recover very well when the internals of a laptop are soaked in beer])…

Other things you can do, just for general mental health;

5. Go for walks. Getting out for a fresh breath of air and clearing your head-space can be really helpful when you are not able to hang with friends, and you can really come back with a clear refreshed mind from your walk!

6. Workout and stretching if you find you sit a lot during the day at your job.

My final tip is:

7. Meditating! I find meditating very useful for not only clearing my mind, but also for spiritual purposes as well, especially when I’m trying to figure out what are the next steps I need to take for my endeavors and such… also, it really helps with general well-being and such!

I hope those are helpful, and hey if you have any other tips that have worked for you, please leave them in the comments!

(Your Canadian Goth / Rivethead)

Here's to embracing the isolation,

Shayne “Daemon_w60” Lawrence / Twitch


P.S.: The tips are what have worked for me, they may not necessarily work for others, in the end, you gotta find what works for you!

P.P.S.: It's really funny that this evening (December 9/2019) I end up having a conversation, after the fact of writing this blog, about the topic of isolation. Thanks for the convo lady (not sure you want me to mention your name here, but thank you for the conversation)!

Sacrifices That I Wish That I Didn’t Have To Make:

There was a recent show (yesterday) that I would have liked to have gone to, but the funds that I would be spending on the show to support the bands and the bar, I could be putting that towards purchasing a new laptop for my own live show. Most of the people that know me, know I generally try to make it to most, if not all the goth/industrial shows that roll through here. Unfortunately, this time around, this is a sacrifice that I have to make… I don’t like it, but there really is nothing else I can do… and that is a reality of life, sometimes we have to make these sacrifices, and it sucks, but it’s gonna put me further ahead in my career, and I will be able to get back to playing live shows again...  In a previous blog, I had mentioned that there are some changes coming to Twitch, this is part of phase one of those changes… there are some pieces of gear that I’m unfortunately forced to update now, cause some of it, in particular my laptop is starting to fail (it’s 14 years old, and is running Windows Vista [yep, oooooooooooooold]), there are some other pieces I’ll be retiring and upgrading as well in this phase… I’m not gonna get into it quite yet, but you’ll see those updates on our Facebook page as well as our various other social media channels when they come about. If I haven’t been to your shows here lately in Calgary, I do apologize, but I’ve had to make some sacrifices and unfortunately, I can’t go to every event or show right now... but being that I couldn't be there in physical presence, here's all the Bandcamp pages for all the acts for last nights show:













Love your Canadian Goth/Rivethead,

Shayne “Daemon_w60” Lawrence / Twitch

P.S.:  and hey, if you want to help us out in our endeavor, we just released a new single, take a listen and maybe even consider supporting us ;)