I recently purchased a Virus TI2, but this was a long process. Buying a new piece of hardware is an incredibly OCD thing for me. Aside from trying to get some hands-on, which is most important, I will read review sites and forums.  If there are problems with the capacitors, I want to know about it. If someone threw it off a third story window, how would the impact affect it’s ability to continue to operate in my setup? There is no such thing as bad intelligence, but you do tend to learn to get positive reports from your bullshit radar. Basically as far a music shaping tool, that’s really a personal thing that can’t be read. I just wanted to know if the thing was gunna still turn on next week and what its general limitations were. Should I buy an extra USB plug? Is it going to repeatedly crash my DAW? Do I need to upgrade OS to 64-bit to make better use of it? All practical need to know stuff right?

Don’t expect a straight answer…

Don’t ever expect a fully civilized, coherent opinion out of anything on music or gear forums. Real musicians and helpful people are actually rare on these. They exist and I’m sorry to generalize here , but its just gotten worse and worse over the years since everyone can “Buy an HP computer and be a DJ” now. These forums are infested people that argue about DAWs and their acceptance in society. They think their software is actually what makes them musicians. They think sound design is taking a popular reference of music and trying to clone it with their stolen (but also sometimes free) plug-in. “IT DOESN’T SOUND RIGHT GUYS? WHY CAN”T I MAKE ASTRIX BASSLINE?”  This leads to a conversation about things usually the OP is not ready to discuss on a level outside of “is there a preset for this?”. The marvels of compression and EQ cutting that were stickied as FAQ type material were not clicked.

I found a lot of posts and subjects about people asking if the TI was right for them. While I don’t give a shit about DJ Johnny’s vision of s synthesis methods, sometimes this could lead to knowing the finer details. Nope.. 90% of them turn it into a different kind of subject that usually reads something like this:

“LOL VIRUS IS EXPENSIVE AND EVERYONE USES ITS SO I WOULDNT USE ONE BECAUSE ITS EXPENSIVE LOL SOFTWARE IS BETTER NEWAY GUYS CLICK MY MYSPACE AT BOTTOM FOR GR8 DUBSTEPS”.

This synth is a lot like Kayne West. People hate it because its Kayne West. No other real reason. Its that hater justification of “it just sucks” followed by no real logic as to why. Then you have the valiant hero that busts into the post with some mystical shit like “A great musician would never need such a device. I can simply render any sound I wish from my brain with only the simplest of tools that are distributed freely upon the World Wide Web”. Great I’m asking about hardware and you are trying to sell people software. If I were standing outside the Apple store with a PC notebook and trying to sell that shit to people, would that make me a great businessman ? No.. It would just make me look like a fanboy dick. Its not all bad though.. You will have the occasional person add their valued input. “I use the Virus and its awesome!! 100chars”. Thank you , sir. This world is a better place with this knowledge passed on to live yet another generation. The store should thank you because based on this tidbit of information, I have a three thousand dollar charge on my credit card. *thumbs up to DJ Johnny*.

My favorite were the posts where people actually thought it would be awesome to ask questions like “How bout synth A v/s Synth B?”. Despite sounding like an opportunity to put 2 machines against each other in a Deathmatch,  this seems harmless but you are opening yourself to a different kind of problem. Person A plays some bluesy rock-type stuff with a  couple of buddies at a pub once a month. Of course he hates the Virus. Person B gives an 8 page report on Nord synths, his signature shows his “gear list” and it has a Nord Lead 2/2x/3/Wave at the bottom and you click on the guy’s picture and he’s wearing a Nord T-shirt. This is a fair opinion, I promise. This is the worst kind of question though because not only are you unsure that you want to buy something, you are unsure which something to buy. That means you are incredibly indecisive and should probably just go blow money on a hooker because you are going to run a risk of buyer’s guilt anyway. You aren’t going to have to try to resell her on Ebay to buy the exact opposite of what you just bought. It’s a done deal.

So after a few nights of dealing with this I found a few friends that actually played them and found the information I needed to know, instead of letting the global population decide my musical project’s fate. It’s much easier to get something logical out of someone that actually speaks your language in a real-time format. I love the internet and I’m cyberculture 4 life, but the internet is public. When you go out in public it’s full of idiots. On the internet it’s worse because its full of ANONYMOUS idiots.

Moral of the story/rant and TL;DR Version : Go the store, play it. If you like it, ask around and dig up some facts first. Then go buy the hell out of it if you decide its what you want. Don’t let anyone else decide for you.  The internet and its opinion can go suck a dick because its not going to make you a better musician in any shape or form. Twist some knobs and have fun…

-bee

When I’ve been involved in food service, management and other less than desirable tech related jobs, this has been crammed down my throat. It was perfectly acceptable to take the most brutal tongue lashing from some asshole that probably said ‘yeah whatever’ when the phone order was confirmed, because they were not pleased with the amount toppings on their pizza or can’t fathom the computer they paid 2000 dollars for at Best Buy doesn’t operate and program itself. You are probably going to find that a lot of bands and musicians probably became REALLY attached to idea of music being a way to ‘become your own boss’ so to speak and get away from this concept of being a “corporate drone”. Well like it or not, you are just a different kind of drone. In fact a lot of bands fail because being your own boss isn’t the best idea for someone who has no business sense to begin with. If your idea is to give everything away for free and live the free life as a IDM artist, then that is your gift to this planet. There is nothing wrong with this at all. My last article was not aimed at nor against a mindset that “art COULD be free”. Nor was it one saying that everything artistic should be paid for because not everything is worth paying for. However, it’s perfectly acceptable to want to make a profit and even more acceptable to at least want to break even, but you have to do it correctly. If you don’t want to be a corporate drone, then have some integrity and don’t make corporate level mistakes. Running a band as a business is a double-edged sword. You cannot be too ‘suit and tie’ but you can’t be too ‘LOLMYALBUMISONITUNESCLICK!!111 (twice an hour for 3 weeks). It’s a balancing act and while this series isn’t exactly intended to be band 101, a lot can be revealed when you look at the mistakes the industry is making in regards to piracy in general. It is a common fact that bands are a still a part of the universal problem. It’s easy to pass things off on labels and corporations, but we are in a completely different landscape going into 2011 and beyond. The concepts and ideas of a music industry’s operation in the 90′s or earlier are not even relevant, but to the class of 80′s and 90′s out there, it is in their minds. The public is completely blind to this, but the bands aren’t explaining it.  Why the bands? The industry isn’t going to explain its mechanics to you and in 2011 and beyond its more about you than it ever was them. Its time to reeducate everyone as both a band and a consumer. That is what this series is all about.

Part 2:  Bands are doing it to themselves.

Bands have been presented with a very wide range of digital downloading services at their disposal, but unfortunately the music consumer only knows about a few of them. Many of the continuing excuses of piracy relate to problems with iTunes, the commercial face of digital downloading. Piracy has been warranted simply because in the past this service has come in short in several areas and its the only thing customers know. Reduced file quality was an issue, but 256k is not far from 320k which is not far from this fabled need of FLAC. While it’s not the “best”, the truth is it’s still overkill for most people who listen to music on department store sound systems ,car stereos and iPod headphones (aka: vast majority).  They didn’t even know what I was just talking about. They even removed DRM. These issues are still brought up today as to why people choose illegal downloading over a platform that requires installation of its own software and the misconception that you need some kind of Apple related product to use it. My experiences with said software and devices were not positive ones, so I’m not defending this service by any means and I actually encourage fans of my own music to steer away from it for better alternatives. It’s just noted that most of the beef with this company is simply basking in the anti-corporate or “eff Steve Jobs and Apple” logic. This is unfortunate that bands are in the middle of this. People have it in their minds that the band makes no money from iTunes anyway, so downloading for free makes no difference to them. This again is false. My biggest personal returns have been from iTunes by quite a large ratio. It’s true that iTunes gets a % based on our earnings, but why shouldn’t they. I live in the US, but I’ve sold albums in the UK, other European countries and Australia. I think its pretty fair to give them a dollar for allowing me to give music to a country I’ve never visited physically. Sorry consumers iTunes is a necessary evil, but if a band only gives this as the means to get a legit download? : It is their fault.

If you really wanna piss Apple off then shop with their biggest music competitor, Amazon. There is no external software, and its the same exact service that sells you video games, books and damn near anything you want. It’s the same quality mp3 even. Emusic offers a great subscription based service that allows people to spend monthly credits towards music they like. You pay once per month and get albums 25-50% cheaper than other stores. Essentially you get twice the music for the same cost and the band still makes the same amount. Cdbaby, Rhapsody, Napster, and Juno Download are even more options on top of plenty more that I could list. There are TOO MANY ways to buy music. Suggesting that you don’t want to pay for downloads because of some inept service options, is NOT a bands fault. This is where the customer is WRONG, but if a band is not embracing these options: It is their fault.

My new favorite option overall is one that’s picking up steam with a lot independent musicians. They had a rocky transition into easing bands into their new business model but still overall, Bandcamp is the best way to buy music in my eyes.  The site is really clean and intuitive. Customers can listen to an entire album before they purchase it. When a customer makes a purchase they are presented with a list of options as to what type of file and what quality they would like it in. A band can also choose to add in high quality artwork, a thank you note, pictures, or whatever personalization they feel is necessary. You aren’t just stuck with a little square image of the CD cover. This overall is what digital downloading SHOULD be to me because it fills almost every gap and problems people have with digital downloading. Unfortunately bands are not embracing it in total because it’s still relatively new. It falls under the radar of “It’s not iTunes/Amazon so pfft”. Sad really because if they aren’t embracing this at least from an IDEA perspective that this is how it should be: It is their fault.

So now that you understand that iTunes isn’t the only thing in the world keeping digital music alive, you begin to see that not all bands and even labels are not exactly expressing this enough in the right way. Just look around what bands are telling you and what their business strategy is focusing on. I’ll bet 90% of them list iTunes first, followed by Amazon and maybe other services are noted to exist in smaller print or -etc- if at all.   From a pure statistical standpoint this is probably the smartest business tactic possible, but remember iTunes is ‘popular’. Being popular in today’s culture? Doesn’t always quite work out for you so great.  Mass following contributes to mass blind hate. Has nothing to do with individual preference anymore. It’s what people tell other people and unfortunately iTunes has a seriously bad rap against it on the other side of its completely popular coin.  I’m not saying ignore  iTunes because that’s dumb, but bands need to create the image that shopping with all of their merchants available is a personal preference issue.  Not everyone wants the fast-food version of everything. The attitude that ‘digital downloading’ in total IS the fast food version of music has been a result of horrible marketing, poor alternatives and technophobia.  Digital retailers are still experimenting and learning and they have been really slow to adapt. In fact a crippling rate of slow in my opinion. Piracy will never NOT exist, but the people who want you to buy downloads haven’t exactly made themselves look completely honest and accessible. That is changing, but the public has to bear with the bands through these transitions and stop assuming that cutting these off is really helping bands in some grand scheme way.  So in all fairness…bands… that’s not your fault.

While a band can easily feel it’s not their job to explain the nuances of downloading services and what the alternatives have to offer, they are a business partner like it or not. None of these services are going to promote you. They are not your record label. They don’t care if you make money, so they are not going to hold a band’s hand. Bands have to make people aware that they have a multitude of options and something can fit their idea of how it should be done. If bands are not doing all of the above, they are effectively warranting that it’s easier to use a web search for ‘band download’, sift through links and enter a captcha or download a torrent and wait. It’s arguably easier to go to a band’s website , click buy , enter a payment option , but bands, even BIG ones are approaching this horribly wrong too.

In part 3, I’ll be focusing on social networking and how its been used against them as well as outlining the importance of and informative, central website. Just so you know, eventually I will get to physical products, so this isn’t all about mp3s objectively, too.

I’m going to write a small series based on quite a bit of research I have done. I’ve read many discussions for both for and against piracy on the internet and print magazines. I’ve watched several TV/documentary related bits. Since I’m doing a music project and at least trying to break even, this topic concerns me a great deal, but when you want to develop a strategy and actually conduct a successful business you need to know your enemies from the inside out. A lot of this information isn’t anything new to anyone, but the concept that piracy is this invisible and invincible weapon is also a misconception. You can take this information and translate it how you wish, but I’m simply doing this for one reason. It has nothing to do with a band trying to sell records and make money by putting a customer in a guilt trip. It has to do with awareness. It has to do with the fact that its 2010 and record labels and the industry in general are still not understanding the internet or even how to market themselves. The dumb logic of website + iTunes + spam MySpace is a reason WHY piracy exists.  From a customer standpoint they are highly uneducated on digital downloading and supporting bands in general. This information has to be repeated and drilled into people’s heads or its never going to sink in. If one person/band gets something out of this, I’ll consider all this typing worth it. So onward…

Part 1: Excuses.

Once you start sorting through the information and read a lot of responses towards why people think piracy is ok and should exist, it obviously starts to defeat logic. Every answer or reply is simply an excuse. In almost every case it’s false. Its based on a complete misconception or generalization. You begin to see patterns emerge from this and like most arguments, the excuses start to stink with bandwagon mentality. In this first post, I’m going to choose my absolute favorite for its ability to make me want to climb through the internet and tear someone’s eyes out of their skull and then have sexual relations with that skull. Its one that obviously hits a very personal nerve so getting this one out of the way is important:

“Art should be free”.

Paradox much? This twisted Utopian dream is always painted with free paint from a gifted brush on state-funded canvas. We all know art IS NOT free to create. I’ve never seen anyone answer this question properly though, because every response generates yet another excuse. You cannot answer this question with the reality that art requires money so it should cost money. You are being trolled into oblivion when you do, because the response is always going to be something general about musician’s making money in some false way, “Eminem has 8 BMWs and doesn’t need my money (that means its cool to steal from independent musicians too!)” , and my favorite “If you love art so much you will make enduring sacrifices and project thyself with much grace beauty…” and some other nonsensical bullshit about art being this mysterious unobtainable force that only Jedi masters can teach on swamp-like planets so people profiting on it should be hunted down and murdered. What amuses me the most is this ‘art is free’ always comes up in a MUSIC piracy discussion and is never approached as a very general statement that it really is. To me the PROPER response to this excuse would be something like this:

Dear Hipsters of America,

I too agree that art should be free! I’m going to write my senator right now and have him pass a law against hiring graphic designers and illustrators in my state. Web-design isn’t a legitimate field of business for anyone. I’m going to go on a protest movement against models and photography in general. I’m suggesting a nationwide ban on the commercial ad industry because they are profiting from art. Movies? Wow why am I paying 8 dollars for a ticket to see this. It should be free. Comic books? Free!Video games and all the creation involved? FREE and downloaded directly into my gaming console! Etsy and handmade goods? BYE! Books for my new 150 dollar Kindle? Free! If it entertains me I demand it free.

PS:You guys wanna go to Starbucks for some 5 buck lattes?

See how ridiculously stupid this sounds? You cannot break music apart from that and treat it as some kinda isolated incident where its ok for art to be free.  You have just killed a large chunk of the world’s workforce, put families in the street and pretty much strangled the accessibility of a job where people CAN create and think like an artist with your generalization. This in turn takes all the industries and software developers that are involved in the creation of art and destroys them . This is the worst  response I’ve read in the entire defense of piracy and it’s actually one of the more popular ones.  This train of thought is not only against logic, it’s also DANGEROUS. It makes me wonder if these same people are telling their children not to worry about dreams like becoming a dancer, artist or poet because it’s a complete waste of life for them. They would inevitably just starve because art is a free commodity.  They might tell their children that music is something special, but its something like the picture the child just colored in a coloring book. A product of pure innocence, created through someone’s mind that was just dealing the world around them the only way they knew how. That’s worth no financial value in essence. I see this point and agree with it as a pure idea, but you are suggesting that art is spontaneously produced as a bi-product of everyday life. It’s just not that simple and for some people its just serious to the point where it controls the human mind to a degree that it can seemingly trigger its thirst mechanism. I’m going to remind you that creativity is not an infinite resource that can be controlled with a stopwatch. A job does nothing but constrict your creativity and if you have a lot of other obligations surrounding it, then forget art all together. If you are a serious artist, your job is probably chosen around said art and even walking away from that is not going to be as easy as calling them every other morning because you have to finish a remix. You don’t train for the Olympics with a 9 to 5.  Why should you be expected to work at Taco Bell and become a producer of an album that can entertain millions of people. Life costs money regardless. Saying someone can’t live their life by being themselves and doing what they love, is the most selfish thing in the world to suggest. It suggests that all artists are designed and put on this planet to serve you. To be blunt and even at the risk of sounding even more melodramatic: Every time I read this statement, I can see tanks rolling and bombs falling circa WW2 videos. It’s a depressing demonstration of control and it is a very dangerous way of thinking. Stop it. Please.

Next: Part 2: More excuses, but logical ones and ways bands can eliminate them.

Its been a growing punchline in other forms of music or general populace  that Techno is some kind of ‘scourge’ of musicianship. That this approach is an ill-fated design that is ruining music on whole since the 90′s and even earlier in the 80′s with disco and what not. I about lost my shit one late night when I was watching TV and flipped to this comedy special type show. Here was a man I’ve known to be an awesome force in music. A somewhat decent actor. At the time a man who I would not dare walk up to and try to argue anything with.  I remember buying the Rollins Band album with “Liar” on it and finding the rest of it to be great. I explored their older material and thought of Henry as someone who should be considered a punk icon, especially from the Black Flag era. I listened to this pretentious waste of life whine about electronic music for over a half an hour. While I somewhat agreed with his view on DJing on some levels, he made the same mistake as the rest of the world. He grouped everything together in one giant joke. The producers, the Djs, the actual bands, the keyboard hobbyist , the guy doing computer breaks,  the “sampler” abuse, and the same generic generalization I’ve heard over and over.  Not to long ago I was watching some movie about these kids in a band and they brought this guy into try out and he had a groovebox. This 2 min segment was kind of like a bad American Idol audition where he dropped a beat and everyone laughs. I don’t let mainstream ideals bother that much, but I’m pretty sure a white guy that’s passionate about Hip Hop or Rap has faced this adversity if not more so.  Techno isn’t real music. We get it. Thank you.

Recently I’ve noticed a new trend. Not only has society adapted to these claims, but other forms of music are now jumping on the bandwagon. IDM/Experimental labels seem to be really trying hard to diversify themselves in the industrial scene from the rest of the EBM and industrial influenced stuff. I’m not really sure what the point is in this. It’s like you are trying to stand with something you hate, yet you are trying to stand alone in the same music scene? Yes its a paradox. “Together alone”. Hey I’m guilty. I’m a huge cynic when it comes to fashion and ‘forum kids’ (not all of them), but excuse me for being one of the few that believes fences around ideals are merely religion recolored into your version. I stand against that for reason that I think things should be accepted for being different, but that doesn’t entitle you to special rights because you have set yourself apart.  That is not exactly artistic expression. That is Nazi plain and simple.

I’ve seen labels form merchandise like “Dont Techno for an Answer”. I understand economics quite well. I understand that in advertising that one of the finer points of marketing is showing that there is a weakness in your competition and proving that you are capable of doing something better. Unfortunately music just isn’t a superficial pissing contest.  Perhaps it was just witty joke in an attempt to follow suite, but nonetheless you have aimed and fired. I no longer wish to support your label because you’ve attempted to make me feel stupid for being a diverse music fan. Diversity being the strong suite that you’ve obviously laid claim to. I can be ‘uber serious’ and uptight too.

I recently saw something that actually provoked this rant in the first place. We have this webzine/netlabel/whatever posting material on scene forums about a compilation of music. Judging by the caliber and output of these musicians on this(which most are highly respected by myself and even a personal friend), its intended to be presented to the fans of experimental and “IDM” music. Yes, its safe to say that fans of “dance” or “rave” music in GENERAL would probably be indifferent here. To further say something like “Turn of shitty rave industrial music” as a slogan for this compilation… Just made every level of ‘seriousness’ you tried to display equal absolute shit.  Thank you for making the decision for me. No I will not download a FREE compilation full of elitist assholes. I don’t hold it towards any of the artists personally. It’s not your fault your promoter apparently has an opinion worth tagging you with. In fact if it was my name on this compilation, I’d probably find his office and burn it to the ground. He doesn’t deserve to be releasing anything, period if that is their take on things. I love how people making “intelligent” music are the first to remind you that they are better than everyone else.

Hey I’m a cynic, but who isn’t about some things. I hate 85% of Dubstep, but I’ve found my way of dealing with what I don’t like by exploring the stuff that I do and making my own. I’m not a huge fan of makeup and stage presentation where the music just doesn’t justify it, but rest assured if I ever play live, it’s going to get stupid.  The use of presets or overused elements can have a slight marginal decrease in the overall value of music I listen to depending on how it’s used, but I’ve used Nexus at least 180 times and habitual.forcefeed should have been sponsored by Vanguard.  Now years later I spend weeks and months on tracks. Not all of them are just 10 min jam sessions but sometimes that really works (Hyperultrasonicetc). I recognize good production and strive to at least increase my own. I recognize talent, which is often based ONLY on one’s opinion towards the judged subject. All of this is on a personal level. I don’t expect my fans to agree with any of that and I certainly wouldn’t say they were not welcome if they didn’t. I make music that appeals to fans of a lot of different things according to Last.FM and other sources and I’m proud of that. Music is exploratory. Its limitless and there are too many different things that people still have not tried, but its hard to show progress when people build barriers like this.  I would only encourage people to explore more and more of it. Find something new and love it for whatever reason you choose.  Make music part of your life, and don’t use it as some kinda barricade to separate you and the rest of the world.

For the rest of you, to quote my other music friends:

Get the fuck off my lawn.

This is /war/….

TL;DR version:

My name is Bee. I love Techno. I support shitty rave industrial music. Fuck your little pretentious jerk off party.

Dreamcore is merely an example of this process and what can also happen. I have tracks that I like but they really don’t fit on the album/project I’m making. Most people start side projects, but I’ve found yet again even recently that its not as simple as creating an objective. I just told you I never know what I’m going to write, so trying to write for 2-3 projects just gets more random and I have yet even more stuff going in folders that might not ever be heard.  I guess most would consider this a waste of time, but I don’t. Every musician is just looking for that point where everything clicks and makes ‘that’ song and its just not often when it does.  While most musicians would probably obsess over the fact that releasing somewhat unpolished material would contrast with their albums that are brutally polished and cast the wrong idea or whatever. I used to think like this, but lately I’m just aware of the fact that I recently burnt almost an entire dvd’s worth of project files as backup recently. That’s pretty scary considering some are are only a few 100k worth of data. I don’t want to throw this stuff away anymore. I want to share it. Even if the quality sucks, its going to be half-ass mastered and its completly random stuff that doesn’t apply directly to my ‘full releases’. I will never try to charge money for something that isn’t a full blown polished release, which are pretty expensive to manage for me.  I’m not running a cash grab mission here, but maybe people will enjoy it for what it is. I know fans of the music will listen to the music and not expect too much from the other 5% that’s not music related. (IDM elitists thats you!)

I’m not too worried about people getting the wrong impression from listening to some of this ‘different’ stuff and going ‘wtf’, because I’m going to be making it abundantly clear that I’m in huge favor of fan service, but I am not running a musical assembly line with this project.  These EPs are Free and a huge warning shot to the hating masses that think recycled garbage should be every band’s intention. If I had the money to turn everything I do into a sealed/mastered shiny album I would. I don’t, but again its stupid to keep making music no one will hear. Expect more of this. Maybe not super often, but in between the cracks its inevitable whether its labeled ‘mangadrive’ or something else. I have a lot on my plate for the next couple months, but eventually I want to get started on the 4th mangadrive album this fall…so more randomness will approach.

The time has come… (finally)

Its out. I’ll be updating here with retail links. I wanted to say a few quick things that I don’t want to repeat 15 times, but its need to know info:

1. I HIGHLY recommend using a MP3 vendor like Bandcamp,FiXT, Vampirefreaks.com, Force of Nature or similar “scene” friendly site. They care about quality. They don’t take absurd cuts, and they offer a much higher quality product.

2. Those seeking physical, I regretfully cannot do this with this release. However,  I have a full art package that has a full case design and everything.  Click here for it. Sorry if that’s me saying “go print it”, but only compromise I can offer this time. Support this release. I’ll do my best to have it work for the next one.

Thank you all for the support! It means a lot and means this project can keep going forward which is the grand scheme at hand here. We will never get rich off music, but the ability more is more meaningful than money anyway. Sadly releases such as these just aren’t free anymore.

Links:

Bandcamp [Crunch Pod direct] – Chose you own format from FLAC, 320k, OGG, whatever you want. Instant download.

VampireFreaks Digital Music Store – HQ download!

FiXT –  HQ download!

Itunes Commerical industry standard download.

Amazon Industry standard download.

FEAR IS A WEAPON.

I’ve done my homework. Now go do yours.

I said around November 2009, after the dust had finally settled and the album was really in full swing that 2010 would be a very progressive time for this project. Crunch Pod will be helping a lot with this. Purge.The.Sky will be availible in more digital outlets than people can possibly even be aware of. We are planning future releases, but for now digest the hour and some change that will be coming very soon. I’ve got the masters playing behind me as I type this and Trozoc Productions mastering has brought it to a whole new level of extreme. Close friends and Familia should be listening probably before they even read this.

If you are not aware of Crunch Pod, then you really should be. Its host to some real audio badasses ranging from hard noise all the way up to industrial bubblegum. This label doesn’t play around and stick to the same grooves you’ve heard over and over. Please friend/fan/chat them up and get familar with some of my favorite music out there today. Its great to find a label where you can actually enjoy the music on it and not feel totally alienated from the rest of the bands. That was a large part of the long search for something ‘right’.  We talked music, then we talked business where other labels simply talked commercial aspects and how it did not fit with my project. That was brought to you by the Sesame Street letter “DUH”. People don’t fucking listen.  Its good to find those rare beings that do for a change, so they deserve my time and Its awesome to be worthy of theirs. Heres to hopefully a couple more albums of noise and chaos before its all said and done with CP!. (aka: go buy the shit so I can make more)

I know I’ve been abrasive towards the idea of a label, but it was just time. Its the next logical step in the projects progression and DIY was leading me to the same locked doors over and over. It will not affect the projects direction on whole, but it will play a part in what happens next. Im currently working on remixes for Caustic, Torrent Vaccine and will have material upcoming on releases from Mankind Is Obsolete, Lucidstatic and EXT!ZE as well. I’m producing two tracks with Diverje for their new album, which is something not alien to me, but def new for the mangadrive logo.  I’ll start talking about the new album project when its time because things have obviously become ‘different’ now. I think I’ve already said too much to contribute to the misinformation, confusion and what not that surrounds this project in general. Sue me..  Underneath all these wires and synths.. I’m just a human.. BUT IM WORKING ON THAT…