Update 1/12

Firstly; Happy new year. I hope all is well. For fear that anyone may be losing patience with me, I’m setting aside Twitter to give a realer update. Having lived out here on this little island for the better part of 2011, I thought I’d make my way back to the United States to see family for the holidays. And while I was in South Florida, I visited Jesse at his home studio, the Forest of Feelings, to continue work on our next collaboration. He greeted me with beers and ciders, baked goods and chocolates, very much in the xmas spirit.

After a day of listening to Fleet Foxes’ latest LP on the studio monitors, we got to work choosing the best drum takes from our sessions this past Spring. Bogan did a bangin job, and luckily I got some footage of it. You’ll see it at some point. Only a day or so was spent on guitars, so that goes to show that apart from what Carmen tracked between our trip to Athens and his help from Philly, there isn’t much else. I did track a few songs, but mostly it’s very minimal. We quickly moved to synthesizers, on which we spent the most time. The truth is when we tracked over the Spring, I had no idea what I was doing with these instruments. So we sat down one afternoon in December and actually read the manuals. That helps. We scrapped a good chunk of what we’d done on a few songs and built them from the ground up, more or less. Now the buzzes are fuzzier, the leads smoother and clearer, et cetera.

We also spent a decent amount of time getting the bass tones we really want. I tracked for a few songs, but in the end, I think it may be for the best that Jesse took over playing for the majority of the pieces. I’m just happy we’re settled on the vibes I was going for. By our last day, we had traded in Fleet Foxes for Black Box, C&C Music Factory and Ace of Base.

And now I’ve been back on the island for a week. Jesse will be sending me bounces, and we’ll be gearing up for the next time I can make it back to the States; He working on mixes and the physical studio, I on overdubbing ideas and visuals. Maybe sometime this Spring I’ll get the time to lay down the vocals, then have it all assembled and ready for you. I wouldn’t expect it to be done before the summertime. Maybe a little later even. I’m sorry if you were expecting it earlier. Life is strange now. Or anyway on an island.

Published on January 13, 2012 in Nonsense and Photos. 0 Comments

Bokeh


Bokeh by The Fifteenth

i know i know. my access to appropriate photos is limited tonight. i just felt like posting this one finally, since it’s been so long and outside of the 2010 project participants and listeners, no one else has heard it. and those who did hear it thought the artist was called Wizard of the Balcony. i mean, it was. but it was me. i did this toward the beginning of writing the next Fifteenth record.

Published on November 2, 2011 in Music. 0 Comments

*Ahem*

Published on July 24, 2011 in Music. 0 Comments

Island Survival

Essentials for island survival & daily life.

A & B) Notebook & Calendar — When sojourning on a small island, one should have the forethought to both plan one’s time in order to make the most out of one’s stay, as well as document as much as possible what no doubt will have been new and exciting experiences. One should also not take for granted the amenities of one’s home country, and prepare for a life with little electricity and random black-outs. A blog session may be out of the question at the end of the day, so bring plenty of pens, or pencils and a good sharpener.

C) Smart Phone (Unlocked) — This isn’t the 20th Century anymore, so there’s no reason to pretend it is. A good smart phone should be brought along for emergencies, of course, but also for staying in contact with people you meet in your new country. Though service may not be as reliable as it is back home, an unlocked device will most certainly come in handy if and when you get lost in the jungles or meet a cute local.

D) Protective Eyewear — You’re on an island. The sun’s rays will be hitting you from air, land and sea. In fact, let me retroactively add:

D.2; not pictured) Sunblock — Wear this daily, no matter what color skin you’ve got.

E) Multi-Function Pocket Knife — Moving to a remote island can be an expensive endeavor, considering the state of air and sea travel today. That’s the point of this short list; You cannot bring everything from home with you. Neither should you want to, lest you ruin the opportunity of adventure. What more could one need in a single tool than knives/saw/can opener/corkscrew anyway? Anything more is cheating.

F) Torch — As stated previously, blackouts may be more frequent than one would like. That said, the torch, aka flash-light, may be the most essential of essentials. After all, how will one find any other item on this list in the middle of the night with no electricity? This is especially crucial come hurricane season (ongoing at time of publication).

G) Insect Repellent — The threat of vector-borne disease is serious and real. Consider that as recently as 2007, the US alone saw 117 fatal cases of West Nile Virus. Now imagine what the numbers might be in the Caribbean. Spray on daily.

H & I) Film Camera w/ Extra Film — Now to end on a lighter note; As I said above, this is an adventure. Sure you’ve got your notebook to write down memories and sketch out the giant tailed caterpillar crawling up the wall outside your place, but there’s nothing like seeing the real deal. And sure you’ve got the X-megapixel camera on your unlocked smart phone, but you want to see detail. Otherwise you’d just Google image-search that little sucker and post a JPEG-dithered Wiki shot to your Facebook profile. No, you want to prove you were there. What you need is a film camera (there’s nothing like the grain of a film photograph – much like the vinyl record is to music) or its digital successor. And of course, should you go the analogue route, do not forget extra film.

Enjoy your new life, and be safe.

Published on July 17, 2011 in Nonsense. 0 Comments

As promised…


Hello dear friends,
    As I have been teasing big news all week on Twitter, I figured you deserved a >140 character explanation. Having already written this new record in full, I will be taking the next three weeks to wrap up my recording duties, first by overseeing my friend Dan’s contributions on drums, and then by hammering out my own parts on guitar, synths and programming. But come April 22, I will be leaving a good chunk of the rest of the work to Jesse (to finish in his brand new home studio), and boarding a ship en route to a small island you probably have never heard of, somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. I can’t say for certain how long I will be gone, but as a rough estimation, let’s say two years.
    I do intend on releasing the music in the same timespan I always had, but given my absence it may take a little while longer. You will still be able to buy “Foxholes” (and the next record when it comes out) from this website, as arrangements have been made to take orders. If, however, at some point we’re unable to send them out, please refer to my last post.
    So in the end I hope it won’t have much of an effect on things — just a slight delay as I learn to deal with my new life in a new country — but one can’t be certain of anything, and I thought I would share this all with you. For personal friends who need more information, feel free to take a peek at my FB page. For less personal friends, I hope this will suffice.

All the same, I love you all,
Daniel

Published on April 1, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Foxholes now available online from Sweat Recs

Quick note: As always, you can buy “Foxholes” on this website, but if ever I’m on vacay, I obviously can’t get to it right away, so please buy from Sweat Records’ new online shop @ SweatShopMiami.com.

In other news, recording has been moving at what might seem to you a glacial pace, but to us is pretty swift. After all, I do go to school, so don’t hold it against me please. Guitars are done. Carmen (ex-Makeout Party, current Young Statues) played some, I played some others. Programming is almost done*, and we’re hoping to get drums done in the coming weeks. So we’re close, relatively. Anyway the writing part’s done and that’s the biggest mountain to climb. So, I hope to have stuff to show you all soon. I’ll keep you posted.

* This is going to be a synth-heavy record (you may have gathered that from photos I’ve posted). Just as “Foxholes” was influenced by my time in Tallahassee, this new record is more or less a product of Miami, musically at least. Lyrically it’s another story all together. So there’s my warning/preview.

Published on March 14, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Recording

A few shots from all the work we’ve done so far on this new music. Most taken in Athens, GA (first 3 from FL writing and rehearsing seshes). I’ll update with more photos soon.










Published on November 19, 2010 in Photos. 0 Comments

Birthday Sale! Foxholes 50% off

For the rest of the month of July, we’ll be shipping out “Foxholes” for half price (see below only, NOT the regular links to the right or on the music page), because my birthday is coming up and I’d like to share some of the fun I’ve been having. I just got home from another great trip to the Laurentians, which always spark in me some awesome storm of ideas, so I’m back to work on the next record, which is up to nine tracks at this point. I have them all demoed on the computer, but I’m still coming up with new ideas, so I’d hate to give you a half-assed preview, despite having expected to have something to show you a month or two ago.

Anyway, so tell your friends to consider buying “Foxholes,” and I’ll have the money to bring you that preview soon. Happy Summer, everyone. And try climbing a mountain from both sides. Thanks.

UPDATE: SALE IS OVER. THANKS TO THOSE WHO ORDERED. ENJOY!

Published on July 19, 2010 in Sale. 0 Comments

New Site

I’m back! But despite my hardest efforts, and every support forum telling me it was the simplest matter to transfer old posts to this new service, they’re all lost to the ages. We’re starting fresh.

So first off, “Little Heart” is up at the Bandcamp page. And so are “The Bird & Blanket” and “Writing This Down.” If I’m not mistaken, you audiophiles can even get them there as FLACs and ALACs. But it would be rad if you still bought the CD. That would help me out a mil’.

In other news, I’m working on music for a new record. I’ve got some ideas I’m really excited about. I will be demoing them for a while longer to knock out kinks, so don’t expect any previews before the summer, but soon nonetheless.

Published on April 20, 2010 in Music and Website. 0 Comments