The four titles listed here represent work long unfinished; namely, my music. I have four projects that I really would like to tackle, but with a wife and two sons, a full time job, and a Mix magazine article (oh yes, this blog as well), that's going to be something of a challenge. This post will serve as a reminder to me to actually tackle them from time to time. Time, ladies and gentlemen, please...
Legend represents my main work; a mix of acoustic and electronic elements in a mix of styles from progressive rock to adult pop to electronica. The name has changed nine times now. Dear Lord, nine times... from Chromatic Dragon, Siren, Sandman, G-Command, Indicator, Juni Digital Music Group, Era's End, and Scene Two, half of those being with my friend Bryan Rudge. The reasoning is simple: all those other names suck, and Legend is halfway decent. Looking the name up on Allmusic.com, it appears that no current band has this name, so I think there's an opportunity to market it in future without much confusion, if and when that time comes.
What I'd really like to do is form a band and work with that band for two to three hours at least twice a week for about a year, pulling a "Tears for Fears", as it were (slang term for a band that takes forever to create an album since it fine tunes and engineers it to what it considers perfection). The problem is, forming a band where everyone can move forward with the same guiding principles is... wait, has that even been done yet? My dilemma thickens.
The Flower Beneath the Foot is based on a book by Ronald Firbanks in the 1920s and is an opera for my mother, with her to be writing the libretto. This is probably going to be the biggest challenge to write, since I need to draw from Gilbert and Sullivan, perhaps two of the best songwriters in history. However I think if I get it right it'll be the most satisfying work I've done. The book itself is filled with intrigue, decadence, and racism, so it would be something of an interesting thing to publish in this day and age.
Communion is simply my writing music for God, twelve pieces written for pipe organ to be played during orthodox communions in any Christian church that still does that sort of thing. I do not consider myself very religious, and in fact haven't been to church in months (I am a baptized Episcopalian who attended a Quaker boarding school). But, I consider musical ability to be a divine gift, and intend to thank whoever or whatever bestowed it on me.
Finally, Earthscape is my tribute to the emotions I feel when looking at landscapes, since some of the greatest memories I have are from beautiful places around the world. I'm going to try to capture the emotions of these places perhaps in a more clinical way than Tangerine Dream did in "Canyon Dreams", which really could have been a better album, but I won't go into much detail here.
The questions remain: how? When? With whom? I have no idea, but these, apart from living out my years with my beloved family and being a movie star, are my greatest dreams, and I intend to see them completed someday. For those that wish to join me, you're welcome to do so, as long as you acknowledge that I'm both kind and stubborn when it comes to my musical endeavors.
Note: two steps that I've taken to achieve these goals are the following:
One, read Danc's article on "Learning from Touring Bands", which once again shows that my writing isn't one tenth as interesting as his (read my post earlier about Lost Garden), let alone informative about interesting subjects. I honestly have no idea how he is able to write in such an in depth way about so many things.
Two, begin planning and executing achievement rather than bitching about the lack of it. I can leave less loose ends on Club Silicon and provide more helpful information to others, which really should be the purpose of blogs and newsletters, not necessarily blab boxes or ego machines. I probably have 90% of the information needed to create a successful band, the only thing lacking, as I've already stated, is the time.
While there are no Lowe's within easy driving distance here in San Diego, back in Austin Jeanette and I used to frequent these hardware stores often, as we were outfitting a house and workshop at the time.
enjoyed, for whatever reason, walking around in a big warehouse. Back in Annapolis there was a place called Hechinger's (which I believe is now a Lowe's) that I have fond memories of. Social desolation but being totally surrounded by goods. 
First let me apologize for not having posted in awhile. First there was a business trip to New Jersey, then a very enjoyable and long overdue family vacation, then my grandmother died and I went to Virginia. Now that I'm back I have plenty to report. 
