Waiting for Darker Skies
This was my first solo project and was a total learning experience for me on many different levels. First off I'm not a singer but I wanted to explore that as an option on this cd. Now I truly appreciate how difficult singing can be and how it really takes a lot of talent and practice to become proficient at it. Just the idea of staying in key but yet still trying to be expressive is no small feat. I think playing guitar and knowing some theory made singing a little easier, expecially when formulating the harmonies.

Another facet of this project which was new to me was the actual tracking, mixing and mastering process. I had been exposed to all these elements before but never had full control of their outcomes. I pretty much did everything on a Roland VS-1680. It was cool to learn about the technical side of music. How recording each instrument, be it voice, guitar, bass, drums or keyboard, and how they differ from one another. I read a lot of books and articles on recording and it still feels like I only have scratched the tip of the iceberg.

The music itself was an experiment on combining two different musical genres, metal and jazz. It has a progressive feel to it but the music itself isn't pretentious, (and neither is its creator). On some songs, like Ashland, the two styles blend into eachother rather unnoticibly while on These Lines you can really see plainly where the line is drawn. I also included two instrumentals, The Sacrifice I -II and Badwater.

I think instrumental music is highly underrated. Musicians work very hard to perfect their technique and develop their own style so I feel it should be listened to as often as music with vocals (rant over). I find that instrumental rock music is surprisingly contradictory in that the only instrument featured seems to be the guitar. I think that all instruments should get equal time.