2011 Plans: Working With Others

Since finishing my thesis, projects have really begun to pick up. So here's what's going on so far for me in 2011:

- I have been working with a San Diego-based fashion company (or community?) called Mahal Style for a while now. They promote a positive and creative message through various means of design and have chosen my music to use for their many video spotlights. If you've been following me or them on Facebook then I'm sure you've seen my name tagged in some of their video uploads. What's different now though is that I will finally be able to devote more time to actually making music for them, rather than them having an older, slowly shrinking selection of songs to rummage through. They even want to do a video feature on me, which sounds fun. For this I will be trying to reproduce that "mellow" vibe I was once (and hopefully still am) so adept at.

- This guy Brett that I met quite some time ago and haven't seen in a while reached out to me recently to join this sort of art collective that he and his friends want to start. They've known me musically for a while and they're really nice people, so I don't see any problem meshing with them. I'm not exactly sure what everyone else's artistic level/direction or whatever is, but I think the point is mainly to just form a solid foundation of support. We might all meet up sometime next week to discuss matters, but it sounds like yet another good way to get exposure. Here I imagine myself having complete freedom to do whatever I want.

- And lastly (for now), my long time rapper friend Chris and I formed somewhat of a "band" with another friend of his who plays drums. I basically handle the electronic/dusty sounding drums and samples, the other guy plays along with me (or vice versa), and then Chris raps. We've only played twice together so far, but since I have so much unused music accumulated, we really have a lot to work with, especially with a third person present. And the last practice was more solidifying in terms of finding a unique sound and entering the beginning stages of writing actual songs (something I've never been good at with others -- but that's just because those past others weren't the right people). We're looking forward to actually playing some shows soon, which would be a new experience for me.


So other than a potential remix opportunity or two, working on my own solo material (which can be complimented by projects #1 and #2 above), or even doing a few songs here and there with other less committed friends of mine, it looks like these are the three big main projects I have going on for this summer.

For now, you can stay updated on what's going on with me via soundcloud and bandcamp, links below.
www.soundcloud.com/deadmoney
deadmoney.bandcamp.com

News for September (and beyond)

The [grossly hyped up] 18th Radio AG live transmission party was canceled, creating the upset of the year. Maybe it'll be back in late September? I'm not even sure what to do with the 5 or 6 mixes I've come up with since July. Everything on that end seems to be dead: I did want to do some off-the-radar live mixes, but I haven't been able to get a hold of the bossman Slye. Anyway, I'm not dead, and to prove it I have a new remix posted on my Soundcloud page (and don't forget to check out my other remix I did for DJ Snakes, which is buried somewhere underneath my other recent tracks).

So what's next? Not much else for this year. It looks like I'll be buckling down with school and minimally working on whatever music I already have roughed out (which appears to be kind of a lot). Some of it may appear on the Allied Heights compilation; some of it may get rapped to; or some of it may just end up lost on the internet somewhere. Perhaps I'll be able to fit in a few more remixes -- which I'm not sure will ever be officially released; just depends on who I'm working with/for -- but other than that I don't think I'll have enough time to devote to some big project. Keep me in your thoughts though.

Relevant links:
www.soundcloud.com/deadmoney
www.alliedheights.com
www.radioag.com

To Feel Proper Again Ep + Bonus CD

On August 28th I will be officially releasing my short-term EP To Feel Proper Again on CD format, available for free to those who attend the 18th Radio AG Live Transmission Party on that night. To kick off my DJ set, which will be around 9pm, I will play a song from the album as well as an unreleased (or soon-to-be-released) track during the set. The CD will come packaged with a sleeve, insert, and label. The first 15 copies will come with a bonus CD featuring tracks made in 2009 that never saw the light of day (but were meant to). Eventually both will be available either for free download or purchase via the forthcoming Radio AG/Allied Heights webstore. For now you can currently preview both albums on my soundcloud page here (in the sets section):

www.soundcloud.com/deadmoney

Also be sure to tune into Radio AG on the 28th, 7pm-12am:
www.radioag.com

More Than a Year Later...

Sorry about the lack of updates in the past year. This project has not gone under... just yet. As for news of an upcoming release, I do not have any planned thus far. I do, however, have other news regarding my status in the world of music.

1.) Partners in crime and fellow DJs/producers/artists from the Allied Heights crew have recruited Dead Money Productions to join in their roster for an upcoming compilation. Said compilation will feature a variety of collaborations between these two very different camps of artists, as well as other contributions from neighboring friends and family. We're hoping to have an official release before the year [2010] is up so that we can finally have something to show for several years of knowing each other and making music independent of each others input (until now). Production is well under way.

2.) In addition to the aforementioned group, as well as any rappers/vocalists I've been working with here and there, I have also decided to ally myself with yet another estranged group of artists, one of which is a member of a band that has become quite popular here in San Diego (resulting in the band's receiving of a San Diego Music Award for best rock band last year). Through friends of friends, I have forged a budding friendship with these people and we have exciting plans to get together, hopefully soon, to test out our music ability and chemistry.

3.) My stint over at Radio AG as a monthly resident DJ has been fun and still continues -- but not for this month's broadcast, which will be on June 26. I've been trying to introduce anyone who listens to the station online to newer music out there, stuff I really like, and the response seems positive enough to continue doing so without fear of rejection or sounding "too inaccessible." Unfortunately, my sets have been confined to the CD decks, mostly because I cannot afford to collect vinyl anymore and the fact that I only own one turntable (another expense saver). Please do give these guys a listen though, as there will always be something interesting playing at any given point during the day.

4.) As a part of the turning of the year 2010, I'd like to create a roster of artists for the DM team, most notably all of whom represent me but in the many different forms I can take musically. This will be posted shortly.

UnReRelease, A Real Release + Upcoming Release News

A while back (2005 or 2006?) I decided to just sit down with a 4-track, microKorg, SP-303 sampler, a couple of effects pedals, and belt out an album on the spot in one sitting. I remember spending three nights doing this before I ended up losing interest in the idea, but in those three nights I did record some interesting stuff. I say interesting only because it came together so well, and looking back on it now, I'm glad I kept it. So I've only now decided to finally upload these four songs made on some weird nights that only came out to about 26 minutes of music. It's messy, it's gritty, and it's called "The Things That Don't Matter."

Download here (right click, save as) for free

Oh, and for those who have been patiently waiting, here's the link for Something For Now [Summer Edition]

Download Summer Edition (right click, save as)

In other news: on my semester-long musical hiatus (still in progress) I've had a lot of time to brood over ideas for albums, alter egos, and the like. So when I get some time, which will hopefully be this Summer, I plan on getting busy and coming up with something for the year 2009. It may not be anything hugely huge, like my last fallout, but the point is just to make something for the sake of making it. I've already got a few usable songs* and a potential album cover made. Actually, I have two projects in mind: a regular album of beats, and of course one of ambient stuff. In light of the above blurb, one may even be composed using my old 4-track. In the course of their creation, furthermore, the two may also merge into one, as has been likely to happen whenever I have a seemingly great "concept album" idea. So I hope to have something for everyone by at least Fall, and then something official no later than November (don't get too ahead of yourself). See you sometime before then.

* Tune into Radio AG's Live Transmission Party this Saturday night (8pm-12am), and I might just play a short poorly mixed preview of what I've been working on.

Apologies

Sorry about not really adding much to this site lately. Sadly, the team at DM has become extremely busy with other priorities and everything has been unofficially put on hold until a better time (most likely this Summer). On the bright side, the kind folks at Radio AG have been nice enough to let me (along with some of my messy alter egos) play some records during their Live Transmission Parties on Friday nights. I usually just compile a stack of records -- mostly stuff that has been influential to me -- and loosely organize them in my head with only one turntable at my disposal for preparation. So it's not like I create any awesome blends or anything like that, as I'm no professional DJ, but it is just fun to jam to some tunes with old (and new) friends. So if you care to listen online, you can do so via live365.com at www.radioag.com. I will most likely be there for the 3-1-3 show (3-13-09), getting set up and running sometime before 9 PM. I do this about once every other week, which could change, but the other DJs have regularly scheduled programming. Thanks!

Equipment List

For those interested, this list of equipment will give you an idea of what I have to work with. Granted it isn't the most elaborate setup, as I am on a budget, but it contains some prized material that I have acquired over the years.

First I should mention my Korg D-8 digital 8-track because it receives all of my transmissions.
Next is my Apple iBook G3, which houses my frequently used software (namely Reason 3.0 and Ableton Live 4.0)
Connected to that is my M-Audio O2 MIDI controller keyboard
and Korg padKontrol MIDI drum pad controller.

As for synthesizers, we have:
Alesis Micron analog synthesizer
and the ever-popular Korg Microkorg analog synthesizer

Sampler:
Boss SP-404 (upgraded from the classic SP-303)

Pedals/whatnot:
Korg Kaoss Pad KP-2
Korg Kaoss Pad Mini
Akai Headrush E-1
Akai Headrush E-2
Electroharmonix Metal Muff distortion
Boss Digital Delay DD-6

Most of the main items go into an Alesis MultiFX 6 channel mixer, (with pedals on auxiliary) which outs to the Headrush pedals,
and then for PC recording I use a Lexicon Alpha amp/2 channel mixer

I also on occasion have been known to use my Yamaha PSR-172 digital keyboard
and Glockenspeil
along with two Hohner melodicas.