anyway, i digress, the mastering will be done by new alliance east (they did the caspian records) and i’m really quite thrilled that they’ll be helping me out with this project (and also nervous.)

i’ve started working on the cd packaging (it’ll be simple) and a new web site is also being developed, and will hopefully be launched when the record is released.

the vinyl for this record will come out. figuring out how to finance it. been kicking around the idea of using kickstarter, and there are some other options which are too premature to discuss right now, but needless to say it’ll get worked out.

lastly, will be releasing the bonus track “nothing has divided” as a free download just prior to the record being released.

hell, its those kind folks that lend me just a fraction of legitimacy. i’m really going to be working on this. one thing i am going to be doing is going to a friend’s recording studio (dirty water sound and music) and track drums and some guitars and maybe get some help with my mixes so that at least the stuff i produce doesn’t sound as amateur as it does now (probably the more significant source of frustration i have and what consistently fuels this feeling of illegitimacy.)

another aspect is the fact that sky flying by is not a real band, i can’t tour, or play live gigs. mostly because i’m intolerably difficult to get along with. no, not that i have a huge ego and everything must be done my way… not in the slightest (in fact, i have very little ego, it got snuffed out by years of self deprecation and trauma)… but what the issue is, i’m not very good at human interactions, and i usually make people feel pretty awkward and uncomfortable, so that’s why i’m not part of a band.

so this new song i’m working on is a reason to keep truckin. i know i’m not a real artist, and i know sky flying by isn’t a real band but there has to be a reason i keep doing this. i don’t know what it is, but i’ll keep looking. and when this new song is finished, maybe i’ll be another step closer to finding that reason.

anyway, the record is coming right along. i know its been a very long time since i dropped an update here. the summer has been quite busy (with the day job) but i’ve managed to write seven songs. yes, that’s right, seven complete songs. obviously to come up with seven songs, there are literally dozens of pieces that never were finished or were simply just discarded, but i think i like what i’ve got here.

so, that means its time to get into the studio and get these songs recorded for real. good timing actually because graduate school starts up again in a few weeks. i’m only taking one class, but heh, if last semester was any indication, one is about all i can handle.

the idea is to carve out a week in September to track the next record at md recording studio and then mix it at dirty water sound. so hopefully before the end of this year, there will be a new record released.

so now that i’m finished, i will now actually have some spare time to really start working on music. i am going to be going into the studio this summer to start recording the next record, and it sure would be nice to actually have songs to record.

so that’s my story and i’m sticking to it.

i did, however, start actually working on the next record, which is to say that i’ve dabbled with some guitar tracks here and there. nothing too conclusive yet and nothing to write home about.

as soon as i get something i want to post, i shall, through the usual sites (and through here of course)

the more i think about it the more i believe that “how much worse…” was a mistake. this review just confirmed for me what i had in the back of my head all along. this release was a test. i suppose being a software engineer i’d call it an alpha release, see how the system works and then go back to the drawing board.

i’ve been working on  music for the better part of 22 years, and i still haven’t figured it out, and this release just does show that i’m still confused. i’ll keep practicing, but i’m not making any promises.

the next day (last night) i found the internal reset switch, pressed it, waited 30 minutes. nothing. so, this is probably not good. the power supply is probably completely hosed.

i may try to set up pro tools on to my macbook pro, but i’m not sure if i can because i only have a full install version of protools from bersion 6.9 and most likely will not work on an intel-based chip set (which my macbook pro is) and then i’d have to upgrade up to version 7.4 or 8.0. ugh. what a pain this is.

so, i came up with something that might stick. its called “drifting further home” kind of a “sequel” to the other song “drifting further out” (which was on the last record.)

take a listen. or not. leave feedback, or not.

Download: Drifting Further Home