It's both surprising and not that my last update was over 2 years ago. It looks as if I fell off a cliff musically when I started my full-time job, but thankfully, that's not really the case! I'll do a quick recap of 2014-2015 and then get into the now:
2014: The Void
In January of 2014 I started working at CustomInk, which has been great in a lot of ways. However, I did spend most of my time focusing on getting better at my job and getting 'normal' life stuff together. Musically, however, without a tangible focus and goal, I found myself treading water at best.
The bit of composition that I did in 2014 was for the Global Game Jam, at which my friend Nick Wasilewski (who has been one of the main forces behind Videoball, I might add) and I made a short game called the Eye-mazing Sneeze Extravaganza. I composed the tunes and, strangely, did the 'art' - for the project. You can listen to the tracks and read more about the experience in my last blog post.
2015: Escape
Skipping ahead all the way to early 2015, my friend Natalie Parisi asked if I would be interested in composing music for her new company Locurio's escape room in Seattle. I was very excited to accept, of course. Not only had I been itching to sit down to compose after a long break, I was excited to collaborate with Natalie, someone who has an amazing spirit and is very driven towards living her dreams.
And so, months went by, music was composed, and edits were made. In the summer, The Vanishing Act was open for business, and my music was featured in the only escape room in Seattle known to have its own original soundtrack. The tracks for this project are all long loops and I have yet to make short cuts of them, but I will be updating the site soon with those cuts for you all to hear.
In October, I capitalized on an opportunity to relocate to Charlottesville, VA, which was truly the last place I had felt connected to a music scene.
2016: Back into The Swing
The end of January marked my last days in Northern Virginia. I accomplished a lot and ultimately can look fondly on my time living there, but I'm very happy to be back in Charlottesville. Already have I accomplished much of that which I had sought upon moving:
- I have been listening to a lot of live music. The scene - especially the jazz - is vibrant and easily accessible.
- I have been playing live music. At the beginning of May I started a weekly gig at a local restaurant on Tuesdays. It just so happens, too, that many of my mates from college have also returned to the area, so it has been beyond great to reconnect with them and form an official musical collective.
- I have found greater peace. The hustle and bustle of city life has never been for me, and even though I lived outside of the city proper in NoVA, the lifestyle still felt too fast-paced. Slowing things down, breathing the fresh mountain air, and listening to the sounds of silence has been great for my spirit.
At the moment I am focused on keeping up the momentum of playing live music and developing my skills in that realm once again. These skills allow me to connect with music on a deeper level and fuel new, more creative compositional directions. With the group gigging regularly, my attention turns to an arrangement project that I have been dreaming up for the past few years. As this project develops, even though I'm keeping the details on the DL, I will certainly provide some teasers and updates.
More original video game-inspired compositions will come, and my dream of writing for games is still very much alive. I'm really excited about the direction things are going right now and look forward to sharing more music more regularly with you.
As always, thanks for reading--see you back here soon!
