Electrock Music (2006)

Electrock Music (2006) is a hodgepodge of random instrumental MIDI compositions. The very first Electrock Music was largely a weekend's experiment in turning MIDI-generated compositions into quasi-produced finished products. Basically, I wanted to see if I could put MIDI files into Adobe Audition 1.5 and then add all kinds of crazy effects and reverb. Turns out I could.

Few of the songs on EM were written exclusively for the project. Most of them were random compositions made for fun or for practice, and several of the tunes were incomplete song heads or sections that I finished up that weekend in April 2006. Indeed, the entire project only really happened after a planned lunch date was cancelled at the last minute--she had to work the lunch shift--so I found myself with a lot of free time on my hands and in need of a distraction. This piecemeal approach is why EM has such a variety of styles and instruments. This eclecticism carried over into the far more cohesive Electrock II: Space Rock.

By Sunday night, Electrock Music was born. I handed out free copies to my Fiction Workshop class on Monday. The girl in question did a feature on EM in The Daily Gamecock, USC's student-run newspaper. We eventually did have lunch together. I think she's married now....

Electrock Music was not a rousing success, but it spawned some fun tracks. My personal favorite is "Rockin' Out is Fun." I'm also fond of "Lynyrd Skynyrd's Got Nothing on This," a rather boastful title. Fans particularly enjoyed "Rockin' Out" and "Bombast (Makes You Feel Good)," which is why I decided to arrange "Extended Bombast (Makes You Feel Better)" for EII:SR.

All in all, EM was a fun little side project that led to the creation of my most cohesive, uniform body of work, EII:SR.

Click the image above to stream and/or purchase Electrock Music.