conspiracies&racketeering

In 1999, just before entering college, I invested in equipment to do computer-based home-studio recording. I could now record my own guitar, Stick, percussion, vocals, etc. along with the MIDI sounds I'd been using. I also learned about the whole range of complex audio effects that are possible with modern technology. I studied mixing and producing, experimented a lot, and read recording magazines and books.

I explored a large range of styles and ideas, and started to write songs with lyrics and more standard structure as compared to solely instrumental compositions. I learned a lot about modern audio editing in the course of fixing my own timing mistakes and pitch and other issues. In many ways, I was doing similar manipulations as I had previously done with MIDI alone, but I was applying that to recorded audio. None of this was designed for live performance. I'm not happy with all of the performances, but I think the pieces are unique and intriguing enough to share. I don't know if I'll ever get to my dream of re-doing any of this or other older material.

The pieces from this album include blues, funk, jazz, techno, rock, experimental (such as a piece using only sounds of paper, pencil, and pen), and even rap. I had some friends add some extra parts, and one friend did the bulk of the lyric writing. The title comes from a lyric he wrote that was never used.

Around this time, the internet was just becoming mature enough to share music online. I signed up for mp3.com, which at the time was the premier site for sharing one's original music (it later shut down and is now something totally different). Through mp3.com, I produced a third album, and sold a decent number of CDs. The production quality was better than my first album and required less up-front investment than the bulk manufacturing I had done with the second. However, when mp3.com shut down, I had no quick way to continue publishing the album. No copies of this CD are available currently.