Two new covers
I posted a few new cover videos recently. Simple acoustic covers.
I tried to do a cover of the Beatles classic Tax Man for tax day, but just like my real taxes, I missed the deadline. I finished the cover anyway, and I’m actually happy with how it turned out.
And then a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to see Kenny Loggins perform live here in Vegas. It was great to see him perform all the songs I grew up singing. But for me the highlight was This is It. I decided to cover it the very next day.
Musings on Mars
My new album, Musings on Mars, is out now!
It’s the second album I’ve worked with Bill Zappia on. Diamondhead was the first. This time, Bill and I tackle some old 80s and 90s classics and re-envision them in a funky modern jazz piano vibe.
My new album, Musings on Mars, is out now!
It’s the second album I’ve worked with Bill Zappia on. Diamondhead was the first. This time, Bill and I tackle some old 80s and 90s classics and re-envision them in a funky modern jazz piano vibe.
Get it anywhere music is sold:
Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/2pcij8i
iTunes: https://bit.ly/2xkfpTv
Amazon: https://bit.ly/2xjKHtA
Spotify: https://bit.ly/2QDYdQD
Free Sample Pack
After I recorded my Johnny Cash cover, I decided to make a small sample pack of the sounds I created. Mostly percussive stuff, guitar hits, etc. But I also made two virtual instruments from some weird effects that I made during the recording process.
After I recorded my Johnny Cash cover, I decided to make a small sample pack of the sounds I created. Mostly percussive stuff, guitar hits, etc. But I also made two virtual instruments from some weird effects that I made during the recording process.
It's a mixed bag of vocals, guitar hits, and noises.
The pack includes 49 samples, including loops and one-shots.
It also includes 3 custom Kontakt instruments (bass, drumkit, and vocal pad)
And the best part is, it's free! Check it out here: https://gumroad.com/l/JETXR
Diamondhead Blips begin
As my friend Bill Zappia is furiously working on arrangements and production for the album, I decided to use bits of my demos as the soundclips for my first few blips. I'm hoping to switch over to using the final audio once I get that from Bill, but for now I actually like using this early stuff.
Years ago Radiohead released a bunch of super cool video Blips for their album Kid A. I immediately fell in love with the idea of these tiny music video clips and thought "someday, I want to make a bunch of these." For some reason, I never got around to doing that for No More Kings (I have a bunch of unfinished ones on my old hard-drive). So now that I'm about to release my first solo album, I decided to make a bunch of them.
As my friend Bill Zappia is furiously working on arrangements and production for the album, I decided to use bits of my demos as the soundclips for my first few blips. I'm hoping to switch over to using the final audio once I get that from Bill, but for now I actually like using this early stuff.
Diamondhead
I announced my new solo album today! It will be my first solo album, and it's called Diamondhead. It's a six-song EP that I wrote while in my hotel room on a trip to Hawaii. I'm really very excited to release it and find out what people think of it!
I announced my new solo album today! It will be my first solo album, and it's called Diamondhead. It's a six-song EP that I wrote while in my hotel room on a trip to Hawaii. I'm really very excited to release it and find out what people think of it!
I sketched quite a bit while I was there, and I filmed a ton. As I've been working on the album more aggressively these past few weeks, I've been drawing more. I've been peeking through the footage I shot to find interesting Hawaii stuff to draw. I did this watercolor and pen and ink drawing of the Diamondhead crater itself. I'm thinking of using it for the album cover, and then maybe the long version for the wraparound digipack.
I've still got a ton of work left to do before the album is ready to go, but I'm super excited about it all. It will be my first solo album. It's quite different from anything I've done with No More Kings. It's a lot moodier and more electronic. There's some dance stuff, there's some introspective stuff. There's even an instrumental track, which I'm sure is surprising to a lot of people since I'm primarily a vocalist.
All in all, I can't wait to be able to share more of it.
A couple covers
For some reason I've had Katy Perry's Dark Horse stuck in my head for a few days now. So I decided to cover it. I thought it'd be fun to slow it down and make it a bit moodier. I think I might do the full song at some point. Maybe when I'm ready to record my first full cover album.
For some reason I've had Katy Perry's Dark Horse stuck in my head for a few days now. So I decided to cover it. I thought it'd be fun to slow it down and make it a bit moodier. I think I might do the full song at some point. Maybe when I'm ready to record my first full cover album.
A while ago, I got a new plugin from Tim Exile called Flesh. It's a ridiculously cool plugin, and as I was playing with it I accidentally covered Ben Folds Five!
I've done a bunch of covers over the past few years. When I'm ready to make a full-on cover album, I'm sure a bunch of these will end up on it. Check you my YouTube playlist of all my covers so far.