It's been a hot minute since my last entry, and a whole lot has happened. I am exceedingly thankful to those of you who have signed up to my newsletter so far, and this is a great way to just discuss my thoughts. But where to start?

Overall in my opinion, my releases have been a resounding success. No they haven't blown up, No I haven't made any profit, no it hasn't lead me to any other opportunity i would otherwise not have had. BUT I put my music out there, and people liked it - at the end of the day, when people message you congratulating you on a great release, you have done something right. I enjoyed imvolving people in the name of the EP, song order, artwork, and how I should perform it at my gigs - and I really enjoyed the community aspect of it. This newsletter is going to be a ramble. I am not going to edit it multiple times before releasing, and after releasing. It just is what it is.

I decided to release the exact hundred songs version of Waste without any studio work like I did with the others. Why? I'm Lazy. But also it is the best representation of where I am. I still use Logic drummer for the drums - not a live session player like I should. Everything was recorded while being filmed, and itg wasn't perfect. It is a home studio rock release. That's what I wanted to convey. The artwork (like the music video) was a photo from the garden outside my house.

In comparison, the other songs are extremely polished. I spent hours upon hours of particular mixing, editing and mastering - and yes So Wide Awake is a better song than Waste is. Ghost Linkz helped with the artwork, and it was phenomenal. But at the end of the day, I am an independent musician doing everything in a studio that used to be his bedroom - yes Billie Eilish and Finneas did it, but the reality is, I simply cannot get a perfect rock sound using MIDI drums - I can get close, and anyone who listens to mysongs can tell me how close I got - but this EP serves as a showcase. I want to use it as a business card - here is my EP, I did it at home on Logic, Imagine what i could do with a proper studio.

Where are you going and Hot Coffee serve as me telling people I am a rock musician, but I am also a songwriter who spans multiple genres - but they are still rock songs. Why? Because I say so.

Midnight Memories is the only song that I feel uncomfortable releasing - recording it was extremely draining. I couldn't record the vocals with a full mix. I recorded them with just the synth track playing so that I could get the delivery right. and My god it worked. However, i think the snare drum could be mixed better.

And yes. So Wide Awake is the best song. The guitar solo was recorded on a whim 2 days before the song dropped on Spotify, and enhanced it massively. I was so nitpick-y with the vocal performance, and ensured everything was perfect. And yet I used MIDI piano (from the logic keyboard player) and Logic Dummer. Imagine if I could hire a piano player for that song.

Last Sunday I had a gig in the morning, and it was literally my best ever performance. I sang very well, made no mistakes, and most importantly felt good after.

I then met a songwriter - first time ever meeting him, serendipity kicked in and I got offered another gig. I said yes - asked the guy if he wanted to perform, then had the idea to write a song together and perform it. so we prepared 3 songs. One of mine, One of his, and one together

On arriving to the venue, turns out we could play 4 songs, so before i started I was like "let's just play this song - circles these are the chords and just chime in with the occasional oohs and ahs" and we performed, it was great.

After this, we were walking back to the car and saw in Camden Jazz cafe that Guthrie Govan was playing - literally the best guitarist in the world - and he was plaing jazz fusion with an indian classical inspired bassist called Shez Raja - Holy shit I love that fusion.

Anyways mind was blown, got home at 11.30 and boom next 30 minutes EP was released.

That is pretty much the perfect day you could ask for as a musician. I started the day with a rehearsed set - as In i went through it 3 times with my parents to perfect it. I then met a songwriter and collaborated on an impromptu song, we then improvised another song while performing, then we saw the master of improv himself.

Like the title of this section, if every day could be like that I would be so fulfilled. Unfortunately it's not and you have to face the reality of life and get stuck in "midnight memories"

This is just a teenager complaining. feel free to skip

I feel quite down today, because I got reprimanded for saying that AI music was a funny concept. I also found out that Logic session players use AI, and felt annoyed that was the case "after all I programmed everything and changed a ton of stuff in MIDI afterwards"

Now apart from that showing I have a fragile ego and zero emotional maturity, it made me realize something. I always maintain that if something is ai generated, they should and have to declare it. But in instances of ai being used for convenience is this the case? I could very easily map out a midi drum part, but that's annoying, time consuming, and a computer can do it better than me. You could also then argue, that making music could sometimes be seen as annoying, time consuming - and a computer can do it better than me. So what's the point?

Funnily enough, I think Waste answers this question. Music doesn't mean shit unless you write it, share it, experience it, listen to it. Just because I use computer generated MIDI drums doesn't make my music less valuable - it just is the best way for me to communicate my song - what's the the point in writing songs fretting on every word, every instrument? I use music creation as a vessel to execute whatever is in my brain. If an AI can read my mind, and communicate my message better than me should I use it?

Again this is all with the stipulation that AI is used ethically and does not destroy people's careers. In my example, there's no way I could afford studio time and a professional drummer to record my songs for me for this release - hence I am not using it as an alternative, rather a stop gap. Similarly what if somebody wants to make a piece with 150 instruments all of which they cannot play, and cannot afford to hire, and cannot conceivably make with MIDI?

AI should be used to make people's lives easier not harder.

Gigs, Collaboration, Content, University, Next EP, Collaboration, Gigs, Gigs, Another EP maybe for fun, content, Gigs, Content, Gigs, Content, Exams, maybe an album Gigs.........5 years down the line 1000 fans.

I expect to release my next EP - drifting like a particle sometime in September, I would like to record it in a studio, and have applied to a Studio residency, but i doubt I will get it - this may be something I can use crowdfund for - hiring a studio and at least a session drummer to record 5 songs.

The goal is to make a living income off my music. I do want a manager at some point soon (mostly to get all these gigs), but I am in no rush, I have all the time in the world. Yes we see all these pop stars who are just 3-4 years older than me - but that's luck and money, mostly luck. What I can control is ensuring I am the best musician I can be. Non-musicians are under the impression the goal is to be famous. No the goal is to be Fulfilled. Yes I still am Web3's first Rockstar tho - I ain't letting anyone ever forget that.