The Darkstar has an agenda. Let’s call it a Mission Statement. There are several missions. One of them is to bring quality thinking persons music back to the world. Music that touches the emotions and heart strings. The kind that makes you believe you’re in the throes of a religious experience. This is just one of the missions. The Epical musical movement is by design, intended to be the most thought provoking, explosive, emotive musical genre to date. It will ride in on the backs of the Dynamic Mental Attitude theorem created by Darkstar. It will empower, it will channel it will enrich and it will free you from the angst felt in every generation. This angst is not just teenage as it transcends to the adult version called “stress”. It will touch and change the lives of many. By belief alone it can reshape your mode of thinking, yet only if you let it. You think today’s artists speak to you and express your troubles? I think you’re just settling for whatever artists are out there claiming to offer you a glimmer of happiness all the while it continues to elude you.

It’s back to the music my friends. That’s where it all starts. Before I become too old, I’m throwing down the gauntlet to all the so called “super acts” out there. My arsenal will be massive and impressive. I will not let these talents be wasted. I will amass my team and not sell you a bill of goods disguised as good music. I will deliver you a package deal that will make you feel just that much better about this crappy world we’ve been stuck with.

That was an old expression from the ad campaign for Dunkin’ Donuts some 30 odd years ago…around the time of Wendy’s “where’s the beef” Clara Peller ads. Ah pop icons and popular slogans. It’s great to have them… I’ll need to come up with quite a few myself. I may have to grab some off of my twitter.

So what’s been going on in my musical production world? Well, I’ve been trying to get all these blogs going so people can stop thinking I’ve given up on everything. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Here’s the News Flashes to date:

I am definite on incorporating. I’m also a tad confused by the particulars but I’ve heard it’s simple (my useless brother isn’t so useless being he has a Masters degree in Business last I remembered) so I’m going to proceed with making the “I” in DCPI (Darkstar Creative Productions Incorporated) or whatever new name I decide upon…real

Saccovan and I spent a day fleshing out four songs in “sketch” format. This means we developed chord and note structures and built sonic recorded sketches of the four new songs with vocals to start the process going.

The following songs are in production:

* “A God they will see” (a song about looking inward to your own self empowerment)

* “Godless”, (a song of religious irony and blind faith)

* “Killer Tune” (a gory horror rock opera song about a rampaging serial killer),

* ” Beware the Quiet Ones” (another vignet song which touches on the angst of 3 people and the issues of child molestation, cutting , homosexuality, hazing and a loose basing on the Matthew Shepard story.

I’m intent on securing backing for these projects and it appears that the one term and condition there is for said backing makes the most sense: CONTRACTS.

I have a design flaw. I’m far too trusting for my my own good. I think I inherently want everyone to be my friend, unfortunately that doesn’t always work in business and that’s what this is. I think Saccovan is a great guy. I think he’s brilliant and genius and he helps me loads, but in the end everything needs to be spelled out in writing to protect both of us.

He even mentioned it and I wasn’t getting it. It was when he asked “How will we know it’s finished to the effect that I get paid?” Things like that need to be addressed for the security of us both. That and stuff like “exclusivity clauses”. So I know my tunes aren’t gonna be stolen. Not everyone lives with the ethics of Klingon Honor.

I have a goal I set that I want to complete. No…it’s not really what you think… I want to be able to take my mother, while she’s still alive, with me to the Grammy’s where hopefully I’m not only nominated, but a winner.

New year, new beginnings, new drive.

So here’s the story.

First things first…we have ProTools. This means I now have almost every music production software available. From Ensoniques Paris, to Cakewalk Homestudio 8, to Reason 1 , Reason 3 , Cubase, Redrum and more… my circle is complete as ProTools is the industry leader and what most musicians use.

I now have two teams for production.

Alpha Team:
Alpha Team is myself and Saccovan. We’ll be working on the future projects like “Man God” which resumes production shortly after holidays and studio moves and restructures and computer failures and other things that come to piss me off. Alpha Team will use our mutual ProTools equipment, his guitars, mandolins, bass and Korg Triton rack along with my Roland Fantom-S workstation/keyboard.
Omega Team:

Omega Team is myself and Ed Friedman. He’s back from working on Hollywood projects and has torn down his antiquated “Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll” mentality and embraced the new wave of Dark Rock that is Epica. He’s in charge of tearing down both “Darkside” and “Consecrate: Anthem of the Athame” and an older song; “Master of the Dark” from the “GUNK “(gothic/Funk fusion )  Project. He must learn the songs notes and structures and begin rebuilding them. He’ll be responsible for mapping key changes, changing tempos and helping rebuild to more realistic choir and stronger, punchier orchestrations. Omega Team will be using our mutual ProTools equipment, his guitars, bass and Korg Triton workstation/ workstation along with my Roland Fantom-S workstation/keyboard.

This is where we’re at. The project goes full swing within days.

Make it so! Engage!

I’ve done it. I’ve found the Jim Steinman to my Meatloaf. I’ve found the Garfunkel to my Simon. I’ve found the man that’s gonna put Epica on the top of the heap of the revolution!

Ok… His stage name is The Producer: SACCOVAN, and when I first heard his song “Sake” which he claims he wrote and recorded drunk in 6 hours, I knew he was the guy for me.

One day he came to the day job. I have a roll up midi keyboard that I keep in my briefcase. We pulled it out and in a few moments he was grasping half the melodic bass line I was going to use in my latest song; “Man-god”. Hell, we even took the time out to test what my vocal range was so he could make sure he could work within the parameters! That’s what I call a professional! A few days later he calls me up and asks me to come over. Let me digress and tell you that a man who lives 8 blocks from my job which is 12 miles from my house is so much more enticing and excellent than the 120 miles I traveled each way to the last bunch!

So anyway, I go over to his house and he plays for me about 8 or 10 tracks of the most amazing rendition of the few bass notes I gave him complete with spooky choirs and mandolins along with live bass, synth bass, rhythm guitar and very warm percussion! MANDOLINS!! I had never heard them before in modern music! They gave such an earthy yet
soulful ethereal sound to the whole thing I think I may want them in every song I do with this guy!

Not only is he a genius at fleshing things out, basically, each song should only take 6 solid days to complete rather than months or the 2 YEARS it was taking to do the other songs in the old places. This time, there’s no reason why this project will not only be completed, but be so amazingly awesome that the finished product could go for every award and record ever established. I’m talking everything from Best New Artist to Highest grossing album of all time.

OK, sure…it’s good to dream, but I truly am seeking perfection. The kind of perfection that made Thriller the all time kind of all albums sold. The kind that wins Best New Artist. The kind that smashes sales

According to my text messages, my engineer who deemed to grace me with a text communique, tells me that he doesn’t have time for my project because he has a new bunch of musicians he hangs out with that simply “dig his music“. Ok… I’m trying to start a revolution and it seems I just can’t get anyone to get it through their heads that what is being attempted here can quite possibly change the world as we know it.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe because I’ve become complacent and sedentary, the fates are pulling away a bit. There was a Twilight Zone episode where a family loses it’s daughter through an inter-dimensional portal that opens up in the daughters bedroom next to her bed an she falls into this other dimension. They map off with chalk the size of the portal.
During the course of discovering she’s in through this portal that still has the appearance of looking like a standard bedroom wall, the father is held by the ankles as they try to guide her back to the opening.

All the while, the local neighbor who was helping hold the ankles kept shouting for him to hurry. As it seemed that while the father had half his body in our dimension, the doorway to the other side was closing. Eventually, he would have been stuck with one half of himself in this dimension and the other half in the other.

That’s somewhat how I feel. Like the windows of opportunity are closing on me. With Rob quitting at this time and him telling me that the files may be “in-decipherable” is starting to tell me that 2 years of planning an recording may have been all for naught. I very well may have to buckle down and HIRE people to get this thing done. I had been trying to avoid the whole “by the hour” thing. Not to be cheap or anything, but simply because I didn’t want that “assembly line” feel. I wanted a Jim Steinman to my Meatloaf. This guy was supposed to be it, yet after 2 years we can’t finish ONE FUCKING SONG?!?!?

Now comes the times in mens souls when we must shit or get off the pot. In the next few posts I will explain how I intend to get a handle on this situation. Like a General on the battlefield, I must regroup and put things in to gear by amassing more troops. I have been to lax in my work. Now I have changed the plan. First, I must bring the base camp closer. 127 miles to record when I have a regular job is more of a time waster than anything. Secondly, I must attempt to find a way to actually finish Consecrate be it in another studio, at home or back up at Robs. Either way, it’s something that must be done. I’d rather not have to do both Darkside AND Consecrate all over again.

There is a new plan. I’m going to let it fly. You’ll be able to keep up with the progress here at my new home for Epical updates.

So here it is. The brand spankin’ shiny new Epichronical blog. This is the blog strictly for all the project progress reports and the technical end about what’s entailed in trying to get this musical career in flight. Posts prior to this will be imported from my “Project Progress Reports” category at the Path to Endarkenment blog.

Following this will be the most current of what’s going on in the ways of the Epical Musical Prophet.