music making

Buy me a beer

~ Clicky Steve ~ Leave a comment

I have a hard drive full of half finished songs, modular synth jams, and other bits and bobs that I haven’t (and may never) release. However, there’s a whole bunch of cool stuff in there, and I’ve decided to give folks that are interested the chance to peek behind the curtain if they are really interested by creating a members’ only area on https://www.buymeacoffee.com/allmyfriends/ to share these b sides and oddities.

Along with music, I’ll be sharing samples taken from my tracks, or recorded using my myriad of weird and wonderful instruments. Some will be free, some for members or supporters only. I think that there’s a particularly Scottish inclination to avoid sharing things out of a fear they’re not good enough, so I’m trying to get over that. None of this is stuff that I would post ‘officially’ anywhere else, so I’ll still continue to blog and post here and on YouTube etc as I usually do. Click through for more.

2021 Goals

~ Clicky Steve ~ Leave a comment

I don’t tend to do these kinds of posts for anything else, but with music there’s so many different ongoing projects, that I think it’s helpful to set out what I want to get done in the year, then look back on it at the end. I’ve touched upon some of this before, but here goes.

1. Release ease and desist EP

I have a full EP basically finished and ready to go under the ease and desist moniker. I just need to get through the final mixing and mastering stages, but am finding it hard to get the motivation to do so. It’s a bit different to my usual styles, so is proving to be a challenge. If I don’t get this done in the next 12 months I may as well quit everything.

2. Use YouTube More

I used to post synth videos on YouTube, and gathered just over 1k followers in a fairly short space of time. It became a faff though, so I stopped. This year, I want to make an effort to pick it back up, as it can be a good motivator/way to experiment with different projects. The specific targets are to i) post at least 12 videos in 2021, and ii) get the subscriber count to 2k. Completing the first goal should hopefully lead to the second. I’ve already re-branded the channel as allmyfriendsaresynths and posted the first video… with a bunch more in progress, so this should be achievable.

3. Listen to 10k tracks

I use Last.FM to track a lot of the music I listen to, and I’ve noticed that I am often most creative musically after listening to more music. However, I am not very good at just having music on ‘passively’, so it can be tricky to balance. I need to make an actual effort to sit and listen. Anyway, in the past I have never hit 10k tracks in one year. 2021 is the year to make that happen. I’ve worked out I need to listen to about 30 tracks a day, which should be doable…

4. Finish two KOSMO rows

I have started building a modular synth in the KOSMO format. I want to complete the build of the case, and at least two rows of the modules. Again, should be achievable.

5. Release another album

I have a whole pile of tracks built up from various projects, but nothing full length yet. The last release I put out was 2 years ago, so I want to end that drought.