Unstable diffusion and the Gallies

Image: Some artwork commissioned from Lord Julius Maximilian for field note #2, called "The Child". Thank you Jules.

Good morning Mr March. How are you? I’m surrounded by rabbits these fateful days… and happily lost in some Stable Diffusion. A little update on Hadder things.

Artwork and novel things: Oh things are moving along nicely, by day I’m lost in melodies and tracking for the Rabbit track and by night I’m surrounded in new art ideas. Seems some of my recent images have begun talking to me. Some are speaking the narrations for my field notes page, while others are singing for the dead rabbit video. It’s quite the sight over here. Yesterday I had the greatest ideas cross my mind for some artwork. I don’t want to give it away just yet, but I’ve always envisioned myself as the downtrodden, the person who was always so close to something big only to watch it brush past me, almost good enough for this or that. I don’t really seem to fit in and that’s ok, I suppose there are a lot of us that are like that or feel the same. Growing up I was fascinated with fantasy art, a lone kid dressed in headphones most of the time… lost in music and imagery. A tale as old as time really. I suppose that’s why Diamonds Hadder looks like it does. Anyway, I bring this up because I stumbled upon an idea yesterday for an image, which might be that Cover of this Hadder record. Although I like the artwork I’ve been doing for each track cover… I’m really excited about this new idea. It’s one thing to make a pretty picture with colors and curves and comps that stimulate you with their appearance alone. Its another thing when the image also captures a moment in time, when the character and the environment bring about a sense of wonder and emotion. I loved that about my early artistic hero's growing up.. they had a great way of lifting me from my drab life. I wandered their canvases so much growing up. Art is great therapy. Now that some of my artwork has started talking, I’ll pick a few I like for the video “field Note” narrations. I released one this week. I imagine this is a fellow on the outskirts of Bok. There’s a lot of interesting characters out there. I should mention the Galliok, or the “Gallies” quickly before I forget. At least that’s what I think they are called. They are a rather flamboyant group of almost cult like characters on the hills of Bok. Governed by some priests and priestesses.. they generally don’t relate to individual Male and Female stereotypes, “they” are a rather interesting bunch of characters. One in particular who goes by the name “Morgan”. They each possess a rare mix of masculine and feminine traits. The degree of which varies. If I could plant a seed in your brain, well, imagine a group of genderless Viking-esc magician evangelists. That’s how I see them. The Gallies are a bit religiously fanatical and imposing in their beliefs. Kind of like the crooked dirty priests of the land, self-righteous and condescending. Not all, but some. Not sure what part they will play in the tale, perhaps just a little spin off along the way for a wandering Hadder. They do have a gracefully beautiful and frightening way about them and their magic should be taken very seriously. One last thing, I remembered that Lord Banes own dark magician has a very odd thing about him, his left hand grows roots… and needs a constant trimming… for without it, a room could be overtaken in vines rather quickly, overnight so to say… a little lasting result from diving into dark spells, one of which went terribly wrong.

Music: Still tracking this week for The Dead Rabbit. Recorded some grand piano parts for the front of the track, been listening to those a lot. I had some vocals I tracked without the piano and so I had to write the piano under those vocal lines. It worked out great. I think that was one of the final puzzle pieces for this track. It was a good week for rabbit puzzle pieces, but I did take a little listening break to score the front of the Video narration for “The Child” which was released earlier in the week. That was a fun little surprise that came from nowhere. I surely didn’t plan on the narrations getting video so soon… but what can I say, I didn’t plan on my artwork talking on its own. “Plan to be surprised” I used to say.

Well, that’s about all really. Just another day in March, another storm, another clock moved forward. Spring is coming no matter what, rain or shine. One last thing, yesterday morning I pulled into my little spot in the city, where I vocalize each morning in the dark. And there she was, a little rabbit in my spot, sitting there… my headlights dashed across her body as she stood fast, head up, frozen in the lights. It made me smile. A rabbit all alone in a concrete jungle.. it seemed out of place. I smiled perhaps because my nights and days of late are spend working on the “Dead Rabbit” track… music and artwork… is it my godfather come to say hello? Is it a little tap on my shoulder? To say, young Hadder… stay the course. Or is it just a little rabbit in the city who decided to stand a post in my parking spot. I wonder, I really do. Well that’s all folks!!! Hope your well and learning stable diffusion like I am… do we really have a choice? Farwell.

-J

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZxArFraqCQ

Video: My artwork decided to talk, so I had him read a field note, "The Child""

Balls to Bones and a little Fire

Image: Some artwork in consideration for the "City of Fire" album track cover on the Diamonds Hadder "Beyond the Breakers" record.

Good morning, Friday sure does come quick. I can’t believe it’s march. Here in BOK the winter is not leaving without a fight. A little update on things.

Music: Let me start here as I’m in the final throws and fixes of my last track for the record. 3 vocal sessions this week have left me with some mixes for the road. I like this phase of recording. When I’m tracking, I generally do alternate variations of vocal melodies. Hardly do I ever just sing something and get it right the first time. That can happen, but usually there’s a lot of work that goes into the vocal melodies inside of a song. In the end I generally have lots of mixes of each track with completely different ideas that no one ever hears. These mixes live with me while I travel and in time I make decisions on which direction I want the track to take, based on a lot of things. When you get close to the end of a song, it’s nice. The mix and vocal patterns start to sound like one single thread conveying a message. It’s a bit messy at times and not always a nice process, especially on the days you spend hours tracking and really get nothing concrete. But, sure as the tides rise and fall, there are those other days when you almost want to cry because you tapped into something. The source I suppose you can call it… when your honesty and hard work just finally give you a little something special in a connected way to the music. I wish it was easy, but it’s not. My rabbit rack is moving along nicely, and I have a few mixes I’m listening to. It’s been nice to have some laser focus on it now that other hadder tasks are behind me. I know this track has been lingering a while, you really have no idea. The depth of it goes far beyond what you think. It’s a track that is quite personal and I’m hoping it comes with some closure for me. It marks a very dark tree ring of time, so to say, in my own heart and soul. In a world of very small victories, finishing this last track will be a very good day for me. I have no concern about the time it takes to create, sometimes it’s a week for a song and sometimes it’s years. Anyway, enough about that. I’m listening to mixes and any day now, the record will get capped and closed out here in 23. Last push.

Art: My good friend lord Jules has completed the 2nd piece of artwork for the field note narration called “The Child”. I’m very excited about that. That’s 2 completed and 14 to go. It’s going to be pretty cool to see all 16 in a row when they are all completed. I’ll share “The Child” new artwork later in the month. I also did a few more covers for the record this week. “City of Fire” and rivers end are in the works. I’ve always envisioned the “Rivers End” track as a foggy stream winding into a waterfall. There’s a tree on the riverbank and of course “the Witch, on the only mountain, rising up from it all”. I believe I have the cover for that now, I’ll post soon. That witch is pretty cool looking. “City of Fire” artwork has been a little difficult. I’ve done a few to date. I keep gravitating to this art I did that looks like some old record you would find in an old record store as you flip though then “Miscellaneous D” section of LP’s. We’ll see what pans out in the end. On the narrations front, now that the audio is completed, I’m looking for a video animator to bring the narrations to life. This is a tall task and I’m guess it will just be a running theme in the background of the record. Had a few inquiries about it, but nothing solid yet. It could take a while as the video animation process can be a bit costly and time consuming. Fun background stuff.

Finally: I was hoping spring would be here already, but instead I’m trapped in a 10 year blizzard. I did try to find a road out of town for the snow but everything was washed out and so I cuddled with my little rabbit track instead. Probably best. I was thinking about the trials and tribulations of life this week while the rains fell hard. Reflecting on the highs and the lows of my own life and my own ability to rise from the dead. I didn’t find any magic answers, but one thing is perfectly clear… you just stay the course. Thick or thin, balls to bones. Everything else washes out in the end. Good luck.

-j

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/77466a_5beefd95e0354f1f90312386bc5e44b3/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Video: I've always been a strange collector of things. Video things seem to come in handy for telling stories. Human stories. I feel I've only just begun this Hadder tale and I'm glad I have most of the journey documented along the way so far. To me, hadder is a lot more than just a band in LA. It's therapy for a troubling time of my life. I hope to use a lot of the footage I've gathered over the years for a video or two... for now, here is a little montage of some video during the making of Diamonds Hadder. This main vocal is taken from a recent mix of "The ballad of the Dead Rabbit", which may or may not make it to the final release. My drug of choice this week. "Stay the course Mr Hadder, stay the course."

The White Squirrel of Busker Do

Image: Final artwork for the "Long is the Road" track on the Diamonds Hadder "Beyond the Breakers" record.

Good morning snow birds. I awoke to a blizzard warning in BOK, and it warms my heart. I like these little Friday updates on things. They keep me honest.

Where to start… well, I thought I was huddled in the Lex tower till October, with all my mountain adventures a gear packed away… but, a last winter storm is knocking at my chamber door. Knock Knock.

Dear me, oh what to do… I’m rounding the bend here on the final track and artwork for the release of the first Hadder record but snow flakes and mountain frolics are a delightful poison of mine. To early to tell today… but I may disappear a few days.

For now, let’s talk Hadder.

Music and Artwork: It’s my first week with the “field Notes” narrations safely behind me. This week was lots of behind the scene stuff. A lot of the choirs you here on the record are done by me on my phone, yes, my phone… it’s a long story but I basically move loops from the studio to an app on my phone and that gives me the opportunity to track choirs and choruses where ever I want, some things you hear on the record were tracked by the pacific, some in city traffic, some on mountain look overs. Having said that, once the narrations completed, I started re-tracking some choirs for the final build outs of “The Dead Rabbit”, track. I’m fully engulfed in this now… tracking and finalizing it. In the background of completing that, I’m finalizing all the artwork for each track, getting it ready for release. I had some early imagery on the website for each song, but some were done with artwork from artists that I didn’t have rights for. They were kind enough to let me use the artwork for the time being, but I’ve always had it in the back of my head that I would do my own for each track. And so aside from tracking, I’m doing that. I think I finalized, “Evermore”, “Long is the Road” and “Master of Illusion” artwork this week. I’ve updated the website with the new images… and I have a few more tracks to do before it all comes together. I’m guessing the rest of the artwork will complete just about the same time the final track gets released. It’s all looking good so far. It’s a great feeling to be completing all this work. The day I submit it all for worldly distribution, well, it will be a big chapter closed and a tall “Brimble Weed Ale” for me and Ezra for sure, with extra grass.

Field Notes: I was thinking yesterday. Most of last year I was like a squirrel, collecting food for the winter. My food was art. I was a nerd about it… secretly stashing it all for this year. I knew I would need it to release the record. All that work is coming in quite handy at the moment. The narration releases, the record tracks, merch… it’s coming together for me. Those stockpiles are great to draw upon. It helps me move quicker with tasks this year.

On the same topic. About 2 years ago I was stockpiling ideas for the novel. Stories, characters, events… they came in little doses during my days and nights… little sticky notes and audio recordings while traveling or sitting in the shower. The squirrel that I am I safely tucked them away, not needing to understand what they were or why, but more important was just to grab them before they left my head. That turned into the first 16 narrations you hear on this website. The reason I mention this is because it’s happening again… I’m still collecting. These new little gems are the birth of the next chapter of “Diamonds Hadder”. Although I’m now in record tracking and artwork mode, aiming to finally release the record early this year, I’m quietly stashing little sticky notes and things in new dark places, for the beginnings of Chapter 2. I’ve hinted at a few in recent posts although I haven’t gone into the actual stories or details behind these new ideas or characters. Those writings will come later and who knows, I might be in a new Tower then. The next record might also be based on these narrations as well. Lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Let me end this topic with something that came to me last night. I was sitting in my car after a late night workout, facing the Hollywood sign as this incredible winter storm was rolling into Los Angeles. It was an odd afternoon as I was desperately trying to close out the week and prep for winter mountain travels. Depression was actually trying it’s best to take hold of me, something it often does, but I was a bit to clever for that old dog today. And so I sat there in contempt, contemplating the artwork I spent the morning on and the sierra mountain treks that loomed on my horizon... if I could beat the storm out tomorrow. The Hollywood sign was quite stunning yesterday, on the cusp of a winter dusting which I’m not sure has ever happened at such a low elevation here in BOK. It made me smile as the golden light of the setting sun found it’s last little hole through the coming storm clouds, just to kiss the letters before the rare blizzard. Suddenly “The White Squirrel of Busker Do” popped into my head. I would love to just share all the details of "Busker Do Yong" with you now, although that really would spoil the surprise come chapter 2. I suppose I can say that Hadder and Lord skynn are not alone of their travels to Europa, are they ever? Hmmm.. all students need a Kyon master I suppose. I needed that. Well, wish me luck out there.

Lastly: May you find your own Busker Do. Farewell and stay warm till the storm passes. Long is the road friends.

-j