The Bloom

Image: Some artwork I did of a young Hadder out in the Black Forest.

Good morning, it’s Friday again. Oh, the waves of march are pounding my coastline. It’s music to my ears. I was wandering this week and came upon a river that fed into the ocean out past ramrod, and with all this winter melt, it was flowing like I’ve never seen before. A rapid stream rushing over rounded beach rocks spilling into the crashing waves of the pacific. My cove has been rebuilt. It took quite the winter I suppose, but it did reform itself. Well, what’s new.

Artwork and narrations: Well, I’ve been riding the AI train these fateful weeks of March. I seem to have found myself in the middle of a rather interesting time in terms of art, I stumbled into it quite accidentally. I am embracing it and I think it’s rather exciting, especially considering all the work I plan to do for this Hadder project. Between MJ-5 and GPT-4 and Clipgrab and Kaiber… well, let’s just say I’m getting some help with some interesting and mundane tasks on the storytelling side of things. And then there’s the whole talking animations thing which happened rather suddenly. I knew there was a reason I was designing all these characters months ago. When your walking the path, the true path… what ever that is to you… it’s kind of natural to run into things along the way that help along the journey. I think that’s what’s happening. So, having said that, I’ve included another talking narration this week… “Lord Zabble and the Castle Fanglore”. It’s so nice to here and “See” it spoken… is this Diamonds Hadder talking? In one of the many faces he seems to wear. Hmmm… not sure, but he has a way about him for sure. His eyes are quite piercing and hypnotizing. I was at the gym last night listening and watching him talk to me and I felt like I was in a trance. I like the way this whole story is turning out. By the time I write the next 16 stories, I imagine I’ll have a few new tricks up my sleeve as this AI video revolution takes shape this summer.

Music and The Rabbit: Last track is coming along nicely. A lot is going on lately, aside from the final vocal tracking days for my dead rabbit overture… there’s also a revolution in the Mixing age happening as well, again mundane tasks are being done away with… sidechaining bass guitars to kickdrum thumps, notching strings for vocals… it’s all going away thanks to our new AI friends. For me it’s a blessing, I’ve always enjoyed the creative side of art so much more than the mundane tasks. I never wanted to be a music engineer or a photo and video editor… I just wanted to make art. I wanted to snap the picture and hold the microphone. So, these new tools will all happily find there way into my workflow so that I can accomplish more on the creative side of things. Regarding my rabbit, the end of this song was going to fade out… which these days is a strange thing, no songs fade out anymore. That’s precisely why I wanted to do it… and the song sounded like a fade out, but I accidently composed a little piece of piano for the end and a little poem vocal line to go along with it and so now… hmmm… I have a dilemma on my hands. I’m hoping to figure that out this week… the new piano part is a pretty good closer for the record and for the rabbit tale itself. We’ll see. I do intend to release a video for the Last Track and I’ve been writing a little story board for it along the way here in march, as well as designing some art and techniques I hope to use in the video. I think it should be done at the end of June, yeh, that sounds good. I think I can do that. I have a large body of work left before autumn and winter pilgrimages come a knocking on my chamber door once again. These are my spring and summer chores.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m scheduled to go see another rehearsal room downtown this week. Rehearsal rooms are such a financial kick in the gut. Bok real estate is kind of ridiculous these days and so there’s no rush on my end to open that flood gate, at least until the record is fully released with a video in the wing. I hope sometime in August to be sitting in my chambers sipping a cold celebratory IPA, as I pack for yearly pilgrimages, pondering all my talking narrations and smiling on the mountain I climbed this year. I see a big change happening in 24… in a lot of things… new walls… new space… new towers… ends and beginnings. It’s like the 7 year turn just up ahead. A few more months to go… awake in 23. It’s going to be a lovely spring, I can tell. My osteospermum are blooming wildly this year. Hope your well and doing you. There is a revolution actually knocking on the door… let it in. It’s not so bad. Just some new wallpaper for the ages. Farewell rabbits.

-j

Video: My artwork is still talking, oh well, so I had him read another field note, "Lord Zabble and the Castle Fanglore". Is that Hadder himself... hmmm... he does have many looks with his face shifting cloak. I never can tell who he is really.

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

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

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."