Image info: A video graphic for the song "Evermore" that I've been dreaming about a long time and finally had a moment to bring to life.
Good morning. It’s Friday, the final week of February 2022… spring is in full bloom along the oceans of Bok. A little update on the Hadder doings and ponderings.
Little Things: Me and Ezra are enjoying the new tower so. A lot happened behind the scenes the last 2 weeks after the lighting strike… I moved the entire tower out of the city. It was time to regroup a bit for the coming year, to cut costs and hunker down so to say for better things. It takes a lot of time and energy to complete a full record… there’s so much that stands in the path of it, you have no idea. I will say I’ve had a great week… it was very freeing for me to close the locks on that first tower… the move was a bit more than I expected and I almost killed myself in a little explosion of glass, but I survived with just some minor bloody arms and a glass filled hat. That 408 tower did so much for me, spiritually as well, I healed from some things inside that space…. Even though I felt like I accomplished so much there… I know it really was just the start of something… Hadder really was born in May even though the masks and ideas were coming into my life for the last decade or so… in about 9 months I’ve almost completed the first record, not to bad all things considered. Let’s just say I sat a moment and pondered my next moves cautiously and calculated keeping my sanity in check for the next leg of the race…. a few apologies were in order as well this month and that was all part of this next chapter as well... so is life... That’s where I am today on the cusp of march and the foggy pacific months looming on my little horizon… The new space is beautiful and there is even a few bird feeders nearby so I can take a break once and a while and just look out over the hills while I contemplate the things I dream of creating. I think the pace here in this new place could slow a little as I cut away some strings and I realize there is no cheese to chase, no rat to race and no ghosts to face anymore. Just a painting that I actually enjoy working on and the process of creating.
New Music: To be honest I haven’t been writing this week, all my time was spent just decorating the new Hadder tower and working on the website. “Rainbow in the Dark”, “Long is the Road” and “Kind Winters” are all sitting and waiting for me to grab my microphone… I have running mixes of each and notes on what’s next… but they are just holding for now… like the planes in Die hard 2... perhaps this weekend I will make a gasoline trail to bring them home. I will say that although I haven’t been tracking, I still rise every day to train, each morning I wake well before the sun rises and begin my vocal routines. I find so much comfort and joy in that routine. I love the work and the progress I see in my skills. Each day I gain a little more control over my ability to wield the brush so to say. There is no end to this battle, just small victories, and occasional defeats along the way. I do however get better at swinging the axe and so I can only hope that lets me fight a little longer on this journey.
Website: You may have noticed some changes to the site the last few weeks. New graphics and lyrics and such coming and going. The site had some blackout periods as well as I was moving the server. Basically, my idea for the future is to have a page for each song when the record is complete, with graphic, music video and lyrics. Kind of like a digital version of a record sleeve, only animated. I tested out some layouts during the week with the lyrics overlaying the graphic for each song on the front page (deleted since)… it’s a work in progress and it will be happening behind the scenes in anticipation for the release of the record. My goal with this is to create a place for fans of the music to go, throw headphones on, and immerse themselves in the story and visuals of the record. That’s what I did when I was a kid and so I seem to be creating that same environment as some tribute to the things that inspired me as a kid. Its my record and my rules I guess, and considering there’s no cheese to chase or map to follow… well… I’ll do it my way. Of course, there will be a record label in place to help promote it worldwide in the future as part of the plan as well… and a tour and all the other stuff that comes with a record to some degree, but this little digital place I’m creating will always be there. It’s my home for the record and for all the hard work it took to make it. It's there for me too. It’s my marker on this earth as well... there forever I hope.
Stargazer Crew: Just a little update on the cover songs with the Stargazer boys, “Headless Cross” is completed and I’m guessing it will be mixed in the coming weeks here in LA. If I can get “Rainbow in the Dark’ done this week… well, both these songs will find there way out into the world in the coming months, I hope for all these projects to complete around the same time. That’s the plan as it stands today.
Lastly: If you get a chance, listen to the Joey Demio ‘Words of Power” podcast with Eric Adams, oh man it was so good to hear them talk about the history of American heavy metal and their role in that history. The fight in these guys is very inspirational and the lengths they went to accomplish a dream against all odds, well, let’s just say cheers to them for such convictions.
Farewell out there,
-J