Posts

UNKNOWN ENTITIES - Who they be?

Image
  A couple months ago, GMorph asked me to show him how to make beats. Three months later, we have two completed albums and a dozen or so throwaway tracks. Who are UNKNOWN ENTITIES ? UNKNOWN ENTITIES are instrumental hip hop, beat makers. The songs are instrumentals because we don't know any rappers. That's why we have songs like: Seriously, We Need to Find Some Rappers (Pt.1, 2 and 3).   What does the music sound like? Check out this video for the first track from our debut album. https://youtu.be/GGta9GzlTpM What is the process of making UNKNOWN ENTITIES music? It's not a sober process and often the next day, the songs are a complete surprise. "We did that yesterday?!"- me . "That's pretty good, I don't remember making that." - GMorph . When is the debut album coming out? Very soon.  We will have shirts and stickers but all that costs money. So, this might take a bit. Goals for UNKNOWN ENTITIES ? It would be great if we could find some rapper...

The Pineapple Girl - Audio Book Now Available!

Image
  A quick question for you. What do you think is the longest process of getting an audio book online, is it: a) conceiving, writing, editing the story? b) recording, narrating, editing the audio files? c) getting it to fit the specifications of ACX - digital distributor? The answer: C! a) I wrote/edited The Pineapple Girl in two days. b) I recorded it in one day, edited in another. Added music, made more edits, so it was a three day process. c) It took me almost two weeks to get it 'approved' by ACX, aka the company that is taking 60% of my profits, for doing basically nothing, except hosting my book. So, if you're wondering, I'll never use ACX again. Oh, and by the way, they own the rights to my book for 7 years. Lovely. Oh, and to get it on ACX, I first had to publish it as an eBook, through KDP, giving them more % of my $.  You can buy it here:  https://www.amazon.ca/Pineapple-Girl-Studio-Mike-ebook/dp/B092L4K6DJ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=161980381...

GOGOLAK - Rising EP

Image
  Artwork by ADRIAN Great news everybody! The GOGOLAK - Rising EP is available, as of today, April 1, 2021.  You can buy, stream or listen to the album on all music hosting platforms, including Spotify, iTunes, Apple Tunes, etc.  You can find all the links in one place:  https://gogolak.hearnow.com And I know what you're thinking: who the hell is GOGOLAK?? Who and what is GOGOLAK? It started with a text: ADRIAN: "I came up with a cool band name, GOGOLAK." ME: "That's a pretty good name! I actually wrote a song today that would work with that name." ADRIAN: "Oh, cool." ME: "Actually, I think I could come up with enough material for a 3 song EP." I wrote/recorded a song a day, on my days off from work, and completed the bones of the album in three days. I still don't know what a GOGOLAK is? It's a modern psychedelic rock band, started with a text between two old friends. How do you pronounce the name? I don't know. I've neve...

All Podcasts Now Available. And Free!

Image
Thanks to a generous donation, from my sister Janine, I can now upload any and all tracks I want to my Soundcloud account. This is amazing for a variety of reasons, mostly it just means I can record and post as much stuff as I can come up with, whenever I want. That's pretty cool! It would be cooler, if I wasn't the only one listening to my music, but, what can you do? I guess I shouldn't really complain, in the month or so I've had my podcast/soundcloud account, I've amassed 2x more followers than this account, which, sadly, isn't saying much. I'm an artist, I'm used to being criticized and putting out art - writing, music, audiobooks - that no one wants or cares for. I've got a thick skin, for the most part. But, I am also a giant emotional pussy, so I can take the criticism's personally and they can reduce me to tears sometimes. So, why do I continue to do this stuff? I'm an artist! That's what we do. We pollute the world with unwanted...

The Sacrifice - Written Version

Image
Well, the criticism's, er, accolades, have already started to come in! Due to the fact that I'm not going to re-record any of this book, this book was the first attempt, that is why it is free , I will instead post the written version for anyone who wonders what I'm really saying. And I guess, I'll try harder next time. No point listening to an audio book if you have to read along to understand it. Part 1: A Roll of the Dice Deep inside the bowels of the Crimson Citadel, in a forgotten room once filled to overflowing with the greatest sorcerer’s and warlock’s of the Land of Azonia, a game of chance was under way. A single roll of the dice would decide the fate of humanity. The old room was lit with candles that cast shadows in cobwebs and dust. The air was musty and rank. The room was creepy quiet as the players held their breath in anticipation of the outcome of the rolled dice. At the far end of an ancient oak table, four individuals hunkere...

The Sacrifice - My first Audio Book!

Image
Studio Mike · The Sacrifice Well, I finally did it! After a month or so working on the first 17 episodes of the Studio Mike Presents podcast, I decided it was time to try and record an audio book. It is now online. Recording an Audio Book: This, of course, was something I had wanted to do for quite awhile but I was always worried about how it would turn out. My voice and throat are very unpredictable and I never know from day-to-day how I'm going to sound. Step 1: Deciding which story to convert into an Audio Book I've written 29 books to date, that's a lot of crap to choose from, let's be honest. Crap being the important word here. Do I start with a 200 page book? Or with a short story, just in case the whole thing blows up in my face? I chose a short story. I decided that my dark fantasy fictional story, The Sacrifice, would probably be a good place to start. Step 2: Now what? After deciding on a story, I was put in the position of: now w...