Good goings on with Bizarre Statue:
- Technical Notes
- New Music, Preston Capes Compilation
- Work-in-Progress
- Project Update
1. In the interest of simplicity, I’ve switched what had been a Mailchimp email list to a site subscription using this WordPress site. Among other things, it will be easier to share new music — see below — and also I want to simplify and centralize my digital life as much as possible. Posts here for new releases and work-in-progress, meaning actual music, will go out to subscribers in an email. Blog posts about other things will not. Unsubscribing appears to be as easy with this method as before, but if there are any issues, email me at bizarrestatue at gmail dot com.
2. I gladly contributed a new piece, “Driving,” to the massive compilation Preston Capes Tapes has made available for pre-order:
This will be the final release on the label, which many of you know has been very supportive of Bizarre Statue music as long as this project has existed. The whole compilation is worth your time.
I made the piece using Bitwig, triggering loops and improvising solo instrumentation live, and for the moment I like working this way. Nothing is necessarily in a final form, ever. So my sense is that “Driving” will at some point be part of a larger project, but not this particular iteration.
3. The big project that has occupied me since “The Polish Embassy/The Cane Field” is finished, mastered, and found a home. The actual release should be later this year or possibly next. I’m really pleased with it, really pleased that it found a home (more detail to come), and also really pleased to move on.
I like to consume music in albums, but I like to make music in pieces. Probably most of you (I’ve polled a few) are like me: you prefer albums. But for those of you who want to follow things as I do them, I’ve made a “Work-in-Progress” page with at this point one link to a subscriber-only post with a new recording, “Stargazing.” I’m pleased with it, and it was made in the same way as “Driving.”
For what it’s worth, I’d thought about both a Bandcamp subscription and a Patreon site, but settled on this. The big issue is that I don’t want to tie myself to monthly posts because I don’t work on a schedule and don’t want to force music into the world before its time, so charging a monthly amount wasn’t going to work for me. Bandcamp doesn’t have a free subscription, and Patreon, which does, doesn’t allow downloads.
The truth is that to the extent that I have commercial goals in music, they are for physical products with completed projects. Musically, I want to be in touch with people and share. So: enjoy “Stargazing.”
Be well, everyone, for sure!