1977 by Elias - My New Album

10 Sep 2020

Music

And now, for something completely different.

Back in 2003 I started writing some music that felt more true to myself. I'd spent the previous years writing and playing in a pop/rock band, chasing the idea of getting signed to a label. Everyone had the same idea in those days, and so pop/rock bands were numerous and generic. I was raised on classical music and progressive rock, so I returned to my roots and starting writing instrumental music that I was calling at the time 'soundtrack rock' - the kind of music that might play as the credits to a film are rolling.

The initial tunes came together quite quickly, and there's probably a reason for this: you can hear the influences quite clearly in most of the music, and in some places the influences are the music. I formed a band and we played a few gigs. That band was probably the most accomplished and challenging group of musicians I ever was fortunate enough to play with.

After another round of upgrades, to my computer, to the Pro Tools software, and hardware (001 to 002R) I started recording. One thing that really annoyed me about Pro Tools was the Windows key didn't work. Second class citizen, us Windows users. Around this time 64 bit operating systems became available, and so another round of upgrades was required. Naturally, Digidesign were slow with their patches, and even slower for Windows users. A couple of years of putting up with Pro Tools crashing/hanging on my system provoked me into switching to OSX. This meant further fiddling, but at least I didn't have to worry about the Windows key not working.

At first the switch to OSX seemed like the best thing ever: why hadn't I done this before? However, after a few months the shiny started to wear off and blue screens of death were replaced with the un-killable beach ball. Two sides of the same coin. There seemed to be no cure for Pro Tools instability. Some other major upheavals were occurring in my life at the time, and recording, indeed music in general took a back seat.

It's now 2009. I've had enough of my life and decide to move south and try again. The move is a great idea, escaping the negativity and pretention of the music scene I'd been in so long was refreshing and recharging, and yielded access to a fertile line of new possibilities. But my MacBook Pro died (motherboard) which meant that I had no DAW. This was the last nail in the coffin, and I stopped playing music altogether and took up the motorcycle. I was so frustrated with the software and hardware getting in the way of getting the job done, and I was disgusted with the MacBook Pro; the most expensive hardware I'd ever purchased, and the only hardware I'd had malfunction in such a catastrophic way. By this point, my album had already been on disk for 6 years.

In 2014 a good mate of mine asked if I'd play at his wedding. Of course I said yes, however having not played guitar for a number of years it was a bit of a struggle. But I am thankful, as it put me back in touch with the guitar. I slowly regained my curiosity, and in 2016 officially came out of guitar retirement to take on the role of Steve Lukather in a Toto cover band. That was a lot of fun, but eventually imploded after a couple of gigs. It was around this point that I decided to try and finish off the album I started many years ago.

It took quite some time to get my playing to a level that I considered good enough to finish recording, but by this stage it was time for another round of upgrades and software fiddling. Again, the process of getting everything to play along nicely was extremely depressing and off-putting, so progress was exceptionally slow. I'd also discovered Strandberg guitars, and in 2018 I put in an order with the custom shop for an 8-string. I added a Kemper Profiler to my rig, and committed to using this equipment to finish tracking. I'd also acquired a Fender Jaco fretless bass, so I re-recorded a lot of the bass tracks using this new instrument and the Kemper. Finally, the Strandberg arrived and I was able to finish tracking. It's now mid-August in 2020, and the album is 17 years old. I make the decision to rename the album '1977' and to release it officially on Bandcamp on 03 September, 2020. It's finally out the door, and there is rejoicing in the land.

It's been a true labour of love. I invite you to listen to it, and I hope you enjoy it.

PS: hilariously, in 2020, the Windows key still doesn't work in Pro Tools! Which is amongst the reasons I've dropped them in favour of Cubase.

Bandcamp - https://eliasmusic.bandcamp.com/album/1977

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/0k17MNIi2OQ0VlE0Rd6ZhA