Think nobody loves you? Well, you’re wrong! We love you. I love you. So snuggle up close and let us whisper these sweet sweet nothings into your ear. In honor of this glorious holiday, we are officially offering our song “ZERO ROMANCE”, from “HYPNOGAGA”, for free: Here!

 For the past three weeks, I’ve been locked up in my home studio writing and recording 7 brand new songs that i’ve decided to refer to as hatemusic. I’ve never produced a piece of music so quickly, but the songs decide when they want to come. I don’t plan this. Hypnogaga was a massive undertaking for me, from a recording and production standpoint, that lasted from start to finish close to 7 months. It was, at times, a very emotional and difficult process and I think the slow pace of putting it together allowed me to be more mindful of and precise in the soundscapes I was building, and everything that I needed to say.  I believe that in order to evolve as an artist you have to explore unfamiliar and occasionally uncomfortable territories. Because I made such a strong statement with it, I knew that any music I recorded post-hypnogaga would have to set my entire process on ablaze. Salt the earth. Start again.

I imagined the writing and recording of hatemusic would carry me through a few months at least. I knew it was going to be a short set before I started, but even recording We Are Dead Ocean took 4-5 months alone, so you can imagine my surprise when the songs just started pouring out of me. I was literally conceiving a song in the morning and by that evening it would be recorded with a half completed mix. I think part of me was afraid, going into this, that I just had nothing to say. Turns out, I did. A lot to say, in fact. A couple of these tracks contain some of my favorite lyrics I’ve ever written. The way I wrote Hypnogaga, and Dead Ocean for that matter, was painstaking. I built those songs over months, hunting for the right words and I really needed this process to be different. More impromptu, more unedited, more stream of consciousness. This is the way I write poetry, why couldn’t I write songs the same? Since I was making the music AS I was writing the lyrics there are some songs that have words I wrote as I was recording the vocals for them. I wanted to capture the energy of the music. That in the moment feeling. The thing I like best about these new songs is the fire they have. They’re exciting. They’re confrontational. The majority of the record is me screaming at the top of my lungs. I have  a lot of disappointment and a lot of anger, and I forced myself to face it. Tap into it. Own it. Bring all the ugly things, hiding in the shadows, out into the light. Tbc.

Hypnogaga saw an official digital release on December 1st, 2009. You can purchase digital downloads of it from itunes AND cdbaby.com or just  hear the entire album in the beautiful high quality over at Draculatron.bandcamp.com! The bandcamp service is brilliant, allowing the artist the ability to offer their music at whatever size or format the listener chooses and i’m planning on hosting the entire Draculatron catalogue there to preview and occasionally download for free, in it’s entirety. Currently you can download the “Fire On the Open Market” single, which also includes “I Make a Crimewave”, for free and I will be uploading SEX and We Are Dead Ocean in the next few weeks for your  perusal and enjoyment as well. 

The new live setup has turned out even better than expected and i’m really excited at the prospect of taking it out on the road for the spring and summer. We’re currently booking for shows in and outside of the Utica and upstate area. 

Here’s a video from our live in-store performance at Hot Topic in New Hartford, N.Y. on 12/4/09, performing “Palm Trees” acoustic! (Courtesy of Canaan)

Not your usual Draculatron show. Are the dancers sitting down? Wait, why is everyone sitting down?! This was an interesting set because were forced to strip all of these synth heavy songs down to two acoustic guitars and during rehearsals I wasn’t TOTALLY convinced we’d be as effective unplugged but turns out we are and I think we were able to pull this off beautifully. We didn’t have to change the arrangements of the new songs, for the most part, and I love that the harmonies really had a chance to shine. I’d like to do more performances like this in the near future, and rearrange some older songs for acoustic.  Stay tuned!

And this is a video of “Gamma Ray” from our show at The Tramontane in Utica, N.Y. on 1/15/10! (courtesy of Canaan)

I imagine this is what a “Gamma Ray” music video would/will look like in the future. And Erica pounding away on that drum gives me chills every. single. time.

Follow me on twitter: @draculatron.
Part abstract production diary. Part nihilistic, narcissistic, seething self-advertisement.
I’m a riot. I promise.

_A

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