Keep Right, Pass Out
(view the trackboard)
The project I'm currently working on is
Keep Right, Pass Out
, intended to be the first el Uste solo album. It began in late 2000 as a noise experiment, basically to keep my hands and equipment active in between Kilbacca recordings. As usual, this was a 4-track endeavour and as usual, it was never finished.
During my stagnation I read about an international compilation of experimental tracks being produced by an Ipecac Records Bulletin Board user named Yog. As a fellow Ipecac fan, I felt that I shared his vision, so I quickly returned to the recording process. My 5-minute submission, "Seagulls Killed the Radio Star" was the result. While "Seagulls" encapsulated the usual el Uste style of attention deficiency, it also marked an entrance to the world of lyrics, harmony, and rhythm. It was then that I decided to further explore and expand my own personal style into a full blown solo album.
Call me selfish, but I didn't want to share this time. My friend Morgan of g(23) was putting out record upon record. My other friend Colin had been consisently gigging in New York City with his band Fountainhead. And on top of all that, my Kilbacca partner, the Admiral, had already finished an album's worth of his own material,
and
another album's worth of material for another project. Wait, don't call me selfish... call me jealous.
So what the hell was my problem? Honestly, I got lazy after I started my first year-round full-time job. The album was still on my mind all day long, but most of the ideas made it to paper instead of magnetic tape. The next breakthrough didn't come until I saved up enough money to invest in a personal computer. I downloaded the free version of ProTools, the only audio platform I'm comfortable with, and got back to recording.
Since then I have slowly been infusing more traditional styles into my compositions. Basically,
Keep Right, Pass Out
, is a rip-off of my past musical influences--a rock record with a few dents in it. I am about a million miles away from where this album began. But don't worry. I'm still a million miles away from finishing. The following table will keep you posted on the status of my album. Keep in mind all titles/estimations/etc. are tentative/approximate and could be finished early or totally scrapped. In my imagination I have more ideas than time on a CD, but thanks to this table, I'll have to prove it.