Seth Werkheiser

GET UNCOMFORTABLE

I’ve been sleeping like crap lately, and I finally figured it was time to buy a humidifier. I’ll save you any of the grim details that led to this choice, but today I reaped the rewards.

Similar to when I tried sleeping with an eye mask back in April, and had the Whoop to sort of prove it, the humidifier helped me sleep better, and today’s run was magic.

I haven’t had many magic runs lately.

It was cold, then it started to rain, and I wasn’t wearing my rain jacket. My gloves started to get saturated.

But like that line from Fight Club, the one about “when’s the last time you got in a fight,” when’s the last time I got caught in the rain? In gross conditions?

When’s the last time I purposely put myself in an uncomfortable spot?

Quite honestly, it’s been awhile, so today’s cold gross run was a perfect way to start the week.

The hot chocolate taste better after shoveling the drive way. The A/C is more refreshing after that run in 90F+ temps. Shit is just better when you stick your neck out a bit.

A COLORFUL MATRIX

Watched the new Matrix for the sixth time last night, this time with my roomie, and they asked something that got me thinking; if I were a character in the Matrix, how what would be my wardrobe?

Five years ago I probably would have said all black and be done with it, but now I’m not so sure.

Besides Switch, Morpheus seems to be more my style. The most colorful.

And the new Morpheus? Wow.

“This Morpheus is a newborn, discovering who he is. So he wants to try out the suits, the body, different fighting styles even different sunglasses. He’s having a ball with freedom of choice,”
Abdul-Mateen via USA Today

As I said, years ago it would have been all black everything, all the time. But now I have yellow glasses, lots of blues and reds. Oh snap. My jacket is the same color as Morpheus above.

My first foray into adding more color to my life was when I started going to the gym, and being around a lot of masculine energy. Men’s locker rooms are a… vibe, which I’m not really all that into. So when I needed a new gym bag, I bought this North Face bag.

Green! Purple! Pink!

Every other gym bag I found was just plain and boring.

In the past few years, I’m trying to avoid plain and boring, I guess.

I’m turning 46 in 2022, like a fireball to 50. Dammit.

So maybe not an awaking from the Matrix, and the red goo, with the flush and grab.

Just maybe a bit more vibrancy in my digital self image here in the real world.

PLEASE MAKE YOUR THING

Success or making it isn’t black and white, yes or no. For every success we see on a magazine cover there’s years of back story. Of “failure.”

For every video with 3 million views there’s a legion more with 174.

Those 174 are no less valid. They’re just as important, and we need to keep making them.

The world needs videos and songs with “low play counts” in the same way we need street art – it is PERMISSION.

It is a sign from the universe that says anyone can do this, so you should try it.

GOODNIGHT, METAL FRIEND #18

In a world of high energy everything – Twitch streams, podcasts, DJ sets – I seek low energy vibes. Give me chill. Give me late night coffee. Give me walks at night.

Making these dark ambient sleepy time mixes are very calming and soothing for me.

Tracks used:

https://proxhus.bandcamp.com/track/bones-pt-2

https://jamesparrott.bandcamp.com/album/drone-92?from=hp

https://ghunzul.bandcamp.com/track/white-emptiness

https://edgeofoctober.bandcamp.com/track/repression

https://winterblood78.bandcamp.com/track/heilige-linien

https://sutekhproductions.bandcamp.com/track/scapegoat-merge-with-space

GOING LIVE WITH HUNTERTHEN

Sunday evening HUNTERTHEN live mixing. Listen live on Blast then it’ll be available for 24 hours. After that it’s gone.

On Blast Radio, artists get their own radio station to broadcast what they want, when they want. From talking to tracking, album debuts to venue performances, daily request radio to live production sessions, rehearsals to reviews. Listen to the artists you love share what they love.
Blast

I started making these as mixes, and called them Goodnight, Metal Friend.

I would search for hours on Bandcamp, sourcing the sound and vibe I wanted. Now I’m finally figuring out how to make my own as HUNTERTHEN.

Dark ambient? Drone? Atmospheric gloom? I don’t know.

Something mechanical. Robotic.

It’s like you’re in sleeping bunk on a futuristic space train. I dig it. And been nerding out to it since the pandemic started. Weird hobby, I know.

Going to try to stream live to Blast in the evenings, when the days are winding down. Install the app, maybe, and find me on there as hunterthen. The app will notify you when I’m live.

I tried doing the same on Twitch, but holy shit, Twitch is a beast. So much going on, especially for something as low key and chill as this.

TOO MUCH FOR TOO LITTLE

“You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me.”

Scarcity makes things valuable. It’s why people flip records, and re-sell concert tickets. Big money, finite options.

There are people who don’t give a shit about a rare 7″ from 1987, just as there are people who don’t give a shit about a $500 NFT.

Something is valuable to someone, until it’s not.

Growing up I couldn’t listen to music while I was out riding my bike, at least not until I got a walkman. You listened to music in the music room, where the stereo was, and where all your records were.

You worked on the computer in the computer room, or at the computer desk, or the computer lab.

Now we all carry computers that fit in our shit pocket, and we can stream every album ever made.

That’s without mentioning streaming TV services, where there’s seemingly 35 new TV shows announced every season, sports, and movies.

There’s no shortage of entertainment. No scarcity.

So somehow a months worth of Netflix, which could means hundreds of hours of viewing, is also the price of a CD, which could be 45 minutes of songs.

The scale of everything is skewed, but just as someone could really not give a shit about a rate first pressing vinyl, you don’t need to care about people who ain’t buying music anyways.

Some people buy music, some people just stream it. I don’t know, that’s it. That’s life. That’s the challenge. Some records sell, some don’t, and no one really knows until we’ve got boxes of CDs or pallets of vinyl in the garage.

BECOME WHO YOU ARE

Saw this randomly on LinkedIn, and felt this in my bones.

Thinking back, 15 years prior, while working a desk as an Executive Assistant at Interscope Records, I’d regularly email a Music Industry curated jobs list to a small group of colleagues and friends of friends. The “Riggins Recruiting: Job of the day” sent (1) job daily that was passed along to me from other assistants and hiring managers at Universal Music Group and around the industry.. This wasn’t a business, it wasn’t even a hobby. It was just what I did and loved doing. “Riggins Recruiting” became me.
My advice, in 2022 just become who you are… forever evolve, take calculated risks, improve processes, deliver results, help your friends and friends of friends BECOME. Don’t be afraid to be your true-self and switch up your career every now and then.
Tony Riggins from LinkedIn

I love the rouge nature of sending a regular email out to connect. To serve. To just help.

“Become who you are,” which is something I’ve been very intentional about in the last few months. Being self-employed, you’re on your own with trying to shift your focus. Started Heavy Metal Email in October, and just two months later change is in the air, and I love it.

The focus in 2022 is more email marketing work. Serving growing bands and artists, helping them reach their audience directly, and lessen their reliance on the house of cards that we call social media.

GOODNIGHT, METAL FRIEND #17

It seems I posted my last Goodnight, Metal Friend mix about a month ago, so that seems like a win, getting these out a little more regularly.

This was something I started doing as a form of utility – the Headspace sleep music was nice, but I wanted something darker. That sounds grim, but I don’t know, life is grim, so whatever.

I also wanted to learn how to “mix,” and what better way then by using tracks that are 10+ minutes in length?

These aren’t exciting, but that’s the point. I make them to help me fall asleep. Set them up on my phone or iPad when I lay down, and just let the gloom unfurl.

All tracks used were sourced and paid for on Bandcamp. If you enjoy these, you can tip me a coffee at Ko-Fi.

https://zerofuturism.bandcamp.com/track/iron-2
https://destroyedarchives.bandcamp.com/track/drones-and-dreams-2-so-below
https://penelopetrappes.bandcamp.com/track/lucky-eleven-mothers-blood-version
https://billbaxter.bandcamp.com/track/sunscape-one-part-1
https://ironcthulhuapocalypse.bandcamp.com/track/through-lucid-voids
https://destroyedarchives.bandcamp.com/album/mono

HEALING WITH TATTOOS

David Allen gave me a pretty big break back in the day, linking to music blog in my early days. I think he said it was cool, or something – hah! That was like… 20 or so years ago, so I don’t remember all the details. I just know we got a few more readers after that.

I met David years later in NYC, and I don’t even remember how that even happened, either. I do remember him making the comment that I didn’t have any tattoos, and that we needed to change that! It was a fun moment, I remember it vividly.

And then here we are, all these years later, and now I get to see what David has been doing this whole time. This video brought up plenty of feelings, that’s for sure. Not just because of the discussions I’ve been having about mental health, or money, or art, but… the process of life. Continuing to learn, and find out new things about ourselves. Things we didn’t think possible.

DOCUMENT AND ARCHIVE YOUR WORK ON YOUR WEBSITE

When your band or your art gets that TV mini series like The Beatles: Get Back, will you have any archival video footage from the studio? From writing your songs? Talking about the inspiration of your lyrics, of the pedals you use, of the shows you’ve played?

Or will all that footage and text and audio be lost to a social media platform that you don’t own?

I’ve covered and worked a handful of albums over the years, from my music blog days in 2001 to now working with indie music publicists and labels, and I’m still blown away at how little reverence there is for the archival process for so many acts.

Sure, there’s concert photos on Twitter, and maybe some 200 word captions on an Instagram post, but there was a lot we uploaded to MySpace, too.

What about all the features you gave to media outlets that don’t even exist anymore?

Just a decade later a handful of outlets don’t exist anymore, and no one really remembers the video interview you did (maybe it’s on YouTube), or the print review in a magazine, or all the photos from your tour in 2003.

They’re… pretty much gone.

And even if they’re out there in Google images or YouTube, they ain’t on your site.

Looking for a sign to document more of your work, your magic, your art? This is it.