Daily Loop #72

I think this is my first complete song, if you count a 15 second, 200BPM chaos-fest like this a song. It’s here now, in the world for all the world to completely ignore, which is fine. I had so much fun making this, editing this (audio and video). This is joy to me. This isn’t work, this is all play.

Chances are most everything you write, make, capture, put out – it won’t be a hit. It won’t register. It won’t move. It won’t shake the world.

I mean, there’s people who forgot about “This is America” by Childish Gambino (hey, 2018 was a long time ago). There’s people who still never watched any of the Star Wars movies. People who’ve never read classic books, poems.

Keep making your thing regardless.

LIKES

“I think the first concert back I’m legit gonna be crying. Like if you see me breakdown in tears in the pit mind your business” @TheKodakChris

Via Chris Eliopoulos

Driving footage by Kelly Lacy from Pexels
Video game controller footage by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels
Video game arcade footage by cottonbro from Pexels

Daily Loop #71

My run streak that I started in November 2020 ended at day 71. I though of stopping these Daily Loops today, but then realized that the two streaks are different, but also similar.

Ending a run streak doesn’t mean I stop running, I can always run tomorrow. But ending a Daily Loop streak means that maybe a certain beat doesn’t get made, or a riff doesn’t come to me.

What if today’s loop, or loop #45, or whatever – what if that was the one? The one bit of magic captured in time that leads to… something?

I like run streaks, but there’s no real revelation in the moment I guess. But for something like making music, that one day of pushing ahead and creating something can lead to something beautiful.

Not saying you have to make and produce a thing every single day to reach some sort of spiritual enlightenment that this silly post claims to conjure, just relaying my story. Your mileage may vary. Post a photo every week. Publish a poem on the weekends. I don’t know, make it up as you go.

LIKES

“This is a PSA because the creative world is tearing itself apart. The panicked spread of misinformation and lack of nuance are deeper than crypto art, however. These are markers of untreated trauma,” Danielle Evans

Via @lilianafara
Via @summer.bluess

NFT Madness

As a young musician, a fledgling artist, a photographer just trying to find some work, do you need to get in on this NFT train?

No.

There are a zillion more people out there who trade in dollars and credit cards who aren’t giving you money already.

Figure out how to sell one more item this week. Read a book or watch some videos about sales. Spruce up your online shop.

Have you seriously done everything there is to sell your wares to people holding debit cards? Explored every nook and cranny of e-commerce, which has a track record of decades? Have you even started an email list, which has a higher conversion rate than social media?

You don’t need to jump on the NFT train anymore than you have to jump on the TikTok train.

Meet your clients, customers, your people where they’re at. They probably get paid in dollars.

Daily Loop #70

One of the writing prompts for folks is to just write. Fill up that blank page at all costs. That’s how today’s loop felt. Just fill up the space with an idea, with a riff, with a bit, and release it to the world. One never knows where they’ll end up.

My run streak from November ended at 70 runs, but I’m feeling pretty good at loop #70. I’m still learning, adding, growing this thing. It’s funny… I’ve done 70 of these in a row and some people I know on social media aren’t even aware because of algorithms.

LIKES

“i make looms in the kitchen, my roommate makes tiktoks in the bathroom. we share a 1b apartment. such is life in your 20s,” @saraduit

“Can men stop commenting on threads of women recounting their abuse/harassment. Let them speak and be heard; not everything has to be about you,” @old_rake

From @jetpacksandrollerskates

Daily Loop #69

Oh, to sit around all day and work on music, right? Or make art. Work on photos.

While a career in creative work isn’t a guanrantee, you can at least fake it. That’s me most every morning (or late night). Pretending for a mere hour or so per day, just 60 or so minutes, I get to create some magic and release it to the world. That just wasn’t possible 20 years ago.

LIKES

“Another day, another evening spent explaining NFTs to my bandmate and being like “also, we are never doing this,” @useyourtanuki

“When a job listing says the words ‘fast-paced environment’ that means toxic,” @1followernodad (this thread is amazing)

“Stay sane, creative friends. Focus on the long-haul. If you’re spending more times studying this garbage tech instead of making things that people talk about, then idk,” @PaulJun_

Via @so_engery
Via @jimibiscuits

Daily Loop #68

Inspired by my pal Jocelyn Aucoin I started drawing a little more in hopes of turning them into animations. Of course I go for the most mundane thing, a fucking flip phone that’s freaking out, but I think it works with the the music.

Trying out a new plugin called Bass Fingers, which you can maybe hear in this loop. Basically some smooth sounding bass tones that you can play via a MIDI controller.

LIKES

“Art being called content and artists being called content creators has to be one of the worst things to happen in the art space in years,” @KyWilliamsDraws

From @vaporwavezone via Norah Lorway

Daily Loop #67

I tend to name my music files after notable events of the day, and most notable yesterday was purchasing my first coffee grinder. So as I waited for my French press to brew, I pulled out my iPad and Procreate and drew this little boom box, animated, and made it the theme for today’s loop.

LIKES

“always wild when you stumble onto the parallel world on here of some blue check tweeting “So excited to be able to say I’m starting as Chief Puppy Kicker at Facebook’s new Pain and Suffering Division!” an every other blue check on here replying “OMG they’re so lucky to have you,” @metaltxt

“You never know who is watching, so just keep doing it for you and when they hit you up, you’ll be ready,” @aundrelarrow

“anarchists heroically fought and died for the five day workweek so you could spend the two day weekend getting caught up on email,” @computerfact

Photo via @masa_photo_jp
Image via @ianmcque on Instagram

Daily Loop #66

Weekends are for singing over loops. Some synth, some reverb, and let it fly. The lyrics and melody were pretty spontaneous (there’s three tracks of vocals), and they made me laugh, so that’s what counts.

Fun experiment in recent weeks is not posting my weekend loops to social media. It’s a nice break from making a few social media assets, but also a nice exercise in the belief that if you make a thing people like, they’ll seek it out. Saving some of the best stuff for weekend posting is the ticket, then. Thanks for reading.

LIKES

Via Blondie guitarist @chrissteinplays
Via @masa_photo_jp

Video by KoolShooters from Pexels

Random Bandcamp Roulette

Check one, check two. Made this with Loom, which I’ve used a bit for work, and started to wonder if it would work for Bandcamp Roulette (see below) – and it sorta does! This was just a quick test – obviously some audio things to work on, but I like this. Made this within minutes, without having to mess with multiple video and audio files. There’s some limitation, sure (no ducking, but that’s okay), but I really like this. Considering how fast I can make these? AND not be tied to YouTube? Definitely going to upgrade my Loom account this weekend.

Sure, that looks and sounds really good, but those episodes are a beast to make. And, again, I like the idea of not spending more time on YouTube.

Daily Loop #65

Perhaps I’ll just keep making these videos as weird as I can until someone emails me and asks if I’m okay.

If you like these mysterious “secret” videos I’ve made (I made three so far), check out my SETH ATOM site and sign up for the email list to be notified of very important secret news as it develops.

LIKES

“A gentle reminder that you are allowed to outgrow versions of yourself that no longer serve you. Its not personal towards anyone. Keep evolving,” @lyssamarielowe

Via @FurstyPhoto