Jun 22 2015
Still having problems with computers, but I am not letting that stop me. You thought I was caught in a loop, right? For some reason I totally stopped on the Bėker album, so it is about 2.5 songs away from completion, but I have no intentions of doing any more work on it till later. I decided I wanted to work on the Starchain material instead, so hopefully that and maybe, just maybe, some other new music will be released within years end. Todd has been MIA so there has been no movement of the Table Cage material or any Softbox material, but the Drain album is in the queue after the Stachain stuff is done, so I'm not sure how it's getting done but it IS getting done. HIT IT!
yerluvinunclekurt
Sep 18 2014
Still having problems with computers, but I am not letting that stop me. New web site is finally up, I will slowly make everything available. So far 8.5 of 12 songs are finished for a new Bėker album. Although the Table Cage project hit a brick wall I hope that will change as Todd and I have a huge list of things to do. I do hope at least one of my computers hangs in there, so I can slowly continue on. ROCK IT!
yerluvinunclekurt
Apr 20 2014
Just a quick note. I have been stuck in Bėker mode and have enough for another album. I was just about to start recording when the computer died. So I have another computer to take the place of the old one but it will take a few weeks to get everything organized and a few things to get started again. Then as planned I will continue recording, concentrating on the new Bėker album and the Starchain album. There have been some massive set backs for Todd and I as well, so the Table Cage project has been stuck for a while. We do have one song finished with a rough mix, but that's all. A second song has a guide track and some drums that will be erased. And that's all I have to tell you.
yerluvinunclekurt
Oct 31 2013
Happy Halloween!! So I finally released the Bėker album on the 29th. I have almost enough to release a 4 song ep (One is done, two need vocals, and I am working on an instrumental) as well. After that it will be a case of archiving and starting, wait! Finishing something else. The two projects I have in mind are the Starchain album precusor and Heart of the Machine. The Starchain album is all demoed, 2 songs are on the computer in semi-completed form. The rest I will have to grab from archived disks, but it shouldn't be a big deal. The Heart of the Machine project is a different animal entirely. I first will have to find all the patches originally used on the JV-80 then try to fix as many of the mistakes on the sequences as possible. It sounds like a long and not much fun job, but it is something I hope I can take on soon as this project should be finished. Although Jordan is busy, Todd and I have decided we are going to keep working at something. There are two projects here as well. One is the Table Cage project and the other is the "lost" Softbox album Drain. When these will be done is anybodies guess, we tend to be fairly slow.
yerluvinunclekurt
Oct 9 2013
It's kinda been a crappy year. Softbox has been in limbo since last fall. And really nothing else has been done. Just more demos! But I regained my basement and I am starting to do something about it. Softbox will hopefully be back to recording soon. Now I'm not saying it's done, but I think I finally mixed the Bėker album to my liking, so it MIGHT be done. If so I MAY record a couple of really old songs for a Bėker fan CD. Don't Cry is circa 1983 and Dreamfinder is circa 1985. WOW! Plus I will want to add a couple more songs, something new perhaps. Then maybe, just maybe I will finally get Heart of the Machine finished. well that might be too much to ask for. I will hopefully update soon.
yerluvinunclekurt
May 10 2012
Crap! I really missed an entry or two! Ok So Softbox's Interesting came out April 17 2011! Yaaay! And we just released the Factory Acoustic fan CD. There is also more Softbox on the way. But everything else is in limbo. We never finished mixing the Bëker album and I just don't seem to have the time to try and record the Heart of the Machine album. Plus my sequencer is dying. I really want to start putting some of this stuff to bed, as it is gettting old. But I keep churning it out. I have new demos for Planet B, Tin Crusher, and almost 3 albums worth of Softbox stuff. So I guess what am I doing typing I should be recording this stuff!
yerluvinunclekurt
Sep 3 2010
OK I'm just ranting because I can. I finally wrapped up our part of the Interesting disk by Softbox it should be out before Christmas. I also finally got my firepod so recording will be alot easier. I am also working on the Bëker disk that has been in hibernation. With any luck that will be done within a month or so. Technology is amazing, I decided to rerecord many keyboard parts and all I had to do was sync it with the other tracks. I mean all that stuff was recorded a few years ago. I just opened it up and played the sequencer, then lined up the tracks. Still have some recording to go though. I think there are other projects that could be close now because I finally ahve a good way to record. Anyway hopefully more soon.
yerluvinunclekurt
July 1 2010
Not one, but 2 fan disks are now available from Softbox. The fan CD "Silver" contains Silver, a live version of Disippate, and a cover called Get It Together. "Packaged" contains The Greatest Intro Ever, Packaged, I Am, an orchestrated version of Zero hour, plus live versions of My Right and Becoming. The main disk is almost finished, there are vocals for 3 songs left then off to mix and master. Todd is just putting the finishing touches on the artwork. "Interesting" could be out before Christmas!!!
yerluvinunclekurt
March 14 2010
I actually don't have anything to tell you about yet, but I was looking and realized that it was time for my yearly spiel. Softbox is the main focus right now. We have finished the drums, bass and guitar for 21 songs and the vocals for 3. One was released in July of 2009. Silver was a sort of bonus song we put out and actually I just put up the video for it today. But nothing is complete ... yet! I anticipate that we will finish the rest of the recordings by summer and hope we have a finished product by christmas. I hope we could release another fan CD soon but don't know. As far as other projects go I haven't done anything. Heart of the Machine is still waiting, as is the Bëker project. It is just waiting for vocals. And any other projects are at a stand still. If I remember I will make a new entry when something comes out.
yerluvinunclekurt
April 21 2009
Another year! Well I have some projects in the works ... Todd and I are recording our follow-up CD for Softbox called Interesting, but I have doubts that it will be finished this year. We did manage to make a quick fan CD last fall called My Right, and maybe, just maybe we can get another one out. I finally have A JV-880, so the long awaited Heart of the Machine disk could be around the corner. But due to my lack of programming skills back then (1995-1996) there are alot of things to fix. So I won't say that would be done either. The Bëker CD is mostly recorded except I hate the vocals, so that got pushed to the back burner as well. There are many other ideas, but I won't even start. Hopefully next year will be the harvest of this years fruit.yerluvinunclekurt
April
13 2008
I actually
have something to put here!! The Softbox
CD has finally been released! It's been a long time coming, but I think
it was worth the wait. It has also actually become a band and is gearing
up for some live shows. I am at the moment recording some keyboard stuff
under the title
Bëker.
It will be an 8 song disk available at some of the coffee houses I hope
to play at, and I imagine from here as well. Also I put together some of
the old Exll
video footage onto Ruf Noiz's first DVD, called of course "Exll - The Friggin
DVD". Looking back through the entries there is still one project that
hasn't been finished so I guess I will have to jump it to the top of the
priority list and that is Heart of the Machine.
So I am still working at several projects, but as time has shown you never
know which one will be released next or how long it will take. As always
I hope to have something new here soon (before the year is up) but even
I never know!yerluvinunclekurt
March
19 2006
Time
for my yearly update. I know I would update this more often if there was
more to talk about, but that obviously hasn'ty been the case. But I do
have a bit of news. I have been recording some originals with Idle
Thoughts and the first of them, "Not a Hero", is available on
the Idle Thoughts web site just click
the link. The
Softbox
album is really starting to come together. At this point there are only
three songs without drums and them just a couple of fixes, vocals, and
mixing to do. I am very happy with the progress we have made in the
last 3 months, although at the moment, we can only find one day a week
that we can get together, I don't anticipate a finished product till late
2006. There are other things on my mind (like all the unfinished tracks
with Ken) but they will have to wait for now. I hope I can make another
news entry this year, but I won't until something is done.yerluvinunclekurt
march
27 2005
The
four disk
Exll
series has turned into six, so I just put it all together as the "Friggin
Box Set". It comes with a picture booklet full of photos, posters, fan
drawings, and tedious facts. Travis & I have been talking about trying
to record more Exll songs but I really won't hold my breath, I mean it's
been almost 10 years since we even thought about Exll
or recording. Planet B
is gigging sporadically as is Idle Thoughts
- 2 cover bands I am playing with. But here is where everything ran out
of steam. Still no guitar player, so the recording for Kenni & I is
pretty much on permenant hold. My year was fairly busy till now so there
has been little recording of any kind, although Todd & I are really
trying to do some work on the Softbox
disk. This is starting to sound just like the Fresh
Oil Opus recording where it was almost done
for 3 years, then nobody cared when it came out. Well there has been some
progress just nothing terribly concrete. But when one of them is done there
will be fireworks and everything !!! Till then I'll just keep plugging
along.yerluvinunclekurt
June
4 2004
I
am sitting in pretty much the same place as I was last year, although 3/4
of the
Planet B
disk is recorded the last 1/4 may be the most difficult. We are still looking
for a guitar player, but aside from a few guitar solos the guitar is done
on the disk. Just the drums and a few fixes need to be done. Ken &
I demoed some drums and they sounds great, but we need some real quality
recording for them.A huge chunk of the disk was recorded in Dec 2003 and
some drum ideas were recorded in Jan 2004. We have jammed a bit with Jason
on some of the old Fresh Oil Opus
songs to (hopefully) do a few acoustic shows but I think it has ran it's
course already. Unfortunately I haven't seen much of my friend Todd so
there hasn't been any work done on the Softbox
Disk. I do feel a little closer to releasing the Heart
of the Machine disk, I just have to save up
for a jv sound module! I have been doing alot of sequencing, concentrating
on the Planet B
live show (with Art Ashdown), but also some new ideas and some new Heart
of the Machine stuff. Maybe some of this will
see the light of day soon. I have been experiencing a serious time lag
problem with my recording software so very little has been recorded since
about Jan, just demoes and stuff that won't matter too much if it is out
a little bit. I have finished a four disk set of old Exll
stuff that was archived, and meaning to put it on disk. A limited amout
of disks will be made. I have also started to talk to someone to take over
the
Hoedowns, because I see no certain future
where I can host them again. It looks promicing. I promice at least one
disk will be finished this year, I know we will finish the Planet
B disk by one way or another. But I also hope
to get some work done on the
Softbox
disk, the first Heart of the Machine
disk, and maybe even a project Ken & I were working on called Mnemonic.
Hopefully I can fix the latency issue soon.yerluvinunclekurt
March
6 2003
Well
I had hoped this would be updated more than once a year. There is alot
of news. This decade (millenium) has really sucked so far, my brother died,
I got divorced, and now the original band I was working with,
Fresh
Oil Opus is probably dead (What did I do??).
I have to admit that I am definately a big part of it's disintigration
but not the only part. The cover band that supported it definately is dead,
maybe there will be more information at freshoilopus.com
. But the drummer (ken) and I are gearing up to do some recording and just
have to find the right guitar player. We are using the name Planet
B and have been blasting tunes out already
with our friend Art on guitar for now. I can already see we are exploring
lots of different styles, and I'm really starting to hate putting dates
on things but we hope to have a disk out by summer. Todd (my other drummer
friend) and I have been trying to work the bugs out of his computer to
finally start the recording of the Softboxdisk.
I am confident that we will at least start in the next two weeks (our times
off don't jive that well so there is a limited amount of time for us to
record together). So at this moment I have no computer (this puts a real
damper on recording other ideas), I am typing this text on an old Power
PC, which I'm sure at the time was a stunning piece of Hardware, but now
seems like I'm banging in nails with a stick (someday Jeff I will
record "banging in nails with a wrench"!!!!). I have had lots of time to
review old recordings and there are a few that if I have time I will do,
but for now I think I am going to concentrate on the Softbox
and Planet B,
although I do have a project waiting in the wings for Ken & I. I already
have demoes for a Drum Bass Keyboard Duo thing I'd like to try, and Ken's
dumming style and influences are perfect. But we'll see. I have had a good
response form Dance off of the Capacitance
CD and I was working on a follow up, but alas I was only about half way
there, when there was another man in my house. The unmixed waves will have
to wait on archived CD for a bit. Musically the adventure continues, and
I am very positive about this year (The SUMMER OF GEORGE!!!!!) . Come hell
or high water there will be one CD recorded this year, hopefully two! I
am really hoping for more, but judging from the last couple years that
would be setting myself up for a disappointment. I hope to have lots more
to say before the year is out!!yerluvinunclekurt
March 1
2002
Well
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm not a rock star yet. Even though I have won that
status with my friends ... eg. Oh look the ROCK STAR's here, and only 45
minutes late ... but I have seen a few projects to the end, finally.
1 )I have put my two independent tapes on Disk, and although I would love
to record more
Exll (there
are plenty of songs that never got recorded, all of them great!) I don't
really think it's in the cards. Although Exll
is (gasp!) a little more than ten years old, it still is close to my heart
(how could it not be, it was my first band). There are a few recordings
that I will (eventually) transfer to disk with some basement and 4 track
recordings that I think should be shared.
2) I have unveiled for the public a taste of the jams (The
Hoedowns) I host at my place in the summers.
It was also on tape (not for the pubic) but this is a bit more condensed
and better.
3) I have finally (this word seems to come up quite a bit) put together
my last analogue recording. An experiment called 101
things to do with a drum machine. I borrowed
my friends tr-626 and just tried stuff with it. There are some cool and
some really weird things here, perhaps only for the true musical adventurist.
4)Capacitance.
At this moment there are a few copies of this recording going to Germany.
My latest musical experiment and my first Digital recording. I wasn't sure
if it would come off, and although the jury's still out on this one, I'm
quite happy with it. Sort of a Dance CD (ep) musically very minimal (along
the lines of Kraftwerk and C+C music factory). Lots of analogue keyboard
and vocoder stuff.
5)The Fresh Oil Opus
live disk has been out for a while but I have just listened to it again
and really it's a great live disk. It probably doesn't sound as good as
a Rush live (studio?) album but a good balance between sound quality and
being there (I believe my fingers are wider than the keys on my keyboard,
that's my excuse and I don't want to hear any more about it).
So
what's next? Well I'm glad you asked!
1) The
Fresh Oil Opus
studio disk is nearing completion (why do I feel like Def Lepard...it'll
be out in a month... oh the tapes are useless...it'll be out the month
after...oh we had to scrap that last session ... really it'll be out next
...) and I hope we will have something to put in peoples faces soon (I
won't put anymore dates on this one, it'll be out when it's out).
2)I will transfer another experiment called Heart
of the Machine soon. Sorta mood music but
pretty cool if you're into that.
3)And also the long awaited Softbox
disc, after years of demos it's time to put it down and let everyone know
that Becoming is a cool song. Definitely more in a heavy rock vein.
There
are other projects on the go, but I only have so much time, and unfortunately
these things take money. Something which is at a premium right now, so
don't expect much until next year.
yerluvinunclekurt
