Spent about a year depressed lying in bed with an acoustic guitar writing songs. Eventually I decided to get it all out of my system.
Recording was probably the most fun I've ever had and the most satisfying experience of my life. It was also a shit ton of work.. Recorded guitars live with the drums. Then re-recorded double tracked rhythm guitars, acoustics, clean electrics, bass parts, guitar solos, extra effects (mandolin, 12 string, organ sounds), then did vocals. 12 songs of all that, and by the time I had to sing, I was fucking exhausted. By the time I was done singing, I was completely sick of music (which was a depressing state to be in for the day that it lasted).
This is my first attempt at singing and being a solo artist, and I really had no idea what I was doing. My goal was to learn, have fun and move on. I think I've accomplished that. There's not a song on here that I wouldn't re-record parts or add things onto, and I couldn't be more pleased. In the process of recording, I've learned more about myself and music in general than I ever would've on my own.
If I should do another album one day (I still love writing songs and riffs and singing..) I know it'll be much, much better than this. And I'm excited to maybe one day hear that album. I'm not even sure what kind of sounds I want to stick with. This one's kinda all over the place. I enjoy hearing the heavy stuff that I like to work out to, but I might be better at doing the more pink floydish style stuff. We'll see how things turn out.
I'm giving this album away for free, despite spending my own cash recording in an awesome studio, because I didn't do it for money, or a career. I did it because music is what I love doing. In any art form, having your vision translated from a blurry, perpetually warping spawn of an idea inside your head onto the frozen, flat canvas of reality is basically an indescribably satisfying and frightening event. I'd relate it to sex. I'm too tired to think of a way to describe the metaphor. There's something there though. Use your imagination. Mine's exhausted.

Oh yeah, about the music.. My favourite moments are all of the fucking drum fills, the strings in plastic mecca, Natalie's vocal solos (told her to do a pink floyd thing) at the end of RLJ and Black Wings, the recording I found of my deceased Grandad singing choir music I put at the start of Black Wings, and the guitar solo in Even Angels.
I think basically all of the guitar solos were improvised. Sometimes I did a couple takes of messing around and then put ideas together. Having no solos written (or I had some, but abandoned them..) I got to shred cranked up on a sexy as fuck gibson les paul (rented..). Looking back, I wish I shredded a bit less because I much prefer listening to the more melodic stuff that came out, but it was just too much fun at the time and my fingers were calling all the shots.
I'm pretty psyched on the heavy, fucked up rhythm guitar sounds I got. Next album would be more of that. Because it's just so much goddamn fun.
Lyrically, this album's kinda all over the place. Sometimes it just comes to you and it's great, and sometimes it comes to you 5 minutes before you record it and you think it's great, and then it's suddenly too late to change it... I think some of the lyrics I just didn't take seriously or I was just so fed up with writing and rewriting that I could've done it better, but yet.. I couldn't at the time. Black Wings has a reference to Pulp Fiction in it. Why? I have no fucking idea. Absolutely none. Maybe it just shows some of my strange sense of humour shining through. Or I was born challenged. And my parents have been paying all of you to be nice to me this whole time. I have my theories.
I wanted to make music like Alice in Chains. Then I added in bits of everything else I listen to, until only a few songs ended up even remotely still sounding like them. Which is awesome. My favourite influence was Tom Waits on Devil's Eyes. So much fun to sing like that and almost deliver the lines as a character instead of just myself. I hope to do that a lot more in songs.

Anyways, I think I'll dedicate this album to Dia, Ashley, Ash, Natalie, and Paula. 5 women without whom, I never would've gotten this far. Thank you.
Thanks for listening, hope some people enjoy some of the music. I enjoyed making it and at the risk of revealing a deep seeded narcissism, I love listening to it. Gave me something to exercise to while waiting for Queens of the stone age, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden to finish their new albums.
Tim