After over a year and a half of writing, riffing, recording, mixing, producing the first Existence Zero Ep is pretty much here.  Its taken a while, there have been big breaks in between but all the music is done.  There have been demo versions up online  since last summer but this is the finished deal and how it should sound.

Of course I could keep going back and improving it but its done and I am so happy with what is there.  This is the Ep that I had to write that had been burning in me for over two years.  I wanted to define a sound and work in a style that influences me and moreover is me!

Now there is no god damn way I could have even got this Ep sounding like it does without two of the most amazing musicians by my side and willing to lend a hand whenever I needed or giving input and adding amazing riffs all over the place.  They are of course Mark (@prophesise) and Jorge (he has no twitter).  These two guys were able to help me create Definitions of a Heresy and tap into the ideas I had for the Ep.  Always adding riffs and helping to write songs that blew me away.

They have both become an integral part of Existence Zero for me and I can’t thank them enough.  Another huge massive thanks goes to Kap who features on the track Bearer of the Word.  He came in a laid down amazing riffs that melded so well with Jorge’s that left me astounded.  These guys never even jammed together on the track!!  So thank you Kap for coming in on this track.  It was important to feature him on this he is a guitarist I have had great history of jamming with.

So for now this is all I will say about the Ep.  its all pretty much done.  I just gotta upload the tracks.  Oh and be ready for the shit hot artwork done by Mark.  Man the cover made me go weak at knees!!!

Once the Ep is out I may do a track by track breakdown on here.

Keep it Baguette like.  

Vish ;)

Ok so in my last blog I went on about where I am goin, what I am doing etc…blah blah blah.

Well since then I have got cat woohoo and we just named him Oscar, but enough about kittehs.  They rule most of the internet and mine is already ruling my twitter and facebook in the two short days I have had him. So if you want kitteh filled fun go check my twitter @Vishyyy.

Apart from feline related topics I have also been a bit “away” from the internet over the last 10 days or so.  Almost taking a short hiatus or break if you will from the world wide web.  Sometimes its just good to disconnect or “unplug” from the internet. Now this is a subject I have seen discussed by many bloggers.  The need to “unwire” or “go off the grid”.  I can see why it fascinates people and why many go ahead and do it.  

Large chunks of time on the internet are spent on social media.  Constantly being connected into seeing what world is getting up to.  Watching and reacting to status updates, tweets, new video or image uploads, etc.  For me its the aforementioned tweets that consume a large proportion of my time on the web.

Tweeting multiple times a day, replying, retweeting, following, even the ocassional unfollow (but you have to be quite a douche for me to do that), I do it all like the many millions on twitter.  Of course I have facebook as well although I tend not to update my life on there so much.

I have spent countless hours doing all of the above and I love it, however just like most things in life too much of anything isn’t always a good thing.  Having the constant stream of information flowing towards you like a rapid current can get over whelming.  I have managed to loose whole hours in the day constantly checking twitter to see what the world (in this case the people I follow and those who follow me) are up to or not up to.

Somewhere along the line I was checking up more on other peoples lives than living my own! As with any form of social interaction there is always drama somewhere.  We humans love the stuff and can’t avoid creating it. In fact there must be a gene in built somewhere in our DNA  that just detests shit being simple.  

Simple = boring.

Drama = a large cocktail of emotions on the boil at once, thus leading to overreaction and exaggeration.

Inevitably at some point you come across the drama.  I’ve seen it on my timeline a fair bit.  Sometimes you ignore it completely. At other times you might get dragged into it or end up the cause of it (not had the last one, so far I’ve been lucky).  The internet loves to breed trolling and flamming .  Its just one of the many things that makes up social networking and the internet.

All of this can just sit over your head with information overload and massive dense cloud of “Eugh”.  At least that is the case for me.

So with all this being said its just sometimes great to take a step back and not worry what the world is up to, but concentrate more on what your up to.  Not to constantly be interacting, but sometimes just switch off and think and get on with living.  Then when you do decide to get back to the interwebz you have something to discuss or maybe an idea to put out there.

Spending more time offline has given me more time to get on and do things and just let my brain rest from information overload and reset.  So when I have come back I have had more to tweet about as well as my usual inane update tweet about “foooood timeee + coffeeee”. 

I have also found that when I get back to it, then internet keeps chugging along as per usual and people happily tweeting away as usual.  It all carries on and my world hasn’t stopped, in fact there is more happening in it innit (sorry couldn’t resist).  

Through all of this it also helps me appreciate all the people I interact with online, especially on twitter.  I have found that I miss the random tweets of the people I follow and the fun and silly conversations that build up.  Absence does make the heart grow fonder…ok maybe that’s taking it a bit far but you get my sentiments…I hope. 

So if your ever considering spending sometime in the offline world I would recommend it.  I know other people who have done the same and it helps. Its helped me to remember there is a life out there where you aren’t or don’t have to be updating or updated every few seconds on “whats going on.”  When you get back to it you are ready for the madness, insanity, and random joy that is the internet. ;)

Vish 

It’s been some time since I actively used this blog.  I used it a few times and then it just kind of fell by the wayside as with many things.  I have been spent plenty of time tweeting and recently video blogging.  However nothing seems to get your thoughts, ideas and feelings out there like words can.  I am able to express myself in a more complete way through blogging.  So with that in mind I found this account blew off the cobwebs and dust and decided to restart this blog up.

Since the last time I wrote a full post a lot has and hasn’t happened. I have got MSc (woohoo) and been jobless (boooo), on the job hunt since the end of November.  Like most places in the world the economy is up shit creak without a paddle and this has had an effect on the job market.  I have always been lucky in that when I have actively looked for a job, usually within a month or two I have found something.  Usually its been your average office, admin jobs nothing too excited.

This time however things are a bit different, you can almost feel it in the air. Everything is moving slower and there seems to be a blanket of silence from companies, agencies, a lone man and his dog.  Even trying to get your bog standard office role is a challenge and things seem to coming up few and far between.  When you also keep hearing this same kind of thing from other people you know somethings not right.

So while I have been sitting on my arse at home, keeping busy with tweeting, mixing, riffing, video blogging, failing at dating, I have realised I need to sort out some sort of career path for myself i.e. do what I want to do and start the long road to it.

 I am not the kind of person who could sit the next 35-40 years of his life in an office doing all sorts of customer service/ admin roles.  I do them now as they are or can be an easy way to bring in some mula. When an agency calls me up telling me of a new customer support or admin role they would like to put me forward for, I get about as excited as if a monkey threw up on my shoes.  However of course I agree to them sending of my details…. after all money reigns supreme in this world and you need it to get anywhere (even certain toilets).   

So where do I go and what do I do? Well I have a masters in Music Tech & Audio Engineering and its something I really enjoyed.  I love making, writing, mixing, producing music.  Its a true passion and something I want to spend my life doing. Of course I am in a couple of bands and have a studio project.  Like many the ultimate dream is get signed, record albums, tour the world, rock n fuckin roll and all that jazz.

However I have to be realistic and at 26 I can’t keep waiting for opportunities to find and hit me, I have to make them for myself or find a way to.  While doing the whole stereotypical band thing is an ultimate dream, in general I want to be working on or with audio, be it research, teaching or sound design.  I don’t have to be making money from my own music.  I do that first and foremost for myself.  If other people buy into it or dig it awesome, its a bonus, but I write and play things I love as long as I can keep doing that in my own time that is perfect for me. 

My philosophy especially in the last few years has been if you don’t like something in or about your life, then change it.  Well its time to heed my own advice and words.  I see people on twitter getting to where they want to go in life and I stop and think why can’t I do that.  Well I can and anyone can but its all about getting your arse in gear and going for it.  Sometimes it takes the long way round to get there but if you stick with it you will get there.

With all of this in mind, after a good long chat with my dad (its always good to discuss with people) I have decided to go back into education.

“Say whaaaat?!?!?!?! WTF!!!!”

Thats what my reaction would have been after completing my MSc. I was feeling jaded and glad it was over. I was adamant that I was never going back into education again.  Move nearly six months into the future and suddenly the thought of doing a PHD is something that appeals so very much to me that I am already looking at uni’s and courses.  I want to get into funded research.  Education (mainly uni education) is where I have flourished in life.

So where do we go from here?  Well for me its hopefully a research PHD in some form of music tech & audio engineering and then eventually moving into university lecturing/ tutoring.  Of course on the side still doing all the various bands and music projects (I’ll never stop that and who knows what could happen on that front).  

It feels good to have some form of map in my mind laid out so I know where I am going and how to get there.  There will be some detours and maybe even a wrong turn but its time to start making the journey and it starts with applying for something that I would have never contemplated doing..a PHD. 

So thats sorted…now if only relationships were that easy to figure out ;).

Keep it baguette like!

Vish 

I’m back and there will be a whole new blog post up very sooon, like in a few hours. So stay put or else….. 

Right so where was I before I got rudely interupted by that thing called life.  Ahh yes Eurogamer and taking a look at Battlefield 3 and MW3.  Both were extremely popular and a lot of the talk at the expo came down to which one people prefer more.  I am siding with BF3. It looks amazing and the game play is great plus having to use tactics and team up properly is a big plus.  It will be interesting to see what single player throws up.  

MW3 just to me looks and feels of the same ol same ol.  I was sorely dissapointed with Black Ops and MW3 looks to be using the same engine with a bit re-skinning and other jiggery pokery.  I do respect what the COD series has done but from where I am looking at things BF3 seems to be uping the level, and rightly so!!!

As well as the two big FPS the other big game for me was Guild Wars 2.  It seemed that this was the case for a lot of other people, so much so that at every PC station there was a que of three or four deep.  With each person getting a max of a full hour to try out the game this meant that waiting would have taken nearly half the expo.  I had to sacrifice getting my mitts on game, but my eyes got a feast.  So the game looks lush so far from what I have seen and people seemed to pick it up easily enough.

The one thing I do wish was that they had some of the PVP on offer.  When it comes to my MMO’s I have always been more PVP than PVE.  Hence why I have always preferred playing Warhammer Online over World of Warcraft.  The PVP in Guild Wars 2 looks good and seems like you will be killing all manner of beasties as with any other MMO however for me its about two factions going up against each other and doing battle.  Its the main reason why I am looking so forward to it and the guild I am in.  Its our next big MMO to migrate to.  So far it looks the biz and seems to be receiving some good rep.  Hopefully as the months go by we get to see what the PVP will have to offer and how the mechanics of the different classes work with and against each other.  Class balance is always a huge factor in these games and can make or break them.  There is no news of a release date yet.  So I wait with baited breath.

Another highlight of the expo was Counterstrike: Global Offensive.  People have been waiting a long time for another CS game and there is still a large community that plays and constantly bring all sorts of mods and maps to the game.  This was another game with a bit of a wait but it was worth it.  CS is going to be a great game you just know it and the community will add something extra to it. The only annoying thing for me was that they only had it as playable on the PS3 at the expo.  This for me is a bit of a fail as the only way I play my FPS’s are on the PC.  

The FPS grew up on the PC and evolved from there.  The keyboard and mouse combo are just a match made in heaven.  i have tried FPS’s on my XBox 360 and the PS3 and usually with a pretty crappy result.  I will admit I am a bit of a noob at all FPS’s. I am not some hardcore player that will snipe your ass from 300 feet out across the other side of the map.  However even with my noobish skills I feel that the mouse and keyboard just gives you that precision that two analogue sticks never do.  The smmoth movement of the mouse along with using your fingers nimbly to run around, its what the FPS does best and I feel only the PC can do this.

So back from my small tangent I would have to say that if CS:GO had been on the PC at Eurogamer it could have ended up being the best thing I had played all day. The gamepad is not made for FPS, at least not for me.

Other noticeable games were Street Fighter X Tekken, which looks cool, awesome amazing and sexy. I cannot wait to try it out, hell this is a game that will be bought.  Sonic Generations looked interesting and I am hoping that this celebration of classic and modern Sonic really revives our favorite blue friend.  Assassins Creed Revelations also looked immense. I did have great pleasure of seeing @Cannedfool getting sliced up three times in a row in amausing ways every single time.  In fact you can see this footage on here and on youtube: http://youtu.be/zxXLXNQZkwQ.

In the football war well I am a PES fan and plaed PES and it was just so much damn fun that it wins over FIFA again.  Yes I know FIFA is apprently meant to be life like and realistic, but I don’t like the new system in place and I want to enjoy and have fun playing games.  Last time I played FIFA I did start falling asleep. personally its too much of a snorefest for me.

So overall Eurogamer Expo was bigger and better this year with more to see.  To be honest I could have done with getting a full weekends worth of tickets rather than the one day.  this would have given me time to see and try all the games I wanted to and go sit in on some panels.  I am sure next year it will be even bigger.

Now bring on PAX 2012 :D

Vish ;)