2021 – What a year!
Happy New Year! 2021 has been a very successful year. I never achieved so many things and gained so many experiences in the previous 52 weeks. Let’s take a look back.
The end of electronic music
After releasing “Dramatic Ocean” in 2017, some people asked me, if I disappeared. Music was not one of my favourite topics, because I stuck. Since 2008 I’ve been quite sure that uplifting trance is not my thing any more, so I tried lots of other electronic music genres like hard trance, tech trance, electro house and aggrotech. Nothing felt right.
A few songs and drafts emerged, but they were not published. Some were planned as commercial releases, some stuck in the middle. So I decided to finish these drafts and to put them onto an album called “Event Horizon” that I released on Bandcamp in March. All songs are dark, aggressive and melancholic. It’s been a good decision to wrap up my last thoughts on electronic music before heading for new shores. Special thanks go to step response, Thunderstriker and @tna-sphere who supported me all these years and were part of the album.
Uncertainties about my musical path
After finishing my album, I was uncertain about music itself. Will I quit producing music and songwriting? Will I try another genre? Looking back to my album “When The Sun Goes Down” (2008), I remembered, that I already tried pop music some years ago. I was involved in plenty of alternative rock and punk rock songs with The Verge – as songwriter, lyricist and producer. Is it the way to go? Or are there more facets I don’t know yet?
In November, I composed a quite complex chord structure, that did not work for electronic music. It sounded great on 90 BPM and has been the beginning of “Remnants”. It’s a progressive rock song with Sebastian Schleicher, Rich Brewer and Ben Ollig, that has been released on Bandcamp in May. This song has been a milestone, because it showed me that other genres are more flexible than most things I tried in electronic music. It’s been my first attempt on progressive rock and definitely not my last.
Embracing new beginnings
Befriended musicians advised me to postpone the decision on genres and forget about establishing a signature sound. Just write the music that comes into your mind. I ended up writing 18 new songs in a couple of weeks. I’ve never been so productive! It’s been the first time, I didn’t think about matching expectations of my audience or being able to realize my projects. I never expected most projects to happen and to result in such great songs!
I wrote some songs for a full band, sometimes we teamed up with co-writers, or we modified my draft completely. This intense experience showed me, that I don’t want to limit my music to certain genres. I learned, that my strengths are songwriting, arrangement and production – and not playing instruments and sound design. Suddenly it became clear, why electronic music didn’t work for me any more. The focus of most genres is sound design.
A year full of music
My new beginning encouraged me to try something I dreamed of for a very long time. I bought an acoustic guitar and take classes. It will take months and years until you will listen to my guitar, maybe this doesn’t happen at all. I bought this instrument as a songwriter, to learn more about the possibilities and techniques. Composing a song on guitar may be completely different from composing a song on keys. I am looking forward to trying.
Since 2021 has been a year full of music, I barely had time nor inspiration for drawing or writing. I enjoyed designing cover images for every song. The colours, typography and illustrations are adapted to the genre. It’s been a new experience as a digital artist. I may write an article about this soon.
Working on my fourth album
Michael’s lyrics on “Going My Way” inspired me to start an album with the same name. It’s exactly what I think about music right now. I’m going my way, I don’t care about the genres. I can’t tell you when it’s ready, but 2022 is certain. Until then, I’d like to release a song every 1-2 months.
Looking back to the beginning of the year, plenty of things have changed. If you’d asked me if I’d do music, I’d probably have said “No”. But now, I embrace the new challenges and love it!
2 Comments
Joseph Rubiano
Awesome journey!
Have you ever thought about how difficult it is to leave something that we really like to do?
Well, music is the answer.
Glad to know you found your way instead of leaving it definitely without fighting for an alternative.
Congrats for this new way!
Nadine
Yes, it’s difficult. Otherwise, this step wouldn’t have taken 5+ years.