The upside of the democratization of music production is that anyone can create and market their own music. The downside of the democratization of music production is that anyone can create and market their own music.
It is true that instrumental rock appeals to a specialized audience compared to classic rock. Last year, I formed the band Reign Over Obscurity, which is progressive metal. There are vocals in this project so it will probably reach a wider audience.
My latest album was self-released and to be honest I completely forgot that there was even an option of being on a label. I never attempted to send a disc anywhere asking to join a label.
I recently posted a couple of tracks on Soundcloud and my track "Atomic Shadow" went bananas with over 50,000 listens within a couple of weeks. That was the largest single networking event I`ve experienced.
My first CD with my name on it was self-released. They recorded me for free so I would have a product out but it is a live CD, recorded in a club on a night I didn`t know I was to be recorded.
In general, my newest compositions are always my favorites. Creating is what it is all about for me. I rarely go back and revisit old pieces. My current material is always representative of where my head is at musically at any particular point in time.
It`s having different layers on songs - melodies and different time signatures under melodies - that makes songs interesting. It´s cool when you are able to find new things from songs after listening several times.
A lot of people don`t realize that the guitar is a great melodic instrument, and can easily take the job of a singer. You can take a vocal melody, play it on a guitar and make it just as expressive or more so.
I play instrumental blues and rock. Freddie King`s instrumental records really had an impact on me. I can`t sing but those records showed me there`s still a lot you could say without vocals.
Putting together an album, the way I tend to do them, is a long and hard journey. It took three years between the first and second album.
