Man, life has been full of a lot of disruptions and interruptions lately. I guess it began with my computer freaking out on me. Well, really, it started with COVID-19, but that seemed really distant at first, and not to affect the social recluse that I was terribly. So anyway, my mouse on my computer started going schizo, jumping all over the place and clicking on things at random, making it impossible to work. So I wasn't able to get this blog article done when I published Mythic Migrations. I was already late getting it started because I was beginning to drink heavily at the time. I think there was a little coronavirus influence there. Well, the computer had to be taken to the shop, and I just started drinking more to fill up the time I normally would have spent working. I wasn't even writing new songs. I still haven't been writing new songs. But I think I'm in a better place now.
But back then I was sneaking around drinking airplane shots of whiskey and hiding the empties in a drawer. The drawer was discovered. I was living with my mom and my step-dad, in what's supposed to be an alcohol-free zone. I tried to downplay it and promised I would get sober, but they started watching me like a hawk, and I started drinking more. I started buying whole fifths of Jim Beam instead of just little shot bottles. And I wasn't as clever at concealing it as I thought I was. So I kept getting caught time and again, and I even had a drunken meltdown or two, which didn't help my cause. It got to the point where I wore out my welcome in my parent's home. They gave me an ultimatum: either go to rehab, or be homeless.
Well, most of the rehabs are closed down or at very limited capacity due to COVID these days, so we had a hard time finding a place that would take me, but my Mom landed on a place called Lazarus House, which is a six-month religious program. I didn't like the sound of that at all. So on the night before they were going to take me, I decided to create a third option: I attempted to overdose on Ativan and Seroquel. Apparently, I didn't take enough, and I found myself in the closed psychiatric ward of Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Missouri. It wasn't so bad. They provided nicotine patches, my meds, an old Michael Crichton book I'd read a million times, and some group therapy sessions that were more like classes on coping skills. They had really good food, allowed my parents to bring me more books after I finished Sphere in two days. I ended up staying at Mercy for five days, and called around trying to find other rehabs that might take me. I called up the director of Lazarus House to get a clearer idea of his program, and he described a Bible camp for addicts, which made me even more desperate not to go there. On the day I was supposed to be discharged from Mercy, I had a panic attack and convinced them to let me stay just one more day. And then it was time to make a decision: go to Lazarus House, or the homeless shelters.
I chose Lazarus House. And despite the mandatory Bible studies at 5:30 every morning and two evenings a week, plus two church services on the weekends, and that I'm surrounded by homophobic religious nut-jobs, I like it better here than I thought I would. The gay jokes and casual use of the word "fag" used as a derogative really bothered me at first, but you know what? I grew up in McMinnville, OR, before my generation took it over, and it was a town where you were either religious or a meth addict, and everyone identified as a redneck. And I adapted and survived back then, learned how to be "one of the guys" and developed friendships, and now it's just time to draw on those old skills and to let the shit roll off of me. And I guess it's time to learn my Bible better. There is some wisdom to be found in there, some really uplifting passages, and some cool stories. I've long since quit looking at Christians as my enemy, so this isn't a "know your enemy" kind of thing. This is just gaining a better understanding of a culture that happens to be dominant in the area of the U.S. that I'm living in now. And the sober living aspect has been good for me. I've achieved thirty-seven days sober, as of today.
But life was once again interrupted, even in the midst of Lazarus House. This is kind of a joke of a rehab, really. There's no staff, no one with medical or psychiatric training, there's not even the Twelve Steps. There's bed bugs that weekly spraying isn't getting rid of, and there's eleven-to-fifteen guys living here together, with no coronavirus precautions in place. Half these guys have jobs and regularly get out into the world. So it wasn't a complete surprise when one of them came up positive for COVID. Someone we've all lived with and used the same facilities as. So the Health Department was called in, and now Lazarus House is under quarantine for two weeks. I was just about to be lifted off "restricted" status (you're under house arrest for the first thirty days here). I was just beginning to be given assignments as a "house driver," putting my driver's license to use carting people around from this "treatment center" and the other recovery houses associated with it. Now I'm stuck here a while longer.
But my computer's been fixed! It took a few weeks, but the issue - which was a swollen battery pressing against the mouse pad from the inside - has been resolved. I guess it took them awhile to find a new battery for a Mac this "old" (hey, it still fulfills my needs). As soon as I got it back in my hands, I went to work tweaking and mastering all seven songs for the upcoming The Naked Truth EP, a collection of bare-bones versions of previously-recorded songs including the "Naked" version of "Why Can't We Have Nice Things?" which has only been available as a Snail Tunes-exclusive bonus track until now. I put together an MP3 prototype of the EP and listened to it yesterday, and I uploaded it to DistroKid this morning, slating it for a July 17th release, which is the day the quarantine is supposed to be lifted.
Meanwhile, Mythic Migrations has been available, and I've been trying to promote it as much as I can from my phone, but it's just not the same. I don't have access to all the links on my phone, just what I have the apps for, and my Apple Music has been shut off. So I've been tweeting YouTube, Spotify, and Deezer links, and trying to get back into the habit of doing Facebook posts, but I also hate typing on my phone. So working on my computer right now is a real treat. But I'm using a housemate's hotspot, which I can't do all the time, so my Internet access on the computer is limited. I'll still be working mostly from my phone, but having this blog article published will help immensely, giving me access to copy and paste from the following links, where you can find Mythic Migrations: YouTube and YouTube Music, Spotify, Google Play, Apple Music and iTunes, Amazon, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Napster, Pandora, and TIDAL.
This EP is very much along the same lines as the album Edges. I took some piano ditties and gave them the neoclassical treatment with some strings arrangements, then explored them further with some thrashing electric guitars, off-kilter beats, and strange synths. Of special note is the synth solo in "The Black-Winged Stork;" I don't know where I found that synth or what I did to make it sound like that, but I think it's quite tasty. In these songs, I practiced a few techniques that I was just starting to touch on in The Soul Washer. There's riffs of muted electric guitar guiding the rhythm. There's rapid arpeggios of electronic piano in the background for an electronica vibe, as well as a "grid bass" that rapidly alternates between two octaves with deep electronic pulses. And then there's then there's the "suspense bass" that's a deep buzzing drone riddled with treble distortions. All these techniques add to the industrial vibe of my music, which you're about to see stripped away in The Naked Truth.
Sorry to not go through each song individually with you. Honestly, the writing of them isn't that fresh in my mind anymore, since this was published so long ago. And mostly, this article was meant to catch you up on what's been happening in my life, what's been preventing me from working, and what I'm working on now that I'm able. I hope you've had a chance to listen to the EP and that you've been enjoying it. And I hope that in these times that I'm sure have been trying for everyone, your inner snails remain resilient and determined.
P.S. I've started writing music again, and I recently recorded this song in a single day! I'm very proud of it, very happy to be writing again, and excited to share it! I think this will be my next single. Enjoy!
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