Internet Weirdo Not Quite Ready for Prime Time
It’s March so I’ve had enough time to sit back and reflect on 2013 and it occurred to me… Why did I only put out 3 YouTube videos in 2013? What was I so occupied with that I only managed to get that much work done?
Well, there was my first album, The Suite Acoustic, that I wrote and recorded. That was a 16 track behemoth that tested my resolve and my sanity but I managed to get it out regardless. I sold enough CD copies to put that puppy into its second printing so you know, that was nice.
What was the other thing I was doing? Oh yeah, I signed up with hitRECord. Forgot about that one.
And I kind of got involved with it. Obsessed with it. Lost in it.
For those of you who don’t know hitRECord is an online collaborative artist community started by the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The way it works is that people upload their art and, by doing so, give permission to other artists to remix their art into something new. For example, I could upload a guitar track and someone could, say, add vocals to it.
I got involved with some AMAZING artists. I mean really amazing. And inspiring. I still can’t believe this happened:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170501232813if_/https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/86538968&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true
I never thought anything was going to come of it. I just wanted to make stuff. Work with other artists. I got way more than I bargained for! In just one year I scored some short films, laid down guitar and ukulele tracks on other people’s art, wrote a bunch of pieces, shot some videos, and learned more about home recording in one year than all years previous.
Then came the TV show, “hitRECord on TV”. Mr. Gordon-Levitt was taking this little site to the public via the Pivot network.
And I got into the TV show, along with thousands of other artists. I got to work with the amazing film and TV composer Brian Langsbard on a piece called “Above It All”. I submitted super 8mm footage for the episode entitled “The Other Side.” I got video (yes, my face on TV) and a guitar recording into the episode entitled “Patterns”.
So there it is. Pretty amazing. Life-changing, in fact. I gotta hand it to RegularJOE (Gordon-Levitt’s hitRECord user name), somehow he got my ugly mug on to TV, ironing board in the background and all:
I know, that got on TV. Pretty crazy, right? All the episodes are available for download from iTunes if you don’t believe me! The above image is from Episode 8 RE: Patterns.
That being said, I can’t help but get the feeling that I kind of let my YouTube channel die to do all this stuff last year. But 2014 is different. I don’t have an album to record at the moment, although I did already finish my first piece for it. (Otep inspired me to write a piece to accompany her poetry so that’s probably going to be on album number two at some point). So I have a little more time than I did last year.
Long story short I’m already making good on my New Year’s resolution to do more YouTube videos. So here it is, my first YouTube video of 2014!
Yep, my first Disney arrangement! And man did this one bring back memories. I had this game at one point for the Sega Genesis and I remember it being impossible to beat! So much fun though. I’ve seen Disney’s “Alladin” at least 50 times. I had it on VHS as a kid and I loved every minute of it. Back then I had more time to watch a movie over and over and, since I grew up in rural New Hampshire, there wasn’t much else to do. It’s still an amazing film. If I had more time on my hands I would track down the 16 bit game online and see if I can beat it this time around. Alas, that will probably have to wait for another lifetime as I have way too much stuff to do at the moment.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! Yes, I have more free time now that the whole hitRECord thing is over and my album is done. The 90’s X-Men cartoon theme! Done in costume! This video’s got it all! Cosplay! Guitar! Ukulele! Deadpan delivery! Enjoy!
Anybody remember the original?
So let’s recap: From my efforts last year I was able to put out an album and I managed to get on TV. I did all this at the cost of my YouTube channel but I’m working on building that back up. I already have a TON of arrangements ALREADY WRITTEN! All I have to do is practice them up and record them. 2014 is going to be crazy, mark my words. I have some insanity on the backburner that is just waiting to be unleashed. This year, just as in years past, I will be doing my part to keep the internet weird.