Empire of Lies (2014)
This is some of my best work and an album that I’m truly proud of. Written between 2010 and 2013, and finally released in 2014, it was the culmination of a tremendous amount of work. It’s available on every major streaming service, and you can buy a copy in my album store.
Sleep Rebellion (2013-2015)
Starting in 2010 I wrote some of the songs that would eventually find their way onto my next album, Empire of Lies. I was still in Noir City at the time, and also starting work on the soundtrack for Ambrosia. After Noir City ended in 2011, I started looking for other musicians to play with so I could have an opportunity to play my own original music again. It had been too long, and I was ready to do something new. I went through a period of meeting and playing with a lot of musicians around the area. Eventually I met Randy Hart, a fantastic drummer, in 2013, while trying to start a musical project with new friend and bass player, Brad Remsing - who incidentally plays in a really good Rush cover band around the Vancouver/Portland area, called Moving Pictures. Brad had his own original music, and the initial idea was for us to each sing our original songs in the band. When that project failed to fully gel, Randy agreed to start something new with me.
By then, I had written most of an album, with the songs tending toward a dark, libertarian, hard rock theme. I envisioned a short story that would tie all the songs together into a grand narrative, with only a few additional songs needed to connect the dots - prompting me to write “Transhuman,” “The Agorist,” and “Fearless.” I crowdfunded the album, and we recorded drums in October 2013 at a studio called Kung Fu Bakery in Portland. I produced everything, and Empire of Lies was released the following year.
With Empire of Lies I finally felt comfortable as a singer, but some of the songs are extremely hard to play and sing at the same time. In “The Creator,” the main riff is in 13/8, and it took a lot of work. I did what Geddy Lee of Rush does: practice until I can play in my sleep.
While I played all of the bass on the album, we needed a bassist for live shows. Enter Hans Hedstrom, who not only took up bass duties but backup vocals as well. After Hans joined, we were a proper three piece. We played two shows as a band, and recorded a cover of Rush’s “Working Man,” before Hans relocated to San Francisco. I was not able to find a suitable replacement bass player before Randy quit to pursue other musical projects.
Below is a playlist consisting of a few selections from the album, our Rush cover, and the only two live shows we ever played.