Blog Report 7/29: no heroes is...

it's getting there.

after what has been about a full 6-7 month process (if you want to add the SOF 2 production time, it's just over 1 year), the pieces are coming together for no heroes.

first recording started last thursday night. recording a collab with a friend of mine who you may remember from a while back. also trying to piece together at least 2 more collabs on this mixtape as well.

yeah, collabs. shocker.

but after being in 4 bands in 3 years, working with people seems more...rewarding. time-consuming, but rewarding.

writing is wrapping up this week. I got one more all-nighter session and the fact I may have some quiet time makes recording more attractive.

and then there's a few other things here and there that I'm working on as well.

the second EP will be done probably in the same sessions of no heroes. sounds crazy. but I know crazy.

aces down 2.0 is stalled. but I'm working on it. no singer yet, but odds are I'm probably going to be holding the bag this time. I even gave some thought to bringing back an old friend to do it but...well, I'd rather not get into it.

project nightmare x2 is up next after the recording is done.

the third EP will probably be happening in the end of the year. going to bring in some friends and guests to flesh out the all unplugged songs. yes, all unplugged. but the challenge will be keeping hip-hop traits in a live music situation.

the next full-length will probably start in 2014. and it will probably be a mix of the EPs, the mixtapes, the bands i've been in and project nightmare.

and there's movement on the trip-hop project too. could be a bigger part of Retroflux. will update on the story as time goes on.

now on the live performance front:

• reworking the show to work around the no heroes material. so this means, synths everywhere. glitch everywhere. dubstep nowhere to be found (GTFO)
• there may be a minimal band lineup. 50% pre-rendered, 50% live. yeah like I'm going to run 10 different synths live. you nuts.
• Fall 2013 sound good? OK, how about next month?

So stay tuned. Collabs will be revealed soon. Get ready.

-mc larny

EXPOSE DAY 3: The Cards Are Wild Again

So here's the story.

About 6 months ago, I started writing a bunch of songs. Only thing about it was, it was different. The songs took on a nature of their own. The nature was that, the songs couldn't be done using pre-programmed beats...they had to be made live, with real people, real instruments.

In that breath, the decision was made to reform/restart Aces Down, or at least try to.

I've been working with Andrew Warnock  (ex-Mojo Kick) for the past couple of months to reconfigure the sound. It's been a creative crash-course in what does and does not work. And now the rest of the pieces of this project are filling out, gradually. Still a lot of work to be done. Specifically the search for a lead singer (I'm not doing that..can't sing and unless we want to play hardcore punk, I'm really limited) and probably a bassist.

But I'm excited for it, because I've wanted to do it for years now. It's going to happen. The rest of the pieces will be unveiled soon enough. Really really soon...we're trying to get everyone in the same room to jam....

Not easy. But it never was....

EXPOSE DAY 2: There Are No Heroes

Synthesizers are underrated. Often viewed in hip-hop as the instrument used by everyone to replace the sounds they wish they had, it's time to do something a little more...out there with it. An orchestra of synths? Sure, why not.

No Heroes was built on two foundations. The disgust with popular people and the fancy fashion of them being exposed for who they really are was the first foundation. The second was the sound, the idea behind it. It's a good enough idea for a mixtape. And it will be some of the most on-point material I pen in...forever.

It's not going to sound like NIN in hip-hop form, it's going to sound like a new idea. Listen for yourself.

I would never imagine that it would be such an edge-pusher. And somehow it still is, in light of Mr. West's new release. I'm hoping to finish the production by the end of the month and record in July...for a guy who never does mixtapes, this is taking so long.

I originally intended to go solo entirely with this one...but as of now, the goal is to get at LEAST 2 cameos on there. Could happen, could not, we'll see. It may have crossed into "free album" territory with all the work being done for it.

Enjoy a sample. COMING THIS AUGUST.

EXPOSE DAY 1: How's Your Coffee

Retroflux project 001

MC Larny x Nice Day present: Good Coffee Inc.

Twin Peaks hip-hop. It's as crazy as it sounds.

COMING SOON

Blog Report: Restarting an Old Car

Howdy,

OK, so the radio silence has been for a good reason. The building of Retroflux for one, the work on N0_HER0ES and the planning for a couple of side-projects have made this blog a silent place.

But that's over. Here's a little story about a project on my docket since 2010.

Ever since I planned this EP series out, I always intended for the last EP to be a stripped down, unplugged effort, taking me into really unfamiliar territory that I have merely hinted at previously.

So with that said, this idea has been off and on, mostly because a). Writing a conceptual trilogy is tough, b). This needs real instruments and people, and c). Bad luck.

The furthest I got on this was back in 2010, when I ran through about 5 rough songs with a friend, planning it all out (at the time, I had no confidence with actually directing a song's creation) and with a different idea of who would be a part of it.

3 years later, and the project still lives but the cast has changed. People have moved, or fallen out with me, or whathaveyou.... I did come up with 4 good ideas for songs recently. One of them has the working title "Winter" and if I can get it to be 6 minutes, or close, then it works.

The challenge is to capture emotions after the story arcs towards the ending. And also to not sound whiny. In a way, it's creating a rap hip-hop album, with the limitations of nothing plugged in, no computers, turntables, sampling, etc. Somehow there's a way to retain the DNA of hip-hop production (patterns, 4/4 drumming, chopped up keys, etc) and bring it over to the MTV Unplugged world.

Once the mixtape is out, the real fun begins. Hoping to get it out in the winter months...writing as many sequences for a full story as possible to hopefully start playing around with later on.

We'll see what happens, but it WILL happen.

-mc larny

The Collective Lives: Enter RETROFLUX

A while ago, I pondered this idea of a collective, back in the summer. After being involved in a flurry of projects in that year (4 different ones) and making a fair amount of connections, something clicked in my head.

What if you started a collective?

I rebuffed that initially, thinking "who would want to join up for something like this?" Then I thought it over, looked at other collectives and saw serious potential among the friends and experiences I had in the past year.

Also, I felt that it would be nice to have a creative umbrella for all the upcoming projects I have, and a way to keep an association to those I want to work with/those who want to work with me. It didn't make sense to have 5 different projects or more going without some unifying method, something that could house the different ideas and projects. Sort of like a museum, it has different artists, but all under one place. Sure, they reside in different halls, different wings, but it's all in one place.

So after debating it, I discussed with friends about the idea, and it took me awhile to nail down some details, no thanks to a severe set of distractions early in the year 2013.

But with my mind clear, and my vision clear, now is the time. I'm proud to announce the formation of...

More information, including social media accounts in the coming weeks. Keep your eyes to the skies.

The Clip Show Season 2 Episode 4: Sick of Running

This was the second try to make a song with that title, first time fell flat because I couldn't develop after the piano riff and the drums didn't help with matters either.

Second time though...oh it worked. It worked.