Got 32 minutes? Just released my first solo album!

[helsinkirocks]

Hey guys! Finally excited to share this here! I've been working on it for about 9 - 10 months, off and on! It's recorded with Amplitube 4 and Reaper. I think I used every guitar and bass I own throughout in one way or another! Drums were programmed by me- I'm pretty new at that so a lot of them are fairly basic. You can tell which ones I worked on later- the drums are more complicated in those. All songs written, recorded, performed, mixed, etc by me. This has been a passion project for me, and something I've always wanted to do. Lots of learning, and pushing myself creatively, using new tools, ideas, etc. Still not super confident in my voice and vocals but I'm getting there and I feel myself slowly getting better with it! I'll try to name a few of my favorites in different ways if you don't want to listen to the whole thing! I appreciate any and all feedback!

Fave riffs:
Make A Fool of You (verse)
Second Rate (Chorus)
The Vortex (verse)

Fave solos:
Nothing At All
Haberdashery
Second Rate

Fave lyrics:
The Phoenix Is Rising
Second Rate
Save Your Life


BandCamp link:


Spotify Link:

[mickey]

A.J.,
Dumb question, how old are you now? I think you were about 12 when we first met here on AGF???

[helsinkirocks]

When I joined the Forum in January 2007 I was fourteen, going on fifteen. Here we are now in February 2022 and I'll be 30 in just a few short months.

[mickey]

When I joined the Forum in January 2007 I was fourteen, going on fifteen. Here we are now in February 2022 and I'll be 30 in just a few short months.

And I joined a few months after you did! You aren't "going on" 30? Good luck with the album!

[thepezident]

@mickey I was just thinking the same thing!
@helsinkirocks what was the name of your first band? All Fall Caesar? or something?

[tonebender]

GOOD STUFF!

[jhull54]

Big kudos for the time, effort, and talent to do this. One of my goals is to get enough songs together to do a full album of my own, so big congrats.

Listening to Shotgun Wedding--straight 1970s era Ramones song!

Some cool guitar tones and textures on this, and yeah, don't worry about your voice--just let it rip!

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[nomadh]

Amazing work. Lots of good stuff in there. I'm very jealous. Of the talent and even the drive to try. Congratulations. One idea is if you think the vocals have a weak spot maybe double track them. Get a harmony in there.
Plus points for getting the word Haberdasher in there

[helsinkirocks]

GOOD STUFF!

Thank you so much!!

Big kudos for the time, effort, and talent to do this. One of my goals is to get enough songs together to do a full album of my own, so big congrats.

Listening to Shotgun Wedding--straight 1970s era Ramones song!

Some cool guitar tones and textures on this, and yeah, don't worry about your voice--just let it rip!

Thank you! I initially wanted to have it done at the end of 2021, but a had trouble being able to finish a couple of songs, so I ended up abandoning them (for now) and writing two new ones- so that kind of pushed me back- along with my poor mental health. I actually had a whole album worth of songs for my bands second album ready to go, but I ended up deciding to go with all new material, with a couple of exceptions. "The Ascent to Heaven" has been something I just liked playing all the way back in 2012, I just never did anything with it. "Nothing At All" is from probably 2014 or so. I did a full band demo of it by myself but again, just kind of sat there. Everything else was done expressly for this!

I learned a lot about mixing, recording, my own playing, and different gear. It's been a fascinating, frustrating, and fun experience. I'm already working on a follow up! So far, it's got a much more mellow vibe to it- as I've since added a keyboard and 12 string acoustic to my stable. I had 30 physical copies made for friends and family- I got them in today and it's such a cool feeling having a physical representation of how much effort and time I put into something. Truly a labor of love. I've probably listened to the full album hundreds of times, tweaking the mixes constantly- at some point you just have to say "This is enough" haha.

Amazing work. Lots of good stuff in there. I'm very jealous. Of the talent and even the drive to try. Congratulations. One idea is if you think the vocals have a weak spot maybe double track them. Get a harmony in there.
Plus points for getting the word Haberdasher in there

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. As for "Haberdashery", I was flipping through one of my old lyric notebooks and a piece of paper fell out and all it said was "goin' down to the haberdashery" so I just kind of ran with it. I have no recollection of writing it haha.





On an unrelated note, I did put a collection of some of the demos, and outtakes if anyone is curious!

[helsinkirocks]

@mickey I was just thinking the same thing!
@helsinkirocks what was the name of your first band? All Fall Caesar? or something?

Missed your post buddy.
We were Then Fall Caesar.
I'm in the middle of uploading everything we have recorded at all onto a bandcamp page:

http://www.thenfallcaesar.bandcamp.com

[doc-knapp]

Congratulations on your album!

[helsinkirocks]

Thank you!

[Narsh]

Dude Congrats on the first Album! I remember the first one I put together, it didn't sound anywhere near as good as this. Great job!

[helsinkirocks]

Dude Congrats on the first Album! I remember the first one I put together, it didn't sound anywhere near as good as this. Great job!

Praise from the legend himself! Thank you!!

[toomanycats]

Tell us about the artwork for the CD.

[helsinkirocks]

Tell us about the artwork for the CD.

No real great story, i simply paid a friend to make one. i had a vague idea what i wanted and gave her basically free reign from there.