Brian Dorn

Tired of Dreaming's "Lost Sessions"

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:14:42 -0400

Lost Sessions is Tired of Dreaming’s first release since 2009’s Three Pass System. One of the reasons there’s been such a lag in released material is that I lost a lot of recordings when a computer went kaput. This is also why I have a number of my personal releases with “(Lost Session)” in the title as a marker. Unfortunately, Tired of Dreaming had material that was not spared from this fate. But three of ToD’s songs were in good enough condition for release… down in California… on a CD-R. CD-R’s often acquire scratches, so I was a little worried until I had it in hand!

Luckily, it was in perfect shape. We added one more song (A Wasted Life), and there you have it: our Lost Sessions EP. Take a listen! :D

<a href=”http://tiredofdreaming.bandcamp.com/album/lost-sessions” data-mce-href=”http://tiredofdreaming.bandcamp.com/album/lost-sessions”>Lost Sessions by Tired of Dreaming</a>

This album can be downloaded for free on Bandcamp. It is also available on iTunes and Spotify!

-Brian

Just taking a moment to say I’m thoroughly enjoying Garbage’s new album, “Not Your...

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:05:56 -0400

Just taking a moment to say I’m thoroughly enjoying Garbage’s new album, “Not Your Kind of People.”

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to bring a person from the past to our future. What would...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:10:54 -0400

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to bring a person from the past to our future. What would it be like to experience a future that was inconceivable? But I’m starting to realize that it works both ways. Even though I know (to an extent) how our ancestors lived, I cannot conceive of what it must have been like. I’m constantly barraged with things competing for my attention. Smells, sounds, visuals, stories, theories, etc. Even the lights in my house pump into my optical cells, well beyond what nature intended, screwing up my circadian rhythm. I’m fucking tired, dudes and dudettes. And I find myself stepping back more and more, evaluating wisdom that lays in our past; natural wisdom that we’ve lost touch with. When was the last time my feet touched real ground? Too long, that’s how long.

Little Sister

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:30:11 -0400

THE MUSIC

Little Sister by Brian Dorn

Like Isabelle, my last release, the lyrics for Little Sister go way back. The truth is, I probably would have recorded this song five years ago if not for one nagging fact: the chorus and verses use the same chord progression. I kept putting the song on the back burner, just in case I found some way of switching it up that I liked. But every time I played through it, Little Sister would tell me, “This is right. This is how I’m supposed to be.” I finally wised up and listened to her; not surprisingly, she knew what she needed.

The only other thing I can think to say about this song is that it has my love of Neil Young and Oasis proudly shining through.

THE ART

A lot of my music stems from my subconscious; a lot of my lyrics know something about me before I do. Some of them are even written in my dreams. Little Sister isn’t really one of those songs, though. Sure, it most likely represents a wide range of relationships with friends and family that I’ve had over the years, and my subconscious has probably evaluated, compared and learned from them, leading to the distillation that is this song… but the lyrics don’t offer up much mystery. The cover, on the other hand, does.

What this cover means, I can’t tell you. But something inside said it was right for this release (drawn ~2010, I believe). I haven’t tried to decipher what I’m telling myself with it… not sure I ever will.

This song is available for free here and should be on Spotify soon. It’s also on iTunes.

Isabelle

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:19:21 -0400

THE MUSIC

<a href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/isabelle” data-mce-href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/isabelle”>Isabelle by Brian Dorn</a>

This song is definitely one of my more experimental ones (thus far), and I’m not so sure it’s for everyone. The lyrics sat in a notebook for years, waiting to be put to music, and the original concept, which can be heard in the song’s beginning moments, waited in my head. The time eventually arrived where Isabelle NEEDED to be explored. So that’s what happened. It was supposed to be a fairly easy song to record, but like so many of the “easy” ones, it spiraled into a monster. It took a lot of time. It took a lot of time, AND I don’t think many people will enjoy it that much… but I’m proud of it. :)

Also, this song is the recording premier of The Doctor, a guitar given to me by my good friend, Alice.

THE ART

The artwork goes back many years (~2003?). In fact, it was my first attempt at painting. It’s drab; a perfect cover for Isabelle.

The song is available for free here. It’s also available on iTunes, and it’ll soon be on Spotify with the rest of my stuff. :)

I like George Lucas, because he doesn’t give a fuck what you think.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:27:26 -0500

I like George Lucas, because he doesn’t give a fuck what you think.

After some time off for holidays and power outages (the weather was pretty crazy recently),...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:08:09 -0500

After some time off for holidays and power outages (the weather was pretty crazy recently), I’m happy to say new material is on its way! SOON! :D

Discovering New Aspects of My Psyche

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:35:45 -0500

I have been reading Man and His Symbols, which was edited and partially written by Carl G. Jung. This is my first introduction to Jung’s work, which deals a lot with the psychology of mankind, especially in regards to archetypes and dreams. I plan on writing more about his work in the near future, but I wanted to take a moment to observe how absolutely BIZARRE it is to be psychoanalyzing my dreams from childhood. It’s both exhilarating and scary to discover aspects of my psyche that I wasn’t very (if at all) consciously aware of. I’d imagine this is how Bastian felt in The Neverending Story (a movie full of archetypes!) when he realizes the book he’s reading is about himself. I had to take a break to process all of it, and to enjoy a truly rare breed of adventure. Exciting times, indeed. :D

My New Year's Resolution for 2012

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:06:19 -0500

As the year comes to an end, I find myself reflecting on what 2011 has brought into my life. The truth is, it has, without a doubt, been the most consciously formative year of my life.

I found out during the summer that, for lack of a technical term, I was sick. I was waking up close to clinical hypothermia every morning, which was the result of a massively slow metabolism in recent years, and for making me feel like shit, both physically and mentally. I am currently in the process of recovering. But even though I felt like shit, my life was slowly getting better, and the discovery of some root causes was a natural progression of that.

But what’s the lesson I learned from all of this? It is that living with a system that is unsustainable is no way to live at all. It doesn’t matter if it has to do with relationships, finances, nutrition, work, or physical and mental health; an environment that is not symbiotic will continuously unravel towards failure, all the while causing the degradation of its keeper.

This being said, I guess I’m getting to the real point of this blog entry: my New Year’s resolution. I don’t think I’ve ever made a REAL New Year’s resolution… I mean, one that I’ve REALLY been intent on seeing through. But given my growing appreciation for the peace and harmony that results from a self-sustaining system, I think it makes a lot of sense to consider the topic of adaptability.

In 2012, I hope to become better at adapting. But that doesn’t mean letting others’ crap-beliefs about what I should do, or be, influence me. Adapting, in the truest sense, means changing for the sake of one’s well-being. Letting others dictate to one about one’s life just creates that many more unsustainable systems. When mental health is compromised, physical health is compromised, and vice versa; neither of which is good for the individual OR society.

I hope you all have a wonderful year to come with many, many more. Happy 2012, People. :)

Alien Robotics... Or Robotic Aliens

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:28:00 -0500

THE ART
I’ve always been fascinated with special effects in films. One of the greatest techniques that’s ever been used is to simply make a model, and that’s exactly what I decided to do for the cover of this single. I went to my local Home Depot, kinda-sorta pieced something together on the spot, came home, and made it happen. Some pictures of my prop robot coming together follow.

The Start! Coffee included!

Springy feet!

Arms!

Head!

Tanning!

Tanned!

Hanging out!!

BZZT? BZZT?

Photo shoot!

Annnd… the final product!

THE NAME
The name I chose for this one is Alien Robotics… Or Robotic Aliens (abbreviated, ARORA sounds better than RAOAR). I always enjoy naming instrumentals, because the simplicity of a name can say so much, much like a sutra. As for the meaning behind the name, I’d like to leave it pretty open to interpretation. But the one thing I will say is that I’m often interested in concepts that are widely discussed but never defined by consensus. Some examples would be God, love, and consciousness.

THE MUSIC

<a href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/alien-robotics-or-robotic-aliens” data-mce-href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/alien-robotics-or-robotic-aliens”>Alien Robotics… Or Robotic Aliens by Brian Dorn</a>

The music for this one is definitely more experimental. And I can’t say I’m really that surprised given how it was recorded. The summer of 2005 would find me in a hotel room in Lake Oswego, OR, for three days. I was determined to record an entire album’s worth of material in my time there. The drapes were closed, the lights were off, the A/C was blasting, and I was coming down with a serious case of cabin fever from a small room and the claustrophobia of headphones. The results sounded like someone losing their mind. Most of this song was recorded in that 3-day binge, but I did add some guitar, a touch of theremin, and some sound effects afterwards. The end result, in my opinion, is a track that is intense but somehow manages to have a quirky sense of humor. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it makes you dance like a robot.

My music can be found for free on Spotify and right here. It’s also available on iTunes.

The Christmas Time Blues (Lost Session)

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:28:00 -0500

It’s the night before Thanksgiving. I’m browsing the interwebs while my wife bakes pies, and I just noticed that one of my songs, The Christmas Time Blues (Lost Session), is getting a little more attention than usual. I guess people are already feeling the impending doom of Christmas-togetherness when there’s still Thanksgiving-togetherness to be had!

Not that being with friends and family is always a bad thing. Hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow.

<a href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/the-christmas-time-blues-lost-session” data-mce-href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/the-christmas-time-blues-lost-session”>The Christmas Time Blues (Lost Session) by Brian Dorn</a>

Words and Numbers

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:00:28 -0500

I’ve been awake since 3:30 AM… oh, insomnia, why are you visiting me? It’s like I’m a kid on Christmas Eve again, except there are no GI Joes waiting to emerge from paper and plastic cells to wage war. So I’ve been playing Words With Friends instead of sneaking out to the living room, and it has occurred to me that the human brain is an enigma to itself.

I can look at Words With Friends and easily know, within seconds, my best move.

Consider this:
One- I have to pick a word that exists by punching in a 2 to 7 (or more) character code in which 26 characters are available. All of the various combinations are memorized (which, in a way, is like memorizing a small phone book based on a base 26 numerical system instead of a base 10 numerical system).

Two- If I can’t recognize a word, I have to figure out one by making (and testing) a hypothesis based on known commonalities.

Three- I have to evaluate the board for the highest possible score (much like troop movements in war) while keeping in mind…

Four- I have to evaluate the board to make the best defensive move (again, much like troop movements in war).

And yet, as amazing as all this synaptic calculator magic is, I still have to very consciously remind myself that $29.99 is NOT $20.00.

Unstoppable

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:45:00 -0500

The Artwork:

That picture is of me. At age 6, I believe. I really haven’t changed that much in the past 24 years… or maybe I’ve come full circle… either way, I’m thrilled to have it as the artwork for Unstoppable. As for the censored eyes, that is a nod to the artwork for the international version of AC/DC’s legendary, 1976 album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. I was a HUGE AC/DC fan in my youth, and that album cover has always stuck with me. In fact, you can hear some of Angus Young’s influence in my lead work throughout Unstoppable, which brings me to…

The Music:

<a href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/unstoppable” data-mce-href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/unstoppable”>Unstoppable by Brian Dorn</a>

While Angus Young’s influence can be felt in the song’s lead work, I was probably channeling NeilYoung more than anyone throughout the writing/recording process, as I was trying to combine rock with some more folk-like influences.

The only other interesting thing I can think to say about Unstoppable is that it took an incredibly long time to get from conception to final product (about a year!). It was originally put together for possible placement in a TV show (that will remain nameless), but I got extremely sick during the recording phase, and couldn’t make the deadline. Turns out the sickness was actually an allergic reaction to a new laundry detergent… of all things. Anyways, I decided after this song to start shying away from licensing music. It’s not that I won’t do it if a song is already recorded, but when I’m writing for other people/shows/podcasts/whatever, things seem to get bogged down more often than not. And I’m much, much happier now that I’m recording whatever I feel like, whenever I feel like. All that being said, I’m extremely pleased with this song, and I hope you enjoy it, too! :D

Unstoppable is available for FREE at bandcamp.com and is coming to Spotify soon. It’s also available on iTunes.

This Body Is Mechanical (But This Forest Is Not)

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:17:00 -0400

<a href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/my-body-is-mechanical-but-this-forest-is-not-lost-session” data-mce-href=”http://briandorn.bandcamp.com/track/my-body-is-mechanical-but-this-forest-is-not-lost-session”>My Body is Mechanical, but This Forest is Not (Lost Session) by Brian Dorn</a>

Of songs I’ve recorded and released, This Body Is Mechanical (But This Forest Is Not) is one my favorites. And relatively speaking, it seems to get a lot of attention, so I thought I’d write about it.

This song really started to take shape with an image in mind: a robot, on the outskirts of a futuristic, highly industrialized metropolis, examining trees along a roadside while pondering its existence. I’m pretty certain this scene was taken from something Xine, my wife, had either said or sketched.

I decided early on that this was an excellent opportunity to over-use a pitch corrector on the vocals to the Nth degree, because the song would be from the point-of-view of a robot. I often joke about all the “robots” in mainstream pop these days, but the truth is, I actually enjoy the sound of pitch correction as a vocal effect. And to me, for some reason, it seems to accent the pain in a person’s voice. Maybe it’s because pain takes on a degree of starkness while enveloped in “perfect” pitch correction. (Almost like showing some aspects of the human condition in a “perfect” dystopian society, like in Logan’s Run or Aeon Flux).

Writing the lyrics was an easy, flowing process (same with the music), but the most interesting thing was that the song acted as a pre-echo to a lot of topics I was to become interested in (minimalism, consciousness, finding answers in nature). It’s truly shocking how often this happens in music: an artist records something, and when they look back on it, they realize that their subconscious mind was somewhere their conscious mind hadn’t caught up to, yet. I wonder if artists working in other mediums experience the same thing… my guess is yes.

As with most of my stuff, My Body Is Mechanical (But This Forest Is Not) is available for FREE on Spotify, for FREE download on bandcamp.com, and it’s also on iTunes if you really want to donate your hard-earned money.

Have a good day in The Forest. ;)

Blogging

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:00:34 -0400

I’ve been interested in blogging for quite a while. And I’ve had this Tumblr account for quite a while, so… I guess that means I should get going already!

Expect to see a lot of music, pics, art, and ramblings from this corner of the interweb from here on out. Hope you all enjoy it.

In the Experienced Pre-Dawn

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:14:00 -0500

In the Experienced Pre-Dawn:

In the Experienced Pre-Dawn is now up/out. :-)

In the Experienced Pre-Dawn by Brian Dorn

Brian: Walks around corner.

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:00:05 -0500

Brian: *Walks around corner.*
Xine: *Throws snowball at Brian.*
Brian: *Catches snowball.*
Xine: *Joy turns to panic. Begins to run.*
Brian: *Pelts Xine in back with snowball.* :D

When it snows in my town, there’s a purple hue to the sky....

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:41:50 -0500

When it snows in my town, there’s a purple hue to the sky. It is spooky and awesome.

This is me.

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:51:58 -0500

This is me.