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

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

-Brian

THE MUSIC

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.

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

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 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:

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.