Side Project The General Electorate (reposted from Facebook)

Well, if my updates have been less than illuminating in regards to my daily activities or my inner thoughts, it’s only because I’ve been throwing myself into creation with wild abandon. I’ve still got my JABBERWALRUS project in the works with the band: that album will be a 79-minute opus when finished (the demos are 71 minutes so far; allowing for an overture and some wiggle room, I should JUST be able to fit everything onto one CD, although I also hope to do a vinyl release as a double album). I’ve also still got two projects in progress with Adam Silverstein, one of which will also be nearly 80 minutes long and, hopefully, have both a CD and vinyl release (double album again!). More immediate is completion of a project I’ve been working on with Dan Lewis’s input, THE GENERAL ELECTORATE, which explores a very 80s new wave sonic palette.

I’ve been listening to a lot of new wave music in order to get the feel right (most notably Depeche Mode and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, but also quite a bit of The Cure, Modern English, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, and New Order). I’ve also been going back into David Bowie’s catalogue for inspiration -- chord structures, sonic choices, song constructs. (Admittedly, I periodically find myself taking long detours into utterly unrelated territory, like almost all of Carole King’s catalog -- mainly because sometimes I need something warm and fuzzy to wash away the darkness of Depeche Mode and The Cure!)

I’m happy to inform you that, at this point, I’ve got 11 of the 12 songs nearly done. Seven of the songs, of course, previously appeared as the EPs “Synthetic Bones” Volume 1 & Volume 2, and those will be mixed again and re-mastered (a few of them should have a couple new instrumental tracks courtesy of Dan Lewis, and I will rework the vocals on several of them). But the other four are in pretty decent shape and on track to be done within the next three or four weeks. The only thing that really needs to get started is a song that Dan himself wrote, originally just for himself but, lacking a project, now for my use: it fits the theme of the album, so I need only arrange it to fit the sonic landscape.

The album will be too long to release on one vinyl disc and too short to be a double album, so it will be a CD and digital download only endeavour. Three songs are a little long -- in the five minute range. One song is epic in length (the closing track clocks in at nearly nine minutes). The remainder of the album, however, is all nicely ensconced in that sweet 3-to-4 minute range, a conscious effort on my part to force myself to use pop constructs for some relatively heavy subject matter.

Soon enough, I hope to start sharing notices of final mastering and begin taking pre-orders to cover the cost of physical production. Meanwhile, I’ve got another note coming at your by way of a one-off single that Adam and I put out a little over a week ago, “Alternative Facts,” honoring the Post-Truth Ethos of the new regime attempting to consolidate unilateral power at the highest level in our nation. Give the note a read and a share and, if you like what you hear, head to CD Baby to purchase a download (it’s only seventy-five cents!).

Also, a huge thank you to artist Mark Paich for the artwork above, “High Hopes,” for THE GENERAL ELECTORATE’s album.