Category: 
One year, compressed and summarized in 24 folders on an outdated notebook (no, it isn’t windows 98, it’s XP, I just like the 98 skin because I don’t like change, damn it!)
Of course, not all those folders turned into actual tracks. Many a tune is started and turns to nothing, we do have a ‘quality-control’ department. By that I mean we aren’t famous enough to be getting away with releasing b-grade tunes and still being worshiped as gods… yet. We are working on achieving that mystical level of fame and we have a whole lot of Jewish folksongs we’re dying to cover. Some of those folders have just a few sketchy ideas in them but others have gigabytes of recordings. Of those gigabytes of recordings, most have not, nor will, ever see the light of day, much to the joy of the ‘quality-control’ department, but much to the woe of the ‘the-track-is-due-this-weekend’ department.
So a handful of those recordings were mixed, rendered, sent around to the other side of world (hence the temporary ‘transfer’ folder), mixed and rendered again, sent to the other-other side of the world, mastered, sent to another other-other part of the world, and ending in mass produced runs done by third-world, perfect pitched children transcribing the music by ear to cdr with chisels, or however cd plants work.
I created this folder the day I got back from visiting Virul3nt over NYE 09-10. If click and enlarge, you get a nice slice of Shiv-r life for the past year.
There are a few sensibly named folders which look a lot like the names of other dark electro acts or track names from other dark electro atcs. Those are remixes, and by my count there were six of them this year. If that doesn’t sound like a lot to you, you have never produced six remixes, an Ep, half an album and held down a fulltime job in just twelve insanely short months. Admittedly, I write slower than most. It usually takes at least one month per track for me to produce something close to quality noise, and I would prefer about two. You never get much notice on remixes. The quick turnaround means, to be honest, a lot of my work on remixes has been complete shite, though I’m consistently surprised at how Virul3nt can come up with top notch material at short notice. I was well pleased when the idea that Shiv-r should stop remixing until the next album is finished was floated.
You will also see a few folders with very silly names. That means it is a tune I kick started. The DAW I use needs a new folder start a tune, so the folder gets named after whatever is running through my rat-nest mind when firing up the sequencer. “caincappedable” means I was in a religious slash gangsta mood (I like Cain, he capped that guy for having a pretty girlfriend, that’s how insecure yet masculine men roll…). also, I misspelt Abel, coz I isn’t one of dem educated Sunday School types. I seem to remember “Techwoe” was a tune started when my Virus TI was having a hissy fit and intermittently losing its USB connection, which it still does, but I have no longer given it the honour of naming folders after it. “202” was a tune I tried to start using our Roland MC-202, which is both a non MIDI-retrofitted 202 nor sequencer bypassed 202… an original condition 202. Turns out to be annoyingly cumbersome to use, even after downloading and printing it’s stupidly thick and confusing manual.
Finally, you will see folders that actually look like Shiv-r tunes that have been released this year, or will be on the next album. If Virul3nt started the tune, and as Virul3nt writes all of the lyrics and has scratch vocals recorded at the least when sent to me, these folders have far better names and might actually resemble the title of the song once released.
You can see the last few months were spent on the Incision Ep, which, as of writing this, was released about a week ago, and the screenshot was taken a couple of days before the release. New tracks were being started and finished before the Ep even went to press, because we are hard working eager beavers that never ever stop grooming our hair.
On a side note. I realize the taskbar reveals a few embarrassing things, and I am far to lazy to crop the image.
No, I don’t think that off-blue-green and purple are clashing colours, all my computers use the very same scheme. I also like eggplant.
Yes, I work and think in 24 hours time, just because my work hours are so erratic, I have such bad insomnia and my apartment is kept in perpetual darkness, so I need polite reminders.
Yes, that funny blue one is some kind of dongle crack for Cubase, because I don’t like paying money for things.
And yes, windows security is disabled and I don’t have an anti-virus. Don’t listen to your teachers in sex-ed, riding bareback IS better, go forth with the wind in your hair and freedom at your loins my children!!
Recently:
- Update your links - this site has MOVED!
- Shiv-r jewellery
- Shiv-r remix End: The DJ
- “Incision” EP reviews - Zillo & Blackvector
- A Year in the Life of the Obscure Dark Electro Producer
- Chasing the Dragon: Sherman Filterbank 2
- Incision (Trailer)
- A little Incision history…
- 2 new interviews
- New EP - “Incision”
