Catalyst was something that had appeared on at least two previous demos and was something that I really thought deserved recording properly. Now having a proper drum machine I was able to finally do it justice and this demo is certainly one of the best of all the things I've done. I was deeply into Rush at the time and there were many ideas that ended up being left on the back-burner, these can be heard as bonus tracks on the end of this demo. One particular favourite was titled 'Window' which had a particularly Lifeson-esque guitar solo. Of course it needed work, and some bum notes sorting out, but it still sounds pretty good even now.
I guess this was my first foray into something markedly different. This was something which started out as a classical piece which was looped through an effect pedal (I think) and possibly recorded backwards onto my four track. On top of that I recorded some programmed drums and somehow I thought it would turn out amazing... and it really didn't. The classical bit sounds really cool, but the rest of it sounds uninspired to say the least and it really just doesn't work. The different mixes didn't do much to improve it either if I'm completely honest. Well, you can't bake without breaking eggs as they say.
Most people remember September the 11th 2001, and I certainly do. I spent the day at home recording the first track on this demo, I never looked at the TV or heard any news, it was only when my wife got home that I even knew that something had happened in America. I remember we turned on the TV and sat watching it for hours... it was only later I realised that what I had recorded was uncannily appropriate for the date it was recorded on, indeed I really can't imagine if I had tried to write a piece that reflected the events of the day that I could have come up with anything better. The guitars remind me of aeroplanes and there's even a noise in there that sounds like a building crumbling to rubble and the calm ending evokes the scenes as the dust settled around the World Trade Centre.
Andante was added to flesh out the demo, actually this was supposed to be the only version, being the least weak of the three, while 'The Dog Below the Lake' was a re-recording of the track from the In-Theory demo of seven years earlier. The piece is played solely on the bass and incorporates programmed percussion for the first time.
It was in about 2009 that I first started to genuinely become interested in electronic music. It was a slow process, fuelled largely by my disenchantment with Metal and hearing Depeche Mode's finest work was an eye opener which led on to many other listening experiences. At the end of 2011 I purchased a laptop and a copy of Fruity Loops FL Studio 10 and spent the next year working on this. I don't think I played a guitar for more than five minutes throughout 2012.
The demo is flawed, but has some good moments for what is after all a first attempt. I spent many long hours sometimes earlier into the mornings fine tuning this demo, but it all sounds strangely 'flat'. It probably needs putting through a proper mixing desk (and someone who knows what they are doing) to bring it to life, but still, I am quite proud of it, even if my Dad wasn't overly impressed.
A different (better) version of Halo and some remixes, because, well... that's what electronic bands do isn't it?
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