This is my life in music. Everything I have recorded in Hocus Pocius Studios is contained herein, from bluegrass to hip-hop. The mp3 files are broken into genres, which I defined to the best of my abilities. No illegal sampling has been used in any way in these tracks, save for one track, "Animal", which includes a sample of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring done by the Cleveland Orchestra some time ago. Various contributing players are also present, and include Legs MC, Ronan Conroy, Ed Hoffman, Reza Khan, Johnny Jackpot, Rench, Dolio the Sleuth, Michi Wiancko, Ugly Brain of ATG, John Difference, HG Moore, and some dude I met from Queens a long time ago. A handful of cover songs are here, and duly noted.
Some of this music has been used in motion pictures, including Hotties I & II, a documentary about biking, and Long Story Short.
In addition to work at Hocus Pocius Studios, I spent 4 years in B-Star, a Brooklyn-based self-described "country hip-hop band" featuring songs by Rench, two part harmonies, guitar, bass, drums, fiddle and turntables. Before that, I played guitar for an alt-country band called Shiloh, and later Tuckered, based in Raleigh, NC
I have decided to post everything I have done in the past 10 years because, firstly, my music has very little commercial potential and lacks the professional focus I desire, but most importantly, because if every musician did this, we could finally break the record companies and put us, the musicians, in charge, and let the market decide for itself what it wants. All musicians should understand that record companies spend millions of dollars on lawsuits and PR to convince them that because someone is not buying a CD marked up by 1000% through them, artists will not get paid. That is a lie. Musicians have a better chance of making money on music by posting all their work for free, selling CD's on their own, and exploring other forms of revenue, be it concerts, movie work, or advertising work. These financial models will be the norm in the coming years. in the meantime, the old models of promising a dream in the form of a record contract or even consideration in exchange for a musician's money will continue to proliferate. Here is what you can expect from a record company if you get signed. So...fight the power.