Y'all! What even! It's been 23 years! I'm an old man! Well, okay, I'm not that old... only 22!

Y'all so much has happened since my last post. It's so ironic and crazy cause... I was saying the same thing back then that I am now! "If I can just get music done, then I'll be ready for ____!" One must wonder if at some point I will come to terms, realize it will never be done, and continue on with my life regardless, allowing music to follow me wherever I go. But I still hold steadfast to the idea that I will finish the songs I am currently working on and then start working on getting my full Driver's License.

The only problem is writing more songs! They keep coming! Over and over again! Sometimes it feels like I can't escape inspiration... There was this one time I wrote two full songs just when trying to make a COVER for one song! Talk about crazy amiright?? XD

Not only have I been making more songs myself, but I have been helping a friend or two make songs, too! 

I am at a weird crossroads in my life. I don't know what path to go down and how to go down it. An 8 hour job depresses me (clinically) so I'm tempted to get a loan to go to school for what I want to do (worship lead) and pay it back when I get a job that doesn't make me wanna die over time. But sometimes I'm not even sure about that. Everything is on a big hold bc of music and I honestly can barely stand it anymore. I try and I try to get songs done but then more come, leaving some incomplete and others on hold, while others lay nearly forgotten after being put off for quite possibly a year or MORE. It seems like an impossible goal. Even at church things are developing in weird ways and honestly I don't know whether to think it's stagnant or on the cusp of breaking through. My uncle has offered me a car but I need to get a license first. And my Mom needs to clean up her entire house but she's a slow worker and I have other things to do. Sooner or later I just have to sit down, make a choice for myself, and grow up, in a way... Not having a girlfriend or wife is lame, too. Not having money is lame, because I can't promote my music. But girls come to guys with money and definite life paths. And money comes to those who work. The fact that my Dad is paying for a cheap promotion for my new album is incredibly generous. But I can't expect God or life to hand my life to me on a platter. Maybe I trivialize the work I do. Or maybe I don't work enough. Maybe I don't know how to work. I spend many hours on my music each week. 

Anyway, it's all enough to make you say "I should write a song about that!" then go "ooohhh... No........" as you remember your dilemma. But making music is the only real thing I have to do that's constructive in a lot of ways. And songs are the only way I get away from all of these life decisions and realities looming over my head like dark crows that are probably soft sheep in disguise. We'll just ignore the fact that I'm 22 and, well, in 8 years I'll be thirty. We don't have a lot of time on this earth, guys. And I don't wanna waste it. I wanna help somebody, for real. Make a difference. We'll ignore the fact I DESPERATELY need to lose weight and I am probably slowly going bald, and the fact that if I don't get a girl now it's only going to get harder from here. After all, I want to be attractive for someone!

I don't know, man. I don't know. Here's the songs I've been writing:

Goodbye - A song about saying goodbye to friends. Specifically, about the decision to leave the church I'm at to pursue my life path. Which I haven't told anyone about. Nor have I fully decided, myself.

God, the Best Gift of All (with Michael Vincent lyrics) A Christmas song but super rockin', yet in a praise and worship vibe. It's about appreciating the Christmas season and all the gifts and blessings that go with it, but recognizing God as the best gift of all and the true meaning.

Desperation - A song inspired by one line my friend Russ wrote. It's about being desperate for God and walking through darkness and emptiness. Very different for me, minor feel and dark all the way til the end when the distortion comes in.

Rewind - A "weird al goes pop punk" song that is supposed to be humorous. It's about a guy who is being WAY too honest.

Sing - A song about letting it all go and singing to God. It's great for church. My mom said it was pretty. The project has been plagued by inconsistent popping issues on the vocal tracks. It seems to be something with the project rather than the take. I am planning to inspect the raw audio of the vocal takes to see if it is okay.

Find Your Place - A straight up rock song intended to relate to a lot of young people whose lives feel pointless and to encourage them to find an answer in God.

Slipping Away - A song about someone who's slipping away, while you just love them more and more.

The Good In Me Is You - A song about how clear it is that God is all our goodness and righteousness, not ourselves.

The Rock Show - A song asking the question "What will be when the music's gone?" intended for those who have lots of fun at Rock shows. The message is that we have fun, but don't forget not to sin and don't forget God in your fun. It asks, "What will be when the music's gone?" to remind you that God is true meaning and peace. He's what's left when the music's gone, but if you don't have a relationship with Him or you are living in sin away from Him, life is empty when the music is gone. 

Not to mention... my NEW ALBUM RELEASED! Lonely FANTASY! Check it out, y'all! So cool! It's gotten nearly 80 streams since January 4! It's only January 28! WHAT>.>

So there's all the songs on that that are quite interesting, too. The album tells a story of this sad love story where the guy eventually comes around to start focusing on God more as the album goes on, and realizing how he's failed. But it gets really dark and I think it tells many of my own struggles and feelings... sometimes more candidly than I would speak out loud! 

I also helped my friend Mike Vincent record his song Just to Hold for his wife. It is AWESOME!

I am working on endless songs and have been struggling with achy hands lately.

There's so much to tell about life, and so little time... even when I have the whole day nearly to myself! Wow. Anyways... I look forward to the future... I guess haha. And here's the link to Spotify for my new album.




 

Hey there! Okay, so I've been going CRAZY! God just gifted me with writing lyrics for this new prog 6 and a half minute epic I had, I wrote two songs counting it last night (Shouldn't it really count as at least 3?), and recording the vocals. I was singing SUPER HIGH MAN. I was like asking myself, "How am I doing this??" And my throat doesn't even hurt. It's not even sore! Maybe warming up really is key. 

But I've been writing songs, going through songs and totally remixing them (now matter how many actions may or may not be rendered mute xD), even struggling with whether I mix ANYTHING right or not! I am going on a spree. It is TIME to get music DONE, man. I've got albums to release. And no, I'll probably never stop making songs COMPLETELY. But it sure would be nice to get the backlog done that I've had for probably over 2 years now. Right now I'm uploading a bunch of tracks to be converted to .wav. I am excited to hear them in the car. Especially the remixes AND the newest songs with are both absolutely INSANE AND are branching out in new stylistic directions I have never explored. When you can yell, man. You can get far in music. As one of my songs more or less says, I'll probably lose all that I've gained in the coming years. But that doesn't mean I'm any less thankful for the years I have it. Thank You God.

I am entirely excited. I am preparing for ALBUMS, man. BUCKETLOADS of ALBUMS! It's going to be as if Emotional Relation was a 10 year band with an extensive, shifting catalog. I hope so. Lord-willing. I am so excited!! I am finally getting stuff done!! This is really good. I am finalizing songs like crazy. All I need to really know is how high exactly to mix bass. Once I'm concrete on that, I'll feel a lot better. But all you can do is compare to pro mixes in your genre I guess.

It's funny how it's been less than two years and yet I have more songs than most bands have from a full group of people over like 10 or 20 years. I guess having free time and being drummer, guitarist, singer, and producer really pays off in the time department. You just better hope this one dude knows what he's doing. XD


Well, my upload's almost done. I hope Daddio gets home soon... it's been almost four hours! This man...
Anyway, time to burn a CD and hope Dad isn't all "I've been out I wanna be home" when he gets back. Ironically, I'm still not ready for him to be back. I still haven't burned the CD yet. So there's irony for you xD.

M.O.M., My Mommas!

For the website visitors, I uploaded a few new .mp3 tracks for Y'all to hear. UNRELEASED! YOURS FREE! I know, I know, I'm just a beacon of generosity in this dark, dark world. But regardless of my greatness(?), check them out! I hope you like them... there is only more to come! :D In the Music section

OH MY GOSH! It's been like 14 years. "OOPS LOL".

Wow. Guys, so much has happened since my last update. It's next to impossible to detail it all.

But of course, I will attempt. (Of course, I would expect nothing less!)

* The church MOVED!! (Didn't you already talk about this? Oh no, that's right, IT'S BEEN 6 MONTHS YOU--)
       Dude, it was crazy. We all moved a whole church to a new building that was less than half the size of the               other one! But it worked out totally fine. It moved from Granbury to Fort Worth/Benbrook. There                  was a complication with renting the old building. Apparently they had had someone renting and                       living in the church building for ages, but the leasers suddenly brought it up as a "lease violation"                      and so it was leave or kick the dude out. They were trying to get a church back going in Granbury                   but things are very slow and sometimes fall by the way side. It has been a wild ride.  Sunday Night                    service became more cooperative between me and the old leader. It's complicated. 
  
*I made a new friend named Maggie.
       She does music and is super gorgeous. and lives like several states away (Why are they ALWAYS eons           away??) Check her out. Maggie Miles!! Spotify. Her songs are great, the production is completely                       professional and her voice is amazing (despite what she may tell you). Also, she's hilarious. (Meanwhile, I         am sitting here with my Cousin Ali BABAHA robbing people of their will to laugh by telling awful, awful            jokes.)

*I still have song problems.
       Many more new songs have been written and many old ones remain unvocaled (and a few unrecorded).           I have decided with myself that you have to let some ideas go. Sure, maybe someday you'll come back to       them and flesh them out. Leave a voice recording and hope for the best. But when you're like me, you             really do have to "Let It Be", SOMEWHERE. Otherwise you will get overwhelmed. So I have decided it is           not the end of the world if SOME songs never come to light. However, that doesn't stop me from having         around 70 to 100 songs complete or nearly complete. I still haven't recorded vocals for that                              "Summertime" song. (SUMMMEEERRRR TIMMMEEE HAVIN' FUN SINGin' waY TOO HII-ACK!) Oh man,             Idk how many of the vocals I remember. I hope I still have a voice recording *emoji that I can't use here*. 

*In other music news BESIDES my song problems:
       I HAVE MANY NEW SONGS OUT!!! Emotional Relation!!!

~I Can't Get Enough of You is a very soft song that my church has really enjoyed hearing! Michael (Other worship leader) loves it! If that isn't reason to check it out, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS!

~I have four songs I just finished, but haven't published. I Love You, I Will Live Again, All My Love, and I'm Okay. Well, actually, There's also I Hope You Find Your Savior and For Lack Of A and The Most Beautiful Song I ever wrote. And Oh yeah. Nothing Satisfies Me (That's Like You) And oh yeah... (I'm gonna stop now)

       *I Love You is a rockin' distortion guitar fun simple song with big 80's style metal drums. Something                  energetic for church, for a change.            

       *I Will Live Again is a clean guitar rock song, with some close up vocals and a message about our identity         in Christ, and not any of the worldly things about ourselves. It's about losing your youth and realizing            you aren't what you once were, but realizing that God still loves you just the same, and He's everything          that you were in the first place. So you are still you. Cause you still have God. And we will all live again in        a new time.

       *All My Love is a Classic Rock Praise-styled punk song that reminds me of Quiet Riot, Petra, Bryan                Adams, Van Halen, and Vandenburg all at the same time. It even has a guitar solo (WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?)

       *I'm Okay is a Pop-Punk tune about being okay in God. It's about learning not to worry about trying to             out-do wrong you've done in the past, to somehow atone or make up for it. It's about not trying to save         yourself by doing "more good than bad". And it's about being set free from having to worry about all               that, and having rest in that you have already be atoned, all your good works are just a reflection of                  thankfulness to God, not something to earn your place in heaven. And so it's because of GOD we can say         we are okay, not because of anything that we have done.

       *I Hope You Find Your Savior is another Pop-Punk tune (one of my favorite new songs of mine, actually)          that is about people living for themselves and not for God. It's about those who say it's just common               sense to be a decent person, but ignore where that fails them because of our sinful nature. We want to           hurt those who we feel have hurt us or have done us or sometimes others wrong. It's about having a              confidence in the promise of God that greater things are to come after this life. So we always have                   something to look forward to.

       *For Lack Of A is a very soft song. It is simply a song that says "For Lack of A ______" that can compare         to [insert God attribute], I'll give God [what He deserves based on previous attribute]. Watch for some             crazy high vocals at the end!!

       *The Most Beautiful Song I Ever Wrote is like a clone of For Lack Of A, but it stays low and does not                  include my wanton octave jump that I so often include. Because of this, a rockin' but gentler and                     different vibe are imparted. It's sentiment is one that the most beautiful song that any of us could ever            write is not a beautiful pattern of notes, but a song that is all about God's love. 

       *More Than Words Can Say is a super meaningful track (That I didn't list above, I know) that talks about            love of God. It has a spot in the chorus where it says the line "God I Love You More Than Words Can              Say" and features an instrumental passage with no singing. I originally thought I need to fill it with                   words, but I thought it was entirely fitting to have this restrained vocal silence for a while based on the            message of the song. A sort of stripped back, space, creative thing, if you will.

       *Nothing Satisfies Me (That's Like You) is another Pop- Punk epic featuring some quite high chorus                     vocals that you will probably be surprised by!! The title says it all. Nothing Satisfies us like God does. 





~I wrote a early Beatles style tune with redeeming Christian lyrics. (IIIII SAY TO THEEEEE/ YOU ARE ALL MY TRU--OO-OOTH) I haven't recorded it yet! WHAAATTT


*I met another new friend named Jeremy. 
       We are working on an album together!! He has a bunch of songs he wrote, and I am helping him make his       album a reality. He is into heavy music, so that's pretty awesome :) He goes well with me. HE IS A                       SCREAMER! He kills me, man. He's ridiculous. (FOREVER I AM YA-HAH!) The YAHAH! remix.
       Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. Anyway, so watch for his stuff we're making... we have a few pre-album             singles out...

THEJESUSPROJECT


And finally...

*I am helping Michael record his song he wrote called I Will Praise.
       I love the song. I made a recording for him and soon I hope to record his and my vocals for it. His artist           name will probably be Michael Vincent.

*Caleb(Acoustic guitar/backup singer at church) had a song idea called Rock Kuzock Amatz.
       It is like a Christian Spiritual warfare song based on an Israeli War cry that means Be Strong and                        Courageous. It got a ton of worship team support so they used my abilities and made me make it into a             song for them. XD ABUSERS!

So that's an attempt at at least a loose update. In other news, I've sold a few things on Ebay, this site seems to be getting FAR FAR more visitors than I EVER would have expected, and I now have a guitar with a tremelo bar and it sounndddss AAWWWEESOMEEEEE

The buttons are some Spotify links for Y'all. Keep watch... I am getting CLOSE to having SEVERAL albums prepared! They will be stylistically separated for fans of different styles... Emotional Relation is alive and well!

Berr Berr Berrr

Ahem, Anyway, Hello! It's me again, Steve the Steve-Dawg. …Oh, if you only knew.

So I thought I'd leave an update and let everyone know what's going on. 

So we went on vacation to Orlando and that was SUPER FUN! We got to go to an arcade, Disney's Hollywood, a Thrift Shop (still not sure whether I should've gotten that keyboard), and Disney's Epcot. Believe me, we did plenty of things. The drive was long, but that was part of the voyage. We heard a lot of music and that Dodge Grand Caravan stereo was GREAT!

We got back a handful of weeks ago, and I, as promised, contacted Pastor Mike of Abundant Life Church once I did... which is why I am happy to announce that I have accepted a position as Worship Leader at said church! I'm so thankful for this... God has a funny way of doing things. I didn't sit down at 16 or so and say "I'm going to considerably change and grow socially and in personality." But God made it happen through someone who ended up leaving my old church later. I didn't sit down and decide "Now is the time to get a worship minister job". But God made Dad look it up, find one that was an hour 20 away, and I applied to it. It's as if God just moves things along, whether or not I am doing what I should, or am aware of what should happen next. What a blessing it is to have a life like that.

The only sad thing about this is that I am no longer going to my old church, Cross Bend. I really wish I could do both, you know? But you have to pick where your spend your Sundays.  

So that is what is happening currently-- which means I'm spending time keeping prepared for that, which does cut into free time-- but honestly as of yet, not that much.

You'll all be positively ecstatic, downright quaking to know I HAVE PLENTY OF NEW SONGS COMING. 

So here's the deal... I keep putting off vocals. Then I write more songs. The I record instrumentals so as to not forget them. Then I put off vocals. Then I write more songs. It's gotten terrible. I have songs from LAST YEAR sitting on my hard drive waiting for vocals. I must have a hundred unfinished songs at least. Some are waiting for lyrics to even be written for them. Don't even talk to me about the songs laying on paper that are (hopefully not) all but forgotten. It's rather overwhelming, sometimes it's hard to choose what to allot time to. Today I've got some Bass to record for the song I recorded yesterday that was SUPPOSED to be the song I WROTE on Saturday night but ENDED UP being a completely new TOTALLY UNRELATED SONG. See how indecent I am? This used to be creativity splurging. Now it's just a joke. So now Saturday night's song is still on the list, and it's gotta happen soon or I swear it won't be the same. 

Regardless of all this... I have finished more or less around 40 songs or so. Maybe 50. However, I'm waiting to release them because I want to release them properly as albums.
 
BUT....

I HAVE released a few singles! On Spotify, Google Play, etc., you can now find 
"Don't Hide", "Here's To What the Years Have In Store", "At the Time of Your Death REMASTERED", and "Moonlight"! 

Four new songs-- How nice! "But wait", you say, "There's more!"

No, wait... there's more...

No no no… Wait... There's more....

NO! STOP! Sorry, I get out of hand sometimes. "Shaun!"

"OKAY, LOOK,", you say, "quit with the there's more. I never said that in the first place. But what about all those full-size albums worth of songs you listen to in the car and on your phone? For months now, even!"

Well, I guess I talked about that above. It's a shame that I'm waiting to release so many. I'm also unsure of how to volume level them all, though I supposed the volume swings aren't that egregious except on the ones that I took Garageband Normalization off of. That helped my songs be louder, but I realized now they were louder than everyone else's, and that taking normalization off was causing clipping. I think pretty much all the main digital sources normalize your audio in some way, anyway, so I'm not so sure it makes too much a difference except that clipping is clipping xD. Regardless, however, I should definitely consider releasing at least one album soon. I only need 10 to 12 songs. A mere trifle, trust me!

I even have a couple of upcoming prog songs for those of us with a penchant for such things.

Finally, for the purists, I'm planning on remastering Fall & Return (You'll See), one of my favorite classic songs. For those of you concerned with such things, it even includes a "re-done" C6 that doesn't slide into the note as much. I liked it before, myself, but apparently some of us think notes can't be awesome with a slide at the beginning. But anyway, that'll be pretty easy for me to remaster and I think Y'all will love the results. If you liked At the Time of Your Death's remastering, you'll probably like this one, too. 

P.S. I'm also on Nutrisystem as of yesterday! Time to lose some weight... it's overdue. Hope I do it right.

Wait a minute, this keyboard feels greasy...

Okay, that's... well, a little better. ehhhhhhhhh

ANYWAY, here we are, October 5th, 2018. I'm thinking I could start making these updates monthly!

I recently released 3 new songs on Spotify, etcetera! I REMASTERED At the Time of Your Death, and also have 2 completely new songs out RIGHT NOW! Amuse has been awesome, and has allowed me to release for the first time in my life... SINGLES!

Course, I'm 20, so. XD. The revival was great, I got to lead 3 songs and play on many others, along with that, I got to lead electric with the other church band that came, and that was so super awesome!! (Except for this one dang note...………) I worked with our drummer to get one song better... but he forgot it when we got on Stage XD but I forgot some stuff, too. That's okay.

As part of my dad buying the POD for $300, I am supposed to be sending in three applications for jobs by Oct. 15. EH HA! Unfortunately, I'm trying to get my license beforehand, but we recently lost our bank card, which means we won't be able to schedule and pay for the driver's exam until we get the new one. Once I get my license, I'm hoping to apply to Guitar Center, Race Track, and Big lots, or maybe QT, actually.


So I've finished several new instrumentals, and written several new songs for a few of them! I'm thinking about recording vocals today, but I'm just unsure... I guess I should just do it. I'm always glad I did. I'd have to finish in 3 hours even to be done by 10 o'clock, though, and I think we all know by now THAT isn't going to happen... well, unless I choose a short song, and then try out the new experimental method of creating a harmony on the PC with New Tone in FL Studio. That could be 2 hours of recording and an hour of editing, though I'm not exactly fluent with the experimental new process, yet, so... 

I've got a song called Whatever coming out that's basically just saying "whatever" to everything, cause you have to do that sometimes. I've also got a song coming out called "What's left to Say?" That is what I will affectionately dub a "Praise-Easycore song". And don't forget the endless others... "Sometime Soon", God talking to us saying that we can see Him in the world if we look, "I See The Truth", a classic country song about Jesus' forgiveness, and my already-soundcloud-released personal favorite " I Want To Be More (What I've Been)" about someone finally coming around to trying to live for God. And so. very. many. others.

I miss the Early Edition cast. Maybe I'll plug in some of them tonight. I wish I had more of the seasons on DVD. I think some of the later ones aren't even released, and the second season is pretty hard to find on it's own.

I guess if I'm going to do vocals I should go ahead and get started! 

Recently I made a new song with the Line 6 PODHD500! It's a Guitar Multi-effects pedal board. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to take it back, bc the modeling just doesn't seem like it sounds quite as good as my Vyper VIP-1, and I can get the Sanpera footboard to go with that, instead. Regardless of these things, however, I made a song with it to see how it stood up in a mix, and I must say, not bad at all! I'm still not sure it sounds quite right... but it certainly doesn't sound terrible! Sometimes, the more I listen to it, the more I get attached to it's sound... whether it's good or bad at that point, I don't know, all I know is I'm becoming strangely fond of it for reasons perhaps limited to increasing familiarity. Sometimes I wonder if liking a guitar sound is completely that. But I guess the Boss ME-33 is testament to the opposite... xD

I went on the Peavey website and they didn't list a lot of artists for the Vyper… but ALL of them were in my more or less exact subgenre!! I read reviews of the Vyper online and I keep seeing people "I use this for high gain tones, the high gain tones are really good", even one person "A little frusterating with medium gain tones" and I keep looking at POD reviews going "I use this for medium gain things, I play in a blue rocks bla bla bla" like HMMMMMMMM INTERESTING.

I hope ya'll are havin' a good time of it, and stay tuned for more music updates from Emotional Relation!

LOL Ya'll. It's been three months and four days. How easily time passes by when you're 20 years old, learning to drive, being pressured to get a job, and making music. Apologies for not updating sooner, but knowing how I talk, I suppose it's better that I update when I truly have something to say rather than manufacture discussion or spend loads of time talking about music production details... as I am "wont" to do. (Post edit: Oh carp, I did this anyway)

So today the attic ceiling caved in. Not all of it, just a bit. Haha! Crazy. I just discovered it today, it may have happened earlier, probably did. We don't know what it is yet, but we're going to get it looked at. I'm sure it'll all work out. It caved right on my drums! Moments like these I start to think "God, you trying to give me signs from that prayer I prayed a while back?" and I hope it's just coincidence or the devil xD.

MUSIC UPDATE!

So I am STILL working on music, don't worry! hahaha. I have nearly 30 or so songs pretty much done, and last week I just mostly finished about 5! The ironic thing is that I have ENDLESS songs laying in wait for the recording process, and it occurred to me... All this time I keep telling myself I'll finish up all the backlog of songs I have, and yet, every single song I finished last week was a completely new song that had entered the picture within the last couple of months or even less... really puts into perspective the work I had done, and just how much I've totally NOT in ANY WAY done my backlog and pre-written songs. 

I've even got one that's totally unrecorded right now (All About You), and one that's arranged in GB but not at all recorded (God I Love You Part I). I've got SEVERAL that are entirely recorded besides vocals. and I've still got the older songs from voice recordings and notes, and even a cover of I Am Free coming up (although I'm unsure of if or how I will release it, considering I currently have no money whatsoever to even provide fractions of a cent for royalties). As always, send me an e-mail and I'll be glad to send you any song of mine!

I'm also helping out with what they call a Youth Revival at my friend Mason's church, Lillian Baptist, so I'll need to be practicing for that, which always means putting recording on hold for just a tad around the event and practices. I'll be leading three songs and playing guitar! Woo-hoo! No idea how I ended up here but I am thankful to God for it.

NEW SONG!
As usual, check out anything new I feel comfortable sharing PRE-RELEASE (often PRE-MASTERING) on my Soundcloud page. 

Currently I have a new song called MOONLIGHT out on Soundcloud and DUE to BE RELEASED on many digital platforms on September 10th! It has prog elements, a guitar solo, and more third harmonies! Can't stop, won't stop, help me I'm singin' TOO HIGH EVERYTHING IS A STACKED THIRD

I have discovered a new app called "Amuse" which allows me to release my music for completely free to most major streaming platforms, which totally whacks me out! :O I am waiting to see if the Moonlight single release works, although I have NO REASON to believe it won't! It's honestly a bit too good to be true. Check out their website for a brief description of how they make money. It's not a scam, as far as I know! 

Currently, I am working on preparing a H U G E release of around 100 songs. Can you believe it?! Crazy. Now that I have Amuse, I may actually separate them into many different release, and even release some PRE-ALBUM SINGLES! Watch out for those, of which MOONLIGHT is one! S E P T E M B E R 10th!

I have a free album publishing credit with CDBaby that they gave me after the troubles with my album going through last time, but even with that, I have to buy a UPC. Unfortunately, I don't think Amuse lets me get a UPC at all, so I don't know how much that makes my release less official. But next release, Dad is probably going to say something like

"Well, I guess it's time to get a job so you can release your album!" which of course is mind-numbing and dumb IMO, but I guess he's right and somebody's gotta say it, and it has to happen eventually. If I release entirely with amuse, I'll get on most of the biggest places, and I won't have to pay anything, plus I can release everything in multiple neat albums sectioned off in styles (Did you know I may have an ENTIRE Easycore album?!). But my albums will be smaller scale digital releases and debatably smaller scale releases overall because of the no UPC thing. If I release on CDBaby, I'll have to release everything as one album, because I simply don't have the resources ATM to even consider a handful of releases, although if I get a job, I may. Along with this, I'll (someone) will have to pay for a UPC code, and it'll be on more providers and debatably bigger scale?

If all goes well with Amuse, I'll consider using them for many more songs, (they'll let you release anything with a song + artist name ONLY 3000 Pixel cover image and a 16 bit 44,100 HZ wave [well, I think xD, I just read about them refusing songs]) but I think I may release my large scale huge 100-track album with CDBaby, and my other smaller, separated albums with Amuse. I don't want to risk overwhelming people, but I think people can sift through a few albums, and deal with a compilation release among several other releases with the same songs. Most bands have that. This way, most, if not all of my songs will be available everywhere and more official in some way, even if only on a compilation. I am worried that I may exceed 100 tracks, though. Seems insane, but it is a legit concern.

Seeing as how I am going to be making such huge releases, it is incredibly important to me that they SOUND GOOD before they are released. I'll be paying attention to the vocal levels. Once I have some amount of money, I'm considering the possibility of paying someone to do a professional mastering on one of my songs. This may never happen, but I mean with a job you really do have quite a lot of money IMO especially if you are still living with your parents. I mean, it's a lot to me. I've been broke for 20 years. Hahaha course my parents buy me plenty of things. Still do, though it's getting a bit stiff, now. Jabbing my side XD. Hahahaha I need a job.

​Anyway, I'm going to be playing around with compression and EQ to master my songs myself, as it is simply not possible for me to use LANDR without money. Besides that, they didn't seem to do ALL that much to the songs, anyway... certainly enough to be worth it, but not quite enough. My songs were still too quiet on my last release. I'm considering doing a re-mastered release someday of my favorite older songs, tell me if you'd like to see that! I've still got all the old projects, so it's as easy as remixing the drums (so easy with EZDrummer), re-eq'ing the guitars, managing the vocals, and compressing the song properly. Oh, and don't forget making sure the bass has some oomph. xP Oh my, you didn't need all that detail. Oh well, that's what this blog is for. If you wanted blissful ignorance, you should've stayed on Spotify. XD!

And again, even if I wanted to use Landr, with Daddio the way he is... "Well, I guess you need to get a job so you can start mastering your songs!" 

More like "Well, I guess you need to get a job to do anything in life!"

and he'd probably go "Yeah, pretty much!"

Hmph.

Anyway, music work continues! Don't let me forget to get Dad to play on those Easy-core songs and the I Am Free cover! :P

Here's to not knowing what God has in store for me.

Stephen

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTENTION
ER BLOG FOLLOWERS!!!!! (Inside joke. Well, half of one. Okay okay, Half of half of one. Who can expect you to laugh at THAT amount of a joke?)

Have we got an update for you today! Today's update is both totally lame and super awesome.

The lame side of things is that I actually have done nothing musically today. Also that my computer is continuing to give me charging issues. However, I am somewhat convinced that it is merely a charger related issue, as moving the cord changes the way the computer acts charging wise, and the inner wire has been exposed on the end for many days. The wire is not significantly frayed to my knowledge, but as moving the cord seems to affect whether the computer charges or not, and I have tried other things like resetting the SMC, one can only assume that it must be the charger cord. The ordeal has been stressing me out because I have so much music and I'm trying to get it all done, and not only do I keep putting it off, but I have more than enough problems with getting around to things without something actually physically hindering me from doing so, on the OFF chance that I DO get around to it on a given day. Plus, I am already somewhat stressed from having so much music I want to get done and it honestly feels very intimidating. Not to mention I continue to create more, and whenever I make an improvement, I always wonder to myself if I should go back and improve my past recording or not. I pray God leads me where He wants.

AnYWAYYYY…

So here's the awesome part:
I'd Die for You has gotten a review at Stereo Stickman!!!

​https://stereostickman.com/reviews/emotional-relation-id-die-for-you/

Hey everybody! You should know, the album is officially out AND available most anywhere!

Find it on YouTube by searching "Emotional Relation Topic"!

I've been working a lot on many, many new songs, and soon enough, I'll have a LOT of new music for you all to hear. I've made revelations on both drum and vocal mixing (and singing), and I've even begun to record some of my old songs that never got a recording beyond my voice recorder! 

I've got Chunk! No, Captain Chunk inspired songs (quite a few of those xD), Blink-182 inspired song(s?), Green Day inspired Song(s?), even a White Heart song and a Country+Punk song! :0

I already have enough finished to release two albums, and an album credit to release with on CDBaby! I plan to release everything as one very large album, separated into sub-album groups as I am trying to do this as low cost as possible, and it is unfeasible for me to release in any other way as of now.

Currently I'm stressed with trying to re-extrapolate from recordings a song I spent several hours working on last night. My computer suddenly and unexpectedly blacked out because of a weird glitch involving the power, and though all my guitar recordings were saved, none of the project details were, including a handful of MIDI drum variations and you know, the minor fact about wHAT TAKES GO WHERE AND WHAT TAKES ARE THE ONES I KEPT?!?!

…

Anyway, it's been... disconcerting, to say the least.

Besides that, I've got many new songs finished, and some of them are on Soundcloud!

Check it out, visit my page at www.soundcloud.com/emotionalrelation !

I've got so many songs to deal with it's not funny. And currently, I'm helping with the music at a Christian weekend called Vida Nueva! So I've had to put things on a bit of a hold for a little bit, as preparing for that has to come first. I even get to lead a couple songs!

Best wishes!

​Stressed Steve
 

Hey everybody! 

​The (double) album is officially released! The album is released through CDBaby, and is currently available on their website! Click the handy button below to visit the album page :D I have made it available for only $5.01!

Right now, none of the tracks are appearing for individual download, only "album-only" download. I have no idea why. I'll contact CDBaby again if that doesn't change by itself, soon.

​The album will be available (for a much higher, uncontrollable price) on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon!

​You will also be able to listen on Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube! :O
It shouldn't be long before you see it at all these places! 

​Also, E-mail me @ Staaviinsz@yahoo.com for a special unreleased track-- a cover of the Christian song Forever Reign (originally by Jason Ingram & Reuben Morgan) :)

My favorite song off the (double) album is
"You (inspired by Senses Fail)".

​It's the next to last track.

​Don't forget to give a visit by the forum and talk about anything: www.emotionalrelation.proboards.com
(Link on the ER Forum page)

​I hope everyone is doing well!
​