Ground Zero

Look into my eye...

It’s unquestionable that I’ve been checked out for awhile. I guess I figured I’d wait til i feel I actually have something to say before I say something, but left to my own devices I’d never Klog again. Thanks to your persistent persistence and your relentless relentlessness, I’ve decided to actually post something. This new site is essentially “Ground Zero” for Celldweller.com bc we have had no success so far importing the old Klogs from Blogger into WordPress.(help?!?!) Well, let’s jump into some updates  —->

SITE UPDATE

Truth be told, I knew that a site update was coming so I kinda put off updates until I had a place (and format) better suited for more frequent posts. I kinda hated the way Google Blogger was layed out, and i have become an instant fan (so far) of WordPress. So my motivation is to be able to update more frequently, even if it’s just links to cool stuff I stumble upon while I’m waiting for my buggy Pro Tools rig to reboot for the 17th time for the day. Although the new site layout is relatively simple atm, We’ll be adding more functionality to it over time. I want to get some photo galleries going here and a media player with a playlist of some of my tracks so you’ll have a destination to visit to play the tunes that scare your poor grandmother out of your room. Instead of Celldweller.com just being a place for me to drop my Klogs (Klayton Blogs for those not ‘in the know’) I’m hoping to make it more of a functional site.

VIDEO GAME THEME??

Crap. I’ve barely started typing and I’ve already bored myself to tears. I need to find something exciting to share before you all jump ship to a more exciting website. Let’s talk “video game” for a minute. For those that don’t know, I am writing the theme to a video game sequel that will drop later this year. Under penalty of death AND hell, I cannot tell you what game it is until it’s hit the shelves. When it’s out though, I’m going to post a 10,000 word (*minimum*) klog that only has the title of the game repeated over and over. I’m going to type it all by hand too – no copy/paste. The track also features another artist that I was pretty excited to share the vocal spotlight with. Unfortunately I can never tell you his name, but there is no question if you’ve heard him sing, you’ll know who it is. As it currently stands, I ‘did my thing” with this track – big guitars & synths, Drum and Bass and 12 or more of my vocal tracks, usually all happening at once.

WISH UPON A BLACKSTAR-CHAPTER 03

In the never ending saga that is my new album, I’ve had some minor breakthroughs recently. The next 2 tracks are monsters, bc I’m musically schizophrenic and feel the need to have a minimum of 1000 tracks per song. So truth be told I was dreading “The Lucky One” and “I Can’t Wait” bc I knew how much mind-numbing work was before me. Part of my dread was steeped in the fact that I hated the chorus to “The Lucky One” and knew i had to rewrite it. Well the good news is i made about 30 more Beta Cessions chorus options for you guys, bc i spent days writing super crappy choruses. But Jehova be praised, I made a breakthrough and have a chorus that jumped out of my speakers and kicked me right in the nuts – It was a tear-jerker of a moment. ( I’ve always wanted to get “nuts” and “jerker” in the same sentence. Bravo, Klayton. Bravo.) Now I’ve already cut up the gigabytes of drums I played for this track and they’re just waiting for my assistant to edit so I can work on getting more of the track done in the meantime. In fact, as of tonight I’m pretty damned close to being ready to cut final guitars and bass. Next,  edits and ear candy – mix – DONE. “I Can’t Wait” still has a fair amount to be done to it. Part of my dilemma is I’ve been looking for the right drummer to come in and kick the crap out of the rest of the record. I’m discussing that possibility with a seriously kick-ass drummer right now, so I’ll update you on that when I have something to update you on.

REMIXED UPON A BLACKSTAR

For those who don’t know, I’m commissioning/trading remixes with artists I dig for tracks from the new album and will release a separate disc “Remixed Upon a Blackstar.” 1 artist for 1 song – so 10 total. You’ve hopefully already heard Toksin’s remix of “So Long Sentiment.” I’ve remixed a song from BT’s new record “Suddenly” and he’ll be doing a remix of “Louder Than Words.” I remixed the J. Scott G. track “Live The Life” featuring Adam Lambert and he’s taking on “The Best It’s Gonna Get” with Imprintz & Kloe (formerly Phat Ryderz.) I’ll let you know when that remix is available – pinkie-swear. And for the love of Benji, I hope you’ve heard Blue Stahli’s remix of “Birthright” by now??? I’m not sure what I’ll be doing in return for that one, but I promise you I’m pretty scared to find out. There are 2 more artists I can’t wait to announce – just waiting to hash out details and confirm things before I say anything.

A CELLDWELLER LIVE SHOW?!? HAS HELL FROZEN OVER???

It very well may have. It’s way too long to type so maybe one day soon I’ll do a video blog so I can explain how this unfolded but the bottom line is – I think I’m going to play shows, even though I vowed I never would again. Why the change of heart? BC i’ll be doing this completely differently than any other live show I’ve ever put together. There are only going to be 3 of us on stage – me, myself and I. We rarely get along, so you might even get to see a cat fight onstage if I piss myself off. i have lots of ideas and already have 6 or 7 songs mocked up towards a show, but true to my nature I can’t just do something simple. It has to be complex enough to make sure I don’t ever get a chance to sleep. I’m thinking tentatively, *very tentatively* this could happen for the fall, but we’ll see. I can also tell you that I’ve recently been invited back to play a festival with some friends of mine on the other side of the equator. So I may be seeing 25 or 30 thousand of you in a few months. Again, I wont’ say anything officially till I know It’s officially official.

MUSIC VIDEO(S)

I’ve started preliminary production meetings regarding videos for “Wish Upon a Blackstar.” I had originally planned to shoot a vid for “Louder Than Words” first but the way the story is unfolding it makes more sense to start with “So Long Sentiment.” There is a good chance (time & resources permitting) there will be 3-4 videos that are continuations of the story – so at the end you can watch all 3 or 4 (or more?) to get a full concept. Again, no promises on anything – I’m just giving you the current state of things, assuming i can even remember them. (I mean, the production meeting was a week ago – what do you want from me??)

AND HE’S STILL TYPING….

1228 words later and I’m still going. Does this guy ever shut up?? The answer is “only when I’m eating” (which is most of the time. It turns out I’m a pretty quiet guy after all. NOW FEED ME.) I have lots more to type but I think I’ve had all I can take of my own rambling for one night. I think I need to lay down and pretend I’m going to actually fall asleep as I stare at the ceiling for awhile. So for me it’s “Goodnight” to you and “Hello” to Insomnia.

Word to all your mommas -

[Klayton]

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Photo by Grant Mohrman