ok so this has been on my to-do list for almost 20 years! lol, i know. im slow. thats why im actually pretty excited right now and felt i should share. for real, its never too late! dont give up!

i have 10 songs recorded and hoping for one more but if not, im working with these 10. my next steps are crafting it into an album. i.e. song order, interludes, mixing, mastering. i want the album to feel very focused. where its less about me and more about what i want the album to say.

i just spoke with 2 photog friends about getting photos done. then, the last part is putting together the booklet. yes, in the modern day of mp3, i want a booklet. like i said, ive been wanting this for a long time so it just wont feel right if i cant pull out the sleeve and look through it.

the best thing i ever did was give myself a schedule. it doesnt matter if you dont keep it. setbacks happen. the key for me was to revise the schedule instead of giving up on it. i always had a problem with beating myself up for not keeping the schedule. i made my schedule my enemy but im finally learning how to be friends. make the time and time will be on your side.

i had another issue with wanting it to be perfect. this would be the primary cause of my schedule delays. what helped with this was to force myself to do something, anything. id book studio time in advance and itd force me to come up with something. then id have something concrete to bring home and improve on, share with others. proof of my investment. for me, making an album has to be like living. its a record of the journey. i didnt come out of the womb perfect and im not perfect today. thats all i need to capture. 2 months ago

Over the next three years, I plan to release 7 digital 6-track EPs: one demo-type “prologue,” and 6 “chapters” documenting the evolutionary stages of my musical journey from 2007-2013.

Each mini-album will be a compilation of the 6 best songs I’ve written each year, except for the first and last, which will be new material.

Here’s the unofficial line-up for this year:

I. CJ6.5 /
scheduled for release July 2013

This album will consist of me doing vocals over some reworked instrumental tracks, which will be announced later.

II. MAKE MUSIC, NOT WAR(70sKullSoldiers.) /
scheduled for release October 2013

1. Be a Father – a song about a man who leaves his girlfriend when he finds out she is pregnant, and the effects on the child later on.
2. Stress – pretty self-explanatory teen angst song reminiscent of early-2000s Linkin Park.
3. Alone (Like You) – an ode to an old lost friend.
4. From Dawn Till Dust – my attempt at a dark, apocalyptic love song.
5. Emo Chic – a parody about stereotypes and teenage dating.
6. “Let Me Tell You Something About Your Mom and Me…” – a song about divorce, the title being a line from a movie dealing with a similar topic, whose name I don’t remember to save my life.

I plan to complete one song from part II each month starting April 1st and one song from part I every 2 weekends starting April 6th.
I will document my progress roughly every day starting in April. 2 months ago

So far I have tried twice to get my bassist and drummer together for a rehearsal. They are talented and professional enough that once we are able to get going, we will have things down within two or three practice sessions and be able to record with no problems. Only issue is actually getting practice to happen. This is definitely a test of my patience and it’s hard not to let my frustration get the best of me! I need to trust that this will all work out in divine order, on God’s timeline, not my own. No need to rush, right?

I am shaking off a lot of old ideas that have held me back, one being that I have a deadline to get this done (while I am still young enough to make it, etc etc…) Since I started following Jesus and playing Christian music, I feel like some time has been bought for me in that you can be a little older in the Christian music industry and still be cool. Not that I’m old, I’m 24 (will be 25 in June). But since I always considered myself a pop musician, I would find myself looking at the artists under 20 that were achieving national success and thinking “I’d better hurry up if I want to make anything out of this.” This attitude only served to limit me, so I need to let it go, and again trust that God will set everything up to work out perfectly. All I need to do is have faith and keep moving forward in the ways that I can. And I do feel that things will fall into place. All the songs are written and finalized, the studio is decided on (at a great rate too) and I am working with some very talented, hardworking musicians – myself included! :) 4 months ago

- But I didn’t like it. So the goal is to record another one in December. In, like, a weekend. 9 months ago