News

Updates-12-08-2008:

A couple reviews of QEO are now up on the Prog Archives site.
I have donated several copies of the QEO album to the Hugh Hopper fund. If you want to get a copy of the album, buy it from Melo's Prog Bazaar first...it's for a good cause!

Updates-09-20-2008:

Thanks to Jeff Fitzgerald at Aural Innovations for the very thoughtful review of the QEO album!
A cut off of the Soft War album will be played on the 9/23 Troys Room show at 5pm PST on www.latalkradio.com!
As mentioned previously, I have been relegating my commentaries about Peak Oil/Climate Change/Global Economic Collapse to my "restricted" MySpace blog (where you have to be a "friend" to actually read them), but in light of the current (and future) happenings on Wall Street I do feel moved to say this: I TOLD YOU SO!!! HAHAHAHA!!! (GOT PREPS?)

Updates-07-27-2008:

Ron of Prognaut posted a review of the QEO album on his site. Thanks Ron!

Updates-07-13-2008:

I've been fairly busy with real-world stuff the past couple months, but there are a few things on tap:
This site will be changing GREATLY after I transition from a paid service to a free service. I will be redesigning much of it and it will be downscaled to mainly support the musical releases.
I will be spending more time (and probably money) on promoting the 2 new albums.
As things seem to be coming to a head globally-speaking, I am going to be restricting a lot of my non-musical commentary and insights to my MySpace blog. Unless you are a "Friend" of mine on that service, you will not be able to read any of my Political/Economic/Peak Oil type commentaries. I have reached a point in my life where I feel that it is time to stop sharing information with those that don't have the active will to pursue it. I will be striking a lot of my non-musical commentary from this particular page and keeping news items trimmed down to my notes for the past 2 years or so. If you want my opinions and insights on my non-musical concerns (for what they may be worth), go onto my MySpace page and do a friend request.

Updates-06-18-2008:

I am no longer giving my music away for free due to a lack of support (save a donation by a friend) and a lack of gratitude (despite the fact that thousands of my songs were downloaded off of this site by random strangers each and every month, not one of those random strangers has sent as much as an e-mail thanking me in over 3 years). If you want copies of my songs, you can find them at some free mp3 sites (until I wipe my songs from them all...long project), or you can do the right thing and just buy one of my albums.

Updates-05-12-2008:

Got to thank Joe and Lando at the always-entertaining Ozone Nightmare podcast for the mention and the link...and hey...the Quiet Earth Orchestra album is now on iTunes!!!

Updates-04-15-2008:

Three more sites/stations have added the QEO album to
their databases/playlists:

http://progrockradio.com

http://www.progrock.com

http://www.proggnosis.com

My most profuse thanks for supporting this project and
giving listeners avenues to explore progressive music
of all types!
The Soft War album is back from the pressing plant and it sounds fantastic! It should be available for sale within mere days!

Updates-04-15-2008:

Two fine stations specializing in brilliant music have just added the Quiet Earth Orchestra album to their playlists!

My most grateful thanks to them!!!

ProgRockandMetal.net

Progulus.com

Updates-04-02-2008:

Seems like the Quiet Earth Orchestra album is getting a relatively warm reception, though I am only at the early stages of getting it "out there":

1-Garageband.com has The Prophet as Song of the Day in the Progressive Rock category for April 2nd.

2-Aural Innovations Radio has featured the song The Prophet on its Drool Trough radio show! Thanks!!!

3-Prog Palace Radio has added QEO to their playlist.

4-Ghostland added QEO to their database.

5-Progression Magazine is apparently going to review the album in their next issue.

6-I’ve already had to send more stock to CDBaby, so people are actually buying the thing!

Updates-03-02-2008:

Another one of my favorite podcasts has featured a song excerpt from the new Quiet Earth Orchestra album.

Journeys With Rebecca is one of the first podcasts I started listening to and it remains a favorite of mine. It is one of the few shows out there that features guests from both the optimistic New Age side of the aisle as well as the darker world of the Conspiracy set and gives both seemingly opposing polarities credibility and exposure. Host Rebecca has a warm and engaging personality (one of the best interviewers out there in podcastland) and she always seems to be highly aware of both the peril and promise of the times we are living in.

http://www.journeyswithrebecca.com

Updates-03-02-2008:

Speaking of QEO, an excerpt from the song "God" has been used on the latest podcast from Occult of Personality! Quite a synchonicity as the subject of this particular podcast episode is Gnosticism...which is one of my major philosophical influences! Be sure to check out this and other Occult of Personality podcasts as there are many brilliant discussions of the esoteric and hermetic to be found there!

Updates-02-10-2008:

The Quiet Earth Orchestra CD is back from the pressing plant ( ICON ) and it sounds pretty damn good! I have just sent off the initial batch to CD Baby for stock as of Friday, but those people who want to hear samples can go to the QEO website.

Updates-11-14-2007:

The Soft War album is mastered, yo! And yes, it sounds pretty damn fine...thanks in no small part to Tom Kozup at Digital Vision, who added just the right amount of audio sweetening to the end product. It is a collection of 14 songs, clocking in at almost 67 minutes. Soon to follow will be digital downloads and an actual pressing that you can buy with real money (sorry, no freebies on this release)!

Updates-10-15-2007:

I've just reviewed the excellent and very significant documentary What a Way to Go, Life at the End of Empire.

Updates-10-15-2007:

One of two albums (the project called Soft War) is all mixed and ready to master and press! F**k yeah!!!

(Thank you for allowing me that brief burst of adolescent exuberance...I shall now continue being old.)

The album is 14 songs and runs around 67 minutes, and is something that I am very excited to share with the world...once we master it, choose artwork, press/print, and set up our website for the thing. It has been several years in the making, but well worth the wait, methinks!

I would like to thank the world for not ending before we got this all mixed...and I would beg for a bit more time for me to finish the other one. Thanks in advance.

Updates-09-09-2007:

Quite a while since my last update on here. John has been a busy lad!
The Soft War album is almost ready to be mastered. Two versions of one particular song need some additional input from both myself and my recording partner, and away we go. The other album (by my other project The Quiet Earth Orchestra) has a bit more work ahead of it, but it really is only a track or two away from completion. It's been a very productive few months, musically, and I have been very happy at having been able to achieve a certain degree of balance between my artistic, professional and personal life for a surprisingly prolonged period of time. I will look back upon it with fond memories when the inevitable Collapse of Everything happens and most of us die within the next 5-10 years.
There is a nifty little interview with yours truly on a cool show called The Darker Side of the Moon. You can also download it from ITunes. Check out their other interviews too...they are a fun couple of hosts and I enjoyed the experience greatly! (Aside from the fact that I still punctuate everything that I say with either an "um" or a "ya know", I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about.)
More news to come...it's late and I'm about to start drooling on my laptop.

Updates-06-19-2007:

Well, 12 of the 13 songs slated for the next release are DONE! And I rank them as better than the best work I've ever done. The 13th song is proving to be a mean little bugger to work on as it is in 6/8 time and my sequencing software is being pretty obstinate about the whole thing...but we are so close to being done with this release that I have been sorely tempted to just take a week off from my day gig finish it.

The release, as mentioned previously, is a collaboration with my old bandmate and songwriting partner Greg. In our old band we were able to churn out high quality songs by the 1/2 dozen, at times. It was a creative synergy that I have never come close to since those days (though I have had some great experiences working with other artists over the years). It is amazing how we have been able to breathe new life into these songs, giving them an individual care and focus that we could not have ever really done in a band context.

On other musical fronts, I have been playing with remastering my album Hell's Laughter and Heaven's Ache using some mastering programs and plug-ins that have given a new sheen to those songs. May just replace the old album with a new remastered one one of these days.

So look for the next release to be under a collaborative name in the next couple months or so, and there should be some hilarious videos to giggle at in the near future.

Updates-05-26-2007:

One of the podcasts I listen to has one of my tunes on it's latest episode: http://strangebuttrue.btpodshow.com/. It's the 05/28/2007 edition, but I strongly encourage you to check out his archived shows as well!

Updates-03-18-2007:

Well, I managed to finish the drum programming and final mix for the 9th song on the next album. Whoohoo! Number 9 in the bag!!! At this rate the thing MAY come out in time for a few people to give it a good listen before the lights go out forever.

Updates-03-12-2007:

I managed to do a pretty decent mix of the 8th song (out of a possible 14) for the next John Ludi project...which is not a John Ludi project at all, but a collaboration with Greg Kutcher from my former Detroit band Soft War. Currently I'm slogging my way through the drums for song #9, and really liking the results. It will still be a while until it's all ready for public consumption, but I think that this album will be even better than my last recorded output.
I saw Secret Chiefs 3 with my GF at the Double Door Saturday night. They were fantastic. I was totally unfamiliar with them. The drummer really reminded me of John French at times. Excellent band! Sadly, due to our both being under the weather, the band I had actually come to see (the Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) went unseen by us as I had anticipated that they were the opening band and they ended up being the headliner. Next time, I hope, as their album Grand Opening and Closing is a favourite.

Updates-01-12-2007:

One of my favorite writers/thinkers has crossed over to the next level, Robert Anton Wilson. He wrote (amongst a great may other things) The Illuminatus Trilogy and the brilliant Cosmic Trigger books. He was a profound influence on my own thinking as well that of a great many others out there trying to raise conciousness. We as a culture are the poorer for the loss.

Thank you R.A.W., for all you have given us...see you on the other side.

For the Wiki on this brilliant man:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson

Other resources:

http://s89215971.onlinehome.us/

http://robertantonwilson.blogspot.com/

http://www.rawilsonfans.com/

Updates-08-20-2006:

General music update:

The two albums I'm working on have been SLOWLY coming together. Between working full time and preparing for my move back to Chicago, I've hardly had a chance to get much done. However, despite all the distractions, the album I'm doing with my former bandmate Greg has been progressing nicely. It's a collection of tunes from our 5 years together in a band called Soft War. It will probably be a 12-14 song release, when all is said and done. I've really focused on trying to get as much essential stuff recorded as possible so I can take it all with me and mess with it when I'm in my new environs. The biggest pain is the drum track programming...it takes so long to sit and edit nuances pattern-by-pattern...but the results are worth is as I've actually fooled a few drummers over the years. 3 of the songs on this project are mixed and sound really tasty. We used to have a tendency to over-indulge as a band...taking a much more mature approach to the songs and allowing them to breathe has given them a new life and a level of novel individuality they never had when we were busy beating these songs to death. My advice to the young and virtuosic: Less IS more!

The Prog album has been a secondary concern as I can record that material anywhere I go...no one else is part of that particular project. I had a few labels express interest in the project once I've finished, but I've dragged ass on it so long that I doubt they will care at that point. So it goes.

I plan on REALLY getting out there and performing once I get settled in Chicago. I'm even thinking (gasp) of putting a band together again. Kind of thinking of doing a stripped down version of a lot of the songs in my catalogue...there are more than 50 that could be played in a guitar/bass/drum trio format with ease. I'll also be doing solo acoustic appearances.

Updates-08-05-2006:

Rabid Praise: 1 Giant Leap.
A friend turned me on to these guys a little while ago and I promptly forgot about them until this morning when I decided to give their CD a quality listen...my god, they are amazing. And they have an interesting story behind their music: http://www.1giantleap.tv
Check them out on their MySpace page too, it's well worth the listen!

Updates-05-16-2006:

It appears that my song "Web" (a perky little tune about diminishing biodiversity) has won a seat on the upcoming compilation CD put out by Americans for Energy Independence, an organization dedicated to finding a way out of the dismal fossil fuel trap we are currently in.
I recommend that those of you who care about energy and where it comes from (and what damage the utilization of it causes) visit their site and do some reading: http://www.ei2025.org

The rest of you will probably only care when we actually run out. And what will you do THEN....hmmmm?

(That time is coming a lot sooner than you think...)

Updates-04-15-2006:

Turns out my old Contact page was not forwarding me my e-mails. This is either the fault of Doteasy or Usermail. Groovy! If you have tried to get in contact with me via my site and I have not answered, that's probably why. Technology marches on...
This afternoon I finished putting the final touches on the 4th composition on my upcoming "Prog Rock" album. It clocks in at almost 8 minutes and is based upon a song I started doing with a couple friends of mine when I first moved back to Detroit about 3 years ago. Michael Moore (not the one you're thinking of) of the local band Tin Scribble wrote the original music for the song which is based upon a Balkan folk tune whose name escapes me at the moment. It was a simple and gentle little song that I have managed to turn into a huge and unwieldy bloated thing...that I am extremely proud of! It has dynamics all over the place...including a very quiet acoustic guitar solo that acts as a bridge between two louder bits that has to be one of the more wistfully beautiful things to ever come out of my hands...in fact, I find it hard to believe that I was the one who actually did it.
That must be a benchmark for a lot of artists...there are times when you create something so transcendent of yourself that you can't imagine that it was your own creation...as if (here comes a cliche) you are mere conduit for a greater universal force. I felt that way today when I did the final mix of this composition...like some elemental force had taken command of my voice and hands in the process of creating this piece...I was a mere bystander.

It's always so amazing to reach the moment when you step back from a work and view it objectively for the first time after days, weeks, months, years of being caught up in the smallest trivial aspects of its production. Sometimes there is the pang of regret and disappointment...it did not reach its potential and you are to blame. But sometimes you look at it as if it was just presented to you in full form...something you've never heard before...and you smile! This afternoon was like that...god it makes it so worthwhile...I want to make music forever!!!

I am giddy with enthusiasm for this project and the other one I'm working on!

Updates-03-26-2006:

Three new reviews added for the Rise album on the Rise page. Whoohooo!