Yes, we are using Brian “big bass” Gardner this time around. I am in the process of back and forth with him on the tracks. So far so good. Mastering is the last stage usually, well next to the last stage(to put some final eq polish, compress, limit and help the stereo image, make it louder so it translates better on cheap systems like ipods and pc speakers). To get it done right, it will cost you a lot of money usually. After lust for blood, I was angry at what transpired after the mastering. I had approved the mastering, and downloaded .wavs of all the masters, but when I got the lust for blood CD that was manufactured and released, it no longer sounded like my .wav masters I got as reference from the mastering engineer. Well I suspected that the medium used to burn the glass master, or the printing plant itself were to blame. All of this fell on deaf ears. Well, recently, after talking with some big name engineers, my suspicions were confirmed.

The manufacturing plants have to follow guidelines or they will do a crappy job. The engineer told me that they do U2′s lps world wide, and they have to test listen all the copies made from each plant around the world. He told me, you think digital is digital right 0s and 1s, NO, he said. All the copies from the u2 release come from the same glass master, but they all sound different. The actual print medium is also suspect in my opinion, go find a cd you bought in the 80s and compare it to one of the new ones you recently purchased. The 80s cds have thicker plastic and a thicker coat on the data surface. Now its anemic and cheap. Any how, this time, by going with Brian Gardner, I think it would sound better if the print plant, I think metropolis uses time warner, doesn’t mess it up. So i will have to test listen to the cd that the manufacturing site does. Oh the fun.

Any how, wish us luck with our new mastering engineer(he is world renowned, has done eminem, outcast, janet jackson, kmdfm, 50 cent, etc etc). I also want the mp3s that amazon and itunes sell to come from the .wav reference files. There is jitter and data loss on all audio cd formats. So, it’s better to avoid ripping the cds for that if possible. I have work it all out with Dave at metropolis. Well, you know what all of this means? The ART IS DONE. THE LP IS BEING MASTERED. That means fall release for “THE ART OF BREAKING APART” the new lp from Velvet Acid Christ. Finally.

BTW: We are doing a ton of promotional stuff for this record. Because I feel that magazines are not as effective any longer. I am turning to itunes and other places to host our promotional podcasts of todd and I talking about making the new lp, and the old one, and general stuff. I also want to release a podcast talking about each song every week till the LP comes out. I need to get press photos done, i still look like a blob right now, have to get in better shape and die my hair and all kinds of shit. and yes, I am putting together the live show. Hope it all works out, Hope the new lp sells well, wish us luck. Any how. Take care.

Bryan ov VAC.

I had an Extreme allergic reaction to a cat scratch last night, every inch of my skin turned fire engine red and I had white sacks under my eyes. I had to go to the hospital and get a epi shot and a bunch of roids. I’m 100% better now, but if i failed to go to the hospital, I would of perished. I almost had seizures. I had chills and was shivering. It was one of the most terrible things I have ever experienced. I had severe allergic reactions to cats as a kid, but this one tops them all. I have never been a CAT person, recently my dog tore a big hole in my ear, and I healed from that nicely, no prb, but a tiny cat scratch will swell my skin and make me stop breathing. Crazy. All I did, was pick up the cat to feed it, and he jumped off scratching me with his hind claws, accident, something so innocent all most killed me. Scared the shit out of me, thank goodness my family was around to take care of me.

Another thing, I bought a 24 inch imac, had it for a week, needed the bigger screen to do wav edits, and guess what, it took a big shit too, this is the second Imac I have tried that has conked out on me, those are pure garbage. My Mac book pro is very reliable so far(knock on wood). The imac worked great, and after I finished the master, I burned a copy to listen to in the car. When I came home, tried booting up, it booted into windows, just fine even tho i had it set to boot to the mac. So I restarted in mac, it took a half hour to boot, and when I got there, I immediately started trying to back up all the songs and edits I had made, it kept locking up and not finishing, so I installed this MACDRIVE 7 APP on the windows side and was able to get all the files off. Fuck. I ran disck diagnostic, checked out okay, ran the mem tests, verbose boot, everything i could try, nothing saved the imac. I really wanted it, I tried to re install leopard, no go, it would sit, and perma lock up when trying that. IMACS SUCK, they over heat in hot studios and take a crap. I have had no luck with 2 so far. I highly recommend against this crappy technology. To much shit packed in a small space that gets to hot. Macbooks are much better. So is the MAC PRO. Stay far away from the IMAC, even Heidi(my possible future live show keyboardist and bass player, said hers acts up too). IMAC = JUST SAY NO. I think I will write up reviews for my MACs soon on this site.

And yes, the lp is done, done, done, all the final tweaks are done. I will send it to be mastered today or tomorrow. Should see a Fall release. Lp art is done and I am really happy with it. I like this record, its new for VAC. I changed the track list to:

The Art of Breaking Apart:

01: Tripped Out : 128 BPM
02: Vaporized: 140 BPM
03: Black Rainbows : 117 BPM
04: Phucked Up Phreak : 120 BPM
05: Killing a Stranger : 120 BPM
06: The Art of Breaking Apart : 127 BPM
07: Caustic Disco : 127 BPM
08: Killed In Space : 140 BPM
09: Amnesia : 110 BPM
10: Faithless : 114 BPM
11: Silver: 134 BPM

It starts out upbeat and danced out, then gets darker and darker as the lp progresses. Songs are pretty short, cept phucked up phreak is like almost 8 minutes. I think this track list will appeal more to the fans of fwk in the beginning, and make the fans of fate, church of acid, and bte2 go wild in the middle, then ttg in the middle end, then BTE2 at the end again!(granted, not exactly like, it is just what the lp flow reminds me of) A balanced record with many gems! Very happy. and the hidden stuff rocks. This is one you will want to buy the CD for, to get the hidden stuff, which will not be online or on itunes and stuff like that. And Tours, Todd and I are on board so far, and hopefully Heidi. That might be it. I’m working on video clips and rehearsing the songs now.

Tripped Out..

Hexfix93

To tour, to not to tour, the above video, that is footage from one of the shows in the usa, I don’t look like that anymore, and don’t move like that any more(a drunk chicken with his head cut off )LOL. AHAHAHAHA I promise the show will not be like this again. I am mulling over the track list for the tour, and what I could pull off and what I ignored on the last tours. On the last tours no guitar tracks were played, hardly any slow songs, it was a more up beat hyper techno ebm punk show. This time around, I am trying to find guitarist’s to play in my band, so we are bringing out most of the guitar tracks for this tour. We will be more like a rock band with some electronics thrown in. I also plan on playing the trip hop kind of tracks, like slut, caught, ghost in the circuit, dilauded, a lot of the new lp, and the hits. We don’t want to play much of the bte series, I lost most of the midi files and it would be hard to remake in such short time, in future tours i will spend the time to re write some of the old old songs.

Any how, I am working on this now, I am still doing the final tweaks on the mixes for the new lp and getting that ready to be mastered this upcoming week. So that is almost in the bag. So now we are working on the live show as well. So far it looks like VAC + another act, which has yet to be determined. I am trying to figure out the best way to tour, nightliners(tour buses) cost way too much, We were thinking about buying a RV cheap or something. Some thing we can sleep in. I am going to get this Mark Passmore guy to do lights and sound for us, trying to think of a good stage show, maybe get video projectors, maybe get props and stuff, so I have to spend a lot of money, and I think I have to front all the money on the tshirt merch and stuff. I have no idea how many people will show up, what cities to play, where I would get good turn out. I think my status has shrunk over the years(I don’t know). I need to find one more person to play keys and samples for VAC, but i have to find that person in colorado, will not play shows with people who i cannot rehearse with. I am really going to try and put on a great show. This is now in the works, I am devoting a lot of time and resources, and I am learning all the lyrics and vocal lines again, and getting my gear to sound good for the stage. Oh so much fun.

More than anything, I just want to put on a good show, If it goes well, and I make a few bucks and recover my costs, I may make touring a thing I do every year if I can get my head around it and do it right and not just be typical ebm show. Fuck that. GUESS WHAT, there will be no laptops on stage!!!!!!!!!!! As far as gear goes, It looks like we will bring 2 big samplers, and the jp8080, acoustic and 12 string and 6 string and bass guitars, amps, fx. I will sample the fuck out of my modular, and sh2, don’t want to bring the analogs, but i will sample myself tweaking the fuck out of them and stuff. Going to be cool. Gotta get great string patches up and running, that won’t be a problem I don’t think!!!! So fun. So much fucking work too. ARRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!

Bryan….

I’m sorry, I apologize about some of lust for blood not being up to par(running out of head room in cubase, when you make complex loud stuff in cubase and mix it in there, it turns into shit, i like the songs but some of the production really sucked because of cubase and sx 2s really bad mixing when mixing complex mixes), but there are some serious gems on it. I am angered that people did not take notice, that this track in particular did not get the spot light shined on it. This song is amazing, I hate to sound egotistical, but i think it is a masterpiece. It shows the true genesis of Todd and I working together. He came up with the strings, which are simply amazing, the progressions, I put down the beat, and all the leads, arps and filter sweeps. Following Todd’s strings was challenging, he is classically trained pianist(big pianist), and I played the leads and did all the drum work. The truth is, Emily Autumn was supposed to drop vocals to this track after we did that remix for her, but she blew me off and never talked to me again so I never got anything in return for that Emily Autumn remix. Lame huh? Who cares, after seeing this video and how well this song goes to film, I am pissed that no one markets us in this way, or gets us film deals or anything. I feel like our talents are being forgotten in time. Please help us get the credit and exposure we deserve. When I listen to this, my heart sings, it inspires me, it’s deep, musical and is produced really well. It reminds me of why I work with Todd and support his solo act and why he will be on my tour playing on my stage. Also, it looks like my old friend might move back to town(fro), I can only hope, he was my best friend for years and i really do miss him, he is one of the anchors in toxic coma, and if he comes back, he reunite toxic coma and a new lp will be made, and I will try to get him to play keys and samples for us on our upcoming tour with todd. Also I will sing to this track, and release it on an upcoming single, and play it live with vocals (if I can sing well enough to fit the song). I love this song(it was inspired by the passing of one of my x gf’s mothers who i really adored, I cried and cried for days as i read the email telling me of her demise, Todd sent me the midi file with the strings, and in one day, yes one day, I wrote the rest, i was possessed) I remember, I used kontakt 2 and used a choir patch, and atmosphere layered together on the strings. Made a neat soft lfo jupiter 8 arp that sounded pretty and layered that in, made that huge jupiter 8 filter sweep in unison mode, the made that cross fm lead on the virus C as the meaner sounding lead that comes in in the middle and leads to the end. I think this sounds great, proving to me, that yes, you can use software, and analogs together, and mix it digital, and still get something great. This song is proof to me and using cubase sx 2, and yes that is what i used then. Of course I had to arm wrestle with the midi though.

Hexfix93.

I put it all together. I picked the track list, it’s good. It is balanced because of the way i mixed the lp track list up. It never gets to low, or to high, it blends, and there isn’t one thing on this lp that I do not like personally, the songs are short except for one. averaging around 4 minutes, so they are simple, but they don’t get run into the ground, and just when you think you are getting tired of a track it ends and makes you want to listen to it again. So i think I really nailed the time.

I really like it, and no, the way i have it now, it sounds like VAC, it sounds like a progression of VAC. Some of the songs are super catchy in a way that I like. I just hope you fans like it. What is new? The acoustic guitars are played and used in a way I never have in the past. All things said, there is still something for everyone here, goth, industrial, ebm, trance, goa, melancholy, folk, rock, metal, all with that VAC edge and sound. Look for this in fall. I will announce the title soon, just need to clear things up with the label. Yes, I have decided on what the easter egg on the LP will be. Yup, data track for your computer, more mp3s. of what? you will see. So an audio LP, and a MP3 LP, this is a double LP, but only in that there are mp3s on it as data tracks.

This is worth the wait. I am packing a lot of punch on this LP.

Take Care.

Hexfix93

So happy. Yes, all the vocals are done. Now adding some final samples. Putting the finishing touches on the mixes. Getting the demos ready for a few people, and mixing for the masters. The demos I make for listening to in the car, giving to my label, I mix louder and push it, digital clip, logic and saw do this like a limiter, and it sounds okay, but a tad crunchy. When I mix for the final master to be mastered by Burnie Grundman’s Brain Grenader, same as FLA, I mix quite, no clipping, no master limiting. To make sure there is no digital crunch sound. Then they use their gear, analog stuff to make it louder and fuller and eq’d the right way, they will make it sound better than any mastering I could do. So far I have one video, for one of the Bsides. I don’t have any videos for the Asides of this LP yet. I will announce the final CD title once the art work is done. Which should be really soon now. This is going to happen this year.

I cannot believe I finally finished this lp. So why has VAC slowed down since the 2000s happened? Well, I have to try and make original music, and be inspired. When I was younger, it was all new, I try really hard not to make the same record over and over like a lot of artists seem to. I try to make every lp diverse and new, and every time I try to add something new to the mix. I usually get all new production tools and upgrade the studio, and I have to figure out the new synths, fx units, mics, pres, and converters, and DAWs. I used two DAWS on this LP. Saw Studio, and Logic 8. I first tried working mixing analog, and later went back to digital mixing, because I found logic 8 to be great as long as you kept the mixes simple. Since this lp is not as layered, and relies more on strong riffs, and hooks, and great instruments. I think the LP is simple like the Cure’s “FAITH” lp, or Death In June’s “The Brown book, and Wall of Sacrifice”. I let the guitars drive a lot of the tracks. But everything sounds synthetic with it. I mean we did not go all acoustic, It is there as a back bone on over half the record. But electronic drums, and synths and strings are still strong on the lp. We have upbeat dance stuff, about 4 tracks worth. A couple of the acoustic tracks are dance tracks as well. Some melancholy stuff on here as well. I would say some of the acoustic songs are like old puppy done with acoustic guitars. :) I left a lot of room for the vocals in the mix as well, so I used great reverbs that create a pad like backing to the vocals on a lot of the songs. So it sounds very atmospheric. My voice is more high pitched. Not deep in full like covenant or the sisters or death in june. I am more like dave mustain, edward kaspel, david tibet, and robert smith, only that my voice is not deep like theirs. I have my own sound for sure though. I am really proud of this LP. It took me a long time. Plus I was burnt out over the production of lust for blood, where I did a toxic coma lp, and 21 songs for lfb and the single. That is over 2.5 records for those projects. The new VAC is 11 tracks with some hidden stuff on the CD, I have not decided what to put there yet, I can choose a few things, I don’t think I will announce it at all either. Easter eggs. Any how. That is that. More news when I make more progress on getting this LP out.

Lates.

Hexfix93.