I am thrilled to present you with my new album, Fair Gemstone.

To purchase via iTunes, go here.

To listen for free on Spotify, go here.

Or, listen below via Bandcamp. Purchase also available via Bandcamp, Amazon MP3, and Google Music.

Fair Gemstone is an album of enigmatic, chill out, ethnic fusion/world music. All of these subgenres were balled into one “New Age” category in the 90’s (although little of the music had to do with the “New Age” spiritual belief). This music was ushered into the mainstream by very popular as albums like Pure Moods, and Instrumental Moods and with the addition of PBS broadcasting concerts by Yanni, Kitaro and others, many people who were never exposed to this musical realm got a prime sampling.

Fair Gemstone is a perfect companion album to artists such as Enigma, Deep Forest, Enya, Cusco, Massive Attack, Dead Can Dance, Yanni, Cafe Del Mar, Delerium, and Adiemus just to list a few (well 10, actually). These are the artists who inspired this album.

Lots to catch up on, but it is super late, well super early actually so I’ll cut to the chase. Fair Gemstone is about to be released. Behold the album cover.

The tracks went to mastering a couple of weeks ago in the very skilled hands of Barry Gardner of Safe and Sound Mastering. He gave me homework to do each night which involved making minor adjustments to my mixes and then sending them back. Within a week, all the tracks have been mastered. Presently they are off to distribution via CDBaby. The album will be just about everywhere…iTunes, Spotify, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, Youtube Music and much more.

This album was a lot of work, and I was sure to keep a promise to myself from the beginning. “Do everything about this album right.” Worked on my mixes, had it professionally mastered, licensed album art, the whole nine. I look forward to sharing this album with all of you.

-Movestro

Yes, it’s been a while for sure. About a year and a half since I last posted, actually. Well, life got in the way, but in a good way. I’ve taken on a new hobby in that time which took more time than I imagined. However, I ‘ve finally reached a place late last year where I am able to achieve balance. And this means…I’ve been working on the album, and I owe it to my friend Scott who gave me an eye-opening talk on a Vegas visit in October. Since then it’s been about making time, this year it’s about balance.

Now, when I say I’ve been working on the new album, I should mention that I mean I am readying the tracks for mastering. The songs are done, right now it’s about final mixdowns, exporting stems and getting them all nice and ready to be sent off for mastering. October was a real eye-opener. That night I went to my hotel room, queued up my songs and critiqued what needed work and what didn’t. Since then I made the final selections of what will go on this album and what won’t. So far I am pleased with the outcome. Thanks for hanging in there, whoever you are, and I understand if a lot of you gave up. But, this is the year the album comes together.

-Michael

So officially, the next phase of the album has begun: post production. Phase 1 of post production – where I go back to the songs I’ve composed so far and make little production tweaks (length, sound, tonal balance, and final unmasetered mix of each song). After that will be phase 2 which consists of the final songs selection for the album (I have many to choose from, but some will not make it to the album – bonus tracks anyone?). Phase 3 is the mastering process of each song and after that is the administrative work (1. Copyright, 2. Distribution 3. Album Release).

For now, welcome to Phase 2!

-Movestro

Until next time…

These songs are for a genre I first fell in love with during my youth (ah, my youth) and this style of music has never left my heart. New Age music. Not New Age music in the sense of whales, light rain and a Native American flute in the distance (though I love that stuff, especially when the wife and I…umm…nvm!). More like Enigma, Enya, Deep Forest, Adiemus and some amazing piano stuff like George Winston. That very first Pure Moods album was just the most amazing thing I have ever heard up until then. It was the 90’s, and it opened my ears to a whole new aural experience.

That was 20 years ago, and I am 20 years older and 20 years wiser. I’ve learned that sometimes life gets in the way of dreams and sometimes those dreams take a hiatus. As a creative person I’ve explored my creativity outside of music via video editing, special effects, radio hosting, and even attempting graphic design for a short stint… and poetry. In the end, I choose music, just as music chose me when I was 5 and hit two notes on my grandmothers piano that actually made sense. Music has always been my heart.

I remember in 1993, 17 year old me started taking myself seriously and recorded my very first song. I used a Yamaha PSR 500 and a Yamaha SY22, up all night at my friend Kevin’s house (and I had school the next day). I was so proud, it was the realizing of a dream that maybe one day I could compose and record just like my newly discovered music idol…Yanni. Yes Yanni. Got a problem with that? Anyways, I recorded some songs here and there using those two keyboards and a 4 track cassette recorder over the years that only friends and family heard. A few years later, I think it was 1999, I had an idea… my first “real” legit album.

My friend Larry introduced me to mp3.com which at the time was a haven for unsigned artists (not the mp3.com it is now). I was on a recording streak. My album got picked up by a Japanese publication and next thing I knew I was best new artist, with 9,000,000 downloads in the Mood Music genre (my artist name at the time was ‘LoneSaint’. I guess you could say I was really big in Japan before Japan was big in Japan. What brings me back to that is I just really loved making music. Over the years, that still hasn’t changed. As I approach 39, I long for things that no longer exist. PLlces I’ve been to that have since been torn down, faces of people who changed as people or moved or passed. I look to the familiar and instead find memories. But my love for making music is still the same, and I really need that.

With my upcoming album I want to do everything right, down to the last note, last word, last fold in the CD liner notes (yes there will be CDs as well as digital). I want to give it my absolute best shot ever. Because in many ways, this is the return to my youth (the return to innocence…ok I just had to make an Enigma reference). This is the embrace of that passion, and I want to be a contender. I want to see my name right up there on New Age websites with Enya, Yanni, Delerium, Adiemus and…Michele McLaughlin.

A bit about Michele McLaughlin…I have been fortunate to have some very amazing musicians follow me on twitter and I tend to try to learn from them as much as I can about promotion, what they do to get their music heard. I’ve learned that simply uploading an album to the internet and hoping somehow that people suddenly know of it, just doesn’t work. For some reason, Michele followed me on twitter at just the right time. Her name sounded familiar, as if I might have heard her on Soundscapes Music Choice at some point. Anyways she followed at just the right time because that very day I was questioning whether I should pursue the album, because I thought that I’d probably be the only one to care (as if loving what I do musically wasn’t enough of a reason…pfft). What intrigued me about Michele though was that she reminded me that this dream of mine is not only achieved by the ridiculously famous who were in the right place at the right time 20 years ago when this music movement took off. She’s around my age (maybe less), she has a kid, she makes the time, she lives the dream and her new album ‘Undercurrent’ debuted at number 3 on the Billboard New Age Charts. NUMBER 3!

Young Michele was like young me, with a keyboard and a cassette deck making songs for friends and family.

Suddenly, I realized that I don’t need the brand recognition of Yanni or one of the heavy hitters of the genre. The dream is still obtainable–even for folks who never had a PBS special–so long as you are consistent, talented, and care enough to do what you can to get your music heard by as many people as possible even without the power of a major record label. Michele following me has probably been the best thing that happened to me on Twitter (right next to when Hans Zimmer followed me during my orchestral/filmscore phase) just because it made me see that you don’t need to chase the dream, you make the dream. (Oh yeah, just a few days ago she won Best New Female Artist and Best Instrumental Song at the IMC Awards!)

Odd, when I sat here determined to do a post I had no idea what I was going to write. Look at this! I got to get to bed!
Until next time….

I wasn’t too happy with the last redesign, mostly because of how it would butcher images, and it just didn’t seem to have a good flow for what I’m using it for. This one is much more versatile of a template to work with. All the features aren’t even enabled yet but I’m sure that my site will be growing into it. There’s still a few subtle tweaks I’ll need to make in coming days, but nothing too complicated. This template is great to work with and my options and workflow are limitless. Now back to working on the music (which is also coming along swimmingly).

The last 3 weeks have been about getting settled in and rebuilding my composing computer. All in all, 9 months since I’ve composed. That’s enough time for a human life to be conceived and brought into this world. A new beginning, if you will. Believe me when I tell you, the last 9 months have been filled with new beginnings for me as well. Where was I? Oh yeah, it’s been 9 months since I last composed–up until yesterday, that is. Originally this song was supposed to be a sound check just to make sure everything was working, but it took a life and meaning of it’s own.

This is the first song I composed since May of 2014. I’m in a new state, a new house, a new studio, and a new job. So many changes have happened, so many things I am grateful for. This song represents all the #NewBeginnings of my life. Enjoy!

“turns out not where but who you’re with that really matters”

– Dave Matthews                                                                                                              

That quote just about sums it up. We’re staying with my wife’s parents (my in-laws), and Sundae (my dog) is doing great. Plus, I got a new job and that is helping the wife (who also has a new job) and I to get back on our feet so we can find our own place out here. Arizona isn’t quite California, but at least we have Dunkin’ Donuts! In fact I’ve found that being out here is actually better than California. Now, it certainly is no New York. As expected, with the holidays drawing near I am getting a little homesick because there is nothing like New York around the holidays, nothing. I can’t even get an Entenmann’s Pumpkin Pie out here (because Entenmann’s does not ship cakes and pies west of the Mississippi). I digress. Anyways, it just goes to show that sometimes you can make all the plans in the world but sometimes you end up where you need to be instead of where you expected. Which reminds me of one more quote:

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.”

– Douglas Adams

So now about the music, I have not been able to touch it since May as my computer was being moved around the country. I have not had a creative outlet in months, in fact I feel creatively “backed-up” for lack of a better term. The album is still going to happen, in fact, last I left it I was about 90% done with it. The remaining 10% being the final song selections and the mastering process. So, yes Fair Gemstone will indeed happen but not until after my wife and I get into our new place so trust me, I’ll keep you posted!

However, I do want to give you guys and girls a taste of the album, so here is Agnus Deus.

An enigmatic sound of Gregorian choir, lush strings, downtempo, an ethereal female soloist…a journey in and of itself. Play this track and just relaaaaax. From my upcoming new album.

Enjoy!

-Movestro