I decided it was time for a new look for the site, following the layout and color scheme I used for my new online portfolio. It’s a little simpler and more straight-forward, which I personally prefer to the normal ”cluttered” blog look that I see a lot these days.

If anyone has feedback, I’d be interested to know what you think.

Also, I’ve set aside some space above the blog content for the latest in project news. As of this post, I’ve announced that 8-Bit Jesus is now available for digital download on CD Baby and will soon be available on iTunes, Amazon and other sites. You will also be able to purchase physical copies through these sites, but I am now selling them for the same price, including shipping!

So as many of you might have seen floating around the Internet this past week, I’m working on an 8-bit re-creation / tribute to one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen online. If you’ve never seen Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, then your nerd license is herby revoked until you do.

I find it funny that I hadn’t yet posted about this in my own blog before it was picked up and tweeted by both Felicia Day and Maurissa Tancharoen, then re-tweeted by a slew of Dr. H fans, but better late than never, right? I already posted some tracks and “screen shots” of the hypothetical “Dr. Horrble” Nintendo game-in-the-making on the Autumn Society blog, so rather than post the same content here, hit the jump for some more info about the project, including more images after the jump!

(more…)

Happy New Year!

I’d like to thank everyone for their support during the holidays, especially to those that purchased 8-Bit Jesus. While not as many copies sold as did last year (I blame my dog for being perfectly healthy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, haha), I had a lot more interest in the album from some “higher-ups” and I’m crossing my fingers as hard as I can, hoping for some sort of distribution, cause my hands are cramping up from hand-writing addresses.

First off, the new album will be along shortly. I know I’ve been saying this since mid-May 2009 but this album will get finished if I have to press the copies myself! I’m planning to post the preview player by the end of January so everyone can listen to the album in its entirety before the physical press is done. At that point, I’ll be taking discounted pre-orders so if you want to pick up a copy for less, keep your eyes peeled for that announcement! Once I have physical copies in-hand, they will be the normal price again.

As a second piece of business, I’m planning for the next album to be all original. As much fun as mash-ups and parody albums are, I’ve been dying to compose some 100% original tracks for either download or as a third album. These tracks will more likely utilize the vintage video game console hardware as secondary instruments, rather than each track being straight chip-tunes. I may even get some vocals in there but everything is still in the concept stage so I can’t say for sure. All I do know is, I’ll be releasing a lot of sample tracks for your listening pleasure prior to any official releases.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned! After These Messages…we’ll be right back!

That is all. Hope you all have a good one and see you in the New Year! Actually…I’ll probably see most of you before then, but regardles – have a good one!

 - DOC

I don’t normally post personal events on my blog, but this one is legend…wait for it…

I might have sworn it was in a dream I had, but no…I witnessed Joe Frazier singing “Proud Mary” at karaoke last night. Kinda makes this horrible hangover totally worth it.

…DARY!

This is rather last minute, but for anyone living in the greater Philadelphia area, there is a fantastic art show going on today and tomorrow in Lansdowne, PA, at which I will be selling bead sprites. There will also be a wealth of other artists, everything from Geekboy Press (original comic prints), Tammy Hoey (custom handbags), Liz Steele Coats (pottery and jewelery), Ben Wallis (photography), and many others, ranging from paintings to sculpture, etc. This is a great opportunity to do some early holiday shopping. Here’s the info:

A Bit Of The Arts (Holiday Art Sale)
Twentieth Century Club
84 S. Lansdowne Ave.
Lansdowne, PA 19050

Friday, November 27
3pm – 8:30pm

Saturday, November 28
10am – 4pm

Hope to see you all there!

It’s been a long wait, I know, but the new album really is coming along. My trusty illustrator/designer, Jude Buffum was recently bombarded by a ton of big jobs, so the album artwork is on the backburner for now, but don’t worry, I have something to tide over all the fine folks that have actually been following the progress on the album (plus anyone who happens upon my blog without previous knowledge of said album, and those who forgot about it and also stumble back this way).

Did I mention that the official title of the album is After These Messages?

Right…as I promised, below you will find a sample of title screens from the theoretical “games” that will be on the album. These will all be part of a Flash player that will be available with the official pre-release of the album, which will allow you fine folks to listen to the entire album online.

Enjoy!

This is less that one third of the tracks that will be on the final album, so this should be a real treat for all you 80’s TV Shows/Cartoons and Video Game lovers out there.

Gamers love presents, especially game-inspired art!

Having said that, the holidays are coming up fast, and if you know a gamer (you probably do since you’re reading my blog), then you’re probably thinking about the perfect gift for that gamer friend, family member or special someone in your life. How about a custom piece of delicious, pixelated art related to video games?

I guess I forgot to mention that I was taking a hiatus from beading for awhile, although some of you that follow more closely probably wondered why you haven’t seen anything from me in awhile. Regardless, I am now accepting commissions for bead sprites just in time for the holidays…actually, it’s rather early yet, but the sooner the better. No one likes last minute shopping, so you might as well get it out of the way now – plus, the closer it gets to December, the busier I’ll be with my album release and shopping for presents myself.

Small, Large, Layered, 3-D, framed, mounted – you name it, I can do it - and all for a very reasonable price. I can do a custom piece to fit your budget or interest, or if you see something on the Bead Sprites Page of my blog that you like, feel free to contact me about purchasing it.

I’ll leave you with this thought…

My good friend and roomate, Blaine, has started a fun and exciting project called “Let’s Tweet A Novel“. The basic premis is that users on social networks all contribute to the writing of a novel, line by line. It began with a vote on the first line, and from that point on, it alternates between submitting the lines and voting on them. There is no set schedule, but if you follow letstweetanovel on Twitter, you’ll get all the updates – or you can just visit letstweetanovel.wordpress.com at your own convenience to see how things are progressing. You can also join the Facebook group for Let’s Tweet A Novel.

My hope is for this project to eventually include thousands of users, all contributing to the content of this novel. So far there are three lines that have already been decided upon, and submissions are currently open for the fourth line.

Just a quick note – submissions are limited to 123 characters (the amount allowed on Twitter after @letstweetanovel is tagged.

Below is the beginning of the novel – if it peaks your interest, please don’t hesitate to get involved:

Darle ripped the filter off a Virginia Slim and placed it carefully between her emerald lips, lighting it with a pink Bic. She tapped the lighter against her purse twice for luck and tossed it inside, exhaling a cloud of smoke into the dark. Met with a familiar question of whether or not she had missed the last bus of the night, she decided to walk.

Okay, so a lot of you might have either forgotten or lost interest by now, considering I originally announced an end of May release for my 80’s TV Shows and Cartoons album, but seriously, it will be completed soon. I’m aiming to have pressed copies of the finished 30-track album in hand and ready to ship out by the end of September at the latest.

For those interested, the delay was caused by a few contributing factors. First, my computer decided to consistantly shut down on me without notice. After fixing that problem, the screen stopped working, so I had to get a new monitor. Within a week of that time, the sound on my Nintendo started crapping out. I took this as a sign that I should get my hands on a sound-modded NES to record the album, and make it the best quality possible.

Well, thanks to my new best friend Low-Gain, I will now have one arriving in the mail any day now! Also, Jude Buffum showed me a few WIP’s of the album art, and I have to say…this package just might be better than the 8-Bit Jesus album design.

Needless to say, things are finally coming together and within a few weeks I should have a teaser download available and be able to take pre-orders for the album.