Summer Is Over!

[Críoch]

Well.. it's nearly up. What did ye get up to?

I've been busy the last few months with the kids being off school. There's been lots to do around the house & possibly some of it had been overdue.. so I've just been throwing myself into it.

Decluttering, dumping & selling stuff we didn't need. Sorting out the shed.. getting shelves in.. getting rid of more shit. It was a vortex of chaos behind a closed door.

Was prepping, then painting the outside of the house. Took a long time in-between working. My job can be challenging as it's almost impossible to get time off.

So.. I was fortunate to go on holiday to Lanzarote. Had a great time with the family. Was incredible to just chill out tbh. Was glad to come back to porridge for breakfast & normal grub / routine though. You could easily get fat eating rubbish every day. Hard to avoid.

Ive been changing stuff around regarding music too.

Haven't really turned on my pc in last few months. Been too busy tbh. Also was focused on making space & getting rid of gear I've collected or am not using. Sold some computers, keyboards, mixers, drum machines.. & some small stuff that adds up when the cash is in your hand. Its better that someone else gets the use out of this stuff while it's still ok & you can get a few € for it.. otherwise you're a fucking broke ass squirrel.

The big thing for me was gaining space & being more efficient with the room I have.

Bought a Push 2, which was always to be my goal / reward at the end of these efforts.. so hopefully I'll be more productive with my time.

[Monreal]

Made a lot of music, still trying to find my sound but I'm not pushing myself to a release until I'm completely satisfied with (whatever the does that mean). So may digital releases from so many labels that nobody even listen to so I rather wait and work with a better label than publish lot of average tracks.

Read lots of books. Sartre, some Stephen King, Asimov and lots of Terry Pratchett (Discworld series).

Finally started with the analog photography, I bought my first camera from a seller on the internet load up my first roll and went with it. I'm taking 35mm right now, I'd like to have a 6x5 camera next and shoot some portraits and such and see if I like it too. Also would like to learn how to develop and scan the negatives so I can have more hands-on approach with the whole process.

Some of my stuff:
https://www.lomography.com/homes/monreal

Applied for a college in Berlin which was the highlight of the summer I guess, I'm expecting (hopefully) my acceptance in couple days then I can start with the long bureaucracy. Downside of not having an eu-passport.

[Críoch]

What are you doing in college man?

[Monreal]

What do people do in college? I want to get a degree and migrate back to Europe, it looks like the easiest way to do it.

[Críoch]

Ok.. but a degree in what man? What are you studying in college

[juodas]

Meh, this summer i pretty much had to work to stand up on my feet, and work on myself, did few runs did 15k for first time and had a fag after wards "amazing experience"
Tried to make some house or minimal or whatever but it never worked out for me, got stuck and depressed because of it .
Reading books, self help books also love audible, and mainly I was focusing on a job to help my S.U which was really amazing, never though that he could such things and stuff love to help people.
Quite shitty summer, however I learned a lot about my self and my production at long last, i'm feeling now that i'm getting there bit by bit.

[NAO]

Returned home a few days ago after a two month stay in my home country. No hot water since coming home = cold showers since coming home. Loving it! Besides that, summer's s been good and I've still got 1,5 months off before going back to work. Not complaining. Finished a couple of tracks too, nice. Leaving for Thessaloniki tomorrow. Life's pretty sweet.

[TheBinaryMind]

I've been a bit underground for the past months, because of moving into a new house and all the shit that comes along with that process. Also busy with a new studio, so hopefully I'll be producing some fresh Christmas carols quickly.

[Mono-xID]

Summer is over so I need something to play around during autumn and winter. Conclusion was to sell some synths and I've gone full Eurorack. What the fuck have I done?

[borg]

punks, the loudmouth hipsters... I got that Zoia thingie, and Mooer Ocean Machine. Neat!

[Lost to the Void]

Working, mostly.
Summer usually gets quiet as everyone is doing festivals rather than releasing.
I normally take that time to make music which then gets released over the following year.
This summer though, busy as fuck for some reason.
Lots of mastering and additionally, lots of mixing work too.
So I've been burning the candle at both ends getting various releases done I have committed to, and running the studio.
Also completely redesigned our garden and got landscapers in to sort it all out.
So we now have a garden we use rather than a jungle/tip we look at in fear. Still need to get a new shed.
Gear wise, mainly spending money on the mastering studio, I've already got more gear in the production room than I use. Most of my hardware are expensive ornaments as I still work ITB the majority of the time,
Just had a short break with the missus for our anniversary.
We needed it, not had a holiday for 5 years or so, just booked a holiday to Iceland in the winter.

[terryfalafel]

Good thread.

I've been busy as hell with starting my own business. I've been working daytimes, evenings and some weekends so there's been no time for music or anything else except a bit of family time, but I'm still connected to the music scene through what I'm doing now so it's all good. Hopefully in 6 months or so things will plateau and I'll start to get back into the studio in the evenings.

It's been very liberating to quit a well paid but ultimately pointless job and start up on my own. I hadn't realised how much it was grinding me down until I left it and got some perspective on my life. I'm keeping everything crossed that the new endeavour works out and I don't have to return to the world of 'normal' employment.

[Críoch]

Change can keep things fresh. Gets the brain switched on again.

Best of luck with it Terry. Can you talk, vaguely, about what you used to do & are doing now?

Big balls doing stuff this side of Brexit!

Fair play man. Sometimes you have to just do it.

[terryfalafel]

Cheers - it's a big step but I didn't want to look back in years to come and regret not having tried, ya know.

I've started a business doing wooden cases and enclosures for the synth and studio market.







I've always been interested in working with wood, but it's been a pretty steep learning curve since the beginning of the year to be able to make stuff which is good enough to sell. I also bought a CNC machine which helps with doing really wonky curvy stuff on the cases, but means I also have another income stream if doing the synth and studio stuff doesn't provide enough income.

It's started pretty slowly - it's still early days though and it takes a long time to get a (good) reputation. But in the last few weeks it has started to feel like a tiny bit of momentum is starting to build, so hopefully by Christmas things will be moving along nicely.

I thought you'd like to see some pictures, but If this is too much like promotion feel free to remove the photos from my post Crioch

[borg]

nice work, terry! Looks really stylish, kinda Danish design from them golden days. Beautiful!

[Lost to the Void]

Cheers - it's a big step but I didn't want to look back in years to come and regret not having tried, ya know.

I've started a business doing wooden cases and enclosures for the synth and studio market.







I've always been interested in working with wood, but it's been a pretty steep learning curve since the beginning of the year to be able to make stuff which is good enough to sell. I also bought a CNC machine which helps with doing really wonky curvy stuff on the cases, but means I also have another income stream if doing the synth and studio stuff doesn't provide enough income.

It's started pretty slowly - it's still early days though and it takes a long time to get a (good) reputation. But in the last few weeks it has started to feel like a tiny bit of momentum is starting to build, so hopefully by Christmas things will be moving along nicely.

I thought you'd like to see some pictures, but If this is too much like promotion feel free to remove the photos from my post Crioch

They look great matey.
I might hit you up for some stands at some point, I have limited space.and need to stack my synths and modules.

[Root]

Looks like a good project for the summer, great woodwork! Would perfectly fit my desk. Same as Lost, I'm really in the need of stacking my gear soon. There's not much space over here. You have anything online? Send me a pm if so, I'd love to get more information, so I'll be ready for christmas.

[Kromasome]

Great stuff Terry. Well done for having the balls to give it a go!

I'm in a similar position with my main work being unfulfilling and also enjoying woodwork (at the moment I'm just collecting pieces of Jarrah - a dark pink/red wood fairly unique to SW Aus I think, but I haven't really worked out what to do with it yet, or developed any proper skills yet either). It's very hard thinking about leaving a well paid, but fairly meaningless job. It's not terrible, but not really the sort of thing that would make for an interesting biography. I also would like to do something more meaningful that my kids and family can be proud of. I know looking after my family is something to be proud of (it's the only reason really I stay in this job), but I'd like to be able to do that and also do more meaningful work as a day job too. Turning 40 recently has also got me questioning whether this is all I'll ever really do... it's funny how your fears change over time. I'm now terrified of the day that my kids realise how mundane my work is and that I'm not their hero anymore (but that's a whole other thread required to explore that one fully)

On a more positive note spring and summer are just around the corner where I live...

[Ben Kohonays]

They look really nice, well done and I hope it goes really well for you. That Elektron one looks particularly swish.

[terryfalafel]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone. It means a lot to hear this kind of feedback while I'm still finding my feet.

LTTV - I can defo help with that. Send a PM whenever you're ready and we can chat.

Root - I'll send a PM

Kromasome - it would be irresponsible of me to say 'just go for it' but your position is quite similar to mine. 40 is round the corner, and yes - it's a stereotype but those thoughts about not being here forever are starting to creep in. So who do I want to surround myself with in my working life? What kind of legacy do I want to leave? And again, a stereotype but it's an important question : what's more important - financial wealth or fulfillment? I've chosen the latter, but only time will tell if it's a good choice or not.

For full disclosure, my missus can afford to pay the whole mortgage for a year while I see whether my idea works or not. There is no way I'd be doing this if paying our mortgage / putting food on the table was dependent on how many eurorack cases I sold that month.