My third album, The Liberation, was a sonic project that I undertook just before my second attempt at college, if my memory serves me right. Along with the theme of musical expression aiding me through transitional periods, I also came to consider it as something... more than the previous projects. Perhaps it's something of an oversimplification, but it genuinely does mirror my life and my growth as an individual. I consider Aestival as a high school project, something I learned about from those more experienced. Walker was something of a college final, something to prove that I was ready to set out on my own through demonstration of everything I had learned. The Liberation is, to that effect, me coming into myself musically, moving from operating within the constraints I was taught were music to making and enjoying things that I considered to be MY music. The experiment is less me pushing at the boundaries set upon me by others so much as me pushing the boundaries of what I think I'm capable and expanding myself.

I think the opening track "Black" is a good example of this. Originally conceived for a smaller project of simpler concept tracks I was going to call "Colors", I decided to merge the budding projects together. Some might recognize the overpowering bass of the track from the unfinished WIPs I slapped together at the end of Aestival claiming I had no idea what to do with them. Some of those tracks went on to be pieces of Walker, but some, to this day, have yet to be revisited. When I approached "Black" again with my enlightened mindset, I found I was more comfortable with letting my influences flow free and to experiment with crafting sounds specifically for the pieces. I was also comfortable with not having any discernable melody and simply letting the beat be a beat. No real transitions, just a sort of minimalistic add and subtract to create a groove that moved me.

There are several other tracks like that, actually. ":D" was from that same smattering of WIPs I wasn't ready to work with, and although I consider it slightly repetitive and imperfect, I think my favorite moment from this album has to be the bell-like sound I crafted for it and how I implemented it. To this day, it's hard to listen to the song and not smile with pride when the bells come in.

"7th" was the first official track of the project and embodies this as well. There aren't any real transitions rather than adding and subtracting, but the drum work is much more experimental for me. "dis-" returns to the four-to-the-floor beat I love so much, but it's experimental in terms of what I allow to be a melody, in a sense. Darker, grittier, but still very much a style all my own.

Other tracks are experimental in entirely new ways. I did a lot of sample work and tracks like "&" and "@<3" show the fruits of the labor. I'd say they were a slight departure from the minimalistic tradition for me in that not only did I try to fill a space with as much melody and countermelody and transition as I could, but I visited old techniques, like the pitch and tempo shifted brakes. I also developed entirely new methods, such as a means of editing in Audacity for the more spacey portions of the tracks mentioned above. Not to mention experimenting with vocal samples in those tracks as well as adding some of my own in "Violet". A couple of tracks in Walker were meant to have my vocals in them, but I ended up not being confident in what I did to modify them and left them out. I rather enjoy how they came out in "Violet".

I think the hallmark of this album is how difficult it is for me to pick out a least favorite track. Each and every single one I listen to resonates with me on some level--emotional, technical, conceptual, etc. I would say that perhaps "dis-" could be considered my least favorite because I feel its the least well executed, but I still think it was a damn good effort. And once again to the album's credit, it's incredibly difficult to pick out an absolute favorite track. The contemplative "&" is a contender because it is one of the few I consider almost perfectly executed. But how can I deny grimy slashed up groove that is "8R34K3R"? Yet another track that I feel exemplifies what I enjoy most in my style, and one I could consider almost perfect in execution. Then there's "-eu" which I enjoy as both the antithesis of "dis-" as what I feel as one of my most successful incorporation of trance themes or tropes or what have you. And, of course, I can't forget "Indigo" my favorite color and my favorite track from the "Colors" project, an experimentation of a cut up melody--additive, sure--completely without any percussion. Ultimately though, I think the ending track has to take the crown as my favorite track.

"φ0¡∩╪5εΩ" feels like one of the greatest tracks I've ever created. And I'm not just trying to suck my own dick, as easy as it would be. This track incorporates melodies, countermelodies, beat switches, breaks, spacey transitions, pitch shifts, and just about every other technique I've ever learned, all placed in a lovely long form reminiscent of my early musical ventures before even Aestival. In short, it feels like a true culmination of my musical talent up to the point that it was made. And I adore it. If my life depended on sharing one song that I've made and having it be received well, "φ0¡∩╪5εΩ" would definitely be the one on which I'd hedge my bets.

I suppose I'll leave it at that. At least until my fourth project SWITCH is complete. And it almost is. It's something of a departure from anything I've ever done, as any of you reading this who have also heard the tracks that I've posted up to this point may attest. I'm looking forward to sharing the rest of it with you.

If you've read through all this, I greatly appreciate it. If there's anything you'd like to know or see in future retrospectives, feel free to leave a question or suggestion. Thank you for your time, consideration, and listening.

Very respectfully,

Tryphe (aka Indigo Outlaw)

It occurs to me that it's been almost 2 and a half years since I posted a journal, much less offered any real detail regarding any of my projects.

My second album, Walker, began the winter after I dropped out of college. It's funny, it seems like all of my projects really come into existence and eventual completion whenever I return home from an extended time away. In any case, I found myself within the throes of emotional turmoil, blaming myself excessively for the "failure" that was being unable to stay in college. Music offered me an outlet that didn't require coherent thought but still allowed me emotional release. Songs like "What if the Answer is No?" and "And You'll Never Be Pure Again" are sonic exploration of the darker emotions of uncertainty and worthlessness I felt after coming to terms with my situation and the some of the experiences I had. Obviously, things turned out for the better, as indicated by songs like "But the Answer is Yes!" and "And, At Last, His Heart was Whole". I eventually found the direction my life was meant to go and developed a better understanding of myself both as an artist and as a person.

If you notice a difference in sound between some of the tracks, that's likely because some of them are pulled and reworked from older projects that I didn't finish. Although I used the same programs (FL Studio 10 and 11, if I'm not mistaken, recorded using Audacity for compression and editing), the fact that the tracks represent two different state of minds seems to be inescapable in the listening.

As always, Daft Punk is a huge and obvious influence (for me) in my work, but I also see a lot of Mr. Oizo worship in tracks like "Dysphoria" and "Prelude to a Rainbow". Shades of Justice in the Cross era also stand out a bit to me, and someone long ago paid me a huge compliment by pointing out "Transit" as something that reminded them of early to mid Aphex Twin.

If I had to pick out a least favorite track, I think it would have to be "Back on Track". Although I enjoyed the track after I created it, it was one of the older projects (as if that wasn't obvious) and I don't feel as though it has aged well sonically or emotionally for me. My favorite track from this project, without question, has to be "The Tale of the Wolf and the Raven". I don't mind sharing that this track involves recognition and resolution of romantic feelings for my best friend who is straight, and coming to terms with the fact that our relationship, as amazing as it is, would never be what my heart wanted it to be at the time. With its slow, eerie buildup and abrupt switch-ups, the song makes me imagine someone getting in a car in the middle of a rainstorm and driving to the coast to go careening through the guardrail and into the ocean. To this day, I'd rank it within the top five of all the songs I've ever made.

If you took the time to read through all of this, I greatly appreciate it. If you have any questions or would like to hear something more from future retrospectives, feel free to ask or offer suggestions. Thank you for your time, consideration, and listening.

Very respectfully,

Tryphe (aka Indigo Outlaw)

Because I haven't found myself in the state of mind to produce new content, poetry or otherwise, I'm instead posting of my older compilations of musical pieces, the "album" Aestival.

Aestival was not my first exploration into the art of making music, but it was the first body of work tied together by a theme. I was living in Korea at the time, and since I found myself often unable to relate to people, I turned to the arts to express myself. Writing allowed me to hope for the future, poetry let me deal with the past, but music helped me capture the moment, the raw emotions it would otherwise take me weeks to adequately handle. To that end, Aestival is comprised of snippets of a summer spent in suspension, a limbo in which I was trying to find myself.

Bearing in mind that much of the music in this album was created while I was in high school, the sounds and compositions are a bit juvenile. There are lot of songs and portion thereof that I would go so far as to call "cringeworthy". Having said that, each song means (or at one point meant) something to me, so I will not do any song a disservice by omitting it from its rightful place.

In the interest of alleviating any future confusion, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce--or rather, re-introduce--myself. Although my current pen name here on FA is Tryphe, I have also posted poetry and prose as Sadgeo and music as Redwood. I will be consolidating my some of my older musical works with new songs, prose, and poetry on this profile for the remainder of my time here. I hope you all will enjoy.