He Recorded a Concept Album About Greek Gods. What Happened Next Will Shock You!

Click bait headline aside, I did shave my head, grow a beard, and put on a few pounds. But the new look isn’t the only thing that has been a shock.

During the completion of God Complex, I experienced a great gain and a great loss: the birth of my daughter and the death of my mother. A few months later, I experienced a great shock along with millions of my fellow Americans: the election of con artist Donald Trump. These three major events that happened over the course of a year has left my head spinning and trying to figure out where to go from here as a father, as an American, and as an artist.

What does a father write songs about? How do I process my mother’s passing through my music? Most current, what role does the artist(or artivist) play in this new era which seems to be a direct threat to everything that truly ‘makes America great?’ It is hard to move forward with a new major project without having answers to these questions.

I haven’t been totally stagnant during this time of processing and I’ve still kept my toes in proverbial creative waters. A few small projects have some my way such as joining a collective of musicians known as the Freeharmonic Orchestra. I’ve also helped Fascinoma with some new music she is working on along with a new project that Mr. Purple aka Casey Cole is a part of. Lastly, there are some pretty incredible performing artists that I’ve helped develop shows for young audiences.

But there are no concept albums on the horizon. For along with these major shifts in my life, I also am still grappling with the role of the album in the age of streaming music. What does it mean to put out a concept album? Where are the new audiences for this music? What is the best way to promote an album? What does it mean to be a Creative Commons artist?

I was recently invited to chat with Tom Ray on the Music Manumit podcast about some of these questions along with a few other topics. Use the player below to hear the full interview.