Ian C. Anderson

Spring cleaning of the mind

Ian C. Anderson — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:13:43 +0000

It’s about the time to start thinking about spring cleaning (though in Buffalo it hardly feels like it).

What is the point of spring cleaning?

At its surface, you might be tempted to think it’s just about making the house look nice and getting rid of physical things that you don’t need or want.

However, I’d like to propose that spring cleaning serves a much deeper need: cleaning out your mind.

In my experience, physical objects tend to take up more mental space than physical space.

There’s that broken stereo. Still sitting there. I should really do something about that…

So assuming that cleaning your mind is the real goal, how else can we get rid of that mental gunk?

Let go of nonessential commitments
Identify stressors and act to decrease or remove them
Simplify all aspects of your life (finances, relationships, routines, etc.)
Meditate, disconnect

As you can probably tell, this post is intended to help the writer as much as the reader. Here’s to a simpler, cleaner, happier rest of the year.

“Simpler Days” – new song underway

Ian C. Anderson — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:14:42 +0000

Simpler Days (work in progress) by iancanderson

I started a new tune tonight. Let me know what you think. To me it sounds like Imogen Heap produced Third Eye Blind with Passion Pit on background vocals. Obviously it needs a verse / more lyrics. Or does it?

Click through to Soundcloud if you want to comment on a specific section of the song.

Sneak peek – new song in the works!

Did Edison feel this way?

Ian C. Anderson — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:01:19 +0000

Is there such a thing as a professional brainstormer? If so, I’m thinking that might be my true calling.

I consider myself an extremely creative person and thinker. I have a multitude of ideas, good or bad, but I have trouble finishing what I start. After literally hundreds of these ideas don’t come to fruition, then I become immediately discouraged when I come up with another prospect for a great idea, telling myself that it will fail just like the others.

Some of the ideas/projects I’ve been excited about over the past year or two:

Music
- Perennials EP (actually DELIVERED!?!?!)
- Ben Folds musical (early draft of script/song list)
- Star Wars / Wizard of Oz musical (just brainstormed it w/LM on the way home from Virginia)
- Youtube cover songs channel (it’s been a while..)
- Endless new “album concepts”
  - apple/google/microsoft nerd opera
  - write songs about other people named Ian Anderson
  - concept album about alien invasion in 2025 (2012 is just a distraction)
Software
- Pilvinotes – simple notetaking app using cloud storage
  - too simple to keep my interest?
- Pilvibrew/Brewdroid – Android (and web?) app to design/track homebrew beer recipes and batches
  - crude version of the app actually runs..
- Habitt – web app to assist good-habit creation
  - habitforge.com “stole” our idea…
- CHET – Cheap, Healthy, Easy, Tasty – recipes web app for the rest of us,
  - bought domain name, got stuck in design phase
Blogs
- Insourcer.net
  - Made it to 10 posts…
- FutureIsCloudy.com
  - Only made it to 9…
- 1LessThing.Tumblr.com
  - Who cares what I throw out??
- IanCAnderson.net
  - I’m surprised I haven’t changed my name and shut this down too..
Misc
- Brew my own beer (haven’t yet)
- Build microphone preamps (bought one instead..)

Thinking about it more, Edison didn’t work this way at all. He tried 1,000 different methods to invent the lightbulb. I’m trying to invent 1,000 different things with one try each. Hmm…

Is there something wrong with me? Am I too ambitious? Spread myself too thin?

Maybe I should just roll with it and rename this website “Adventures of a Scatterbrain.” I’m surprised that I even managed to finish this blog po-

Music – self-therapy with a funky looping session

Ian C. Anderson — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 02:07:22 +0000

I had fun with this jam. Will it turn into anything with a longer form and structure? Not without my help..

Looping session turned remix?

What are the best songs from 1996?

Ian C. Anderson — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:35:12 +0000

The eternal question. I’m sure you’ve debated this question amongst your friends and family. Right???

Best from the Billboard Top 100 of 1996, more specifically.

Something to keep in mind: My older sister bought a lot of CDs this year…

My list (in somewhat of a particular order):

More obscure artists / 1 hit wonders:

Donna Lewis – Always Forever
Jann Arden – Insensitive
Sophie B Hawkins – As I Lay Me Down
Merril Bainbridge – Mouth
Everything But the Girl – Missing
Dishwalla – Counting Blue Cars
Bodeans – Closer to Free
Ginuwine – Pony (mostly because it’s so ridiculous)

More widely-known:

Natalie Merchant – Wonder
Mariah Carey ft. Boyz II Men – One Sweet Day
Mariah Carey – Fantasy
Hootie and the Blowfish – Only Wanna Be With You
Seal – Don’t Cry
Gin Blossoms – Follow You Down
Oasis – Wonderwall
Blues Traveler – Hook

I’m considering doing a YouTube series of some of these songs next year, which just happens to be 15 years after these tunes were hits. Maybe I could continue with that offset (upload covers of 1997 songs in 2012, etc.). DISCLAIMER: Like most other projects I dream up, this one probably won’t come to fruition.

Sneak peek – new song in the works!

Ian C. Anderson — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:16:09 +0000

I’m excited to say that I’ve been working on a song idea these past two days with some success. Right now there’s just an A section, so it could definitely use another section or two for variety. So far it’s reminding me of Ben Folds Five if they were produced by Burt Bacharach.

I’m not sure what the lyrics will be yet, but for some reason “I can’t fight it off” came to me with a melody, so that’s in there for now.

Instruments include a sampled grand piano, distorted fuzz bass a la Robert Sledge (using the Big Muff Pi emulation in Line 6’s Pod Farm plugin), British Vintage drum kit from Ableton, fun old school synth brass patch from Ableton’s “Analog” instrument.

What do you think? I’m curious to see where this neo-70’s kind of vibe will take me..

“Simpler Days” – new song underway

Who cares about Myspace – a visual guide

Ian C. Anderson — Wed, 19 May 2010 22:30:31 +0000

Perennials featured in Oasis CD newsletter and blog

Ian C. Anderson — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:30:23 +0000

Micah Solomon, the CEO of Oasis CD Manufacturing (the company that pressed and printed my CD) came across my Kickstarter project to fund my recent album, “Perennials.” He emailed me to thank me for spreading the word about their environmentally-friendly Potato Tray packaging. He was also interested in how I fan-funded my album through Kickstarter, and ended up writing an email newsletter/blog post about alternative funding sources, using Perennials as an example.

Micah went so far as to take professional shots of my disc and packaging in order to put on my music site. It’s no wonder he’s an expert in customer service! As long as Oasis CD’s prices are somewhat in the range of other companies, I don’t see why I won’t have all of my CD releases manufactured through Oasis CD. Excellent service, excellent products, and fair prices. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Anywho, go check out Micah’s article (featuring yours truly!): Funding your next CD project at Oasis

Perennials release updates, YouTube, and gigs!

Vote for my Glee audition video!

Ian C. Anderson — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:28:52 +0000

If you like my cover, please head to the MySpace audition page and give me a gold star! They’re using the number of gold stars as part of the final voting score.

Glee song

Glee | MySpace Video

In other news, I uploaded the 3rd out of 4 of my Kickstarter reward videos. This one was “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” mashed up with a bit of Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” at the end. Turned out kind of slow and rather long, but Hawaiians are never in a hurry anyway, right? =)

Perennials release updates, YouTube, and gigs!

Ian C. Anderson — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:57:22 +0000

I’m happy to announce that my debut album “Perennials” is now available via multiple online outlets, including iTunes and Amazon MP3. I can’t thank my Kickstarter backers enough for making all of this possible! Here’s a current rundown of places to acquire the album:

Physical (CD) sales:

$5 at my music site
$9 at CD Baby (they take a flat $4 per sale – hence the price difference)

Digital download sales:

$4 at my music site
$5.94 at iTunes
$5.94 at Amazon MP3
$5.34 at Lala (or only $.54 for the streaming-only “web album”!)

Apparently MediaNet (?) and Nokia also have Perennials available in their libraries.

Help me out!

A (somewhat) painless way to do me a huge favor would be to head to any of the above links and give a simple review of the album. Just a few minutes of your time would mean a lot to me. Thanks!

New YouTube videos

I’ve been working on finishing up my rewards for the Perennials Kickstarter Project. I have three out of four videos recorded, with two up on YouTube.

The first one was a request of my dad – “Lady in Red” by Chris DeBurg:

The second video goes out to Chris Wingard – the acoustic piano version of “3 AM” by Matchbox Twenty:

Upcoming Gigs!

In other news, I have two gigs coming up at the Keynote Cafe in Jeannette, PA:

April 24th, 7:00PM – Playing a smaller set for Keynote’s annual art opening. RSVP via Facebook
May 1st, 7:00PM – Perennials CD release show! CDs for $4 for all who come out! RSVP via Facebook