Empirical Paper

Flowing with the Current

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 20:41:00 -0700

Tonight I feel a little better as I was able to upload the song I recorded last night. Sometimes you get so overwhelmed and it can be frustrating trying to manage everything that needs to be done. The new release(s) seems to be on track and we set a date for December 13th. I know release dates may not mean much anymore and sometimes they can get moved yet so far I can say we are on track.
I've seen so much in my music life and dealt with my fair share of criticism, and sometimes even family. It makes it more difficult and then again there are great people who also present great things and I try to find and follow them. All I can say is I'm grateful for what I have in this life. It may not seem like a lot yet to me it's the world. I spent a lot of time thinking about this it I'd rather gravitate back toward those who have supported me most and support in return. To you I salut. Enjoy this new upload from today as well as the new Sodacon logo.

As the week unfolded...

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 08:31:00 -0700

As the week unfolded it seemed as though everything is at least moving in some kind of direction, as opposed to the feeling of everything going at a snails pace. It feels good to be at the end of the week and some things have fallen into place. I enjoy the moments I can be in my studio and working on the new projects.
You know the feeling. Tired as hell all week yet was able to get most of the way through recording a new song and prepare for Saturdays broadcast on Stageit. We also created a new promo video highlighting the new song.

It's been a fun October as I've hidden out in the studio recreating some of the best tracks in my older catalog while also writing new material. It's been a fun experiment and I've enjoyed the music. One particular track "Lake Affect" is one I dragged out of the vault that has been a particular joy. I hoping to share the song this weekend.

I've also been working on new merchandise, created a t-shirt design that includes Sodacon text with strokes of gray and lightning bolts. I have a lot more in the works and am really focused on creating new unique items. I'm considering types of arm bands, several high quality t-shirt and hoodie designs, new stickers, or cd packages with basket of goodies and more. We'll go one at a time and I look forward it.

Adventures in the studio

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 19:30:00 -0700

So far we are humming right along, and have the projects set. I took an older track from a project back in 04 and reworked the song. I also started another new track and have 3 discs set for release. I've been uploading each track individually and also going over concept ideas for the new covers.
One of the discs, Hybrid Portal is all but completed along with SpaceArtRock 2.0 with a whole new array of new songs. The new album The Story Goes will contain all new songs as well.

Moments when I'm not working I've been spending time with my boy, who is talking more and recently started leading everyone around the house by the hand when he wants people to see something. My significant other is awesome as usual and getting excited for Halloween. I've added the usual decorations and am trying to figure out a costume for the dog. It will be one banner season and looking forward to sharing the new songs.

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 21:15:00 -0700

So Many Times Again...Sodacon is back!

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 21:15:00 -0700

It just seemed inevitable. We were off the radar for awhile and then suddenly we're back and it's really good to be back.The web site was updated and changed to sodacon.rocks There are also several new songs added to the live set. I'll miss sodacon.com in it's many incarnations over time, although now it's still alive with a rockin new name.
The reason I lost the other domain is because i messed up. I was a half day late to renew the domain yet they said it was now in redemption and I had to pay $165.00 I'm a new dad and sometimes I'm busy taking care of my family. All in all I refused to pay huge fees for web domain redemption in the middle of a hot and ultra busy summer. Getting new hosting and redesigning the site took awhile yet I knew I'd get it back online eventually. Unfortunately trying to get around to designing it again was a pain. I realized if I was going to use Wordpress I'd have to invest in a nice theme although I don't like tinkering around with code hours at a time. After redesigning with Bandzoogle things went better. Either way can rock everyone has their way of going about designing their sites.
Thank you for your support this last few years because as rough as it was, getting through it is satisfying somewhat in one way. We all have limited time and resources so you just have to make the most of what you have. I tip my hat to those who've done well in similar situations. We've added new songs and this little blog post is a nice icing on the cake for the beginning of a new adventure with sodacon.rocks.

The new album and catching up on the last few months

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 13:00:00 -0700

My goal is to consistently post more often about the music I create. Currently my team and I are working on the new album consisting of space rock anthems and pop rock enjoyment. I can't wait for the new Sodacon to come out and the new tracks so far have a nice sizzle. You can hear the new tracks on Reverbnation and soon to be released as part of the new album. Today I'm focusing on the 3 most recent new Sodacon tracks. Soon the new singles will be released digitally along with music videos and the rest of the tracks from the new album. Enjoy the new songs below as you read:

So Many Times Again

This particular track was recorded in March and ended up being a space rock anthem. It mainly describes my feelings about the huge amount of injustice we have to face in our lives and doing anything we can to overcome hardship. It's got it's fair share of unique Sodacon vocals "Brings back my style" as the chorus repeats so many times again (no pun intended). It fades out at the end and then comes back in with it's signature riff.

Lightning Maze (featuring David Namerow)

What can I say about working with David on this track. It was seamless and amazing. I first contacted him because I found his Reverbnation page and I listened to several of his tracks and enjoyed them immensely. I humbly reached out and asked if he would collaborate on a song and he was very gracious about it. In fact he was also nice about giving me time to provide him with something. It took me about two months with all of life's distractions and chores to get back to him and he was still cool about it. I started writing and recording Lightning Maze at the end of January with David in mind for added percussion.

I knew it was going to be an epic song with an adventurous quest theme yet I didn't know it was going to be so long. I created sections where I knew David could add percussion and tried to keep the mix balanced on that factor for the parts. I was worried when I first sent the mix to David and was not sure what to tell him about the track being 8 minutes and 32 seconds. I finally decided to just not say anything and just let him have at it. He did two different takes and sent them back to me and I enjoyed them both. We ended up releasing the song digitally worldwide, am creating a music video and also plan to work with David again on more songs.

Astro Jets

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the latest Sodacon track. It was created quickly within a weekend and the beat and bass serve as the core and then an interesting guitar riff comes in with ambient well mixed keys. The vocals are pop rock and fit the bouncy rhythm and lyrics regarding space travel and a willingness to not over analyze anything. I wasn't even sure how I felt about this track at first, and then exactly a week later it felt really solid and now its got a permanent spot on our Amazon Echo playlist. Strangely enough people in my house and friends started digging on this track after exactly one week. It reminds of those songs you hear at first and brain doesn't know what to do with it, and suddenly you hear it again and can't get enough. Music is a strange and wonderful thing.

Promote your mixtape at ReverbNation.com

New Music Video The Bottle Song and more...

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 10:16:00 -0800

A lot is going on at once and we'll try to summarize as best we can. Recently we launched a new music video for our single The Bottle Song. This video was a lot of fun because I had some help with set up. We did some shooting in front a white screen and even though I didn't use all the footage I like the end result in process.

We also created shots in my home studio as well as included a few stills from when we were out hiking around. There was some inadvertent and neat effects that came out in the final render. We are now excited for the next music video. Please check out our new video below, and subscribe to the new channel if you like it. Make sure to give our Google Plus brand page badge.

The next track we'll be shooting a video for is for song Accelerate which you can also enjoy below. Pick up the new album SpaceArtRock on Itunes, Amazon, Spotify, Google Play and more.

Sodacon returns with new album, music video and shows.

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Mon, 2 Nov 2015 19:30:00 -0800

Here I am composing a blog for the first time in awhile and making a post on the new blog which is now attached to the new sodacon.com home page. I'm grateful to have the blog back
for the first time in awhile, I'm also grateful to be able to bring the web site back online for everyone and to share the new album SpaceArtRock. For a long time it seemed as though Sodacon had fallen off the map. Thankfully it's not completely true. We hadn't released anything since 2011 and 2012's Songs of Summer Volume 1 was a limited release on Bandcamp only. In the background however a lot of time was going into the new album and I've kept jamming while performing acoustic in places wherever I could while sending out online videos shouts and hangouts on G+ from time to time. In fact our G+ brand page amassed over 4000 followers in the last few years. Many artists may dismiss the idea yet using the brand page yet it been great for Sodacon. I've been putting together SpaceArtRock for the better part of two and a half years. A lot has changed since then and I'm glad that it's to the point where we can start playing live again and share this special new release with fans.

A few things about the new release. I had it on Bandcamp for a long time and would share rough draft mixes periodically on Google+. I had a choice between approximately 40 songs in this song folder and these 10 were my curated cuts. Track 1: We Begin was created as an intro for live performance and pre-lude to All Star Sci-Fi Fan. Soon to announce live shows and online streams on Stageit. In the beginning I may do more live streams as I create the new set and transition into tour dates. Rock on and see you out there :-)

Pencil Sketch 1 and Thoughts

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Mon, 26 May 2014 19:37:00 -0700

Some guy driving toward an eyeball hill

Trying to figure out where I left myself as my brain kept spinning upon waking up. At least was able to sleep in that one day. I remember saying something to my significant other, she said she was off to take a bath, I told her I was going to go soak my brain in sleep. That's exactly what happened as I quickly visited the bathroom and laid down for what was close to 9 hours. I can barely remember dreams folding into dreams like a distant haze.

Today I decided that it's time to start sharing my sketches. A lot of them are quick and crude, yet fun to share nonetheless. Although I've posted tons of digital paintings I figured it would be nice to let people know that I pencil sketch all the time. I feel it's something that helps to get the imagination going and it's great practice for later when I break out the digital paintings or oils. It's also nice because every day I can't do a grand production, music videos and what not. This helps to formulate ideas and I can look back on my sketches over time to see what frame of mind I was in.

Sci Fi render art turns into Space Rock and Acoustic Traveling Bliss

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Tue, 6 May 2014 07:53:00 -0700

I'm sharing tracks I've been working on for multiple projects. First I'll share something from the new Sodacon album called Glow Moon.

Sodacon by Sodacon
I created a series of renders featuring a mountainside, primitive alien beings and a glow moon with different types of weather and snapshots coming up and down over the horizon. This originally wasn't going to be the main album theme and then as I created 30 Glow Moon pieces I found that it all fit together nicely, even telling a story. The lyrics came easily for Glow Moon and I went into the studio recorded the song in sessions spread out between 2 days. More to come as I continue to add to this project.

The next track is from Moment by Moment, a new full band acoustic self titled project.

Moment by Moment by Jesse Crawford My original recording of this title track song took some time to adjust, mostly because I was busy working on all the other songs. Still it's moment by moment, breath by breath, one foot in front of the other we step, so I knew I had to finish. I knew which adjustments to make since it was on my mind for awhile. The end result is a track that sounds airy and fits the mold for a traveling song.

Salmon and Rice

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 19:49:00 -0700

Last night I cooked Salmon with rice including spicy cajun sauce and olive oil. I used a fair amount of olive oil in the pan and was liberal with the cajun spice both below and above on the fish, also when peeled and switched.

Salmon in the frying pan

At a certain point the skin is easy to just peel off. If you try to peel it at any time during cooking and it's being stubborn, come back in a few minutes. The fish will peel easily and then you can flip it for a few more minutes of finishing.

Salmon with cajun spice and vinegar (not used in dish)

Rice with cajun spice

It helps to keep some vegetable and olive oil on hand. Always season the pan for about 10 minutes before cooking.

After this I added tomatoes and green chilis and brought it back to a boil. At that point I brought it to a 20 minute simmer and added more cajun. Salmon and rice all done. Next time I will take more pictures of the finished product and share it again.

Happy Friday - Digital Cactus and Moon

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:59:00 -0700

Here is the weekend, and I wish a happy Friday to all. Something for you to enjoy while I'm waiting for my video to encode. Unfortunately I'm recovering from an injury. Yay, always fun when something creeps up midweek out of the blue. Still staying creative with the music and finishing up projects. I have a new video that I'll post later today once it's done encoding.

I'll start by sharing a digital painting water color, mixed with a tiny bit of oils. I can't remember from months ago yet I believe it's called Digital Cactus.

Digital Cactus - watercolor mixed with oils

Lately I've been blocking in my compositions with a drafting pencil and it's yielded better results. Enjoy your spring weekend in 2014 and shouts.

Glow Moon 19

I've tried all sorts of different things with the Glow Moon series. Here is another variation.

Mid week round up

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 10:58:00 -0700

Glow Moons

It's impossible to know where this idea came from originally. I started with a stretched nurb and some polygon smoothed cylinders. After that I duplicated some forms. The real fun for me is in the textures which constantly seem to be changing with each composition.

Glow Moon

I truly enjoy the experience making glow moon comps and enjoy sharing them.

Tunes: this week was fun, enjoyed sharing the new music from +Sodacon

Sodacon by Sodacon
I also had the chance to finish a new track for the Moment by Momenty project called Weekend
Moment by Moment by Jesse Crawford

Glow Moon 17 Painted 3d Render

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 00:01:00 -0700

Had a tiny bit of free time and put some energy into Glow Moon 18. I'm starting to think of it as more of an island, and it goes through it's seasonal changes. A painted 3d render.

Glow Moon 17

New Glow Moon Design

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 09:58:00 -0700

Newly designed Glow Moon

This morning I found a new render of Glow Moon. Adjusted color and shadow and here is the result. The middle section gave a surprising effect, with the slope side of the mountain with a dark to light spectrum of blue.

Iris Art March 23rd Sunday Shout

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 06:49:00 -0700

Purple Iris Digital Painting

Spring time is here again and I look forward to getting outside and seeing all the purdy flowers. I also can't wait to break out a few gardening tools and try my hand at planting some vegetables. Sending out a shout today. I've included a few digital paintings of iris's in my yard. These were the ones that I shared with +The American Iris Society. I'm looking forward to this years paintings.

Red Iris

Purple Iris Digital Painting yellow backdrop

This last one isn't an iris yet I figured I'd add it for effect. I have additional techniques I can
try for this years spring paintings and I look forward to posting them.

New song

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:22:00 -0700

New music - space rock Sodacon by Sodacon

Dawn of the Return - New Space Rock

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 19:21:00 -0700

For today I've switched the blog over to +Sodacon to write about the latest recording from earlier
today, one I've put a working title "Dawn at the Lighthouse". A strange title yet a very nice track and one that I'm excited to share with fellow space rockers. I've posted a quick screenshot. As for the audio I promise I won't delay and will share it soon.

I just barely came across this erratic motion sound in the library, I may use it or I'll switch to another preset that is subtle. The track is mostly comprised of guitar, bass, vocals and drums.

For awhile I couldn't even remember that I had started this track, and then one day it was in my head humming along. I figured I may as well explore it, and I've glad that I did. We'll see how it goes yet a possible video as well. No matter what always on the space rock accelerator. A shout and keep on rockin on.

Digital Paint and Fantasy Characters

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:35:00 -0700

Orange world

When I jam I like to start with a nice mellow riff or beat. Hit the red button to record and see what kind of magic unfolds. Same goes when drawing or painting. I throw something down on pencil and then it turns into something I can use as an under painting. Time will tell if I'll use these characters for future renders yet it's still nice to sketch things out naturally.

The one below is a sketch called Train Guy. I've got a color version done yet so far I like the black and white block in better.I may adjust this later and add more to it.

Necromancer

This is the Necromancer. Delving around in fantasy art. As I was blocking him in I wasn't sure about his back being turned yet it worked well and I like the vast sea of blue behind him.

Glow Moon Series

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:07:00 -0700

Happy St. Patricks Day! I started working on this thing called the Glow Moon series recently and posted them to +Sodacon . Different renders of a mountainous structure, a moon and some landmarks mixed with digital painted backgrounds. Made for a very fun series. It seems as though a few projects are coming together at the right time. It's nice on the somewhat rare occasions that it happens. I have additional plans for these in the near future.

Glow Moon

A New Beginning

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0700

A New Beginning

Back for more friends it's great to see you again. A blog post how nice. The thoughts roll out of my mind and onto the electronic page. Quite a lot has happened since I last worked on the Empirical Paper app. Finished more classes and am back working at my own thing. Re-designed the Sodacon web site and it's now launched, both albums are nearly done. Looking forward to their completion and release in the next few months and then on to new projects.

Thanks for visiting me and listening to my thoughts this morning. I'll be sharing this blog on my new site as well as posting these to the +. Rock on always.

New Track/New Project

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 23:08:00 -0800

Certainly a working title for the new Empirical Paper project. Since it's a first track I've sent out codes to a few friends to enjoy. Contact me if you'd like one before it becomes part of the new LP.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://sodacon.bandcamp.com/track/light-on-a-rope"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Light on a Rope by Empirical Paper&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

With the new project there are no rules in particular. I'm trying hard to differentiate it from Sodacon so that when I go
back to that project I can pick up where I left off. For this one, no lyrics just ambient beats, other songs will have guitar, possibly lyrics, I haven't made any rules just gonna go with it.

The new App

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:15:00 -0800

I am done with a new build for the application which can be accessed here. It now has cross functionality with Bandcamp and includes the entire Sodacon catalog. As I get ready to release music for the Empirical Paper project I'm sure this will be invaluable to people who are seeking out ways to find the music. If they've already installed the app on their phone the information will already be theirs in real time. :)

Yet it's live -

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:38:00 -0800

This is the good stuff in life. I worked on this app all day today, not sure why yet now I've got it connected to my RSS feed on this blog. When I update the blog it updates it on the Android application "EmpiricalPaper" which I created today. If you are interested in trying it out you can snag a download from the android market or test out the beta version here:

http://ibuildapp.com/projects.php?action=info&projectid=100697

This is a test

sodacon@gmail.com (Jesse David Crawford) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:10:00 -0800

Captains Log, Star date 12/21/2011. I'm trying out a new blog and if this works right it should link directly to my application and I'm beta testing to see if it can be read from there. I'm going to go ahead and submit this as a test. Should anyone come across this entry, please note that it's for testing purposes only.