Devil Winds

A view along the Pacific Coast Highway. The road I drove each morning while tracking choirs for the breakers record. I dreamed a lot on this road..

"The devil sends the naughty winds, To blow the skirts on high; But God is just and sends the dust, To fill the bad man's eye." -1935

Some things are more important than music videos and new records.

It’s January 13th, 2025. I’ve been evacuated from my home under the oaks in Topanga for about a week now. Maybe you’ve heard about the LA fires. For the time being, I’ve seen maps showing my little spot under the oaks safely nestled about half a mile from the fire line on the western flank of the Palisades Fire. However, a new round of Santa Ana winds is forecast from tomorrow through Wednesday. Until then, I’m displaced, driving around in my truck filled with the things I managed to pack before leaving—a privilege so many others didn’t have. It’s an interesting moment, standing in a room surrounded by the things you’ve accumulated over a lifetime, faced with the decision of what to take and what to leave behind. Unfinished projects turn into broken pieces of data. As you leave each room, you say a quick goodbye because you’re not sure if you’ll see any of it again. Trust me, I know.

In some way, I’ve become a custodian of the things I salvaged from the home I lost in the Woolsey Fire. Those items have become precious to me, as though I have an unspoken responsibility to care for them again. But don’t shed a tear for me—so many others have lost far more than I have.

LITR and BREAKERS II: Having said all that, I’ve had a lot of time to think. The holidays slowed progress on the Hadder music video, and now my evacuation has delayed it further. I don’t mind, though. I truly believe that, much like the empty spaces between notes are essential to composing music, so is the space and quiet time between creative endeavors. This time has been nice for me—it gave me a chance to reflect on the work I’ve been doing.

I’m looking forward to returning to my oaks—if the house is still standing after this next wind event—so I can finalize my little LITR video vision. I will say I’m quite pleased with some preliminary video renders I’ve been watching recently. On top of that, I’ve also started tracking the next Breakers record, a promise I made to myself late last year: to finish it in 2025.

I’ve begun the next record with a song called “Out of the Black”, a track written during my time with TOR, a band I was working with while I was living at 200 North. It could easily have appeared on the first Breakers record. Most of the vocals and keyboards are already tracked—about 95 percent. Now, I just need to complete some new music and arrangements under the vocal compositions.

Just before evacuating, I had a few guitar days where I think I unlocked the “guitar code” beneath the vocal lines. Believe it or not, tracking guitars under completed vocal lines can sometimes be easier than writing vocals over guitar parts. The vocal lines create a nice roadmap for composition and chord selection. Each method has its yin and yang. Ultimately, you need to find magic in the relationship between chords, movements, syllables, and spaces—they all need to complement each other in some strange, beautiful way.

I may track five or ten guitar parts before finding the magic pattern that dances with the vocal lines and rhythm section. Right now, I’ve got a mix of just the vocals and tempo with me, and I listen to it often. Sometimes, I hum guitar parts as I listen—it’s like reverse songwriting. It’s as if I’m singing with a guitar. Guitar solos often come to life this way, especially ones that erupt after choruses. I’ll literally sing a solo to determine the note register I’m hearing and feeling, then mimic that register on the guitar.

Last night, while driving, I hummed a dueling guitar solo part for this new song into my voice recorder. The guitar arrangement after the main solo in “Long is the Road” was written exactly this way, as were many guitar parts on the Breakers record.

As far as "Out of the Black" goes, this first song is a powerful, uptempo, Thundersteel-esque track with some old Manowar sprinkles on top. It’s a song about the home I lost to fire and my journey back to the land of the living—a fitting start to the new record, considering recent events.

“Up from ashes

up through the firestorm

Nothing can stop me now.

Forget the past life

I’ve fallen off the edge

Written off such a long time ago.

Kicked down and held back

I’m fighting again

Scratching my way to the top

Take everything I’ve got

I don’t give a damn… no.

One shot in the dark…

Ride up… Out of the black… to destroy your enemies.

Ride up… Out of the black… until you’re all they’ll see.

Out of the Black.”

Regardless of what happens in the coming days, thank you to all the amazing firefighters—both air and ground—who put themselves in harm’s way to try and save my little place under the oaks. God bless you all. Stay safe.

– J

Red Vinyl and thee Invisible Thread

Image info: A still from the "Rivers End" music video I've been working on quietly.

Let me start with a story.

It was Saturday morning, and I hadn’t seen rain in months. When I first arrived at The Oaks, it seemed to rain for two months straight, but I had forgotten what rain was. I was waiting on a package Friday night—some Breakers vinyls from over the pond—but they were delayed. I suspect the driver was a little spooked by where he was delivering the boxes. It gets very dark here. I imagine he just called it quits late into his route rather than walk the wooden planks up into the dark forest where I live.

I was a bit disappointed. I hadn’t really seen one of the Breakers vinyls yet, and the thought of them sitting on a truck in Reseda overnight was fresh on my mind throughout the night.

When I woke, it was raining again—just in time, I suppose. I do think my Breakers record brought the rain. I walked along the wet wooden planks outside my cabin, down the pathway through the forest… and then… there they were. Dripping in the cold morning canyon weather, guarded by the wolf, or so I imagine.

The only thing missing was a crack of thunder as I came upon them.

At last, they had come home.

Well, let me catch you up on some things. First, the raccoons came back. I no longer have Koi fish. Ain’t that a bitch.

In other news, I thought I might have the new LITR video done before my next update, but I’m still working on the details, so I figured I’d give you another update today. A lot has been happening.

Beyond the Breakers: Double Vinyl News

First and foremost, the Beyond the Breakers double vinyl is now available on No Remorse Records. Feel free to head over to No Remorse and grab one. From what I understand, the special run of 100 copies with red vinyl has sold out, but the black vinyl versions should still be available. CDs are also available.

As you may have read, I spent a lot of time earlier this year working on the artwork for the vinyl—especially the insert, which is filled with words and photographs representing important moments in the record's creation. We did run into a bit of an issue with the record’s runtime not fitting on a single vinyl, so we decided early on to go for a double vinyl instead. I’m so glad we did—it really looks and sounds special. It’s a lot like unwrapping a record from years ago. There was a ton of attention given to the artwork and layout, and it adds something extra to the overall experience of the album.

Now, it finally feels like the Beyond the Breakers record is complete to me. It took a while, but that’s just how things go sometimes. I hope you enjoy it.

LITR Music Video News

Well, it’s come a long way over the last two months or so. It takes time, but I’m now well into the final details. It’s interesting to me how similar music and video are, especially when you get to those final coats of paint—sharpening this, adding slight details to that, or deleting and restarting a section that just isn’t working.

I often talk about the invisible thread I sense when recording a song, and the same is true for me when working on a video. Everything needs to connect in some way, and I lose sleep over the little things: a shift in color, the length of a clip, or a flash of something that doesn’t feel quite right. I can spend three hours on 10 seconds of video, only to throw it all away in a single click and start over the next day. Nothing bothers me more than a broken thread.

Aside from the LITR video, I’ve somehow also started working on a River’s End music video—completely by accident. One day I was inspired by something, and I had an artsy idea for a video. So… it just started happening. You might even see a River’s End video before the end of the year. We’ll see. The idea behind it doesn’t really require film shoots like the LITR or Dead Rabbit music videos do (or did), so it’s coming together a bit faster.

In the meantime, I’m finalizing the LITR details most nights this November, and it will be released soon—so long as the invisible thread stays unbroken. 

Interviews

With the new vinyl release, I’ve done three new interviews this month. As they’re published over the next two months or so, I’ll be sure to share them here.

There were some interesting questions and topics, and it’s always great to dive deeper into the Breakers story. In one of the interviews, Mr. Evermore even stepped in to answer a few questions, offering a slightly different perspective on the creation of the Breakers.

Closing Thoughts

I’ve had a lot of time to think lately. Holding the Breakers vinyl in my hands is quite the feeling. Time is a wonderful thing—if you can stand it.

Don’t worry about it, my friends. Just listen to that whisper in your yard and do your best to softly chip away at what it’s telling you to do. You’re given a choice every day, no matter how far you’ve wandered down the wrong path, and that choice can only be made by you.

Maybe today is the day. What do you think?

Shhhh... listen...Did you hear that?

Happy Holidays.

Farewell,

-Your friendly neighborhood Dead Rabbit

Ke Ke and the Night of the Raccoon

Image and video info: Some things from the "Long is the Road" music video soon to be released.

Its about time for an update as things are picking up here under the oaks.

Its harvest time.

I have a lot going on under a big moon, let’s start with the racoons. When I arrived at the oaks a few months ago, to my surprise, I found a old 50 gallon water drum with some, what appeared to be, goldfish in it. I had been away from the canyon a while working on the breakers record inside the city and it was refreshing to see some wild animals again and so I started feeding them each day. I’m a creature of patterns and habits. I did the same with a wild cat that was creeping around the woods out back. As the months passed and the vinyl artwork and video post-production nights came and went in my tower, slowly, the fish grew and the cat found it’s way into my studio. I still don’t know if the cat is male or female, but I call it Ke Ke. The fish became quite big, 6 of them all together, a handsome little back of gold and white spotted fish. It later occurred to me that perhaps it was a mix of goldfish and koi fish. One week ago, I awoke in the night to some noises in the yard. Summer had left a few weeks earlier and the cold of autumn had just started to settle in under the oaks. As I reached for the door to my yard, which overlooks the hillsides of the Topanga State Forest… , to what to my wondering eyes should appear, a Racoon was sitting on my 50 gallon water drum eating my fish. It’s an image that I can’t help but shake my head at. Life can be brutal at times. Just imagine a giant fury monster wearing a mask reaching down from the sky, plucking us off one at a time without a care in the world. My poor fish. What a life they had. I was able to scare away the racoon and save 2 of the fish, one of which died during the rescue mission. One survived and is back in the yard waiting for friends as we speak. Anyway, I thought I would start today with a story. Every story is relative to the dreams we pursue.

Breaker Double Vinyl News: I hear rumors that the double vinyl has been pressed and is sitting in boxes somewhere in Europe. The precious artwork I did back in January when I first arrived at the oaks is now wrapped around the discs that house the story of the wolf and the fire. The noises I made in my grief will live forever now on those double discs. No one will ever take that away from me. That helps me sleep at night. But I’m not done yet.  I wish I could give you a definitive date, but I can’t yet. What I will say is, everything is going to plan and that the breakers record will be available exactly when it was fated to be available. Ho Ho Ho

Music Video News: Let me touch base on a few things here. A few months ago, when the plan for CD’s and Vinyl came about, I was hard at work on the “Long is the Road” music video. It would have been released a while ago, however, with a label now involved and a physical release date eminent, it made a lot of sense to simply push it all back and release it all together. Personally, for me, more time on the video was a good thing as I tend to spend a lot of time on details. I awoke in what appears to be a throw away world but I’m not really a throw away person. I buy things that are heavy that don’t make sense and I spend a lot of time on things until they “feel” right. What is right? I wish I knew… it’s just a feeling I can’t explain but that I know. The breakers work was done in this way, words, verses and choruses and solos… they all went through some time of contemplation and changes and reflection. In order to edit this LITR video at the oaks, I first had to build a “Noctua based video system that could handle some of the ideas I was having. I suppose the system I had at the “lex” could have handled it, but it would have been pretty choppy work. Anyway, the story of the video is coming together, and I’ve released a few clips but I really need to hold back a little as I want the full piece to have some impact and surprise. There are a few tricks up my sleeve left for the final release. Hope you like it. It truly was a labor of breakers love. And it will continue with the “Ballad of the Dead Rabbit” video which already has a few LA film shoots wrapped up and which I will start editing as soon as the first video and Vinyl gets released.

Singing: More on patterns. Regarding singing. I sing every day still. I still spend hours blending the two voices I have. My full voice and my head voice. I never really blend in perfect harmony, it’s more of a persistent battle, with small gains over long periods of time. I swing and then I lick my wounds. Sleep is important during these long training days. Sometimes I’ll sleep for 12 hours just to heal. One of the reasons I moved back to the canyon was that the distance from Los Angeles opened up a new pattern in my life which facilitated hours of singing each day. I could see that that pattern, much like the singing patterns I had on my mountain before the fires came, would strengthen, and develop my voice each day. I created a pattern in my life that I knew in time, day after day, for months… would start to show some results in the development of my voice. I’ve seen how little life changes and added patterns can effect the development of a voice over time and so I’m always looking for such opportunities. It’s a lot like the stock market. Time is ladder of course. Over the years I've had many singing teachers and mentors and have read many books along the road, but for me… better than any scale or any technique… I find time to be your greatest ally as a singer. Silly scales over long periods of time. Detaching from the instant gratification of daily singing activities seems to be my best advice to someone training their voice. For such a small muscle, it takes a very long time to harness the subtle movements needed to control the flow of air and pitch needed to recreate the things that our dreams are made of, it did for me anyway. Well, time and a very large and scary magic tree.

Proof. Ya know, we are the sum of each day of our lives. I’m a perfect example of that slow process of time. Like rocks on the shore, I too have been sculpted by the crashing waves of my life. I think my music reflects that. I wish I could take credit for it, but really, I was a victim of the surf most of the time. Some of my greatest ideas came from inside the tumble waves. With so many people asking if this breakers record was created using AI, I can’t say I’m not flattered by such a thought. But no, the breakers record is really just a nice product of time and influence. I was never really a virtuoso of anything, my story lies more in the relentless pursuit of individual mediocrity. I like to thing that the sum of all my parts finally equaled something meaningful enough. Like a flash in a pan if you move it just right. Guitar and piano came accidently to me as I was trying to be a singer. I was fired as the singer in my first high school band by the guitarist and so I ran out and bought his exact guitar and started taking lessons. The first song I learned on guitar was “Black Stone Wielder” by Candlemass on a little Peavy amp. True story. I learned music theory almost accidently, just so that I could understand vocal scales. I took a midi class at Ricks Music World in Somerset Massachusetts so I could learn my new Ensonique VFX keyboard, my first real vocal lesson training keyboard. Drums I picked up because I was a drum tech for a rather well know drummer in the rock world as well as other bands around LA. That was my former self to whom I don’t really talk about much as he died in a fire. My midi lessons and seemingly useless understanding of my Akia midi sequencer programming later came in handy for drumming and recording. As you see I’m a perfect mess of little things that somehow equaled something. Hard to predict at the time of all the failed adventures that I set out on.. that I would someday arrive at a place where the breakers were. So to answer that question here today, no, there is no AI music or auto anything on the breakers record. Just a pleasant happy mess of reality, time and old-fashioned persistence. I’m not much of a teacher. Sometimes the best lessons we can give in life are no lessons at all, but rather to simply let that thinks we create speak for themselves. Amen.

Rehearsals: There is a running timeline in my head. It goes something like. LITR music video, Vinyl and CD, stage show and lights programming, Dead Rabbit video #2, rehearsals, tour. How will this play out you ask? I don't know but it will be fun figuring it out. Hope to see you all out there with my sure 58 and some fog. Maybe I'll bring Ke Ke.

Last but not least.

The Novel. With so much going on, I simply can’t get to finishing this yet. It bothers me that I can’t find the time to complete this. I have creatures and characters dancing in my head. The entire universe of BOK is ever moving as a real place and yet I can’t find the time to write the words down and tell the story. I can only assume that when I get a break in the future, I’ll isolate myself somewhere in the woods and complete the novel. We’ll see. For now your welcome to read or watch the first chapters of the novel from Lord Hadders personal “Field Notes” page.

That’s all for now. Sorry for the long winded update today. LITR Video should be out by the time I post my next news story. I also have a new interview in Rock Hard magazine coming out soon, look out for it, some interesting questions they asked. Don’t worry about time my friends. In your own life… just keep your head down and discover the reason you are who you are and chip away at your own dreams. Work in silence. As insignificant as today seems, it will matter later. Stay your own course and enjoy the surf my lord and ladies. I’ll see you in the waves.

Your friendly neighborhood dead rabbit

-j