Summer update

Greetings one and all. It’s been a looooooooooooooong time since I updated, and I apologize for that. I’ve been incredibly busy & have just had very little time to devote to my online endeavors. I’ve shelved 2035 for now, since I’ve been too busy to really work on it properly, but I’ve been busy with other things. In the coming months there will be some interesting music being released, involving interesting collaborations.

I made some important fixes to my website, and will be adding new content in the next few weeks. Including information on my instruments and current setup.

Stay tuned for more info!

DFZ

Divine Ratio: Progressive Music That’s actually worth listening to

For fans of progressive music, you should check these guys out. They have some great songs and some great production, and are doing some really cool music.

Be sure to check out their page on Facebook for previews of their music.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Divine-Ratio/46437948508?ref=ts

They’ll be releasing their much awaited album this summer finally!

for more info check out http://www.divineratio.com/

March Update

Greetings all! it certainly has been awhile since i updated this blog. In all honesty, i needed a break to return to a clear mind & refresh myself from all the work of the semester.. and the recording of Failure To Adjust.

Last few months have been very productive & fruitful, I’ve acquired a new laptop for producing music (a nice Acer timeline), and also gotten my hands on some nice Duduks & flutes.

Musically, I've been on a long break, but have slowly started making work on 2035. I was aiming for a summer release, but in all honesty i will wait and see how it goes.

I’m also looking at putting a group (or groups) together to start performing live, since usually during the summer, i don’t have much work & instead of taking a holiday, I’d rather make use of the time playing my music for an audience.

Pictures & more details to come soon,

Stay tuned,

DFZ

A World Of Music

Greetings all! It’s been an interesting period of time, with all that’s going on. I wish i could say i’ve gotten much done, but i haven’t. Although that’s not completely true, i have been working allot actually, just more on the academic side then the artist side of things.

I’m very fortunate to be sharing an office with an individual who plays a very special and wonderful instrument called The Kora, which is a 21 string harp from Mali. Dr. Ryan Skinner is currently teaching the world music class at AUC, and as an Ethnomusicologist, has much to offer in terms of musical perspectives.

Ryan can be seen playing the Kora in this video taken in our office last week:

http://www.youtube.com/v/LiFI5p8S0zc

He’s also written a wonderful childrens book called Sidikiba's Kora Lesson

And here’s his official website: www.ryanskinner.org

Stay tuned, since there are definite possibilities of the pairing of the Duduk & Kora in the near future….

Failure To Adjust – Out Now!

Well Folks, My second solo album is finally out, after a long wait, what i consider my strongest & best work to date is out and available to buy at all good online music distributors.

To see the list of available places to purchase my album go here: http://www.dreamfullofzen.net/Music.html

The album is available on Itunes, Napster, Limewire, Amazon and will be available soon on Emusic & the Nokia music store.

3 Songs have been posted up on my Myspace page, including the title track “Failure To Adjust”, The mystical sounding “mirage & lastly the haunting and evocative “The Number 5”.

To visit my Myspace page, go here: http://www.myspace.com/Dreamfullofzen

I’m couldn’t be happier with how the album turned out, and I am sure it will be well recieved by my current fanbase, and hopefully broaden out and get the attention of some new listeners, Since “Silent Echoes” was a free website album, and didn’t get the exposure that F.T.A will get. And the INFINITY soundtrack wasn’t really an album as it was just a body of work i did and decided to make available online, and had practically no guitar on it whatsoever.

For more details about the album visit the F.T.A page on my site: http://www.dreamfullofzen.net/FTA.html

The Fall 2009 semester has started at A.U.C, and i have an interesting semester ahead & much work to do to keep my students on their toes, and there is talks of a guitar festival, so chances are there will be a performance by myself in November. As always more information will be posted in the not too distant future….

Till then, Be good….

DFZ

Coming Soong - Failure To Adjust

After a long wait it’s finally here, My second solo album is finally ready!!! The much anticipated Failure To adjust is the result of the last two years of my life… the old… the new… and more. I’ve been writing a whole bunch of different material, but late last year i focused more on putting together material for the concept of my second solo album.

The material is much more cohesive and stronger then my previous efforts, which showcased my abilities more then my sensibilities as a musician. The 10 songs on the album feature my signature sound of atmospheric and emotionally charged soundscapes, but the guitar is much more subdued and playing a more soulful role this time, complimenting the music, instead of taking it over. The focus this time was to really make the songwriting as strong as possible, meaning more melodies, less clutter, less over the top guitar playing and more soul.

Of the 10 tracks, 2 feature the Armenian Duduk, a double reed flute like instrument which i got late April and have been learning to play. Overall I’m very happy with how F.T.A has turned out, the production is much better then anything I’ve done, and i feel that it came much more naturally, and i wasn’t forced.

I’ve been busy putting the final touches on the album together, along with updating all my web stuff (blog, website, Facebook, MySpace, etc etc yada yada yada), but fortunately this will all come to an end by this month. The website will be up again on the 26th, and the album should be out by the end of the month on the usual online distributors.

Soon I’ll be adding tracks to my MySpace page, so stay tuned in!

Peace ‘n much love!

DFZ

Summer Update

Well… It’s been awhile since i posted on here… i guess i should keep this thing more updated.. but in all honesty… the 4 of you that read this surely have better things to do?? I kid of course…..

I’ve been keeping myself busy, with a mixture of normal things that most people do…

That said i’ve mostly been focusing on my album, which is coming along quite nicely and is nearing completion. The process has been a very liberating one… the previous album really took allot of work from me, learning what can and cannot be done with a digital only confined setup like mine. That said i seem to have found balance in practicality and quality, and i’m very pleased with the overall production output.

The picture is of my Duduk, which after 2 months now of playing it, i really love… There are two pieces on the album that feature the instrument, and i have to say that it fits perfectly with what i do. I only hope i can keep advancing on the instrument and compose music which is worthy of it’s beauty…

On the personal front, i’ve been having health issues, mostly with my right hand wrist & arm/shoulder. I’ve had problems with them in the past (due to an RSI related injury), but this time it’s actually abit worse. It’s a mixture of things that caused it, mostly using too much of my netbook i think for online activities & working out too much and generally overdoing it… It’s gotten better but it’s definitely affected my guitar playing.. something which i hope will not be permanent, and am thankful that it came towards the end of the tracking for my new album…

Health wise i’ve definately noticed some things not right, not sure whether it’s a nutrition thing, or something else, but my nerves and overall wellbeing are not where they should be… That said that usually happens to me around summertime anyways, so i’ll see how that goes.

On a brighter note my friends Rami & Raquy will be hitting Cairo again, Rami should be here next week, and Raquy around the middle of August, so it’ll be good to chill with them again and change the pace of things.

Well, i post again soon, with some more info and some snippets of the new album.

Bugger Off.