The 13th day

Howdy folks.

My new website is up, and so is the sub site 2035.dreamfullofzen.net!

Also the single off 2035 is up! Go check this stuff out now, or the boogie man will get you!

I'm not sure if I'll maintain this blog or run a blog in my site, till then, keep in touch people!

DFZ

It's almost over..

The fucking god awful shit fest total oblivion of 2011 is almost behind us... Thank FUCK....

Seriously... Hands down this has been a terrible year.. Just to name some of the travesties:

• Having a full blown Anxiety / Panic Attack at Taboula
• Hearing an angry mob, followed by incredulous amounts of gunfire, outside my place of residence (posted a video with that)
• Being almost out of a job & making almost no money this year
• Nerve / Muscle problem in my left shoulder
• Dropping my wallet with my savings in it in a car park (was recovered, but the whole Ordeal aged me by 6 years..)
• Having to fork over said savings to help out a person in need, leaving me completely broke.
• My main 500Gig hard disk Failing for no other reason then to make me age another 6 years...

And these are just the shit things that come to mind, there were plenty more, also some on a personal level which I won't go into out of respect for those involved (even though they are Wankers of the highest nature).

Seriously, this year has been a real test... But I feel I've come out with my head... well... I think more tightly screwed on... or off.... I don't know...

I've made my resolutions, and consequently will be kick starting 2012 off on the right note. New Website! New Album! New Marketing Strategies! A Comic! Production Services! etc etc.. Basically focusing on my career as an Independent Artist & Business Man as it were.. Something I was very good at in the past, but decided to forgo to focus on my Job at A.U.C, because I thought that was the right thing to do....

Ultimately, after 4 years, I can see that it plainly was NOT the right thing to do. The work I've done there has meant so little to so few, and If I quite tomorrow, it wouldn't make the slightest of differences. I focused my time and efforts there, and neglected my Guitar playing, and my career, because I liked the idea of steady work, but there are no certainties in life...

Anyways, I worked like Hell, and made very little monetarily speaking. Whereas as a producer, the few jobs I have done paid me half a semesters salary in what amounted to a day or two's worth of work (enjoyable work too.. not frustrating B.S work...)...

So the focus next year is my REAL career, and that hopefully means 2012 will be a much better year as it were. I'm really anxious to see what the critical reception of 2035 is going to be like.. It's very left of field from my previous works, and is something that fans of commercial music would actually listen to.. Assuming I can get their attention that is.

I also have high hopes for the Comic series, since I can see that being a good little business, which hopefully could grow into a little production studio, I could hire artists, and turn it into a small business for producing online comics... ahhh.. wishful thinking... But you never know...

So yeah, Next year I'm going to be extremely busy with these projects. Amidst them as well, I shall be building a portfolio for media work, So I can snag more contracts, Working on my romantic Comedy screenplay (now there's a shot in the dark...), and finally, my studies into Mugham, which hopefully may lead to me writing a book on the matter.

2011 has been terribly unproductive... I've spent atleast half of it procrastinating... But I guess I had to get it out of my system for preparation of the works for 2012!

What are your resolutions for 2012? How will you cope? and What will you be doing before the "Golden Era Of Man' is ushered in?

Regards,

DFZ

11-11-11

Howdy folks, As always, it's been awhile since I last blogged.

You'll have to forgive me, but my life really isn't that interesting.... Aside from drinking coffee, yelling out profanities at my machines, and working and surfing the world wide web, I pretty much don't have anything else to blog about. I don't go to parties, or meet strange and exotic people... Mostly because as i have mentioned a zillion times already, I don't really go out, or have many people in my life whom I'd refer to as "real" friends.

So, today is a historic day, one that will never occur again...like pretty much any other day. But for those who are inclined towards the significance of numbers, it is a most interesting day none the less.

What will you be doing today?

Well, it's November, and I am still working on 2035..... Well, the irony is that there is a ridiculous amount of procrastination going on... I could literally finish it in a day or two with my old work ethic... But for the life of me I cannot be buggered to... And can't seem to focus on anything longer then afew minutes. I have to track some guitars for "thirteen" and "cyber-nightmare" (wrote some new material for that today!), add a minor touch to "the game we play", and some Minor things to "no more" and it's done... 13 tracks of awesomeness...

I'll be posting videos n whatnot to my YouTube channel soon about all that stuff, soon hopefully... Definitely before Xmas...lol... Lets see, what else... Hmm... I'm still depressed and insomniated... Still a hermit... Still broke... Hmmm...

Ah I know. Technology, since we all love that right? I've been tinkering around with my android phone, there's a neat app for controlling my daw software via wifi, which I will also do a video of soon. And, I've gotten the awesome moog synth in my iPad, and will probably use it on those last two songs for 2035, since it really does sound that friggen cool!

Other then that, the weather here has finally cooled off, people are still talking politics (Zzzz...), and i'm still wondering what my next move is after 2035 is hitting the www airwaves.... Considering the music industry is basically a zombie right now.... As much as I'd like to do other projects, I have to serious contemplate and make a plan... Do I still want to be where I am in life in 5 years? Because it certainly seems that will happen if I don't make some significant changes... But then again, the more things change, the more they stay the same, no?

He lives!

Yes folks, DFZ is alive and well.... Well....surviving.

Last few months have been what I call a returning experience. It seems history is always intent on repeating itself and more importantly, try as one might, your destiny will always be there waiting for you, regardless of the path you choose..

I've been pretty down and depressed (nothing new there), and spending allot of time in solitude and contemplation. Looking back on things, I've returned to the same old realizations and thoughts that I had many years ago... Nothing changed, I simply tried to ignore them and try to act as if they could be overcome.

I turned 29 last month, and it was a fairly eye opening birthday to say the least (one spent alone surprisingly enough). Looking back over the years I see the same old thing, the same straying of the path, denial, and irresponsibility to do what must be done...

I've wasted allot of time and energy amongst failures during those years, but by doing so, I've found myself in a wiser frame of mind. One can only know what must be done, after they have spent time understanding what is they should be doing.

What does this all mean? Well, I'm not vat liberty to say.. Only foolish people go around talking of things that might not occur or might not transcend, and I've spent enough time over the years acting foolishly...

On the topic of 2035, I'm happy to say that within the next few days all recording will be done, and a few more days the mixing for this tracks shall be done. After 10 days to two weeks, I'll have finished the mastering for it hopefully (rushing the mastering process is a great way to ruin all the hard work done during mixing..), and basically after years and years of studying, working, writing, blah blah, it shall be completed.

It's been a strange feeling knowing that weight will be lifted off my shoulders... And that after all that time of dreaming and thinking, it will actually come to be...

Now don't get too excited.. The music is now more or less done, but there still remains a fair amount of work still be to be done. For one thing the graphic novel.. Which I think I will release In parts as a comic. This gives me the chance to make use of the online comic stores that are commonly used on iPads n such.

So.. When is this crazed fool going to release this fabled work for us to absorb? In short, not this year.

Yes you read that right, not this year.

2011 has been a fucking horrible year. The amount of horrible, nasty, unfortunate, and shitty things that could happen has been overwhelming.... And not just for me, but for many. So I don't think I should jinx my years of hard work by releasing my works in the year that so much god awfulness has occurred....

I'm thinking early 2012. That why I still have plenty of time to put together the novel, the promotions, pr, press releases, photos, merchandise, cups of tea (kidding), and so forth.

I mean it's September now, before you know it it'll be christmas, and then before you know, January.

I do intend to release snippets of things here and there though, to keep your appetites wet. So hang I'm there, and keep listening.

Peace n much love,

DFZ

Insomnia & The interesting yet somber deterioration of ones sanity

Ahhhh... Where did it all go wrong?

It's summer time, and usually around the time I get my yearly bout of Insomnia. Admittedly it's usually bearable, and ironically I get allot of work done & despite the disorientation, is usually enjoyable.

I haven't blogged in a long time, but in all honesty, who bloody reads these things anyways?

Anyways, I've been working on and off, mostly off, since I cannot seem to find the energy or motivation to finish what I've started. It's a very unusual feeling, to be completely unexcited half the time about ones own musical endeavors. I guess it's the sign of the times, and more importantly, the inevitable wake up call of the reality of the situation.

I've been doing the "DFZ" thing since late 2007, and it's nearly hit the 4 year mark. One would think in that space of time, things would evolve, move forward, expand, etc etc, but they really haven't much, or I should say not in the way that I've intended. I find myself for probably the 5th or 6th time in my life at a Crossroads, and as per usual, am standing there, waiting for the right path to illuminate itself.

A foolish person might misconstrue my mental commentary as bitterness, but alas, I am a realist, and as such, have no negative feelings towards the outcome of the situation, or my chosen profession. This is a business, and as a business person, I've neglected all the points of smart business approaches, in favor of a "lets just avoid the marketing B.S and just throw it out there and see what happens" approach. I chose not to sell myself and just let the music do it's own thing...

Naturally, in this day and age where everyone and their cat is a recording "artist", with a Youtube page & Myspace with their own songs available for $.99, so it's no wonder really that there's a need to grab peoples attention from the overly saturated online music store shelves. "2035" will be the first time I take "smarter" approaches to actually marketing a product & making a big deal out of it. "Silent Echoes" was more of a collection of "good" demos, hence my releasing it for free, and "Failure To Adjust" was a completely different sound to my previous works, hence my own confusion in how to market a guitar instrumental album which hardly had any guitar hero moments on it... but with 2035, things are different, it's not your run of the mil DFZ album by any means... Anyone looking for ambient or spiritual sounds would be better off checking out my earlier works, anyone who wants to have their ass handed to them... 2035 is going to do that & much more..

So that brings us to the burning question, when the bloody hell are you going to finish & release it??!

Well, believe it or not, I have been working very hard on it, and I think it was the insomnia, because I hadn't realized until recently that it's mostly finished... I thought it was at the 50% mark.. whereas it's closed to 75 / 80%, and with my recent works on a new song (the title track "2035" for the album), it's actually closer to the 90% mark. Not much guitar left to track, just afew things here and there, some re-doing of some minor things, and mixing, but otherwise, it's more or less there...

BUT! Like I said, I have no intention of finishing it and just hastily throwing it out on iTunes in the hopes of getting listeners, oh no.. we've tried that... it just doesn't BLOODY work now does it... We're going to play hard ball... Marketing! Promotion! Caffeine! Unicorn Stickers!....umm....wait...

Tacky humor (admit it...you love it) aside, there's the other aspect of 2035 which I've been lax on. The prologue is done, but I intend to get more work done on that side to promote the album more. I don't want to spoil anything, but lets just say in a month or two, things should start to get interesting.

For the whopping 2 of you whom have nothing better to do then read the ramblings of a crazed individual, I salute you, and recommend A coffee and a plate of Bourbon creams next time you decide to waste 10 minutes of your life reading my insanity.

Yep... I'm Done. Now bugger off....

The plot thickens...

Greetings & Salutations... Or whatever..

Work continues on the 2035 project, although I can see the coming heat is definitely going to have an impact on my workflow.. Last few days have been nightmarishly hot & I'm guessing this kind of heat this early means it's going to be a rough summer....

For those of you who are in the dark (to avoid that, sign up to my Facebook fan page, the link is in the become a fan box), I'm doing a Graphic Novel, to accompany the music of 2035. I had the Idea years ago for a movie, then I thought an animation, but either way that's too much work for a single person, so a glorified full length comic (a.k.a Graphic Novel) is the best way to go.

I've posted some concept art on my facebook page, and I guess I'll post more of it here as time progresses. In the meantime enjoy a rough sample page from the book.

The download cards arrived and are looking good. I have absolutely no idea about how to distribute them, perhaps I might put together some live shows at the end of the year.. Time will tell.....

More to come, so stay tuned.

DFZ

Post – Revolution Blues

Hey All.

Sorry for not keeping this blog that up to date, but I find it hard to find something worthy to write that would grab a persons interest, and be worth taking 5-10 minutes out of their lives for…

 

Things are kinda “Funky” at the moment, and I find myself (for probably the 3rd or 4th time in my life) at a crossroads… We all know the paths that lead the way are many, but after years of walking said path, I am finding that it leads to nowhere, to nothing, and alas, find that I cannot walk to nothing anymore…

2035 is coming along very well, much better then I was thinking, in terms of “consistency” and coherence, since I’ve not done a whole project of this stature before.. Very heavy, very middle eastern, very raw, and very cool….

For those of you who aren’t aware of the idea, 2035 is a concept album based around a story / idea I had years ago (2004-2005) and left aside. I wrote the first chapter into a movie script, and left it at that, and said eventually I’d come and write the second part. So instead of writing another movie script, I decided to make a graphic novel. And as such 2035 will be a graphic novel + album kind of thing. I had this idea quite awhile back, but Llexi of “Eternal Descent” beat me to the punch.

After knowing about E.D I was contemplating just forgetting the idea, but after speaking to Llexi briefly on youtube, He was quite supportive of the idea, and I didn’t feel like my project was similar enough to his to not want to move forward with it. Just goes to show: if you have a good idea, go with it now… never know who is going to have, or has already had, the same good idea…

Ultimately I have realistic hopes for 2035, seeing as the music industry is now officially dead & buried (or I should say a zombie), albums do not sell beyond their current fanbase, and my fanbase is not entirely large, and is based in countries where buying a record and not downloading it is a bizarre concept…

My hopes lie in the that the graphic novel will catch a larger audience, mixed with the more “raw" sound of this project, compared to my more somber and atmospheric efforts.

My job at AUC has been heavily affected by many changes, some created by individuals, and more obviously, the revolution. Whatever future I thought I had there, seems to be made redundant, and I feel that my time there has more or less run it’s course. As much as I’ve enjoyed my time there, I don’t think I can continue onwards with the things that are going on, in front, and of course, behind the scenes….

Fortunately, there is other work for individuals like myself, in our respective careers, and I can step away from the ugly world of academia (trust me, I’ve seen some things I would not expect from “learned” people…) and back into the world of music production. I’ll be announcing things more formerly when they’re all taken care of.

So that’s it for now, stay tuned, as you can probably tell from this blog post, alot has changed, and there are more changes to come, I’ll be keeping you all up to date, as soon as I find some clarity…

peace n much love,

 

DFZ

Tis The Season - Semester over, Hello Winter Break

Hey-Lo,

Yep, The Fall semester is officially done and dusted, grades given, and that's all she wrote...

No official ties till January... Which is a welcomed thing. I'll using this time to tie up allot of knots!

Expect from me early next year the following:
- The 2035 project.. Including Graphic Novel! (fingers crossed!)
- A Release of Kora Music performed by Dr. Ryan Skinner
- Another release, rearrangement of said Kora Music fused with other things

As far as 2035 goes, I haven't done much work on it, since I haven't had the energy, drive, or musical "light" to do anything coherent or worth listening to... BUT! I'm going to be sitting down after Xmas is over and working on all the tracks that aren't yet loaded into my DAW... like the old fruity loops based "Rebellion" and "Defiance (Just East Of Nowhere)"... Looking forward to reworking these songs actually.. One of the reasons why I didn't just throw myself into them, since I want it to be an enjoyable and productive experience.. Not just going through the motions...

As for the Graphic Novel part, well.. many moons ago I wrote a god awful movie script (yes, it's bad, cliched, and not worthy of any merit), and had the idea for it being a 3 parter. And in true George Lucas style.. I wanted to make a graphic novel of the second part. The 2nd and 3rd parts aren't really written, but would make for a much more interesting graphic novel then the first.. So alongside the albums music, there should be a graphic novel, and maybe one or two music videos too!! I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.. But We'll have to see.. Generally I think I can pull it off... But we'll have to wait and see... I'll keep you updated on how that progresses...

The Kora music I mentioned before, myself and Dr.Skinner walked into the A.U.C PVA Music Studio, and he layed down a whole bunch of music.. which I roughly mixed during the summer, and have been remixing this month and mastering it properly. Alongside the solo pieces, I'll be taking the recordings and twisting and mangling them with electronic elements and other instrumentation.

Hopefully 2011 will be a very good year. So, Keep an eye out for some cool stuff coming your way.

If I don't post before it, Have a very Merry Christmas (and a happy new year!)

DFZ

2010 - $58.37

Hey All.

If you're wondering what $58.37 is.. That's the amount of money made this year from my music sales.....

3 albums, 27 songs, 883 streams.... in 12 months... Pretty weak to say the least.

Is this the sign o' the times? Are people no longer buying music? Or is there simply no room for little fish in this over saturated market....

As I sit here sipping a cup of Peach tea in this cold & dirty apartment... I can't help but wonder... Why invest into this further? I haven't worked on 2035 for a few weeks due to health problems, and am wondering why I would even bother.....

Simple really... It's not about the money, never was...

Actually, I've mostly being taking 2035 slowly, since I really don't want to rush the process of making good music. My guitar chops are in good form, My guitars & tones are happenin', and it's all where it should be. Sadly though, musically, I'm not feeling that creative, and some of the tunes require allot more then fretboard prowess... Especially the more Middle Eastern pieces.

Also I've been working on getting my Duduk playing up to code, since I'd like to have 2035 be as flawless as possible. When I listen to Silent Echoes... I cringe... All the things I could have done better. With Failure To Adjust, the outcome was far closer to what I wanted, and there were very few things I felt unhappy with... so 2035 (which is not really a Dreamfullofzen album but more of a project), has to be a cut above all that.

I'm gunning to have it all wrapped up within the early part of 2011, as for the release though, well, I'm going to hold off, since I really want to make sure the albums probably promoted, something which I've neglected in the past.

Till then, Happy Holidays, Be good...

DFZ

October Update

Hey all,
It's October, and for some reason, it's insanely hot here..... So much for winter...

Work is proceeding on 2035, and I'm happy with the changes in some of the tracks. Equilibrium was given a major overhaul, in that it was way too busy, too many parts fighting for the spotlight, and too many textures creating total chaos. Allot of that stuff was removed, and I added real drums, since with the addition of heavier guitars, the electronic ones lacked the impact that a drum groove with big fills adds to a track.

I'm taking it very slowly though, since I generally have a tendency to rush things, and that's when mistakes and bad judgement calls happen, and after having this project floating around for some 6 odd years, well, I don't want to ruin it.

Soon when the tracks are closer to what they should sound like, I'll be putting up preview snippets & some youtube videos hopefully. I'm planning to spend the next few weeks (assuming the freak heatwave weather disappears) spending more time working on it though, since I would like to have it wrapped up by December.

I'll also be going back to that Kora project which I was working on during the summer. I shelfed it because I wasn't happy with the overall output & felt like the mixing process was not going the way it should, and that it be best I leave it for awhile and come back to it with a fresh perspective. Audio Engineering work can be a very unforgiving process, especially when you're working on materials on your own. It's easier when the artist and producers are there, and they give you a solid picture of what needs to be done... Whereas when you're acting as producer, arranger, engineer, and a contributing musician, it becomes very hard to do solid work, since you play the role of all those people, and all those people usually have conflicting ideas, and somewhere, balance and harmony is brought by compromise, which happens by working with others... whereas on your own, that doesn't always necessarily happen....

The pic posted is a snapshot from my Log notes for the FTA sessions, some of you may find it interesting... Others will just see a bunch of scribbles on a piece of paper. For those of you whom have not listened to my second album "Failure To Adjust", I suggest you hop on over to Reverbnation.com and give it a good listen to.

Till the next time,

DFZ

September - Seasons of Change

Hey All,

Sorry for not keeping this blog up, but to be honest I've had very little to post about.

I hope you all had enjoyable summers, I wish I could say mine was good, but it really wasn't...

I've kept busy with Duduk, and other little things here and there. I've also  been practicing like crazy on guitar... It's actually been a year, maybe more since I've played this much. I've fallen into that state allot of musicians find themselves in.... Wondering what's the point of devoting yourself to something & in the end achieving nothing. But I've been trying to stay more positive and motivate myself to keep trudging forward.

I've officially started work on 2035.

I re-strung my white ESP with DR Drop Tune strings, Gauge .12-.60, and have tuned it to a variation of Drop A tunning. Allot of the tracks on 2035 are fairly heavy, and I did the demo tracks with .10-.42 strings and naturally they lacked the depth and punch that this new set of strings and tunning is bringing to the fold.

Thus far I've been tracking everyday, and hope to have the album wrapped up within the next 4 months. I could probably finish it sooner... But after sitting on something for nearly 6 years... well... seems stupid to rush it and spoil it.

It's actually been fun to re-visit my old work from that long ago... see how i've grown and changed as a guitar player and a composer. I definitely did things differently back then. Two of the tracks will actually be from the first EP I ever worked on as DREAMFULLOFZEN, but never released (It was very rough around the edges!).

Also I'll be adding 2-3 new pieces that I've done, which are definitely different from my previous works.

There will be plenty of guitar to keep my guitar based fans happy, but there will also be allot of Duduk, and some other Middle Eastern Touches here and there... We'll see how it goes as the recording process moves along.

I might actually do a Youtube studio blog type thing, keeping you all updated with the albums progress.

On non-DFZ related news, I've got work in afew hours.... The new semester begins, as does the Music Programs New Music Technology Degree! I'm only teaching Guitar this semester though, which is good, because I'll have more free time to work on my album.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to check out my Youtube Channel, My Reverbnation fan page & Facebook.

Also, check out my website www.dreamfullofzen.net for the latest updates & new sections!

regards,

DFZ

Echoes of Rain - Past & Present

Hey All,

For those of you keeping up with my info, you'll know that i'm climbing up the charts over at Reverbnation.

The song in question is one of my own personal favorites and is a fan favorite aswell. The piece in question is "Echoes of Rain", and is from the "Silent Echoes" album.

Generally music is interesting in how it unfolds, and changes over the time, in reflection of the artist and their art so to speak. The piece has changed a fair amount, as my musicianship increased, and I guess from being in the moment with an audience and taking that improvisational leap into the unknown.

The first video from when I was working on the piece for the album (2007)


A performance at The American University Of Cairo, New Cairo Campus, Malak Gabr Theatre


And finally, a Private performance for you all, 2010, With a proper audio recording of how I play the piece now with all the sounds I create using Guitar Rig 3


I'm glad I caught this performance on camera. It was 90 degrees and dry... But as I started to perform this piece, this strong breeze just came out of nowhere.... And seemed to react to my playing intensity... Was a special moment & I'm happy to share it with you all.

ReverbNation

Hey all,

Quick update. I've been focusing more on my web presence & promotion, primarily with ReverbNation, since I'm actually No.6 on the charts for my region!

So for those of you who have blogs, I'd appreciate it if you're a fan if you can place one of these Banners on your page to help promote my music:




To get the code for these, either copy them directly from this post, or to make your life easier, go to this page and pick the ones you want and it'll give you the code:

http://www.reverbnation.com/page_object/page_object_banners/artist_346422

Once again, Thanks guys, you've made a big difference, and your support over the years has been very encouraging & inspiring. There are times where it seems like making a career out of music is a shot in the dark & hopeless, but then every once in awhile, people like yourselves come out & make us realize that anything is possible.

And for those of you who are interested, here's my video for the excellent Shred this 3 competition:


Thanks to Laurie Monk & Brett Garsed for this, The backing track is awesome & i'm going to enjoy practicing on it for many years to come.

Till the next update, keep spreading the word!

DFZ

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.