current news

April :: 6th :: 2009

Time has a way of zooming by and one thing that web sites do is that they remind you of exactly how much time has passed, and in some cases, ahem, how much you have neglected to complete or update… the joy on the other hand is that when you do keep things up today, and finish what you start, you are rewarded with the feeling that, wow, I have accomplished a lot.

In the time that has been since the last time I went behind the scenes here I have moved, started a new chapter in my career, and been a part of a few releases, had my music used on the soprano's and all with out the luxury of an internet connection at home… Yeah, you know that has to be fun for me… One day I am in the city, hosting a weekly radio show, involved in three great musical projects, producing compilations and generally being very productive and having a good time doing it. The next I am thrust into the boondocks, no cable, no DSL, no show, no musical infusion on a daily or even weekly basis, and I have never felt so alone or left out of anything before in my life… unless you count high school and my 20's.

I became a TV junkie and have probably added several notches in my alcoholism belt and certainly let out a few on the belt that holds up my pants. Yay!

The only time I came into my studio was to use the bathroom connected to it… with no internet my window to my old world was gone and thus my transition very hard. Living in one of the most beautiful places I there is you may think shame on me for complaining. But, I will… I am an artist. I need to create and I need an outlet for my creations and I was without one. Things are so spread out around here that finding someone who even listens to some of the same stuff as me was tough, never minding finding anyone who had aspirations to create it with me.

So, I finally ponied up for a satellite connection and at 90 bucks a month I figured that I had better get more out of it than sending imaginary cocktails on facebook. Joy, I am here again.

In the time since I have been offline I have also ventured off into other musical territories… too. This started while in the city and continued up here… some of the benefits to not being bombarded by outside influences allowed me to write in a different style. Like I said, I stopped coming into the studio because it depressed me so I just started playing my guitar on the couch every night till I was nodding off with trying to get that last lick in before succumbing to sleep.

Then work, TV, beer & guitar all over again the next night.

I lost a huge chunk of me over that period. And found some new me, that I was still checking out… So little time alone is not good for the scott… no. Between the lady, the dogs, the cats, everything else… it was hard. Again, shame on me for complaining, I have people and critters that love me… This is good, but again the need to create and share… yeah, you know. Losing most of my free time is still eating away at me, but I will find a way to balance.

It is almost sad what a window to the world looks like to me, but it is what it is.

Now I am back online, got the recording machine back from the tech people, and we move forward. I still have the frightful task of having to reinstall every single application I need, or want, and trying to link files within songs and so much… I will do it. In the mean time I record on my trusty old VS-1680 and capture my licks that way… a new thing for this guitar business… recording it.

Onward and upward - New stuff on the horizon from Green Hay & Stack that I am super stoked about… Keep an eye out for the occasional update.

november :: 18th :: 2005
after nearly two years since the release of their debut album 1.0, cluster balm has unveiled their sophomore effort, entitled instamatic. reflecting the increasing seamlessness of the work of these three talented musicians, instamatic delivers nearly 80 minutes of mature ambient listening.

as with all of cluster balm's work, the music hovers near dark ambient territory, with the occasional splash of pure light for contrast, and combines innovative sound design with a unique orthogonal view of musicality. the sounds range from the lush and delightful strains of red vinyl to the darker but still musical young hyson and root, all the way to the powerful pure-dark imagery of giving thanks.

cluster balm set their sights high with instamatic, and according to the group, has “achieved all they set out to achieve”. give the album a listen today and see if you agree that this is one of the seminal releases of 2005-2006.

september :: 28th :: 2005
so much happening these days it’s hard to take the time to write it all down. I can see that the site has been quite a hotbed of traffic in recent months and I apologize for not keeping things up to date. I guess I’ll start with Organbient radio on Stillstream.com well, maybe I should start with Stillstream.com first. Stillstream.com is one of the only all ambient all the time stations that I know of. We are the only station combining live shows along with 24/7 steaming ambient. One of those live shows is Organbient radio which I host every Thursday at 5:00 pacific 8:00 eastern 01:0 GMT. For three hours each and every week I bring to you some of the best ambient music that is out there. Our roster of ambient artists is unparalleled. We have hundreds of artists that have in essence ‘donated’ their music to us. I say donated because we are a not for profit entity and can not pay royalties for songs played like the big stations can. But unlike big stations we play only ambient music, so all of the artists we play from steve roach to sun dummy are smart enough to see it for the promotional vehicle that it can be. We thank these artists immensely for their support and hope to send new fans their way. You can check out Stillstream by clicking the following link Stillstream.com

in other news the albums by not your average hippy have been experiencing some great sales. We have shipped discs from California to Canada, Moscow to slovakia, Scotland to London. All I can say is thank you for the support. I have poured my heart and soul into these releases and to know that folks are enjoying them is very pleasing. Check back next week as I will be sharing information about one the most exciting (and definitely the longest) compilations in the history of music. Be well friends

febuary :: 07th :: 2005


gee whiz it's been a while since the last update. well lots going on in the last few months. stones has been released on blue water records as well as cluster balm 1.0 going live. both not your average hippy - stones and cluster balm - 1.0 are available for purchase at blue water records. you should check out radioaid who is recently back on the map, for an interview of the man behind not your average hippy. i also want to give props to all the stations for their support of not only my music, but music ambient and independent music in general. i also want to give shouts to dark duck records for putting together the drone download project and making that happen.

july :: 10 :: 2004

welcome back. a lot going on in the last 2 months. as you see from the headlines, i released the not your average hippy record just days ago. i am stoked because the quality of this ep is just great. from the art to the sound of the songs, and the mix of the cd. i want to give props to blue water records for their support and input. i have selected 7 songs, some of the exclusive to be on the ep as a prelude to the double cd that i will drop later this summer. for the last 3 years i have been pretty consistently working on n.y.a.h. tracks and in the last 18 months i have been devoting the majority of my time towards this project. when you are your own worst critic and you are still this stoked about something it says something

in other news things are rooling full speed head with cluster balm. the songs are currently being mastered and i can tell you what - we got some tricks up our sleeve that are going to make the sound of this album fit extremely well with the vibe of the songs. infact this may be one of the best marriges of production, vibe, and sound ever. our first and formost goal with this project was to create something that we would want to hear and i think no, i know we did it. and it was no easy feat considering that we are all pretty critical listeners. ultimately this means that what you put into your deck is going to sound good.
in lofat rhythm syndicate news listeners to the lofat lowdown have heard a handfull of new songs - in the down tempo and ambient dnb arena. be sure to check back soon as we will be updating the lrs page here on lofat.com

may :: 10th :: 2004

greetings - **clusterbalm.com has gone live** yeah, you heard it right. cluster balm is a deep ambient project consisting of myself, darrell from palancar, and jason of gang lu. be sure to check it out peoples. we are putting out hearts and souls into this music, and hope that you all dig it as much as we do. we are still in the process of trying to secure mastering for that project and still meet our july 28th release date. the songs are done, we are now deciding on the final order and selection of songs and artwork. really soon.

may :: 2nd :: 2004

welcome back. we got a lot going on in months to come with the first official nyah (not your average hippy) release on the way from blue water records. we are looking at a five song ep initially and then we'll follow it up with the fatty release. at this point in time there are close to 30 mastered nyah tracks in the can, and i have been diligently going through them selecting tracks for the ep and for the album. personally i am thrilled to be bringing these songs to you. they are a culmination of almost three years of work on the nyah project which has really evolved.

we also got an earth shattering double album from cluster balm in the oven that promises to blow your mind. i am sure i have mentioned cluster balm before. cluster balm is a project of scott from not your average hippy, darrell from palancar, and jason of gang lu. we came together in october of 2003 with the intention of making some super deep, dark, lush music with some tribal influences added here and there. the end result has been mind blowing. the quality of the songs is nothing short of amazing. the volume of work is staggering. currently we are going through the premasters and figuring out what is going to be on the double album. we also have a cluster balm site on the way where you can read a bit about the band and preview some songs. the release date is July 28 2004 so - get ready to open up a couple days on your calendar to get acquainted with the balm.