Hey, Frank here with another installment of Inside The Daякcнip Mind. This time I had the opportunity to get hold of an album a few weeks before its release, but, even after that first listening, I didn’t realize how great it truly was till I put it on my phone & spent some quality time with it, looping the music while going on random walks. The album has a very intense overall feel, with the layers of vocals & bass being pretty damn intense as well. The album & artist I speak of is Solid State Diaster‘s newest release ‘My Skin So Thin.’
The appeal of this album is its originality & flow. Each track is unique, but the overall intense tone is always present. Like I said earlier it really “popped” out more for me when I listened to it on headphones & was walking through the woods. The album gave my walk an added feeling of a journey of sorts & it wasn’t one of those cheesy Hobbit journeys either haha. The album somehow manages to have that effect of feeling like one big mix, yet its 7 tracks connect together extremely well.
The first track is a great intro with some HARD hitting bass that hits you to the core, with the effect being amplified when the vocals come in at :24. Following that is a standout track called ‘A Million Miles.’ This tune is full with very catchy leads & vocals, all with a strong beat to back it up. Listening to ‘A Million Miles’ on headphones makes you feel like you just walked into Bladerunner. The true unique grit sound really peaks as this song constantly builds, then tears straight into ya.
Then next you know you’re on to the track ‘SLIFD‘ with some grimy-ass drums that melt into a twisting type of lead at :12 that’s oh-so haunting! While this whole album is sub-woofer candy, this track hits like a prize fighter & the layers of vocals he lays over it fits like a fighter’s glove. Not too over-produced like some electronic music with vocals, this is definitely on my list of favorite releases this summer!
I was lucky enough to sit down and chat with Solid State Disaster about this great release and that interview continues below:
Frank – What was your main inspiration for this album & what where the main “tools” you used to compose such a great work?!
Solid State Disaster – Thank you for the complement. After I figured out that the chipmusic format was the sound that I wanted to work in, which was a whole process in itself because I hadn’t written any music in almost 4 years, I then had to find out what my sound was going to be. While I love the way most chip artists use the format to make video gamey sounding tracks, I have always been a song writer, and I couldn’t see myself writing real chiptune stuff with lyrics, I would be totally lame. So I really had to be careful with the way my tracks developed, the second it started going in a direction that sounded nostalgic in any shape or fashion, I would erase it and start over. I think my main tool would be my life, there is a lot of autobiographic content in this album. I am a really bad sit down and write sort of artist, I am much more the ‘wait until I am about to explode’ artist, where the only option is for me to create, or have a big fat meltdown.
Frank – That totally explains the unique sound of your album. It sounds like you had a goal because this album sounds a little bit different than the version you sent me a few months back (which I also enjoyed).
Solid State Disaster – Yeah, I did a lot of post production to it too. Not only did I want the writing process to be different, I wanted the final product to really stand on it’s own. I used the early versions to gauge peoples enthusiasm for the project, and a lot of great insight came out of the process.
Frank – I saw you opened for Melt-Banana a while back?! When do you plan on playing next?
Solid State Disaster – The Melt-Banana show was so cool, I felt totally honored to be a part of it. It was cool to be in a room full of people who are still into “experimental” music, so I really found a new audience there. I still have some shows booked for the summer, but the one I am looking most forward to is Little Sounds Assembly!!! I am excited to be a part of it this year, I missed it last year because I was out of town. I think Noah has started a great environment for our type of music, and I am excited to finally meet you, we have only been talking for almost 2 years on the interwebs.
Frank – Yesss!! Last year was a blast & I really cant wait for this year, finally get to meet A LOT of people I’ve been meaning to the past few years of doing this! Well thank you for taking the time to answer these few questions & I cant wait to kick it with ya and hear this album live!
Solid State Disaster – I can’t wait to preform it for you, and hopefully I will have some new ones to bring out this time.
