My vision for Psychanaut

Psychanaut is firstly the name of the recording project we’re working on -  it incorporates a few songs I’ve written alone and a lot of songs co-written with Brian.  These tunes were recorded by musicians in Rock Scarlet, as well as with other musicians, and all have a similar theme.

It’s the theme of the songs that’s lead me to explore some ideas outside of putting out just another recording.  I do want to make the songs available individually, but even more importantly,  I am hoping to create a fun audio/visual experience for the website Psychanaut.com that will be like a simplified video game, with atmospheres that change with each song.  It’s a rather ambitious project, and it’s beyond my current programming abilities, so I’m going to need some help with it – but the current batch of songs are all written, many are recorded, and I’ve created a detailed outline of how it should be developed. 

We’ll be re-mixing many of your favorite songs this winter, as well completing as some new ones.

At this time, it feels like Psychanaut is the vehicle that will allow me the most creative expression – and what I’m hoping for is for this project to be a vehicle for the other musicians too, more than we’ve seen in the past.

Many of my lyrics are telling different parts of the same story – so this idea would allow them to be a part of a visual/audio experience.  I’ve wanted to do a rock opera, like The Wall or Tommy, and that idea has morphed into this online one.  But first the songs need to be finished. 

So with that portion in mind, Brian and I are going to spend a lot of time this Winter in the studio getting the recorded songs finished and recording some new ones.   We’ll be posting them as they are completed.

Next, my vision for the live version of Psychanaut will be a project that has the ability to rock as hard as Rock Scarlet, but the skill and finesse to bring the noise level way down for acoustic songs with minimal, very tasty accompaniment (or no accompaniment at all on some songs!)  – And the talent to perform a much more dynamic, creative, varied show. 

This means we’re looking for musicians that are very skilled, dedicated, and musically flexible.  This will probably mean a pretty high turnover in players as we look for the right people. I’m really excited that this project will have the ability to perform some of my Celtic rock tunes like High Roads, as well as do justice to eclectic songs like Egypt Eyes – plus some of the more progressive styles that weren’t possible with the old lineup.  There are so many original songs we could not perform with Rock Scarlet that Psychanaut will do – given the right players.

I’m looking forward to featuring new players in the upcoming tunes and performances.

(Rock Scarlet will be on hiatus the rest of the Winter.)

So for now, it’s back into the studio on these chilly nights!  🙂

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