French House Tutorial

A tonne of people have asked me if i could make a tutorial on how to make 'French House'. So i felt compelled to get this finished!

Enjoy!

Attack the (writers) Block

I'm not the first and i will surely not be the last to experience it; writers block is the bane of many creatives in the search for creating new exciting things.

For me this all feels really strange. For the last year i have been rather prolific in creating new songs, EP's, and Albums! Maybe i've been burning the candles at both ends and in the words of Blade Runner; 'The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long.'

A few things that i know effect the way i work is the pressure of social media, and also the need for the 'perfect scenario' for working. When i say perfect scenario, i mean the right conditions such as being in the right mood, not being tired etc.
Back to social media; i feel a lot of pressure to respond to people on Facebook and read all my tweets on Twitter etc, and this although sounding trivial can still add a lot of unnecessary pressure. Perhaps i may just have to start being a bit ruthless and ignoring people.

Why is it that the people you have never met, and only talk to via computers; can actually stress you out! Its mad how affected we've become by modern technology, perhaps i need to do a tech cleanse :P


ramblings over

OL out

One of my favorite tracks i've written in the last 6 months; THE ROAD WARRIOR

When i first set out on making my Mad Max themed album 'The Road to Fury'; i had no idea how well it would be received! It was purely just a project that i personally wanted to see if i could complete.

I started and finished the album within 8 days, and that included getting it sent off and published on iTunes and a few other digital distribution sites.

One of the first tracks to be completed and also one which helped guide the whole sound and style of the album was the track 'The Road Warrior'. The track is of course a direct homage to the classic Mad Max films of the 80s.

A funny thing about my album is that i didn't get to properly listen to the album on monitor speakers until a few weeks after it was published, and the final adjustments i had to make using my bog standard iPhone headphones; so hearing it back now i am so glad it sounds as it does!

So although the album was launched back on the 1st of May, it could possibly be my favorite album ive created so far!

You can grab the album here; BANDCAMP

and please have a listen to my favorite track; The Road Warrior

Anger and music writing

The people who know me best know that i'm a rather happy chappy! It's hard for anything to negatively affect my mood in a negative way.

However...

There will always be one thing (one girl) that can instantly transport me to a place where my entire body slowly fills back with uncontrollable hate. Even a slight glimpse of a picture or even the mention of their name can take me back to one specific hate filled moment.

Funnily enough though this is something i have been known to activate on purpose. And that purpose is when i need some music writing inspiration!

I found a long time ago that i can truly funnel these pure emotive feelings and turn them into powerful and emotive tracks. Writing music is usually meant to be a fun and happy thing to do, but if in doubt GET MAD :)

Straight outta somewhere!

My new album has been out for a few days now, four out of the eleven tracks are available to check out on Soundcloud right now;









and of course the album itself is available here; BANDCAMP

New album out tomorrow!

As you may remember, i released a single called 'Take Your Time' around 4 months ago. The track was a funky new approach style wise for me, and due to the response i got from it i decided to push the idea a bit further and create a whole future funk album!

Alongside the 8 new tracks there will be 3 remixes by Volt Age, Stereospread and EAR.

Keep an eye out for more details tomorrow!

Here is the finalized album artwork that i created;

The flattery of piracy!

Today i found that my album 'The Road to Fury' is available on multiple torrent sites, uploaded by a few different people. Now you would assume that this would annoy me; however, i could not think of a better compliment!
The fact that i have made something that people deem worth pirating means that i must be doing something right.
There have always been milestones that i wanted to breach with my music, the first was to be listed on iTunes, the second was to make a noticeable profit, and finally to be pirated!
Now it seems i need to set a few more and carry on enjoying the ride!


-Just in case you might wonder why i am fine with my album being pirated, i shall elaborate;

Piracy has become a strange thing for the music and film industry, many big companies use the stats from torrent sites to gauge popularity of products/films/music/etc.
For instance; Netflix uses the stats from sites such as the Pirate Bay to gauge which films and tv shows they should host through their service. The amount of seeders and leechers of a pirate file acts as a very realistic measure of how popular something is. No more surveys, or focus groups.

One of my favorite artists and musicians; Trent Reznor, openly suggested pirating his albums due to the high cost of them in certain countries. These high costs were set by his record label.
Other artists in the past have even sent out blank cd's to fans so they could burn their albums.
Metallica famously released an album with some of the songs being lower quality than the copies ripped from the sound libraries of Guitar Hero!

Nature finds a way, but piracy finds it faster!

rant over :)

Occams Laser over and out!

So earlier todayi hit 80,000 plays on Soundcloud, and as well as that  i also just hit 30,000 followers on Twitter! 
So HOLY SHIT! 
i have no words...
As a small token of my appreciation; my latest EP is now 'Name your price' on bandcamp so please go help yourself to a free slice of love!

OCCAMS LASER BANDCAMP

Happy Independence Day America!

Happy Independence Day to all you Yanks and Yankettes!
As a gesture of good will from Britain, all of my music till 7/7 will be 50% off with the code 'independence' at the checkout smile emoticon Obviously this gesture is open for anyone and not just the U.S. 
Now go any enjoy yourselves, you filthy animals! 

BANDCAMP!

Poster design and new logo

Today marks a whole year of my Occams Laser logo's creation!
So to honor how well it has served me i am upgrading it and also have made a movie poster to accompany a new era of Occams Laser!

The design was made purely on my iPad using the brushes3 app. No fancy filters, no magical template, just good old fashioned paint skills and a bit of time.

The tagline 'Dubstep is a disease. Meet the cure.' is a homage to the similar tagline from the film 'Cobra'.

This may also be used as a promo for my next EP/Album.

New Tron themed compilation album!

Check out the new Tron themed compilation album by Retro Promenade, with not one but two tracks by Occams Laser!!!
Oh, and its name your price, so grab it for the always amazing price of FREE

Its been a few weeks since i launched my album 'The Road o Fury' and i thought it was about time to hack back to the past and create an 80s style commercial for it!!




Album available at these digital stores;
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the...
https://occamslaser.bandcamp.com/albu...
https://soundcloud.com/occams-laser

Also come and follow me
https://twitter.com/occams_laser_
https://www.facebook.com/occamslaserband

"Law and order has begun to break down following the major energy crisis. Motorcycle gangs scavenge the lands and terrorize the population. As such, Main Force Patrol, an out-run police force, has been created to patrol the lands and uphold the remains of law and justice. 

Soon only one driver remains, Max Rockatansky. This man, through vengeance and circumstance is destined to become…The Road Warrior" 

========================================­====== 

The Road to Fury is my tribute album to Mad Max! 
All tracks written, produced, performed and mastered by Tom Stuart (Occams laser). 

After getting hyped up about the upcoming new Mad Max film 'Fury Road' i decided to make a dedicated tribute album. This project has taken two weeks to complete all 13 tracks. 
There are three dedicated vocal tracks, a couple of narrative style tracks and a whole bunch of synthesized goodness!
credits
released 01 May 2015 

All tracks are named after people, places, quotes and phrases from George Miller's dystopian world of Mad Max. 

A special thanks of course to George Miller as well as DRIVE Radio, Neon Droid, Straktobeam, Renz Wilde, EAR, Stereospread, Lapses, Karate King records, Distrokid, Retro Promenade, and everyone else who has been supportive of my work so far!

A possible new logo, based on the Hotline Miami theme

Some of you may have heard my 80s ballad 'Take your Time'; however it has just been stepped up to a whole new level by the amazing Volt Age.
His rework injects so much funk, love and fun into the track! So go check it out -

The Road to Fury!

"Law and order has begun to break down following the major energy crisis. Motorcycle gangs scavenge the lands and terrorize the population. As such, Main Force Patrol, an out-run police force, has been created to patrol the lands and uphold the remains of law and justice.

Soon only one driver remains, Max Rockatansky. This man, through vengeance and circumstance is destined to become…The Road Warrior"

==============================================

The Road to Fury is my tribute album to Mad Max!
All tracks written, produced, performed and mastered by Tom Stuart (Occams laser).

After getting hyped up about the upcoming new Mad Max film 'Fury Road' i decided to make a dedicated tribute album. This project has taken two weeks to complete all 13 tracks.
There are three dedicated vocal tracks, a couple of narrative style tracks and a whole bunch of synthesized goodness!

Released 01 May 2015

The album is out now on Spotify/iTunes/Rdio/Deezer/Amazon/Bandcamp and even Tidal :P 9there is a link to bancamp below)

All tracks are named after people, places, quotes and phrases from George Miller's dystopian world of Mad Max.

A special thanks of course to George Miller as well as DRIVE Radio, Neon Droid, Straktobeam, Renz Wilde, EAR, Stereospread, Lapses, Karate King records, Distrokid, Retro Promenade, and everyone else who has been supportive of my work so far!

Big reveal!

Okay screw it i cant hold back any more! Here is the reveal;
My album due for release next Friday (1st of May) is a MAD MAX inspired concept album! This is in celebration of the upcoming film 'Mad Max; Fury Road'.
Although i like the original scores of the first three films they needed a bit more oomph! So consider it an alternative, with more outrun flavor, more synthesizers, and maybe a few vocals chucked in for good measure wink emoticon 
At this current moment there are 12 tracks all with titles inspired by the world of Mad Max with a run-time of roughly 45 minutes. Here is the title and album artwork i cooked up to start your juices flowing -

Straktobeam

Some of you may remember around a year ago (back when i had just started making music under Occams Laser) i made a remix for a band called Straktobeam! The track was called 'Midnight Run' and to date this was by far the most fun track i have had the pleasure of creating. The combination of an already amazing track as well as an equally awesome group of people; made this a bit of a landmark for me.
It is safe to say that if i had not have attempted that remix, i would probably not be in the position i am now!

A year on, and i am proud to present another remix that i have made for Straktobeam, this time it is their new track 'Melange'. I wanted this remix to be a surprise for the band, so i made the remix from scratch, working out the notes and trying to capture the essence of the original but with my own 80s spin.
Who knows, in another year i may create another remix for them! Until then, enjoy my remix of Melange by Straktobeam;

New Single out NOW!

'Take Your Time' is a smooth sensual 80s style super ballad about not rushing relationships and waiting for the right moment....Cliche?? Never!!

Written, produced, performed and publicized all from my log-cabin!

You can buy the track from iTunes

or you can watch the official music video here--->

Better late than never

I forgot to say a few weeks back about the locations you can now buy and listen to my latest EP...MNEMONIC POSSESSION

Amazon

Google Play

Youtube

Bandcamp

The EP is also available on iTunes, Deezer, Rdio and a few other digital music vendors!
Thank you so far for all the amazing support! This EP has been the most fun so far to make!

The Privilege of thinking differently

Now of course most people who will stumble upon this blog will be here because this blog is linked to the music making side of my life. And whilst it is of course true that making music is one of my biggest passions in life, i don't make music because i want to, i do it because i have to!

Let me explain;

For the last 4 or 5 years i have become increasingly aware that my brain struggles to shut off, and even though it might sound egotistical in some ways; i know that throughout my life i have never met anyone who truly can understand how i think.
Im an only child, something i am very glad of, although i am of course biased to this opinion i feel that being extremely comfortable existing as a singular person and not someones brother or sister grants an extra boost in mental stability. I also think that it lends very well to the idea that only children are much happier when left to their own devices and can make use of alone time to a higher level.
For instance; if you leave me on my own for a few hours with my keyboard and laptop, i will start, write and finish a composition. But if you have someone else in the room at the same time, it is likely that this will slow down my progress. This isn't saying that i cant work well with others, but rather that i am happier solving problems on my own for the reason that there is much more reward when the success isn't shared :)

Its very true that i have never tried to be the best academically in my life, i scrapped through my a-levels and only applied to one university which i got into and then scrapped a 2:2. But this is based mostly on the fact that i have always enjoyed absorbing information in a more natural sense. If you have a tutor or teacher that are telling you what to learn and how to learn it; then there is much less incentive to accept and retain that knowledge. However finding a passion and then improving that passion through your own methods of information gathering and self teaching - can provide something much more worthwhile.

All of this is linked to having a brain that wont shut off. My coping mechanism is to channel my over active synaptic's into something i have chosen to be my passion, and as it was chosen it also means that the outcomes and successes give much bigger rewards. Meaning that the more i create the more rewarding it becomes!

This is why i quit my job to make music.

Tom / Occams Laser