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 :)

Proof of Trends being rather an evil tool!

As im sure most of you know; 'trends' nowadays decide on what news is actually seen and heard.
if something doesnt 'trend' then it slips into obscurity.

The fact that if i mention the trending topics of the day such as; the Denver Bronco's, The Baltimore Ravens, President Obama and his Nobel peace prize rumors, LEGO, Taylor Swift and Ryan Adams, Caitlyn Jenner, Pamela Anderson, Baywatch, The Gold Federal Reserve system, and even goddamn spider bites.... Now this blog post is something stupid like 10000% more likely to be found and read.

Isn't is slightly sad that the attention of the every day internet consumers of this world (me included) have their content from the internet completely swayed by a few buzz words.
The slightly more worrying fact is that there are hugely more important things that should be the most discussed words and phrases, such as War, Famine, World Hunger, but these dont generate such tasty profits for the wealthy sadly...



Anyway! Rant over, i just hate when the internet makes tools of us all.

Oh yes, that's right; NEW ALBUM PLANS

As I've mentioned before in the past; my plan for this year was to try and release an album or EP every month for the entire year. Its the 9th month of the year and I've released 3 albums and 4 EP's, so although i haven't quite hit that target, i still think that I've been prolific enough :)

A few other side projects and smaller ventures have accidentally taken priority recently which meant i have had to step back from my usual music making. HOWEVER, i am happy to be back fully into music mode and i'm aiming to release another full album very soon.

I've decided to fully listen to fan response from all of my previous releases which has led to the decision to make a new full power Outrun album, with heavy dark tones, tonnes of energy and a more EDM feel to some of the tracks. The 80s flavor is still the main focus of course but i know that what people react to best is meatier songs with some real balls!

The album title as of right now is going to be.....WITNESS ME.
Some of the tracks that i can release the names of include;
-Rise
-Witness Me
-Valhalla

More will be added to this list very soon and i would hope for a minimum 10 tracks before i let it loose into the wild.

Thanks again for all of your continued support.

Tom / Occams Laser

More new stuff!!!

I haven't released a music video in a while, so to rectify this; here is a nice 80s-style-lyric-based -music-video that i knocked together this afternoon for my track 'Look Into Your Eyes' from the 'Take Your Time' LP which you can purchase here; BANDCAMP

Tips N Tricks with Occams Laser - Episode 3 (Music Distribution)

Its that time again!
The third in my Tips 'N' Tricks tutorials series; this episode delves into the depths of getting your music distributed without the need for using a label.
Let me know what you think, and what you'd like in the next video.
And of course it would be awesome if you re-shared this and subscribed to my Youtube channel :)