Dinobabies rose to No. 1 as the best-selling classical/orchestral album on Bandcamp for 2 weeks in August 2020, with “Name Your Price” sales ranging from $5 to $350/copy over the course of the freemium period.

I am very excited to present this song I wrote to burning old bridges to build new ones. This album includes tracks designed to function as:

A concert work
A ring tone
A timer alarm or alarm clock
A beginner piano/celesta/xylophone study
A diss song
A love song
A friendship song
A parting song
A tribute to the American Museum of Natural History and Audobon society
A post-trebeck jeopardy closing tune (kidding)
A karaoke track
A fun song to sing
A fun piece to play
A fun work to choreograph

More importantly, it is a test project on the iPhone XR UX and UI for assessing the viability of Notion and GarageBand vs the Desktop versions. That’s right! Everything you hear was created on my mobile phone. The Desktop versions are far more versatile for accomplishing more polished music, but it was interesting to see just how much would be possible with existing tech.

So, I think about a lot when I create, but this was a big challenge. I often express through art at times when I feel like I need to make a mark on the world before I die. Took me less than a day after leaving the hospital for 2 weeks to almost get hit by a cyclist and get put right back in. And it happened to be somebody I knew (or so I thought). 2020 is weird times as we all know. Muses still have a way of crossing our path when we least expect them.

A little background on the title: during the pandemic, I have been bonding with nature more than people these days: birds in particular (*ahem* corona). However, my “bird” phase as a composer is a little less Messiaenic and more like “Dustin Growick meets Jurassic Park”... What can I say? I learn a lot from him. Nonetheless, a lot has happened this season around these two bridges. Many a protester walked these routes, and choosing which bridge to cross on foot brought me much consternation. There’s a saying “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Well, I came to two bridges and couldn’t decide which to cross. Nonetheless, NYC made that decision for me. So, I crossed the bridge where people gathered outside my window by the hundreds and shouted #BlackLivesMatter and #NoJusticeNoPeace. I left the other bridge alone, where a man disrupted the entire city in a suicide attempt over 2 cigarettes i.a.

This is a tough city. It’s a rough country. And worldwide, it’s still scary times with the coronavirus. I think it’s healthy for me to remind my own self that what has yet to kill me has made me stronger: psychologically and emotionally. Many people and things have tried to take my life in recent years, but police have yet to be any one of them. I’m grateful to be alive.

Enjoy the music!

#musicianlife