Inward Strange is an audio projects that aims to create a sound track like sound that is just as comfortable on a home hi-fi system or ipod as it is accompanying other media such as film, television and video games. It aims to provoke certain emotions with its often haunting and atmospheric feel whilst taking the listener on an audio journey.
It was in the year of 2000, as summer was just beginning and my skapunk band had just broken up. We were looking forward to a season of playing gigs in the warm summer evenings and the usual antics that teenagers got up to in this generation. Instead, we were in doors, playing video games and lounging around. A friend of mine introduced me to sequencing software on the computer, a concept unfamiliar to me considering my background in live, guitar based music. That summer, we spent a large proportion of our time playing Worms or co-creating music in a sequencer for fun.
In 2001 I began creating music on my own, taking it a little more seriously and educating myself of the process as I began to learn more about frequencies, software instruments and programming melodies. I used my experience playing live in a band as a basis for what I was learning, already with studio and home eight track recording experience under my belt. It was at this time that I created a track named 'Inward Strange' and decided to adopt this as my digital musical persona.
Between 2001 and 2003 I created a body of work, creating somewhere in the region of 30 tracks, some better than others. My ambition at this time was to create an album and a career in music production. unfortunately, most of these tracks were never heard by anyone and the album went unfinished, part due to the quality and in part most likely due to the lack of confidence in myself at this time in my life.
In 2004 I upgraded my equipment and software and began again creating tracks, but which were more professional in quality. I continued to learn about music production and mastering, also taking part in a course where I gained an insight into the business side of music. By 2005 my interest was shifting towards graphic art and design causing me to lose focus on creating music, leaving me with mostly unfinished tracks. As I started my clothing line in 2006, my attention for creating music had withered completely and most of the music I had created became lost except for a 90 minute cassette tape full of mono recordings and two completed tracks which I had released to the internet.
Over the last few years my mind had toyed with the idea of creating music again, as tunes would appear in my head and ideas would come to me. With having so much work to complete on other projects, I refrained myself, knowing how much time creating music consumed. In 2011 I decided to install professional sequencing software, knowing that I have the best hardware I have ever previously owned due to currently working with high-end graphics. This time I would not suffer from CPU overloads or memory time outs, and was intrigued by the thought of what I could create now. After creating a few tracks in between working on other projects, I have decided to resurrect Inward Strange, and consider it as a serious project. A body of work and brand is intended to be completed in the second half of 2012. Visit the Inward Strange project page here.