I recently did a pretty in-depth interview for the WVRockscene blog. We discuss tons of stuff including how I got started with Mega Beardo, awesome vintage gaming memories, and my other website MovieBeards.com, as well as my upcoming albums (including "Ledjent of Zelda" and my acoustic album "UnMega" that I'll be dropping next week.)
So sit down with your beverage of choice, and check it out!
After a while of throwing around ideas and seeing what sticks, I have decided that my next Mega Beard album will be "The Ledjent of Zelda," which is a djent-style cover album of the soundtrack to the original Zelda game on the NES. Expect this to be like my Mega Man 2 album, in which I take the original themes, metal-ize them, re-arrange them, and add my own material on top of it. If you don't know what djent is, then either look it up on wikipedia or listen to Meshuggah.
You may be aware that the original Zelda soundtrack only has a few short songs, so expect this to be a short E.P. of around 20 or 25 minutes. Honestly, after the insane amount of work I put into making Belmont (which was 70 minutes long), I just wanted to record something with a quicker turn-around time.
I'll try to do some video updates along the way, but expect this to drop in the later part of 2012. Here's a short video to give you an idea as to what "The Ledjent of Zelda" will sound like:
After many requests, I have made my random NES remixes more easily available for download at my bandcamp site. I'm lumping these into a compilation called "Extra Lives." Any non-album Mega Beardo remixes I do in the future -- and I plan to do one pretty soon -- will be available at this location. Of course, they are free, or you can choose to donate (which I greatly appreciate). So click the link or the album cover to be taken to the Mega Beardo "Extra Lives" bandcamp site!
I played a Mega Beardo set as part of the Morgantown stop of the Rainbowdragoneyes/Roniit tour. Check out footage of the entire 20-minute set below, including my versions of the Battletoads theme and "Heart of Fire" from Castlevania, as well as my 11-minute Mega Man 2 medley.
It feels good to get that custom Nintendo guitar some live action!
With all the craziness and lack of sleep surrounding my release of Belmont, I forgot to post the official video for the single! The video for "The Mysterious Works of Dr. Frankenstein" offers a parallel between the 1931 film Frankenstein and myself as a mad scientist creating a "frankensteined" guitar out of an NES. It was a blast to put together; I even got to do stop motion animation of myself getting possessed by a Power Glove! So check it out for yourself and let me know what you think:
Christopher Earls over at gamefira.comput together a nice write-up of my latest album Belmont. Check out the article, and while you're at it, check out the awesome content that Gamefira has to offer. Chris Earls and Brian Williams have developed a pretty sweet community for gamers to write articles, share their game collections, and discuss anything gaming-related, modern or vintage. Keep up the good work, guys!
Since the release of Belmont, I've been keeping a somewhat low profile on the creative front. It took 16 months of writing, demoing, re-writing, recording, and editing to get that whole thing together. So you can understand when I say I have had no interest of being in that type of mindset for the last three months. Though, I have tried; I have an acoustic E.P. that I would love to get finished. On the other hand, I've rather enjoyed getting a normal amount of rest, catching up on some much-needed gaming, and spending time with family and friends. Keep in mind, I am a full-time teacher, and I go to grad school. Free time has been at a premium.
With that said, here is what I have planned for the coming year (kind of in order of priority):
1. Recording guest vocals on a new 3-Hole Face track. If you recall, 3-Hole Face is an industrial metal band for which I played rhythm guitar from 2001-2004. We disbanded in 2004, but Terry Smith (who mixed and mastered both Mega Beardo albums) wrote a butt-ton of new 3-Hole Face tunes on his own. He plans to enlist a bunch of his friends to lend guest vocals on the tracks. It's odd to record guest vocals for a band in which I was just the rhythm guitarist, but I'm also having a lot of fun putting ideas together. I'm working on this track now, but I'm not sure when (or how) Terry plans to release this album. It's good stuff, though. Real good.
2. Finishing my acoustic EP. This thing is probably 85% written at this point. I basically just need to write lyrics for one more song. There will be either 6 or 7 tracks. If you like the track "Simon" from the Belmont album, this stuff will be up your alley. This won't be a Mega Beard album since it isn't based on a Nintendo game. However, I will say there is one track that is written about a game, but it would be hard to figure that out unless I told you what it was. Realistically, I plan to have this on my bandcamp site in March. 3. Recording the new Descension Rate album. We officially released our album "Creatures of Discordia" on December 10, 2011. This was the first part of a two-part concept album based on Stephen King's sprawling Dark Tower series. We have a couple of shows to play this month, so we'll probably get recording finished in February and hopefully get the thing released by the end of the summer.
4. Making another music video for Belmont. In October 2011, I made a music video for "The Mysterious Works of Dr. Frankenstein," and I had so much fun putting that thing together. It was my first official "short film," if you will. I may try to make another music video, I may not. I would definitely love to, but I would need to come up with another cool idea. It's kind of hard to beat mad scientists and Nintendo guitars.
5. More Mega Beardo music, dammit! I do have plans to do another guitar instrumental tribute for another Nintendo game, but I don't want to dive into that quite yet. I would like to do a couple of one-off tracks first, much like what I did with the Battletoads theme or "Heart of Fire" from Castlevania.
I've been quite busy this year. In addition to my solo album Belmont getting released, I have also been busy with my blackened death metal band Descension Rate. We have written a two-part album based on Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The first part Creatures of Discordia is now available! Seven tracks at about 35 minutes. Check it out from our bandcamp site:
My new album "Belmont" is finally released! You can download the 9-track,
70-minute long album from beardomusic.bandcamp.com for just $7. You can choose your favorite
high-quality format (MP3 320kbps, FLAC, or even AAC for you iTunes
people). Enjoy the album, and I really do appreciate the support! This
has been my dream project for a long time.
I plan to have 100 copies of the physical CD printed by the end of the month, so if you would be interested in grabbing one of those while they last, shoot me an email.
Courtesy of the ridiculously talented Brian Pickens, I present to you the cover art for my album "Belmont."
Excited yet? I know I am. Recording is finished, and the artwork is finished. I'm just waiting to get the final mixes back.
"Belmont" is almost here. I know I didn't adhere to my original release date of October 31, but there were just too many obstacles that got in the way. Hang tight for a couple of more days. In the meantime, I've been working on a music video for "The Mysterious Works of Dr. Frankenstein," which will surely get your ghost.
