So anyway, back to my record

I have gone through hell and back making this record. I wouldn't say that the making of it had anything to do with it per se, but the time within which it is being made certainly applies.

I have gone through manic depression, heartbreak, heartache, heartburn, insomnia, abject poverty, loneliness, fear, anxiety, anger, confusion, despair, elation, joblessness, near homelessness, near death, suicidal tendencies, agoraphobia, toxic poisoning, become a stalker, been stalked, been hacked, hacked back, learned C++, learned MySQL, written a forty five page marketing plan and filled out three grant applications, written two screenplays, lost all hope, gained total faith, lost the love of my life, lost the road, found it again and again and again, become an alcoholic, quit smoking, restarted, spent my last five bucks on a homeless person, not been able to ask for the same, made new friends, lost those friends, haven't played a show at a club but have played one a thousand times in my living room or bathroom, and when Joe Ayoub came to track bass there was a fire in my building and we stayed inside while the building burned and waited until the sirens stopped so we could start recording.

Why am I telling you all this? Because since the breakup I have opened up the sessions again and started laying down material like never before, and it's gone 3D. The process has taken me back to the initial spark for each of these songs. The words are significant to me again, and the musical passages all have context anew. Every part of me that died when Blue Dog Pict did, and when Danny took his life and when all the other bad shit happened, has also died and has been reborn in a much stronger iteration.

I do not write this with blind bravado - every single step has been an arduous lesson, and I am now observing the benefit of walking the whole path, and not ever having opted for the shortcuts. Every book, every lover, every heartbreaking fucking night of my life is in this and wow, when you finally sit back and just watch, the Universe rolls in ecstasy at your feet.