If you’ve been following me awhile, you’ve probably watched me go from writing books to minimalism to ambient music to songwriting. You might wonder what’s going on. Can’t I focus on one thing? I ask myself that same question sometimes.
However, here’s the deal. I’ve been a songwriter forever. So my direction toward writing about, and sharing my work as a songwriter is really simply me becoming who I really am. As for minimalism, well, it wasn’t just a phase, it’s just not a primary focus. I always have and always will apply some minimalist principles to living.
So What About Anderhill and Ambient Music?
That’s a good question, and I’m sorry but I don’t have an absolute answer. I turned to writing ambient and drone music as a break from traditional songwriting.
I’d been writing songs for more than 30 years and I was a little burned out. I’d also started experimenting with electronic music programming around 2015. Those experiments went from some pretty crappy song demos to composing unique and interesting ambient and drone music.
Creating ambient music was also a great pastime during Covid.
So why did I stop? Simple. The songwriting bug bit again. I haven’t composed much ambient music since early 2024. Before that I was creating a plethora of LPs, EPs, and singles. Here’s a short review of my three electronic music projects:
- Anderhill is my first electronic project. It’s mostly a project of experimental electronic music that plays with a variety of genres, including ambient, drone, house, and even Neo-classical.
- A Cult of Lies was created when I made an album that was much darker than anything I’d ever composed as Anderhill. It felt different. So A Cult of Lies became the name for a darker ambient and drone-based project.
- The OWG is reserved for my electronic work that is more “beat” focused. While A Cult of Lies used few drums, and Anderhill may or may not use beats, A Cult of Lies rarely uses beats at all. The OWG (Old White Guy) is my project for playing with drum programming.
The Future of My Ambient Music Projects
It’s probable that I’ll compose more ambient music in the future. I might even do one or two new projects this year. But currently I’m focusing on songwriting, and particularly in the Blues genre. Who knows, maybe I’ll move to Mississippi, work into the blues clubs in Memphis, and never look back.
However, even if I dabble in performing the blues, it might not become my life’s calling. And I might not want to live just south of Memphis. I might rather choose somewhere further West and quieter.
I’ve always had the idea of doing a project that combines ambient music and photography in the Great Plains. Who knows? – dse
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