If you follow me, you know I have four different musical projects. It’s hard saying, but I think my favorite might be A Cult of Lies.
Here’s the first album from 2021.
First, here are the four projects:
- Dan Steven Erickson: This is me and the name I use for my singer-songwriter work. And I’ve done a serious amount of songwriting over the years. You can hear some of my demos on the songs page.
- Anderhill: I began to experiment with electronic music about 10 years ago. I did several projects of both songwriting and instrumental albums. But that was the learning stage. I scrapped about three years of work and started Anderhill in 2018 as an experimental electronic music project.
- The OWG: Although Anderhill’s sound does include some drums and beats, I created The OWG for my music that is built and driven by electronic drum programming. I’ve even considered rapping to this music. OWG stands for “old white guy” and the name was given to me by one of my daughter’s friends. I haven’t done much work as The OWG lately.
- A Cult of Lies: Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the difference between A Cult of Lies and Anderhill. I think the distinct sounds are still developing. At the start, A Cult of Lies was a darker and noisier sound. But it’s grown into something different. A Cult of Lies is often darker than Anderhill, but not always noisier. The sound is becoming more drone-based and the compositions longer.
Here’s why A Cult of Lies might be my favorite.
The most recent albums by A Cult of Lies are great to listen to. I’ll list and link all of the albums below. The most recent works are dark yet soothing. They are deep and relaxing, meditative. The first two albums were a bit different, more noisy, but time has led to a more distinct “Cult of Lies” sound beginning to form.
I can listen to A Cult of Lies while doing other projects without distraction. The music can help me to sleep. There is a droning and meditative feel that is subtly different than anything else I’m doing. While much of Anderhill’s music shares this quality, I’m slowly working toward making more distinctions between the two musical projects.
A Cult of Lies Albums to date and the future.
- 2024: Falling in and out of Consciousness
- 2022: Collapse
- 2022: The Beauty of Infinite Sadness
- 2021: Everything You’ve Ever Dreamed Is Possible
- 2021: He Called Himself Michael the Archangel but He Was Born to Destroy
I’ll continue to produce music as A Cult of Lies. Sometimes, I think A Cult of Lies could become my primary work. But for now it’s still a side project.
The production of music without words is most rewarding to me. There are less expectations. When I write songs as a songwriter, there’s a bigger part of “me” in them, and that part of me wants to be heard. But in today’s world of music, getting your music to a large audience is tough. So, traditional songwriting can become discouraging and feels like it’s all being done in vain.
It’s not the same with experimental and ambient music. I don’t care who listens to it. In fact, I probably listen to my work as A Cult of Lies more than anyone else does. I have no definitive plans for the next album, maybe another one in 2024, maybe 2025? I often release the work as singles and then work those into an album. I’ve got several potential projects underway, but A Cult of Lies might just be my favorite. – dse
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