ADR3-N 2023-09-14 19:12:30

Popped in to say hi! Been a long time!

ADR3-N 2023-09-15 13:04:55

@ChronoNomad A lot has changed! And sorry to hear about your stepdad. That's always rough, especially if you grew close. I loved mine dearly. Still think about him, ten years on plus.

I went military, survived multiple bouts of covid, learned Russian, and retired. Now I'm back home. I put out quite a bit of music and have been enjoying judging NGUAC and NGADM this year (@taintedlogic and I miss you!) as well as putting out a few collabs and commissions. I found myself wondering how old friends from years on were doing and happened upon your review. What a coincidence!

Do you have any hopes for future projects, even if infrequent?

ChronoNomad 2023-09-16 17:42:26

@ADR3-N Mostly, my stepdad was a good husband to my mom, and that was enough. He was never particularly paternal, despite the fact that he'd already had three kids of his own through a previous marriage. That said, he mellowed out a lot when he became a grandfather and subsequently a great grandfather. But yeah, while we clashed early on when I was a headstrong teenager, our relationship had improved quite a bit by the end.

I remember when you came back from Russia, so I know a little bit about your time in the military. I still can't believe that I've managed to dodge the covid bullet, but I've been fully vaccinated regardless. I know a couple of folks who continue to suffer from long-term effects, and it clearly detracts from quality of life.

I miss all my pals from Newgrounds, though it seems like some have moved on and no longer visit. Such is the march of time. It's great to see that you guys are still hustling and keeping those awesome music contests alive, but it took me a single outing to realize that the drama was way more than I ever expected. It also didn't help that I was presented with the non-option of "take over or it won't happen." The whole experience left a pretty sour taste in my mouth, unfortunately. Despite all the amazing people and projects that come to light, there's a real dark side to the music industry, too. SSDD, I guess.

I always have hopes for future projects! Even contemplated doing the whole YouTube or Twitch stream, but nah. I've witnessed a lot of people getting burned out doing that. But hey, music is tattooed in my soul, and I would never ignore a breath of inspiration. Even now, I'm wondering what it would feel like to work on a track on this new lappy.

ADR3-N 2023-09-17 21:17:20

I definitely know that feeling. I feel terrible that I used to wish my elderly stepfather would hurry up and kick the bucket (I hated that my mom married him) when I was younger. It was when I had grown to love him and appreciate who he was that he passed. That's tough.

I'm definitely one of the long-haul covid sufferers. I haven't breathed right since, in the sense I have awful, awful allergies now and used to have breathing issues at night.

Yes, the competitions are so, so dramatic, as there are some folks who can't take a loss, others who don't give justified reasons for their scores, no way to get folks to use a unified rubric it seems, and the subjective nature of music in general. The last round hasn't been so bad as I have mostly kept out of the drama. Just give my reviews, when I have time, and otherwise chill out. I can't imagine the headache of organizing it, as all that falls on your head.

I get burned out myself all the time -- even just making tracks. I can't imagine doing a stream. I rarely get inspiration so most of it would be watching me sit silently and make constipated faces xD Would you be open for a collab?

ADR3-N 2023-09-17 22:39:41

@ChronoNomad Oops, yeah, I was responding paragraph by paragraph -- wish there were a better way to do that here. I don't have a specific direction in mind at present, however, I do like the idea of passing back and forth stems until a track is made. Or even a challenge -- pass me some random melody/bass and I have to build a track around it, then do the reverse xD

ADR3-N 2023-09-18 00:38:41

@ChronoNomad Yes please. I think I have some wild stuff going on already you might enjoy playing with. All I ask is a BPM in return :))))) and I do have some commissions so it may take me a bit to get it rendered, but game on!

ADR3-N 2023-09-18 21:41:09

@ChronoNomad Duly noted! Sounds exciting!