After much consideration and a lack of interest beyond a handful of people, I pulled the plug on Twitter, X, or whatever the hell people are calling it these days. The platform used to be a great space for Autumns Eyes to navigate into an area of heavy metal that didn’t exist on Instagram, YouTube, or Bandcamp (the other social areas where I leave Autumns Eyes footprints). Unfortunately, X has become a toxic wasteland of mismanaged features that was leading me down a path of frustration any time I simply opened the app and tried to make a post. So the most logical thing to do here is trim the fat, which is what I’ve been trying to do with this project here and there. Getting rid of all the stuff out there that doesn’t belong, and cannot hold my attention long enough to put energy into it. There are several sites over the years that became viable at the time, which have since become a relic of their former self, so scanning the depths of the internet to find and remove these lost promotional bones has been an interesting task, to say the least.
Aside from purging my way through outdated social media platforms, I’ve been desperately fighting off an odd bout of allergies due to an insanely high amount of pollen in our area as of late. This is such a strange occurrence only because I have never suffered from allergies in any way, shape, or form up until this point, and it’s annoying more than anything. The worst part about it is a low humming sound in my right ear that perpetually comes and goes at its own will. This was a bit freaky to go through at first, and of course I made several trips to doctors, audiologists, and ENTs to ensure there was no hearing damage. This is my bread and butter after all! Thankfully, all is well and it’s just a stupid side effect from all the pollen and stuffiness. It’s at least allowed me to take some downtime and catch up on a rewatch of the show Supernatural, which I still find entertaining, but not as much as watching it while it aired in real time. That show was a part of our lives here for so long, and it stretched beyond the surface of horror movie themed monster of the week episodes into something much more symbolic.
With all that aside, there is still an album to be made, and it is shaping up so nicely that I hesitate to share any snippets only because I prefer everyone digest it all at once rather than in pieces scattered about. Of course I will still leave breadcrumbs here and there, but I have to try and resist giving too much away before its release. Not that there’s any surprises in store (as if I would even begin to know how to surprise an audience). It’s just something I noticed promoting the last album, that I spent too much time leaking out clips and info for everyone to absorb before the album even came out. Perhaps this time around less is more, or it could backfire and everyone will tell me to go fuck myself? That’s okay, I listen to all the feedback, and despite what many bands say in regards to “fans don’t shape the music” there are many instances where fans have definitely helped me shape this project. Should I ever veer too far off course, I can always rely on the honesty of Autumns Eyes fans to call me out on it. Something I truly appreciate, and continue to look forward to with each and every album cycle.
While the album is shifting more into that Ending Life Slowly territory of goth rock, I’m going to put a bit more focus into the merchandise this time around. Rather than just slapping some graphic on a shirt and calling it a day, I want to spend some time developing a whole line of merch that will give people options. I’m not a fan of the all black thing, and of course we see enough of that in metal these days, so I will be shooting for more of a diverse range of colors and graphics to use on shirts, posters, mugs, condoms, or whatever else bands are hocking these days. Which reminds me, I still have some of the old merch left, so, I’ll be taking some better photos of that soon to share online for people who might have missed out on the first run of those shirts. I still have much of the days devoted to studio work helping out other artists, which you’ll soon see a website for in case anyone here wants to reach out for collaboration. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to warmer days with as much time spent outdoors as possible. Who would have thought after all those years cooped up in my parents’ basement as a moody little goth boy that I’d ever long for the days of sunshine and smiles? Well, much like the seasons, everything changes at some point!
