So yeah, aparently right, there' these things called hobbies. I hear they are what we do in our free time, out of habbit or for fun or to just calm down. Most of us at some point saw gamemaking as a hobbie, but I am aware that out of the ten people who regularly post at GW, many of them may have moved on elsewhere
So let's talk about what hobbies and interests we have, whether they be new or whatever, but like ones that perhaps DONT include video games..
I am obsessed with music, like really obsessed. Mostly into the weird world of spacerock/krautrock/heavy psyche (but also obsessed with zappa, beefheart, davis, waits blah blah blah). So I collect CDs as a result of this, around 400 of em so far (includes 50 frank zappa albums
)
I am also a dedicated guitarist, I sound like shit but I am kinda working on it. I have an Ibanez Jem 555, and a Jemini distortion pedal, which I run through Guitar Rig for the amp simulation and most of the effects (though i am building a board of random effects pedals). What I love is just messing with different effects and creating new sounds. stuff like digital delay pedals are cool for creating this ambiant soundscape to jam over, or to constantly keep layering these little sounds to create a sensation.
My main guitar influences include Steve Vai, Manuel Gottsching, Syd Barrett, Steve Hillage, Zappa and Makoto Kawabata. Manuel Gottsching is becoming more and moreand influence on my playing, and my current WIP album is getting a very ash ra tempel vibe(with elements of floyd comming in), which i am enjoying as my previous albums have been more hawkwind/acid mothers temple.
I also love creating ambiant drones, mostly influenced by Daevid Allen/glissando orchestra or AMT. I think you can create any world and any vision just by playing gliss on your guitar. One of the tracks on my current project is a 10 minute gliss drone, with spacey sound effects, to create the feeling of like, walking through an abandoned space station. Music is very important to me, and can sometimes provide the only escape from my depression.
I also love comics, not like GENERIC CRAP, but there are a few creators I am obsessing over. Mostly Jack Kirby and Grant Morrison. My Kirby obsession has only really developed over the past year, but reading his work is like stepping into a whole different dimension, it's like being in a child-like world but it's pure classicism. His Forth World is just a constant adventure, and OMAC was so far ahead of it's time, like it is somethign you would expect Morrison to have written (which makes sense as Grant is a Kirby obsessie). And it's really sunk in to me how much Kirby has defined 20th century culture when I can look at almost anything and see his influence in it, from video games to cartoons, even Zappa has aknowledged a love for the guy (and there are elements of his epic narrative style throughout Frank's work). A lot of people kinda dismiss Kirby these days, but they don't really get his work. When they think of him, they mostly think of the stories he did with Stan Lee, which are amazingly pretty, but lack the substance and just pure creativity of his own stuff. Morrison's work like Final Crisis is totally fucking awesome, and it's a shame DC have just ignored it, focusing on the shitty BLACKEST NIGHT/BRIGHTEST DAY crap because too many people said they didn't understand what was going on in Final Crisis. I've finally started buying The Invisibles, it so so amazing and just the density of ideas that man throws at you, you can get easily overwhelmed, but sticking with it, it's pretty fucking solid.
And MY GOD is Frank Quietly the best artist on the scene now!? The guy is sick. The Image guys have so lost their edge these days, so it's cool to see someone like Quietly just bang out constant greatness.
I ramble on a lot about things I am passionate about, i can talk for hours about hawkwind or can or something (my counsellor at uni has similar tastes, so my sessions end up just being talking about krautrock, the last session he recorded vocals for a chilled out track he's doing, where he basically talked about how can's firs vocalist was better than damo sazuki), and I and so talk for days about comics by certain creators.
ENOUGH RAMBLING (rambling man, rambling at ya) come on guys tlak about you hobbies.
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