In good news today, work is going well, and Sali released a free song featuring m.i.a called toldya, it’s grimey and cheeky and has a fruity, psychadelic snakecharmer indian vibe.

download the track from:

http://www.salimusic.com

Haven’t written on the Romantech blog in ages!

Battling in business, hard, I’m in the warzone. There’s been victories but it’s still an every day fight.

Beforeit was just grinding work with no chance of art to happen, now I’m in a paralysis as work has gone down hill and I’ve had to deal with just how shaky I built all on my foundations on, I’ve had a lot of pain trying to make sure everything wouldn’t fall around me, business and music.

There’ll be some changes for real, I’m not going to get over this quickly. Just going to have to go in a new direction, I guess.

I gotta start writing and putting down video to know where thats going to be. I’ve been feeling totally drained of creativity but I know I’ll be back on it, but I want to be clear in my mission and its outcomes.

I guess I’m smart enough to know thats how it will be so I guess I’ll be writing again to get there.

But I worry I don’t have to do what I was going to do and being a dick for the camera isn’t going to be my thing any more. Well it wasn’t really but I guess I kind of was like, well hey, I can be a dick. I might still be a dick but I want to see how it goes.

How do I see it?

Well I’ll start doing new beats, I’ll start filming random stuff, and putting it to the beats, and doing my blog and then I might get an idea for something I can do and then just do it.

I think thats what I’m about now, just putting it down, rather than being all precious about achieving something.

It’s all about making a concept happen right there, like I did with reality compound, but drawing music and video into the concept and the storyline.

As I said with my video, I’ll start with serious videos for kurb, and then get more subversive until finally i break my professional character and reintroduce my self via reality compound as the character from the videos made suddenly real. And music and a storyline will enter reality compound from there.

I think I want to start from the bottom, long suffering businessman who is older now and desperately trying to participate in business and hipster culture.

Thats why entering throuh serious kurb videos I can bounce off the first few videos as failed out takes, 2 or 3, before devolving somehow until the point an actual fully realised song is ready.

And it’s not stylistic at all, i’ll write whatever. The artist is romantech, and the show is reality compound. It’s not really ever explained – I’m obviously romantech, romantech is a dj/producer, music is featured as a major part of the show, it’s obviously my music but its not really explained that this is a romantech vehicle.

The fact that I am romantech is secondary to the narrative of matt trying to make it as a somebody in auckland.

It’s only in time I’ll do “music videos” that are more music than storyline, until then I’ll work on how the storyline can be supported by the music I have available, mainly electro/minimal style d’n b beds that will evolve to vocal numbers with crissendo’s etc.

I think there will be certain plotlines – modelling agency, tiger penis, the fall of myspace and I think I’m getting closer to where I can exploit the desperateness in that ricky gervais extras way – but a rollercoaster of high highs, being a player and an enigma to being a total reject and tryhard.

Not good nor bad, but someone who just wants to be accepted and loved.

I think it’s about people being flawed when they do the things they think will make people like them, that it makes someone so human just to strive to be accepted. But to also be dehumanised by the desperation for it, and how that itself maybe a symptom of our time.

See it’s working! The ideas are flowing! When I see myself as a character in a story it makes it easier to create the art. I’m not trying to say everything, I’m telling the story of a journey.

So yeah my blog has gone all meaningfulcore now since the other night I managed to blog myself into a state where I actually believed a whole bunch of nonsense about inner growth being more important than cash.

Didn’t last long, the next day I was a mess again, but the point is, only being a little short of cash is stopping me moving on with my art, which is just an excuse really.

3 months ago I thought I was doing fine, but I was still sitting around not pushing it. Where was the urgency, the vitality, the fundamentalism?

Why the hell even do art if it’s not important? Well exactly. Part of art is life, and my life is my business and sometimes business doesn’t go well and life is hard, and that’s what art is all about, right?

I am excited about all the sketches I’ve put down for the new project “Microscope”. And it’s time to begin incubating, but at the same time, Dojo inspectors is finally readying to hatch.

Another part of the microscope concept is that it obscures the bigger picture and really both these projects are designed to occupy people while we continue to develop.

The idea is that Dojo Inspectors will be a distraction that will be carried on in a refined way by Microscope, but the point is to feed the dogs while perfecting our skills.

It says we can release music. We do release music. We are about actually having music we have done to share. We don’t think we’ve reached our full potential but people can still hear 2 projects that we have developed to showcase our music.

So where the work on microscope is in composition and engineering, I have to get my promo on for Dojo Inspectors after not even wanting to think about it for 3 months, and lets not forget, I’m not exactly flush right now.

Same trip through, the promotion that has to be done for dojo inspectors is about working through, here’s my old list I had:

So that leaves the following list:

- write up for landing pages

- performance pages

- buttons and design for downloadable content

- integration with facebook, twitter etc.

- archives set up with relative galleries and content

• set up of primary music content for presentation and distribution
• final redesign for presentation

writing jobs = landing page / bio / performance / archive stuff

yeah that sounds like a plan for developing a website – doesn’t really say much about how we’re going to reach out to people who need the dojo inspectors.

Okay so the mix will be finished, it’ll go up, and it’ll go out on CD to the local massive, then our job is to target certain audiences more precisely using direct content, and online marketing stuff.

Most importantly we will have the content, the full mix to create leverage, all roads leading toward the download of the mix and maybe individual singles as an extra carrot.

So month after month we can continue pushing dojo inspectors until we’re sure that Microscope is ready to be deployed, in the same fashion, pushing both mixes – the rough gem debut and the refined more experimental follow up – to be concdluded by a blockbusting powershot come november with a new chapter that sets a new standard in what we’re doing.

For now, make sure the Dojo Inspectors mix is tight, make the CD’s, get rid of them, make more, and start thinking harder aboutwho is going to use that mix or songs off it to push it out to more fans, pick up emails, connections, push out, ready to drop something real at the end of this year.

]]> http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2010/04/dojo-inspectors-and-microscope-deep-drum-and-bass-carrots/feed/ 0 http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2010/02/free-liquid-drum-and-bass-mix-mp3-download/ http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2010/02/free-liquid-drum-and-bass-mix-mp3-download/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:55:39 +0000 Matt Romantech http://romantech.co.nz/blog/?p=390

http://dnbshare.com/download/TOUGHLOVE-DJROMANTECHdjmxDec09-320.MP3.html

It’s the official “Tough Love” mix.

Be back with tracklisting soon, enjoy!

Okay I’ve my little episode, I’m returning to normality. Let’s get out there and kick some butt futuristically and funkily!

What do we want to do in 2010?

Finish Dojo Inspectors

Must do, top priority, gotta push through and deliver something that will hold up. Alreaady started on the final push today polsihing up those minimal tunes.

Promote Dojo Inspectors + Email List

Can’t just move on, put it out and forget about it. Dojo Inspectors is the leverage to start promoting more actively

Release New tunes

There’s really nothing more to it. Dojo becoms the standard release, high standard new singles will build on our reputation. really think we need to get some vocalists in.

Release an experimental/deep/minimal project

This is a concept which is a space to fully embrace the corners of our sound without letting it invade our dancefloor mainstay especiallly the concept of hibernating for the winter and producing a twisted weird and beautiful thing for listening pleasure seems to suit.

I think the idea is an EP with a mix of everything with what didn’t make the EP, plus suitable stuff from Dojo Inspectors to pad it out.

Bass

Taking up bass in 2010 will be a challenge. Get the bass, then look at where it can be applied but why? So on tour I can take my sets wildly off on this electronic alt country trip hop dubstep vibe and in 10 years I can still be doing it and surprising people when a dj set goes live or a live set turns into a rave out.

Tour

I need to bring the team together for touring maybe mid year and tie it with a beat dungeon comp I’m thinking but it’s all about convergent goals.

Flow

Need to creative flow happening in the space by feeding individuals with talent from the network into the creative grid.

Podcasts

Already dropped one mix with the new tough love, the idea is to have a podcast or a free tune variegating alternate months

2^nd full length mix OR continued singles?

Whatever happens, must keep releasing hot new singles for free online pushing toward a point at some stage where one will get picked but until then, the tunes are likely to keep building up until next october when there’ll likely be enough to push us to want to do a dojo inspectors style release again.

]]> http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2010/01/romantech-back-on-track-with-2010-goals/feed/ 0 http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2009/12/romantech-will-update-your-face-with-militant-blows/ http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2009/12/romantech-will-update-your-face-with-militant-blows/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:52:34 +0000 Matt Romantech http://romantech.co.nz/blog/?p=302

How good am I updating my blog with relevant information about y’know gigs and music and stuff that’s supposed to be important?

Look I know what’s important, okay? Anyway. I’m an artist. Or something.

Basically, I play gigs, I do. I’m active in that way, and songs, music, I make it, but y’know. What is that really relevant to in the history of the universe? Anyway.

I am playing this weekend and both the NSU launch party for the EP Escape.

December 12 at Rising SUn.

I should really have facebook links and all that jazz but this is an UNDERGROUND blog, nu underground, actually, which is super artistically pure, 100% free of posers. Respectable people still might heed the name of Romantech however so I try not to swear.

But the NSU EP features the original version of a song I went on to remix, it’s title is numeric – um, I forget quite what – which is just the kind of  trivia that you’d expect to find on this kind of blog so there’s a bone for all you dogs. And the bassline is out of tune on the remix so I’ll probably spend more years in purgatory redeeming myself for that particular sin, and probably being beaten with bats. And chased.

Sin, sin, my child! And juju. Bad Juju. Both my computers are working again and my hard drive with all my songs from 2006 and 2007 has been recovered, which I guess on this blog where that stuff matters, that is a big deal. It’s relevant to my circumstances. Computers that don’t make music and also actually destroy and lose music are definitely the work of unfavourable entities in any religion I’m likely to be a part of.

So computers that are making and storing music means happy faces and less jujutastic activity where just about everything is all going to hell, basically.

We are also playing as Soul Science at the Zen 2nd Birthday. We’re like at the bottom of the flyer, oh the ignominy! What? Okay, okay alright I’ll settle down.

But both will feature Micah aka Stray Theories on Sax with us and doing his own performances of the rich deep beats he makes at the NSU party. I was totally into this because basically it was my commitment to short circuit lifestyles. And beat dungeon lifestyles. Touring, gigs, jamming, putting down beats – filming it of course – it’s about creative vision and creative freedom, man! like, Dude!

To me, this music stuff has already branched off beyond whether your new tune was better than your last one, that’s what I saying like, I make music, so what? There’s a story, there’s a journey, there’s a message and all the rest. Lifestyle, ya moafz! Creative, artistic, and keeping it fresh with community and activity.

Speaking of messages, girls wont give you their phone number, they want you to message them on facebook. I got booted off Facebook for my marketeering. I want to launch my vibe onto that, y’know – my brand (the cauldron of which is this blog into which you now peer) – but it looks like I need to be expedient for my own personal welfare.

I’ve always known that I should get organised. I’m thinking after all these recent trials, maybe for once in my life I actually will. Except I’m a lunatic, but anyway.

Finally we’ll be playing the Detonate festival in Taranaki for new years, 11-1am the sweet spot basically, but of course this will be a separate dance/dj zone.

I don’t want to be twiddling my thumbs on new years. I played Fu last year, it was awesome. There was purity in it. Definitely, it was one of my best new years ever. Basically I just chilled at home after midnight, then cruised down to fu and rocked the crowd and then cruised home again in the morning light.

But anyway, check out this creepy apartment creeper. Imagine that! I’m sure I could paint up some metaphor for how this has a deep meaning in terms something going on but really it’s just some twisted, distinctly dislocated vibes. wtfoflcopter

1 – The start of the short is some feel good Drum and Bass. This shows that Matt is starting the day confident positive and upbeat, and is a really mover and shaker.

2 – Matt’s veneer of super shaking marketing business guy in his beamer has been totally peeled off by an irrate client. A sad theme, maybe going pretty to intense, a dubstep/indie vibe, that goes all indie/pretty/dubby to stomping, dark, foreboding.

3 – Swifty Scene – will probably use old RC instrumentals as a change of tone as this will be diegesic, and swifty likes RC.

4 – The Montage, city to ghetto – probably write a special tune, deep drum’n bass.

5 – As matt drives around here might be an alternative brooding bassy minimal dnb tune

6 – Might go into a new romantic heavy synth ballad influenced tune that agin might also be dubstep after the new romantic track features

7 – postering tune – real NZ dubstep

8 – roadworks – minimal dnb

9 – blow out

10 – for the gas station we can reprise any of the old sinister tunes, plus a Soul Science tune for the SS sequence

11 – it’s a new day and Matt is free of his problems – now he confronts the underlying influence of his father and ambrozia. They probably should have different themes or be in two parts both parts should have a build from pretty to beat driven, or maybe just be pretty/ambient.

Remember this will cover the poor people too.

12 – Finish on a big tune, perhaps “I Can Only Ask” if I can rehabilitate it.

So the tally is:

3 soul science tunes – intro, Soul Science sequence and “Blow Out”

+ 1: “Beyond Montage” – Deep Drum’n Bass

Up to 3 minimal, brooding dnb or dubstep tunes including “Disappointment” “Roadworks” and “Postering Mish”

+ new romantic ting

2-3 emotional melodic beats

+ 1 RC montage

1 outro “I can Only Ask”

So yeah,

4 straight DnB tunes

4 sinister experimental numbers

4 melodic, meaningful numbers

nice spread.

old songs we could use: Well um lots, let’s not open that can of worms, in fact maybe I should just use none and leave that for my archiving.

http://soundcloud.com/kurbpromo/dojo-inspectors-raw-teaser-live-mix-nov-5

Release date: Nov 6, 2009

Okay in the midst of tour preparations and album preparations and nu underground preparations . . .

I dunno had a fairly miserable weekend – not that bad, but y’know, finishing this mixtape is getting really arduous, I’ve got to that point where I just need a rest from the tunes, not all of them a e as finished as I’d like them to be but that’s why it’s a mixtape and not an official release.

Also my work is stacking up and whats worse my clients are badgering me on my twitter, so it’s all stress leading to feeling rotten but we certainly had a good time on the Beat Dungeon show – we always have beers and get merry and worked up with them up there and of course we end up talking nu underground and i’m off on an arc.

Anyway, forget that – there’s plenty of time for nu underground. 2010 will be all about the nu underground.

For now I’m saying that’s it, forget my clients (forgive me!), and forget caution, I’m laying down this “Tough Love” mix.

I just gotta do it – tomorrow. Look at me now, writing this damn blog when I’ve got so much to do, I hate this blog.

I have CD’s to put togther, some posters to deal with, but I’ll lay it down. I’ve already got the mixes sorted, I was going to do it for valentine’s day but that didn’t happen and then I got whole bunch of new sweet combos that I knew I had to throw down so I just combo’d them both up.

I should get it in 3-4 tries. If I do a sweet mix but there’s one or two big messes I’ll step in with the chop chop. I don’t have time.

The time is now, to throw down a mix for the tour and to ramp the coming gigs and release, even though it makes me feel stupid that I didn’t sort it earlier – I was planning this back in February I’ve got the art all ready and everything. But some of the tunes are from last year. It doesn’t matter, all my mixes are like that, taking tunes from since the last mix. It’s just there’ll be nothing more than a few tunes less than 6 months old, because I been just so business this year it’s actually not even funny. No one’s laughing.

That’s okay, I’ll just say I totally recorded ages ago and like, couldn’t be bothered uploading it because I’m so rock star, or business man, or whatever.

So I gotta put the mix down as well as everything else, sort posters out, CD’s and business etc. some clients are going to get a bit of cold silence but I just gotta do it this time.

That was my bummer this weekend I did drive a beamer and left my phone behind in it but I was just like . . . over it. Flash car. Whatever.

Yeah Shane’s taking my decks in the van so I gotta do it tomorrow or nothing. Sheesh. Oh well. It’s good to break a sweat every once and a while. I need to be on task, yo.

So sorry to my beloved clientele. That’s Tough Love.

John was always going on about how we should chase ghosts.

I’m into ghosts and spooky stuff I guess. I just thought it would be a crazy ass concept.

Like I really want to do a project where we basically don’t do any liquid funk.

Like it’s all just minimal, weird, halfstep, dubstep, ambient, strange and extremely deep shit.

And we release it early in winter so it’s like not really pumping us playing gigs like we would with the summer tape, it’s basically a bed time story with heaps of weird, strange, freaky business going on to give you the cilly willies.

For me it’s really about moving forward with the art, being real with myself and coming up with what I’m feeling rather than trying to be the coolest to the most people.

That’s really my vibe y’know, it’s not just that I’m in business and I always want to go on about it, the point is, music isn’t my career, I do what i feel like I wanna do because for me it’s about the artistic aspect.

Wanting to connect with a crowd is one awesome thing, spilling open your brain just coming up with all this weird business is awesome too. You connect with art inside you, you feel free and realised, you’re tuning into something, feels good, feels real.

Feels powerful, it may be an arrogant attitude but I think I’m empowered now I’m not just a DJ. Thats a real theme for my videos I think actually, reality compound, myspace etc, it was about being more than a DJ.

See that’s what I worry about! great little narrative there, or a way to encapsulate the myspace narrative – as a transition from being just a DJ to something more . . . just . . . more.

I’m thinking about how to make it work. Narratives huh? Sheesh.

Maybe I should just ignore all that until the appropriate time it’s not as if it really needs to be right up front, it’s good to have ready made mythology, but let’s not depend on it.

But yeah, art and upsetting people because you have these arty ambitions and standards that are all self indulgent and must criticise the status quo

And so I can be kind of antagonistic yeah, maybe offending . . . PROBABLY offending people because I want to ask if it can be better, if we can have something better on the scene. but like I said, it’s good to be pushing for something better, things would be no good if there wasn’t always someone wanting it better.

And so it is if I get all arty just for the pure indulgence of it, when you express yourself, you’re opening up the possibility that good things are going to come out

I know this because I’ve already experienced it to some degree. Being more thoughtful – and I don’t mean analytical and methodical but more y’know “attuned” to what I was trying to achieve, allowed my songs to get better.

And I’m gonna stick with it. I don’t want to scare everyone away, but I don’t think the standard of what I do is going to improve unless I’m doing what I want to do, or I guess what I’m supposed to do.

Discovery and searching is all part of it, but you need to be looking and seeing as much as you need to see before you find anything.

MORE GHOST PROJECT:

oh what an effort I went to do conclude eloquently – 1 more thing: Totally going all out supernatural, like doing video stuff and seeing clairvoyamts and going to town on the spookiness factor.

Hmm call it . . . “Past Lives” or . . . “Rosebud”? I want it to come back to us, we the living. That the dead, like satan, is just a kind of reverse polarity figure, it exists principally as the opposite to something we perhaps understand a little better than death: life.

Supernatural link