Category Archives: Expanse

Out of the Silence – New Music!

Hello, fans! I apologize that it’s been over two years since I posted, and I am very sorry. I update a few things on my Facebook and Twitter pages, but that is not an acceptable excuse. I have struggled with being creative on several fronts and had to narrow my attention to a few specifics: video game streaming, technical learning, and music creation. Unfortunately, I’ve only had the time to devote attention to the first two and even that has been in small batches.

For those that don’t know, I have begun streaming video games on Twitch as a fun way to share my joy of gaming and my weird perspective on things in a creative way. I have already generated a decent amount of videos, including multiple videos in a play-through list, as I work on playing through games. My overall viewer watch is not very high but I am enjoying the ability to do some new things.

Beyond that, I wanted to keep myself up to date on technologies in my field to not become obsolete in the technical space. I have done this by going through various training courses online, teaching me how to program in ReactJS, Python, and even refreshing me on new HTML5/CSS3 stuff. This has helped me grow in technical proficiency and creative capabilities.

Despite this, I knew that Expanse was not ready to be released because I felt there were more tracks to deliver. I just had to squeeze them out of my head. But in the same breath, I have always felt that if I tried to force myself to do things, the music would not be the kind of music I wanted to release. I had plenty of concepts in my head, but to take them and translate them into songs was very tricky. After putting my studio aside for a long time, I finally got myself back into the groove by watching some tutorials for new techniques. After playing with a MIDI as part of the tutorial, I felt that spark so I started to create!

Now, after so much time has passed, I have created not one but TWO new tracks for the Expanse album! I even have an idea for one or two more songs! For now, please check out these two new tracks on my SoundCloud:

Space Elevator – The listener finds a space elevator to help them with their desire to travel the expanses of space. They will use it to carry themselves to the moon!

Black Hole – As the listener shoots through the galaxy, they find themselves near a supermassive black hole. They must escape the vortex before they are forever trapped in the singularity.

If I have any more ideas for songs, I will do my best to lock them into a song for you guys to enjoy!

DJ6i Out!

Dropped Today – DJ6i – Solar Wind!

Hello fans!

I have some great news! I have officially dropped “DJ6i – Solar Wind”, the fifth track from my upcoming Expanse EP.


I was working on a song in a similar vein to Street Fire but realized that I was ‘forcing’ a track rather than letting it come naturally. This has never been my style and has never worked well. Luckily I changed my own mind and allowed myself some creative liberty. I took the rather common speed for this album – 145bpm and started to play with some melodies that I had brought up in my mind. I wanted something that would run smoothly on top of arpeggios but carry a rolling bass line.

Over the next few days, the track began to take shape and I liked the energy. However, in a very different path than I normally take, I made a decision to do something altogether different – use voices! I know! I have had a longstanding rule to never use voice effects or anything like singing in my music. However, when I was layering the first cut of the melody, I decided that a cut-up-vox like I hear in many VIP mixes and such added a nice layer of ethereal presence that the track needed. I once again played with the Logic Pro X “drummer” tracks but used a considerable number of tweaks to give the drummer more ‘swing’ and uniqueness. In the end, it turned out quite well.

So what is the meaning of this track? Well, as you know, this EP has been my attempts to stretch myself more as an artist rather than lock myself into a pattern of styles. Hence, this album covers an Expanse of styles and influences drawn from many places. Well, I have been drawn out of my home in Oklahoma and starting my family’s life anew in Kansas City. The more time I spend here, the more I realize that this is where I was meant to be despite my constant opposition to change. Well, the solar winds are the force from the sun that ejects positively charged particles into the galaxy that will strike all planets in the galaxy, charging them with the particles that sustain life. So life is throwing me into new places and new situations but with a positive charge that sometimes only makes sense after the change occurred.

I hope you enjoy this! Since I have decided to remove Boom Room from my tracks, this will be the fifth track. That means that I only need two more tracks to finish off this EP. Who knows what this new world I live in will send my way. Stay tuned!

DJ6i Out!

Musical History in KCMO

Hey fans! I had a realization yesterday – Kansas City, MO (KCMo as we call it), my new home, has an amazingly rich musical history. I know, as a musician you’d think I research this stuff before I moved but – well, life happened. Anyway, yesterday I was just curious about the artwork atop the Kauffman Convention Center (they are these four pillars that look like cudgels on top of smoke stacks) so I did some research. This ultimately threw me into a great series of articles on the history of KCMo and – it’s music. I feel like an idiot for not knowing these things:

  1. Kansas City, MO is considered the birthplace for American Jazz. Now, to my credit I’m not a jazz aficionado but I am a music history buff so you’d think I know.
  2. The 18th and Vine area, not far away from the downtown core, is considered the Jazz Holy Land and also hosts the Blue Room which launched MANY well known acts.
  3. A few singers from here made it very big over time. Of my generation of music – Puddle of Mudd started here, so did Melissa Etheridge. Even Eminem spent a few years in St. Joseph, MO on the eastern edge of the KCMo metro area.
  4. One other very well known act from my history – Tech N9ne – is from this area and I had no idea!

As a random bit of fun, you will recall that I wrote Street Fire after visiting a certain neighborhood in KCMo and feeling the energy there. It turns out that this neighborhood is only a few miles away from 18th and Vine. Perhaps that is part of why the energy was so strong there. Whatever the case may be, I am enjoying a city that has a culture of music and I can’t wait to learn more about it when the time allows.

If you’re bored, here is a list of tracks that I think you’ll like from KCMo folks:

Maybe this will help catalyze my music production! I guess only time will tell!

DJ6i Out!

A New Song for a New City

Hello fans! I am excited to announce the release of the fifth song from my upcoming EP, Expanse. I call this new song “Street Fire” and it’s dedicated to the people in my new city (see the post about Relocation if you aren’t sure what I mean). But the true motivation is something very cool and deserves to be told.

If you do not know, I am a Christian and I am not afraid to admit it. One of the things I have always enjoyed is seeing the different ways that God can use my skills. I’ve never written a song for God, nothing could speak to him. But, this is close. You see, my family and I agreed to work with a great mission called “Freedom Fire” and they do some great outreach things in the Kansas City area. One of them is a Friday Night celebration where they invite almost 100 kids from an impoverished, inner-city apartment complex to a night of fun with face painting, sports, food, etc. I had the honor of volunteering at this event with my wife and kids. I was amazed at the positivity of the kids even though I saw the very dangerous and scary world they lived in. It reminded me that you can find a fire in people off the streets that burns brighter than many churches.

As a result, I combined hip hop elements, beats, trap and techno elements to this track. I actually wrote the beat the day after I saw the kids and I could just imagine them dancing to it. This is a track unlike any other track that I have made and it has a great mission! Check it out!