February Album Writing Month - FAWM.ORG

Chasing Andromeda (@chasingandromeda)

progress: 19

winner!
joined: January 18 2010
location: Ohio, USA
website: www.chasingandromeda.com
influences: First one I remember...Sly and the Family Stone Since then, in no particular order...David Byrne, Prokofiev, Adrian Belew, Devo, Todd Rundgren, Keith Jarrett, Carlos Santana, Bjork, Jaco Pastorius, The Clash, David Holsinger, Thelonious Monk, Ravel, George Clinton, Jean-Luc Ponty, Miles Davis, Bill Chase, Portishead, Chick Corea Those are probably the most significant and the most obvious in my music.

Bio

Michael Michalski, a.k.a. Chasing Andromeda, has been involved with music for the better part of 40 years. Bitten by the bug early in his formative years, he took an interest in brass instruments first, starting with tuba, followed by horn and trombone.

In high school, he started dabbling with string instruments, notably cello, bass, guitar and banjo. Obtaining his degree in Music Education, Michalski joined the ranks of music educators for almost a decade. During his tenure, he arranged for many of the ensembles he directed, particularly marching band. He still arranges for marching band, concert band, jazz ensemble and chamber ensembles.

During this time, Michalski discovered the Commodore 64 computer with Master Composer software and started using this setup for arranging and composing. Shortly thereafter, MIDI 1.0 was introduced. Michalski was an early adopter, using his C64 and a Casio CZ-101. Throughout the course of the next decade, Michalski added outboard gear including Ensoniq, Yamaha and EMU synths as well as an Ensoniq sampler. During this time, he was busy doing custom arrangements for performers as well as using his MIDI rig in place of pit orchestras for local musical productions.

Today, Michalski is as busy integrating technology into his workflow as he was a decade ago and his musical vision is essentially the same. With eclectic listening habits, his music tends to fuse elements from a variety of genres without ever leaving the space of pop for too long. His music speaks to the inner joyfulness in all of us.

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Chasing Andromeda on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/chasingandromeda

Chasing Andromeda on Soundcloud
http://soundcloud.com/chasingandromeda

Chasing Andromeda on ReverbNation
http://http://www.reverbnation.com/chasingandromeda

Chasing Andromeda on Last.fm
http://www.last.fm/music/Chasing+Andromeda

Chasing Andromeda on Soundclick
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=701540

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FAWMtronica Podcast
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For 2012, I will producing a weekly podcast of synth driven tracks presented as part of FAWM. The tracks must be written during FAWM 2012 and be posted on the FAWM web site. To be considered for the podcast, simply tag your track with the tag, FAWMtronica. Each podcast will be app. 60 min in duration and may also include news pertinent to synth-driven track producers, like new products, new releases, etc. However, the primary focus of the podcast will be the music. By tagging your track as FAWMtronica, you will granting me permission and a license to use your track on the FAWMtronica podcast at no cost, but you will, of course, retain all rights to your work and I will not have any rights other than the right to use it on one or more of the FAWMtronica podcasts. Looking forward to hearing your submissions!

2012 Goals
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I will write some music. Some of it will be good. Some of it will not.

This year's album title: Star Trippin'

WARNING: In my comments, I have a terrible habit of comparing tracks to other tracks or artists. When I do, it is always a compliment! If it puts you off, please just send me a message and I will stop.

2012 Songs

1	Prism Dance	29 comments // 3 months ago
2	Sleepless	24 comments // 3 months ago
3	Grilled Ham Skankwich (with dragondreams)	36 comments // 3 months ago
4	Feel The Pain (with seantwright)	14 comments // 3 months ago
5	Listening From Dark Shadows (with seantwright)	17 comments // 3 months ago
6	Interstellar Transmission	7 comments // 3 months ago
7	Grovel (with kristian)	17 comments // 3 months ago
8	Lullaby for Lucas	5 comments // 2 months ago
9	Accidental Stalker	6 comments // 2 months ago
10	FAWMtronica, Vol. 1	1 comment // 2 months ago
11	FAWMtronica, Vol. 2	1 comment // 2 months ago
12	Abandoned (with leslie)	8 comments // 2 months ago
13	Shatter The Illusion (with seantwright)	2 comments // 2 months ago
14	The Trip (with seantwright)	4 comments // 2 months ago
15	Damnation in Bohemia (with dasbinky)	7 comments // 2 months ago
16	Point Five	2 comments // 2 months ago
17	Unconditional	3 comments // 2 months ago
18	FAWMtronica, Vol. 3	zong // 2 months ago
19	FAWMtronica, Vol. 4	zong // 2 months ago

Soundboard

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mctown 2 months ago

I am in on future collaborations... dlgraham@blomand.net .. btw.. I try to write in the other months as well... so talk at me. David ..McTown
iocanepower 2 months ago

Thanks for stopping by to listen to us this month, Michael!
ptr 2 months ago

Congratulations on successfully completing the FAWM challenge, even after taking away the FAWMtronica podcasts out of the equation you still passed the 14 track mark! I still need to take the time to check out some more of your music but I love what I've heard so far and really love the whole FAWMtronica idea you came up with. I've discovered some great music all thanks to your hard work, so thank you
dragondreams 2 months ago

Email sent.
dragondreams 2 months ago

No worries, Mr Andromeda.

I think you deserve a break.
dragondreams 2 months ago

Ooh... I see something is brewing under lock and key...
seantwright 2 months ago

Congrats - Mike, you're a winner!!!!!!!!!!!
theawkwardsleep 2 months ago

at first, i saw this is awful, and had a jolt. but it seems you mean it in an awful-ly nice way. thanks!
mctown 2 months ago

thanks so much with working with me and sean.....
dragondreams 2 months ago

Should all be there now.

Bass, brass, two guitars, organ, piano and drums. As before, please feel free to chop, change, discard, amend, edit and generally work your magic as you see fit. 120bpm, mainly in D minor with some G minor excursions...
jonniegrunge 2 months ago

Howdy! Just wanted to drop a message to say thanks for playing my song on FAWMtronica 2! Even with laryngitis, your hosting was incredibly smooth, and I thought the compilation flowed really well from song to song. Thanks for creating the podcast! I definitely enjoyed listening to it!
dragondreams 2 months ago

I'll be home in around four hours from the time of typing this... files should be uploaded around an hour after that.
dragondreams 2 months ago

Watch this space!

There may be something in the dropbox tonight...
leslie 2 months ago

Lovely, Michael! Thanks so much for working with imperfection. It's beautiful.
leslie 2 months ago

No, that's ok. Just post it and I'll hear it then.
adforperu 2 months ago

Noooo, Lullabye is great as it is... I meant; to get an orchestra to play it would be awesome!
leslie 2 months ago

Awesome!
leslie 2 months ago

Michael, I'm organizing my outstanding/potential collab list so I know how many I have left to do on my own in the next week. Are you still interested in doing something with "Abandon"? (And ha! I like that pun. )
downburst 2 months ago

Hey, thanks for the comment! I'm about to upload a new mix with bass by Andy Balham. Hopefully it's better, but I appreciate your comment a lot.
valeriecox 2 months ago

The Binkster an honorary lesbian.
adforperu 2 months ago

Haha thank you - I shall forward your comments on to Julie and see what happens Looking forward to hearing your Lullaby when I'm not at work
kiwafruit 2 months ago

Hiya thanks for the lovely comment on "Crappy Sweethearts Day" - glad to hear it works as an anti-VDAY anthem, I was hoping it would get value out of posting in on/before VDAY
musicsongwriter 2 months ago

Hi Michael, yes I'm familiar with both films and absolutely love them. 60-s will always be staying with me. There were very special and unforgettable movies with amazing music...
aardvarkk 3 months ago

I wanted to drop in and thank you personally for all of your hard work on the podcast(s)! I'm very proud to have been a part of week 1's podcast. You did a fantastic job of the entire thing -- nice voiceovers, great selection of tunes. Thanks so much for thinking of the idea and executing on it. Really neat to be part of a community like this!
froley 3 months ago

Thanks kindly for the comment, sorry about the foreshortened leg...
jamkar 3 months ago

Thank you Michael for your comments about my collab. with Nadia and rittmo. I notice that we share some common influences and beginnings. I started life as a cornet player in the H.S. marching and stage bands. Took on guitar and keyboards later. I had a C-64 too, and an early Yamaha synth!
bitshred 3 months ago

thanks for the kind comment on *25887 it probably sounds 1979/80 because I am a vintage musician
errol 3 months ago

Allloooooo you! Of course you have my permission. I tagged it!
dragondreams 3 months ago

Wow! I can't wait to hear it!
ego093 3 months ago

Thanks for the comment about, "In a Name." I'd love for churches to use songs with that kind of musical structure.
kristian 3 months ago

OK.. uploading to dropbox now... will be on the servers in 30 minutes time.... hope you like it!
kenjku 3 months ago

Thanks for listening, thanks for the kind words
kristian 3 months ago

Coolness! Email: kristiab<at>me<dot>com ! Lookin forward to it!
thenypdchoir 3 months ago

Ah wow dude, I'm glad you were thinking of your dad. Hope you werent too upset. That is strangely awesome thoughh!
radioovermoscow 3 months ago

Thanks! But it's no vocoder, just octaves with a bit of post-production on the tuning. Well, more than a bit...
leslie 3 months ago

If you can work with it, by all means work away! Saves me from my perfectionist self, so thank you.
leslie 3 months ago

Thanks for your comments on Hammerhead! But I'd never trade @Kristian for Chuck Norris.

Re: Abandon. That would be lovely! The only snag is I played it pretty much off the cuff. It's improvised really, and the timing's not perfect, and there are a coupld of stumbles here and there. Do you need me to replay it?
looprication 3 months ago

Dude you weren't on my watchlist? I think I've been hacked! You're back on there.
seantwright 3 months ago

It's done! http://fawm.org/songs/24163/
kristian 3 months ago

Bring it
valeriecox 3 months ago

Poor fella, you'll never get to know the true joys of lesbianism. I would be interested in hearing everyone's version of synth sex. You should do one. And if you want a singer, let me know.
dragondreams 3 months ago

No rush! I'd feel dreadful monopolising your time anyway.
aardvarkk 3 months ago

hi @chasingandromeda! i'm not sure if you plan on using any of my tracks for the podcast, but if you do, i normally go by the artist name 'the SOFAR channel'. i'm not sure exactly why i didn't use that as my screen name... oops. i'm a canadian amateur producer (toronto area). i'd love to write heavy club bangers, but my output tends to wander here and there in terms of direction. i'm looking forward to listening to your podcast!
dragondreams 3 months ago

When (and what) are we doing for the next one?

I'm sure I heard someone mention FAWMtronica... <whistle>
dragondreams 3 months ago

Love it!

A fantastic thing to wake up to this morning. Many thanks, Michael.
dragondreams 3 months ago

Back at yer. A new file in the Dropbox.

And I LOVE what you've done with this so far!
seantwright 3 months ago

Glad you like the way it turned out! Had fun recording the vox.
dragondreams 3 months ago

Cool! 8)

I like "raging" and "guitar solo" when they appear in the same sentence!
dragondreams 3 months ago

Go for it!

And if there's anything else you need from my end, just shout.
robynmackenzie 3 months ago
robynmackenzie 3 months ago

Spike Lee...? The filmmaker? O_o

Or...Spike Jones, the musical genius I grew up on?
dragondreams 3 months ago

From my end, bass, drums and one guitar have completed uploading. Second guitar says it has a few more minutes yet.
dragondreams 3 months ago

Should be four in all. Two guitar, one bass, one drums. All are stereo stems rather than individual tracks. I figured we didn't need to go too much deeper than that for a "demo".
dragondreams 3 months ago

Uploading now. I created a new folder and shared it with you. Let me know if it works.

Mainly in E minor, with a bit of G# minor and at 126bpm. Feel free to chop around with the order and instruments as you see fit in order to make space for what you need.

Or trash can it and let me know if it's not what you had in mind.
dragondreams 3 months ago

Dropbox is good for me.
dragondreams 3 months ago

I'm all over it!

Want for me to email a link to a file (or files) when I've got something? And do you want individual track stems or a composite mix? And do you want wav or mp3? And would you like a coffee, I'm making some anyway?
dragondreams 3 months ago

I'm easy - but you probably know that already (especially if you believe HALF the things written about me on the toilet wall).

If you fancy some old school funk, I've an idea bubbling around that I can work on over the weekend and let you have a bed track to play with...
dragondreams 3 months ago

Michael - MY dreams have come true! But your nightmares are probably only just starting.

http://fawm.org/forums/thread/2707/

I can give you the number of my therapist if that would help?
dasbinky 3 months ago

I was briefly concerned about offending the Mennonite community, but figured their online presence was low enough for it to slip by.
ptr 3 months ago

Hey, thanks ever so much for the feedback on my song Transgalactica! I'm really glad that you like it and think that it's good enough to feature on the FAWMtronica podcast. I can't wait to hear what you yourself upload, as well as what others upload with the FAWMtronica tag that you suggested people use!
theawkwardsleep 3 months ago

i'm so glad you thought of the fawmtronica idea! smart thinking! it makes it so much easier to find likeminded musicians on here. can't wait to hear the podcasts.
nightengale 3 months ago

Lookinf foreward to your songs Michael!
billysea 3 months ago

LOL, if I do that many it will be all collabs haha.

Good to see you back and looking forward to the fun that is FAWM
jacindae 3 months ago

After hearing your colab with Alanna Bach in the favorite tracks thread, I had to add you to my watchlist. It's one of the best songs I've ever heard on FAWM. Amazing. I'm actually jealous of both you and Alanna that you actually wrote this masterpiece.
cts 3 months ago

...so it is written, so let it be done.
bking 3 months ago

Hi Michael, happy to find you here again.
solarrainuk 3 months ago

Hey Michael, I'm definitely on-board and can't wait to get started! Nice to see you back also
oddbod 3 months ago

I hope it's just a month of madness and not a year!
have a good one
scottlake 3 months ago

ok - proof I AM getting old!
errol 3 months ago

She deserves a pony!

Alllloooo!
scottlake 3 months ago

Looking forward to your tunes as well - I see Ohio as a location, I thought you were in CO; out Cripple Creek way. Am I just imagining that?
ianuarius 3 months ago

Ohai! Just tryin' to contact some new cool peoples here!

Your influences list seem intriguing. Can't really say I know too many of them. Jean Luc Ponty is familiar only because my dad once wanted one of his albums and I helped him to track it down!

Let's see what you'll come up with. Gonna be checking you out.
dragondreams 3 months ago

How can I resist "warm, fuzzy, valvey gooiness"? Paraphrased, I admit, but I'm hooked.

Sign me up!
elainedimasi 3 months ago

Heehee! Song queuing up about cetaceans star-gazing. Or navel-gazing. They have navels, right?
mikedebenham 3 months ago

You too, Michael! Keen to hear what you cook up this FAWM.
adforperu 3 months ago

Good work with FAWMtronica dude, I shall try and get listening
dickclark 3 months ago

Chasing Andromeda? That's a coincidence, so am I. Happy New FAWM
ptr 3 months ago

Hey there, added you to my watchlist seeing as you were planning the FAWMtronica thing. However I also just checked you out on facebook (as I realised I hadn't checked out your music) and really like the music you're doing, it sounds great! I look forward to hearing what you do this FAWM
dennisjernberg 3 months ago

Okay, I'm watching back. Will be listening.
robynmackenzie 3 months ago

I do my best.
valeriecox 3 months ago

I didn't know you liked my vocals. I think I might blush.
adforperu 3 months ago

EXCELLENT NEWS! Although, she didn't reply to me *shakes fist*
looprication 3 months ago

Hey Hey!! I seem to remember one of your tracks being mindblowing this past 50/90, still serious about getting a lossless version of that one mate. See ya on da FAWM!
dasbinky 3 months ago

FYI, if the stars align for both of us, you're on my "we need to collab" list. If you get me something edgy / upbeat, I can add guitars/lyrics/etc, make it an electro-rock epic, and we can retire on the royalties. Not to set expectations too high or anything.
gslade 3 months ago

Re: Nineteen Below - awesome! loved the vocals on that one..wish I had those pipes on some of my songs
expendablefriend 3 months ago

Hi Michael, good to see you back! Bring on Feb 1st....
orinoco 3 months ago

I like it
echovoodoo 3 months ago

Looking forward to hearing your new tunes, as usual. Have a great one!
orinoco 3 months ago

Yay, nice to see you back for another year. Thanks for your message. I'll not be offended if you compare my track to another artist. Within reason, obviously. If you tell me that the masterpiece I've worked for hours on has shades of 'I've got a brand new combine harvester' by The Wurzels, I'll not be impressed. Unless that was the sound I was going for, which is, now I think of it, entirely possible
robynmackenzie 4 months ago

VROOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!
max 4 months ago

Here's hoping you'll have a fantastic, productiveTwentyTwelve FAWM.
dragondreams 4 months ago

Hi Michael!

I've spent the last two months redesigning and modifying GDH to bring out more of that valvey goodness. I hope I'll be able to do it justice.
ankari 4 months ago

Heyyy! Welcome back!
adforperu 4 months ago

*tips hat*
kristian 4 months ago

Reach for the stars, sir!
dustymason 4 months ago

Maybe this FAWM you'll Catch Andromeda. Huzizzle
cts 4 months ago

I do believe we have some unfinished business, you and I...
carlos 4 months ago

Hey Michael! found you on Soundcloud too and really enjoying you stuff! can't wait to hear your songs this year..