Artist Bio
Influences: Metal, in all of its glorious forms, the more extreme the better. Also bluegrass, not that you'd be able to tell.
m/ >..< m/
My name is sapient, and I make the metal.
Well, mostly metal.
Sometimes there's weird space rock with @gordon
Somtimes my Telecaster makes me play evil cowboy music.
This year I've added a Gretsch 12-string electric to the arsenal. Maybe that'll make me play evil 60s pop music...?
Happy FAWMing everybody!
Songs (28)
The Ashes of the Gods
Soundboard
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@wolfkier 6 weeks
care to help a little? https://fawm.org/forums/topic/11940/
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@gm7 Mar 16
Thx for your comments. I agree on "Wondering"..minimal instruments..the main instrument was Robyn's voice ..you nailed it. LESS can be better when it comes to music.
Thx again and stay safe. -
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@katestantonsings Mar 11
That's awesome!!! You're a one-man-band. The sound is full--like you have a complete band. I know it's not your genre, but I felt that when I first listened to Mogwai. I was so surprised they're a 3 piece band. Same thing- your sound is of a band. It's hard to be good enough at each instrument and knowing where to take the song. Great job, Sapient! Maybe we could d angelic vocals mixed with a song of the devil for 50/90? Haha! #tit4tat
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@katestantonsings Mar 11
OMG I am just blown away. This is such a stark contrast from my music, but I enjoyed it. I feel like I've learned a lot listening to your repertoire. My only constructive criticism is that it would be nice to know who is playing what. If that is you on drums, guitar, etc. will you label it! I found myself more curious about that while listening. Also, your lyrics are pretty bad ass! Great musicianship and songwriting skills! #tit4tat
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@katestantonsings Mar 11
Thank you Sapient! Your comments on my music were really helpful! I'm here now to reciprocate 😀 #tit4tat I'm down to rock to your metal!!
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@gnashattack Mar 11
Thanks for listening to "Damn the Man," and yes, weariness and determination is right. If nothing else but for health insurance lol.
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@seppo Mar 10
re:Silly Billy
Yes, my "normal" method to make songs, if you can call it that since I've been doing composing 2 months 😀, is that, I'll put some kind of drums which are kind of what I like, then I just start playing bass there.
Then I usually cut drums in pieces depending how the bass went and make each part drums that fits bass, then I take guitar and start to worry what the heck I can play there 😀 -
@katestantonsings Mar 8
Hey!! Thanks for the lovely comments on my songs. I'm going to check out Jesca Hoop. I've never heard of her. Going to check out your music soon 😀 #tit4tat
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@dzdandcunfsd Mar 6
🤣 That's my favorite bag o' wine flavor! Yeah that vocal is all through that pedal, and I looped all the music(through a seperate looper(I have 3 of the blasted things in my chain now counting that Tensor) pedal before doing vocals) I'm going to get a ton of use even live out of that thing. You can assign any of the controls to an expression pedal, and change other parameters with a MIDI controller so you don't have to be leaned over turning knobs or using toes LOL. So I'm finally also getting some use out of my cheapo little 2 octave MIDI controller as well. I'm going to have to get to more of yours when I get done with some yard-work, and thanks! I was going to ask which songs you featured that crazy count to five on. Yeah that's one I'd love to play with as well, nothing might make any sense but it'd be a blast LOL
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@dzdandcunfsd Mar 6
Thanks! and yeah that was one electric through a mass of pedals on a loop then an acoustic on top. At least two maybe even 3 vocas layered through pedals though 🤣 One pedal in particular you might find intriguing as well if not see or heard them a RedPanda Tensor. I'd been drooling over one for the last few years. I was just going to "rent" it and send it back after a month since its a bit pricier than I ever want to pay for a pedal with so many just as good clones out there, but they'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands now LOL. It loops and does pitches and time shifts and will do live reverse/etc/etc/etc will take me at least a year just to figure out all its bells and whistles.
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@lizbrinker Mar 4
@sapient your comment on Marco? has me feeling so grateful. Thank you. It’s good to be understood.
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@scottlake Mar 4
Check out the various songs in the two chord challenge thread. Mine were the first two suggested, C and Aflat. My favorite two chord artist is The War On Drugs. Expansive songs and a whole bunch of them seem to my ear to be just two chords.
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@richaaaay Mar 4
I had never heard of Martin Simpson before but I am watching some videos of him now. Thanks for the heads up. So many super talented guitar players.
Careful what you offer as far as recording process input...I certainly have high regard for your talent in that arena. And your guitar playing as well. Although quite different from my style, I have full appreciation for what you do with your guitar. Nice to have a new friend...Hope that's ok to say that... -
@richaaaay Mar 4
Sapient, thanks so much for all the comments. You made some reference to my panning the bass to one side. I did that only because I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I just assume try to get some separation between the sounds on the different tracks. Not really knowing what I'm striving for I just put some left and some right. It's been interesting to know that you and some others pick up on that sort of thing right away. Obviously, you've got the awareness. Wolf too. I've got a long way to go on that front but you are helping me think a bit more about the process...
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@richaaaay Mar 4
If you happen to listen to another song of mine, might I steer you towards Marco?? It's a collaboration with @lizbrinker. She brought some class and talent to my basement dwelling ways.
Pure treat this #tit4tat thing with you. Appreciate it... -
@richaaaay Mar 4
I don't know how it is you do what you do but it's impressive.
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@richaaaay Mar 4
Hi Sapient...Thanks for listening and encouraging commenting on a couple of tunes. Are you interested in steering me towards any particular songs of yours? You have a long list. I just listened to Outro but that was short so I won't count it as a tit4tat. I'd love to hear some more guitar playing like that though...Point the way...
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@wolfkier Mar 3
😀 see you next time songhunters unite!
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@ferry0123 Mar 2
Thanks for stopping by and commenting on 'Lay lo-fi'. Man, that was quite the encouraging comment. Glad you liked it!
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@mandolinda Mar 2
Are any of the songs slightly bluegrass, as you mentioned in your bio? Or not too heavy metal? I would like to Tit4tat, but my social/emotional state is not tuned in to death and destruction right now. I have been self isolating for a year, and I am very tired of the situation.so I would like a recommendation.
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@wolfkier Mar 2
back for 3 more later. Gotta walk the dog and rest my ears! Really enjoying. Youdabeast!
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@wolfkier Mar 2
Thanks for your 2 comments, I'll be back to tit4tat them over next couple hours. Happy to trade all my 7 if you want...
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@ryuu Mar 1
Congrats on the double FAWM! And thanks for the comment on "Turning Tides". I knew about Sunn O))), although Drone/Doom is normally not my listening playground, but I haven't heard about Mournful Congregation. I'll check them out!
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@sw1n3flu Feb 28
dude as soon as I can, Amsterdam.
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@sw1n3flu Feb 28
DOUBLE FAWM ACHIEVED.
Well done sir. Margaritas all round? -
@bo0m3r31337 Feb 28
Thank you so much! It's means a lot! Such kind words! You're so prolific with yours love your work! Hope to see you next FAWM too! <3
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@mikegtz Feb 28
Hi Peter, finally getting here. Time to dive into the songs...
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@matthijs Feb 27
Thank you for your comment on "like sheep to a slaughter house" i'm glad you liked it. I checked out God Dethroned, they're pretty good!
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@emplate Feb 27
Thank you so much <3
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@karan Feb 27
Haha, it's one of my quirks to stare at words in order to misread them - favourite examples are Rohr-Ohr-Zucker (Rohrohrzucker) and Gemen-Gelage (Gemengelage). 😉
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@torniojaws Feb 27
Thanks 😀 For the bass, I take the raw signal and split it in two: low and high (grit):
"Low" is:
1. 30 Hz highpass + 340 Hz lowpass
2. MaxxBass (very mild settings - it's very easy to overdo this 😁 )
3. L1 with about 7 dB GR
"High" is:
1. 211 Hz highpass + a small wide boost at 809 Hz
2. Tech 21 Bass Overdrive VST sim with almost max Drive and a bit of High/Low/Presence adjustment
3. L1 with about 4 dB GR
"High" is also sent to an FX bus with a chorus (TAL Chorus), mixed in a bit.
And those three go to a single bass group with some surgical EQ at 99 Hz and 4,4 kHz to play well with the kick drum. -
@joefahey Feb 27
Hey, thanks for the comment on "Doors of Butterfly", not my usual style but had a good time with that one.
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@hmorg Feb 27
Thanks for the comment on "Cannibal Kings"! If only I could play that in a single sitting (standing up and headbanging obviously). As I said to @kembole last night, maybe I'll spend the rest of the year learning to play, in general and especially the songs I've written. I actually recorded one song-long take when writing "Nahkakantinen eepos" where I played the first guitar for a bit over 5 minutes. And then I fudged with the structure and had to cut and copy and paste that too.
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@bradbrubaker Feb 26
Sent you an email.
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@bradbrubaker Feb 26
Edit: Never mind. I figured the track out and am working it out now.
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@gslade Feb 25
Looking forward to listening to the rest of your tracks man. And I love the tone on the stuff you sent me. You definitely crushed it this year man.
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@bradbrubaker Feb 25
Edit: Never mind. I figured the track out and am working on it now.
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@dragondreams Feb 25
There's still time if you want to send me a voice clip... 😉
Final mix is happening over the weekend... 😉 😉 -
@emplate Feb 25
Thank you for the comment on "Where The Trees of Iron Grow"! Us friends of all that is grim and dirty need to stick together! 😁 @wizardbloodywizard definitely has a hand for crafting that sort of raw black metal, so it was a pleasure to croak over his work.
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@emplate Feb 23
Oh, thank you so much for the compliments on "The Triumph of Emperor"! I had a real blast making it! If I'd be more of a synth player maybe there could be even more complex keyboards, but I guess these ones did fine this time around 😁
And you're completely right about the layers of stuff in Emperor's compositions. They truly were the masters. And to think they were so young when recording ItNE. I mean, man, Ihsahn was 17. Boggles the mind. -
@rwhosings Feb 23
Thank you so much for your comment on Undertow!
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@emplate Feb 23
Cheers for the comment on "The Ruins of Eden"! You just listed an army of my favourite bands, so I know I must have done something right! 😁 Warms my (grim and cold, obvs) heart, really.
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@hmorg Feb 23
Thanks for the comment on "Behold the Power"! I'll try to keep them coming, in one form or another.
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@alanonymous Feb 22
I love NIN so I will happily take the comment thank you! sorry that you keep getting lumped in with Floyd lol. Cheers!
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@nadine Feb 22
Everytime I see your #not-metal tag, I wanna tag my stuff with #not-electro as beeing a (more or less former) electro producer ;-D I really dig this tag of yours!
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@metalfoot Feb 21
Probably not too dissimilar a vocal style from what you'll be getting from me later today, I'd reckon (though maybe a little more edge in ours?)
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@metalfoot Feb 18
So, do you want me to send you a lyric idea to base music on or do you want to send me a track for me to add a vocal line to?
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@zecoop Feb 18
The real problem, I found out after, is how to get it OFF! The pants didn’t come with any instructions so I might be wearing them for a while. It is ok, though, since with the weather as we are getting here (-22C) I need a thermal later, lol.
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@metalfoot Feb 18
So yeah. About that metal collab... 😉
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@johnnycashpoint Feb 18
Yes, it does! A song beckons...
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@iwilleatyou Feb 17
What a tease. 10 songs and I can't listen. The Ashes of Gods is a great title...I'm stealing it :-p
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@hmorg Feb 16
Thanks for the comment on "Nahkakantinen eepos"! I have been thinking about electronic music recently and how it often eschews traditional song structures, opting instead for a more layered approach. Also, we've been talking with my bandmates in Ever Circling Wolves about writing a song which would have separate bits for all the instruments appear by themselves and then return combined, not like solo at first but just like the F part would have the guitar from A part and bass from B part and so forth. So I kinda took those ideas and combined them and started to work from there. Obviously didn't fulfill either idea completely, just had that as a starting point.
Edit: Oh hey, I've got the demo for my first track up now in case you were interested how it turned out. -
@emplate Feb 15
Oh, and I haven't listened nearly enough Nachtmystium to have it affecting me, so all the possible similarities are only coincidental. Blake is, well, Blake, but if you happen to have a specific song which reminds you of this one in mind, I'd be interested to hear it.
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@emplate Feb 15
Thanks for the comment on "The Green Light Glimmering from the Window", mate, much appreciated! The lead guitar has chorus to achieve that post-punk vibe I was going for, plus I added loads of reverb in the mix 😁
It's good to be back, better late than never I guess, huh? : ) -
@gslade Feb 15
Definitely after fawm. I'm making myself post and ghost until Feb is over.
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@gslade Feb 15
Lol..yes, it's really me. I appreciate your time and feedback my good man. I was actually attempting to double the guitars but I think I out smarted myself in my DAW. I had 2 channels per amp/fx and each panned hard, but where I think I messed up is sending them through 2 fx channels that were centered. So I watered myself down through user technical error. (slaps head)
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@helenseviltwin Feb 14
Kinda depends how drunk your choir is...
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@helenseviltwin Feb 14
Re: Into the Cosmos - there's a pad which was made from putting an electric piano loop through a granular synth (Alchemy on Logic, but I have in my head you use something other than Logic, so that's not very useful to you). That is played as one note throughout, then played higher in a sequence of (fairly random) notes. Then there's an added piano (Spitfire labs soft piano) and a harp (Logic stock sound). Finally, there's a SATB choir, with emphasis very much on the sopranos, which is Olympus elements by Soundiron, not sure where you're hearing chanting from. That might be the drunks outside your house 😝
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@leslie Feb 12
Yay! I can play in any key happily except C maj, the more sharps the better because black keys are more fun. Maybe the mood could be the act of shapeshifting. There's a Blackfeet story I love about a woman who loves a bear, becomes a bear, and avenges her mate by attacking her human family when they kill him. Her rage sparks the shapeshift. She later becomes the Great Bear constellation. Does that spark anything?
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@owl Feb 12
Thank you so much for commenting on “The White Morph”, I was absurdly pleased and commented to a friend “I’ve made it!” —didn’t expect to get an approving comment from one of FAWM’s gods of metal, hahaha!
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@leslie Feb 12
Do you want to try something we've never tried before? I would love to add piano to a metal backing track. Any interest?
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@colinssun Feb 12
Thanks! The drones are ebow/guitar layers on a loop pedal. Then it’s just some nasty chords on top! lml
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@leslie Feb 12
Good ear! Everything about how I record has changed, yes. At the end of 2020 I finished updating all my gear, my DAW, and set up my studio for the first time since I moved to Stratford 4 years ago. I'm using a piano+vox preset in Cubase for now, which is where those delays you hear are coming from. I'm really proud of Only Ophelia Knows so I'm happy you loved it.
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@judypie Feb 11
Haha thank you, I nearly did as well! But I thought no, even with your expert guidance I can’t imagine I’d get there 😂
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@vxi Feb 10
You said it, brother. Ours has always been a rare breed, for better or worse. But I believe in quality over quantity. And as time passes, more and more genres have began to mix and blend. Metal is not as disapproved of, as it was lets say 20 years ago. Those with the passion and flame for it, will always dig it.
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@headfirstonly Feb 10
That pedal's even more of a beast, then!
Microsoft Narrator is found by pessring Windows key + CTRL + N.
Looks like you'd have to temporarily set the entire PC to Spanish, but you can change all sorts of parameters like pitch, reading speed, and emphasis: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/chapter-7-customizing-n...
Great fun - as you heard on "I've Got This" the voices are gloriously patronising! -
@vxi Feb 9
Hey thank you very much for commenting on my stuff! 😀 also I think I also follow you on Soundcloud. If i`m not mistaken. Either way i`m digging your style. Its right up my ally. Keep the good stuff coming!
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@faceofeinstein Feb 8
I would love to collab man.
I'm definitely in. -
@leslie Feb 8
I'm really happy that phrase (hide and found) resonated with you. It's something I've been feeling to the core. This past weekend I was supposed to be in the UK and Europe after that, but here's hoping for next year instead. I would love to make music in real life with you in that cave under the sea one day.
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@sw1n3flu Feb 7
Lol yeah.... maybe the follow up to in utero:
in prandium laminam (in google translate we trust). -
@mikeskliar Feb 7
hi- just saw your note! yeah, could be fun! did you have anything specific in mind, or any particular working methods etc? shoot me an email maybe?
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@metalfoot Feb 5
Any chance of putting the 'metal' in metalfoot later this month?
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@mikegtz Feb 4
Hiya Sapient and welcome back to us all!
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@nadine Feb 3
Thanks for your comment and kudos! Maybe I have to ask Rammstein for some pyro 😀 I've been working with VSTs for about 15 years. I wish I could smash a real guitar, but well... VSTs can do a lot these days, but it's no comparison to real string and brass instruments.
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@gslade Feb 3
re: shelves / Hey man. Thanks for the feedback. I was just knocking off the dust and kinda vomited into fl studio and that's what it sounded like. Glad you were able to take something positive out of it. I think I'm going to break it up into two different songs.
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@sw1n3flu Feb 3
Mate I have no idea.... perhaps we can chat via another means?
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@sw1n3flu Feb 2
Yeah that’d be awesome!
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@ianuarius Feb 2
Hmm, I think there's a way to create an account at slack.com.
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@ianuarius Feb 2
The slack is https://fawm.slack.com/
Symphonic it is! I might go a bit crazy with it, if you don't mind, haha. -
@cblack Feb 2
Glad you liked it!
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@ianuarius Feb 2
Heyy about the collab, i could do some symphonic stuff with keyboard or acoustic guitar stuff, or piano, or electronic. Vocals wise, I can do mellow ones. Current living situation doesn't allow belting, haha
Are you by chance in the fawm slack? -
@ryako Feb 2
Thanks for your comment on Angelspeak! Yeah, it's so tough having to make those calls. On one hand, there's a part of you that believes that, if you just try hard enough, you can heal your cat and make him better. But then the reality of the situation sinks in and you're forced to accept your own powerlessness. And then you lose a loved one, which is like losing a part of yourself.
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@hmorg Feb 2
Thanks for the comment! I do feel like I've got the lyrics down now, and that is indeed one of 4 songs I'm most likely gonna put out as a demo in March.
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@zecoop Feb 1
(Googles Trilby...) Oh yeah! for sure! Haha
Thanks my friend. 😀 -
@dragondreams Feb 1
Verily, Lord Sapient, thou art kind to thine humble servant. 😉
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@eddub Feb 1
Hey! Dank voor je welkomswoord 😉
FAWMze! -
@grenzgaengerin Feb 1
happy FAWM
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@leslie Feb 1
Bring the noise, my friend. I look forward to your creations.
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@johnstaples Jan 31
Hey Sapient! Can't wait to hear some more evil cowboy music from you! Happy FAWM!
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@gm7 Jan 31
Too bad about your interphase..I have a Steinberg (my second one) it is a UR4i6...great Yamaha pre amps, two headphone jack etc nice.
Good luck -
@unpronounceable Jan 27
Miss you! Yay FAWM!
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@johncrossman Jan 27
I like new sapient tunes. You like new sapient tunes. We all like new sapient tunes. And ice cream. And 12-string Gretsch electrics? Yes please.
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@roy Jan 25
Good to see you back, sir!
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@tcelliott Jan 25
I, too, am looking forward to 12-string goodness this Fawm. Here's to another great year.
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@ericdistad Jan 25
Great to see you back for the fun again! I can wait to hear more awesomeness from you! 😀 Have a great FAWM!
Also... That 12 string looks so so tasty! (I'm not jealous... really I'm not... ok, I confess. ) -
@gordon Jan 24
Greetings from the street! Not long now and just waiting for my rock hands to arrive! Looking forward to Fawm under lockdown this year. Really wanna hear that Gretsch!
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@cts Jan 24
The dude abides...what's happenin', dude? Good to see you back in the place.