Peak Arts: 2017

4.20.2017

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Peak Arts Continues with New Projects

The Spirit of Creation

I'm always trying to move forward but sometimes one must go back to projects from the past, then give completion to something left incomplete... This time it was to an old project started by Noah Benzing and I originally back in 2011...

We had started a film at that time but never finished, it was the beginning of our many projects that we've worked on together... It was an 8mm film project of Noah's called, "In-Situ in 8mm." The film was lost but there remained some footage of the original.

I decided to make a music video with the footage... the results gave me some closure at least to a project long since forgotten... What I came up with was a music video that I call, "In-Situ: The Lost." I put the main part of the song together with loops but I used a midi controller to record a pretty killer keyboard part to the loop song.

"Phazed Out"

Noah Benzing and I worked on this project after 2 years of being on hiatus from Drunktank Oddity. This wasn't Drunktank Oddity, this was a renewal of our being partners of the underbelly of film entertainment...

Noah and I spent a few days together filming while hanging out... I took this footage then mixed it with a song I had put together with loops from some of the weirdest guitar sounds and movements. I had about 7 minutes worth of music which I thought would go well with Noah and I's odd take on film making... I thought the result was kick ass... I released this video back in February....

1.20.2017

The Outer Realm Creations: Loops and Samples

Loops Took Me Somewhere Beyond...

You never know where music can take you,,, Sometimes using other's talents and riffs can take you beyond your own style then give new ground to explore... I'm not ashamed of using loops... They allow me to produce musical works of art. They provide me the extra ground for treading. These songs were all made with royalty-free loops and samples...

Using loops can be a challenge because of time signature, tempo, key and dynamics. Some of these songs took days to complete, I'd try so many combinations that I'd have to walk away and come back with a different perspective. Plus, loops still have to be mixed and effected properly. It can be just as complicated as recording because they require imagination, fore thought, and cleverness.

I used to be a purist,,, I was the one who said, "I'll never use loops, they suck!" Well those words came back to haunt me... I'm grateful, I've been able to use the loops to produce some killer music videos... I always make sure to mix these songs well, now it's second nature to me... Every bit of these songs took vision and a trained ear... I poured my heart into making them sound this good...

James Peak - Live at the Groove from James Peak on Vimeo.

James Peak - Rock Dropper (Slide Return) from James Peak on Vimeo.

James Peak - Rock Dropper (Slide Return) Part 2 from James Peak on Vimeo.

James Peak - Slippity Hop from James Peak on Vimeo.

James Peak - Creating By Example from James Peak on Vimeo.

Rockin' Review 2016 from James Peak on Vimeo.

1.19.2017

It's the American Way We Choose...

The American Way

This song has always been a favorite of mine especially when I used to play it live with Erik Brandborg and John McArthur in the old days...

Giving our rights away and accepting the word of "Authorities" is not the American Way...

Americans are free thinkers, inventors, warriors, destroyers and builders, We distrust politicians and the media,,, and we stand tall... We express our minds, work hard, and leave a path of destruction and reconstruction behind us... We don't apologize for who we are... We fight for our rights... We don't give them away for any reason... That's the American Way....

James Peak - The American Way from James Peak on Vimeo.

Somewhere Different than Intended...

History

There are two versions of the song... I recorded the original version in 2004 using Cubasis VST on a Sony Vaio... There were 5 songs recorded that session but history was the keeper as far as I'm concerned... I was out of practice on the drums. Also I had never recorded anything from layers like that before... The vocals were doubled... Erik Brandborg played the bass guitar...

I remastered the original song, using Sound Forge audio studio... During the History Revisited session in 2014, I recorded 20 minutes of keyboard outtakes using my Samsung camera... I found an interesting opening keyboard part and made a music video featuring a variety of video from the past 3 years...