Our new album, The Fifth Hour now resides on YouTube, with each track’s video featuring surreal visualizations to enhance your aural enjoyment. The entire track list is available as a playlist, making it convenient to listen to the entire album in one setting. Regularly take advantage of this opportunity to travel the star clusters of beyond.
Our new album, The Fifth Hour, is officially released! Find it at our Bandcamp page, where you truly support us by paying for a download. Of course, Bandcamp lets you stream the release as well. Download those FLACs derived from the 24-bit masters for the best sound quality, especially compared to streaming services and vinyl! The album is available on most popular streaming services.
Jonathan Segel from those indie-rock legends, Camper Van Beethoven guests on violin, guitar, and bass. Of course, Stan Lyon helps out as usual on bass and even synth! Tell all your friends! Read further for more information on The Fifth Hour as well as a Church of Hed news update. Thanks for checking it out!
Church of Hed’s new album, The Fifth Hour, features a return to the improvisational and immediate styles of their earlier release, The Fourth Hour, or even Quarkspace’s Spacefolds series. The music squarely resides in space, with deep Kosmische and Berlin School explorations informing the album’s psychedelic electronica and prog.
Church of Hed’s unique mix of spacerock, psychedelia, prog rock, krautrock, and electronic music channels diverse influences, including CAN, Cluster, Brian Eno, Hawkwind, YES, Glass, Reich, Riley, and so much more. In the end, it always manages to sound predominately like Church of Hed.
The band’s Paul Williams is joined on The Fifth Hour by Jonathan Segel, from indie-rock legends Camper Van Beethoven, on violin, guitar, and bass, as well as Quarkspace’s Stan Lyon, on bass and synth. Williams plays his usual array of synthesizers, keyboards, beatmakers, sequencers, and electrified drums.
A digital release, The Fifth Hour is available on download from Bandcamp, iTunes, and Amazon, as well as the usual low-paying streaming services, such as Apple Music, Spotify, etc. Never forget to support independent music by purchasing downloads and physical copies of albums!
1. Pleiades Waypoint (13.49)
2. Aniluminescence 1 (2.11)
3. Hyades Noir (6.25)
4. Blue Spaceways (4.20)
5. The Fifth Hour (8.43)
6. The Bells of Alpha Persei (3.26)
7. Aniluminescence 2 (1.20)
8. Son of a Silicon Rogue (14.58)
9. Bastard Son of the Fifth Hour (1.54)
Paul Williams: synths, keyboards, sequences, beats, drumming. Jonathan Segel: violin (3,5,8,9), guitar (3,8), bass (5). Stan Lyon: bass (3,9), synth (1).
Produced by Lance Starbridge
Cover photo courtesy NASA
24-bit audio files exclusive to Bandcamp!
Thanks to all family, friends, and pets!
I dove right in on the next Church of Hed project, quite possibly titled “A Blue Ridge Spaceway.” It’s another aural travelogue in the Rivers of Asphalt series, but this time we travel the Blue Ridge Parkway. The music is much more immediate and Berlin School-esque compared to Rivers of Asphalt and The Father Road.
Since Asheville is one of the prime destinations along the BRP, we only use synths by local synth-makers, Moog Music and Make Noise. We break that rule by also using plugins either by Moog or emulating Moog hardware. XILS-Labs’ Polymoog emulation, PolyM, provides one obvious example of our rule-breaking. Expect some space ambient piano as well! The album drops sometime in early 2025! As always, thanks for reading and listening!
Well, it’s been a few months since our last update. If you follow our Facebook page, Instagram account, Twitter/X account, or even our new TikTok account, it makes it easier to keep up with our latest activity. We are especially lonely on TikTok, so give us a follow! I expect to post more live performance videos on TikTok, Instagram/FB, and YouTube moving forward.
This news update covers the latest goings-on here at Eternity’s Jest Records. I always hope to post more updates here, but keeping up remains a much easier proposition on social media. Nevertheless, let’s dive into what’s been happening.
I am at work mixing and mastering the tracks from our upcoming album, The Fifth Hour. It’s the latest release in our series of more immediate and improvisational work, not unlike the Quarkspace Spacefolds Series. Of course, Stan Lyon sits in on a few tracks, playing guitar, bass, and synth. Yup, Dink bought himself a Korg Minilogue XD!
The album is also graced by indie rock legend Jonathan Segel from Camper Van Beethoven! Jonathan provides his unique stylings on violin, guitar, and even bass. The mighty CvB served as an important inspiration for me in the mid-80s and beyond. In short, they made the indie music world safe again for psychedelia (at least according to my limited musical worldview of the time.) They remain one of my favorite bands.
The Fifth Hour features a wide array of material. The album includes long deep exploratory space excursions as well as shorter pieces. Here are two of the shorter tracks I recently released on YouTube. Both feature the Lumi Keys keyboard controlling Moog’s Animoog software synth.
Expect the album to drop within the next month or two. We’ll let you know!
You might know that I also publish TabMuse, a resource for music technology focused primarily on synth and effects reviews as well as other topics. When I get something new to review, I now try to create a musical piece and craft a video for it. Here are a couple examples, check out our YouTube page for others.
Xils-Lab’s PolyKB III synth offers a unique design based on the legendary PolyKobol synth of the early 80s. Here’s a little four-part piece using four instances of the PolyKB III in the role of lead, pad, bass, and effects respectively.
Igor Vasiliev is a top-shelf synth maker for the iOS and Mac OS platforms. We used his SynthScaper on the title track of Sandstoned, providing the sonic ambience of Ohio’s Lake Erie coast at night. His new NoInputMixer app lets you explore the no input mixing trend on an iPad. I crafted a few soundscapes using it. Here’s my favorite.
Expect more little projects like these in the future. Explore our playlist for other examples. Maybe we will combine the best into an official release someday?
I also used TabMuse to publish more detailed liner notes exploring the production of our most recent album, The Father Road. We discuss the album’s concept and recording approach as well as the gear used on the release. The notes are encapsulated in a prologue and four sides, mimicking a vinyl version of the album never to be released. Links to the four sides are inside the prologue, along with cross links within each article.
After The Fifth Hour drops, I plan on focusing on the next Rivers of Asphalt release, an aural travelogue down The Blue Ridge Parkway. This project only uses synths made by Moog Music and Make Noise Music, both located along the BRP in Asheville. We also use a few soft synths inspired by Moog, most notably XILS-Lab’s PolyM.
I’ve been creating little stems for the project that I plan on orchestrating and molding into larger pieces. Expect an album, squarely in the Berlin School electronic music realm, with no drumming. Moog never made a drum synth beyond their DFAM, which I don’t own. Here’s an example of one of the stems, quite possibly emulating a drive across the BRP’s famous Linn Cove Viaduct. It uses the iOS version of Moog’s Model D and Model 15 apps as well as a MoogerFooger effect.
Beyond that project, I am also working on cool drum beats for an album where I play all the drum parts first and then record the music. In the post-Quarkspace area, I miss having the drumming lead a track as opposed to recording the drums after everything else. Likely to be called “Batteur Electrique,” expect that album sometime in 2025, assuming the next Rivers of Asphalt project drops later this year.
Once that album completes, the focus turns to the Cycle project, which includes new versions of The Autumn Shrine and A Cold White Universe title tracks along with brand new pieces for spring and summer. I practice those piano-based tracks everyday and expect to upload performance videos of both later this year. Of course, we will probably make room for The Sixth Hour at some point during this release schedule.
In short, I am always working on multiple projects simultaneously, while the next-up release gets most of my focus. As always, thanks for the support and thanks for listening!
I apologize for the lack of updates in nearly a year. It’s been a crazy time as we get closer to the release of our next album, The Father Road. In addition, we’ve been re-releasing classic Quarkspace albums on our Bandcamp page. In fact, the entire Eternity’s Jest Records, Inc. catalog is now available on Bandcamp. Support us with a download today!
So let’s provide a little progress update on The Father Road as well as the other happenings here at Eternity’s Jest. Information remains the root of knowledge or something like that.
Of course, we sadly begin by paying our respects to the late Klaus Schulze, one of the most important progenitors of electronic music. He remains a massive influence on our own work, with his magic synth-based sequences, filter sweeps, and LFO tweaking. His passing was sudden. We look forward to the release of his next album in June, now coming out posthumously.
We expect to watch his Loreley concert with Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance this weekend. It’s a stunning work and worthy of your interest.
Mixing began on the next Church of Hed album, The Father Road, about a month ago. I also went ahead and mastered the first four tracks to test out a return to outboard mastering. I mastered The Fourth Hour in the box, and felt it didn’t sound as good as earlier albums. Thankfully, these first four masters sound great. In fact, I produced a quick video of Sierra Crest for your perusal.
I expect the album to be ready in the June/July timeframe. Our mixing work currently lies in Nebraska, and the track “Prairie Waves.” It’s a bit of Kerry Livgren influenced prog, compressed into a 3.5 minute diamond. Can’t wait for you to hear it! So we are halfway done with mixing, making great progress. I love the new plugins I recently bought, like the Maag EQ4 and Softube’s Tape. Great stuff! Also check out the video of some of the studio sessions from the album; it’s posted at the bottom of this article.
A nice side project over the last year involved re-releasing our entire catalog on Bandcamp. Every Church of Hed and Quarkspace album is available, along with the debut National Steam! I tended to time releases with their Free Bandcamp Fridays, which provided the deadlines for me to do the necessary curation. Spacefolds 6 and Spacefolds 5 even have extra tracks! Check them out, especially SF5 and its new cover art! I feel it remains our most underrated Spacefolds release.
While working on The Father Road, I also did some rehearsing to prepare a new live show for streaming. Unfortunately, work on the new album took precedence, so I ended up delaying a full performance. After The Father Road release, I expect devote more time to producing immediate music I am able to play live without overdubs, as well as a few delights from Quarkspace and even Natty Steam.
The visualizer tool I used for the Sierra Crest video posted above also provides the means to produce videos of some of our studio tracks. So expect more videos from that angle as well. Here are some examples of both.
So I think that’s all I have for today. Expect more updates as The Father Road gets closer to release. Thanks for reading, listening, and watching!
Howdy. I hope your spring is going well. We’ve got a fresh news update covering the latest goings-on in Eternity’s Jest land. Enjoy the reading and thanks for the support!
First off, we re-released three (four) classic Quarkspace albums on Bandcamp as part of their Free Bandcamp Fridays. Expect another re-release next Friday. All three (four) are part of the Spacefolds series of improvisational psychedelic spacerock, with a touch of prog and electronic music. Let’s take them in chronological order.
Spacefolds 1 and 2 started things way back in 1996-7. The first features the time-honored Quarkspace improvisational sound, including the classic, Fäerienôt Space. Spacefolds 2 sports our earliest experiments with sampling and beats. Quarkadelic will freak you out!
Released in 2007, Spacefolds 8 provides another hearty dollop of deep Quarkspace excursions. This album also features a guest appearance from Architectural Metaphor’s axe-man, Greg Kozlowski. It’s great stuff!
Finally, we have 2013’s Spacefolds 12, the final installment of the Spacefolds series. Expect a nice mix of spacerock, psychedelic guitar excursions, with a bit of Berlin School and other electronic influences. Buy all three for all your friends! Remember, Bandcamp supports downloads in a variety of formats, including FLAC!
I also created a series of videos of my studio drumming, putting some cool drum plugins through their paces. These include Spitfire Audio’s Hans Zimmer Percussion and MeldaProduction’s MDrummer. I reviewed both for TabMuse — check out the links. I also added a couple of videos showing me practicing tracks from Sandstoned.
Everything is encapsulated in a convenient YouTube playlist. Check them out!
The main focus of my 2021 activity involved finishing the composing and recording of The Father Road, an aural travelogue down today’s Lincoln Highway. My “road construction crew” currently spans from Ohio through West Virginia into Pennsylvania.
After this work completes, only four more of the album’s 20 “songs” need their final compositional activity, Philadelphia through New York City. At that point, mixing begins, along with any fixes. Rest assured, I will be adding some freaky synth and sound effects.
If the album is finished in early November, I plan on releasing it this year. If not, I will wait until early 2022. I’m itching for it to be complete, so I can get back into more a live experimental improv mode before fully diving into Cycle. However, expect some more live video action earlier this summer, as I’m still rehearsing another set of material.
As always, thanks for reading and stay well! Peace!
As the end of the year approaches, here’s the latest news from Quarkspace and Church of Hed. Needless to say, 2020 challenged all of us. Hopefully, 2021 offers a chance at a rebound. Either way, expect new music from us (well, at least Church of Hed)!
When legendary comic book artist, Matt Howarth contacted us about doing a project together back in 2003-4, we were game. The resultant Node in Peril is a combination comic book/CD with Matt’s great artwork and storyline. It also features our most psychedelic music. For the December Free Bandcamp Friday, we re-released the album.
Either purchase the comic book/CD or just the digital music. Of course, we’d prefer if you bought the full package. It’s a great piece of outer sci-fi art!
I also released a new extended single on Bandcamp — Caesar Grinder Salad. For this track, I mashed up two classic Quarkspace loops, Recaesarian and Astral Grinder, and added a few overdubs. It’s a classic slab of electronic music meets spacerock whilst odd time-signatures abound. Check it out!
Of course, expect more surprises for the next round of Free Bandcamp Fridays, starting in February.
Speaking of Recaesarian, I performed the Quarkspace track as part of my live stream this summer. Additionally, I did a version of the track with the superior sound quality of a board mix. I uploaded that to YouTube. Check it out!
I continue to rehearse a second set of material, with more Quarkspace material being featured this time out. With new video software on its way, expect some form of a live show video as opposed to a stream. Facebook’s new interface really sucks, which gives us a good reason to choose better sound quality. Expect a YouTube upload, and I may upload it to Facebook as well.
We are also doing a Bandcamp 50 percent off deal until January 3rd, 2021. Just enter “2020holidaze” when checking out to get half-off your order. Add a bit of psychedelic spacerock, prog, and electronic music to your Holidays!
Welcome to the latest news update from those intrepid travelers at Eternity’s Jest Records. With an emerging Spring now upon us, our thoughts turn towards a few upcoming Church of Hed releases. Let’s dive into the details!
But wait! A quick note to let you know Brandenburg Heights, formerly a Bandcamp exclusive, is being distributed to other digital providers, including Spotify, Apple Music, CD Baby, and more. We’ll do a quick post whenever the album is available.
Now we can dive into the details!
We are hard at work on multiple fronts here at the Church of Hed. Our next three albums happily reside in various states of completion. We’ll look at each following their expected order of release.
First off comes The Fourth Hour, an album focused more on the immediate and the improvisational – it’s almost Spacefolds-esque. We figured this album would come out after The Father Road, but the fact we recently switched from ProTools to Reaper as our DAW (recording software) of choice – after nearly 20 years – rearranged things. The Fourth Hour requires less production than The Father Road, so it makes more sense to finish this one as a project for learning Reaper.
A release sometime this summer is likely. So expect more news on that front in a month or two. In the interim, a single derived from The Fourth Hour sessions, titled Q Ching, is slated for release later this month. Once again, this approach provides us a great way to learn Reaper as well as a robust array of recording plugins, including a ton from Eventide.
Obviously, we’ll let you know when Q Ching and The Fourth Hour are ready for your ears. Expect digital-only releases. Stay tuned!
At the same time as The Fourth Hour, we are also traveling hard down The Father Road. Currently, drum parts are being written and recorded – still in Pro Tools – and when that process is finished, everything gets transferred to Reaper. At that point, the process of finalizing melodies and other “trebly material” is scheduled. The album is coming together fantastically, and since this is a much more complex project from a production standpoint (and twice as long!) it makes sense to release The Fourth Hour first.
There’s still a chance The Father Road might be ready by the end of 2019, but a 2020 release is more likely. We’ll keep you in the loop. Expect a CD and digital release.
Every time we enter the studio, piano practice ensues. Over the last two years, two new pieces appeared during this practicing and are gradually being developed. These two compositions, when paired with two other previously released tracks are slated to make up another Church of Hed album, called Cycle.
Cycle is likely to be released sometime in late 2020 or early 2021. Of course, there may be other albums before that happens, perhaps The Fifth Hour or even The Sixth Hour? Stay tuned and thanks for listening, we’ll keep writing and recording new music for you.
Well, the new Quarkspace album, All These Suns, has been out for a little over two months now, and we are pleased with the support. Check out these few fine reviews of the album posted in one place for your convenience.
Thanks again, and stay tuned for some upcoming news on the next two Church of Hed albums.
All These Suns #3 on Psychedelic Waves Top 3o Albums of 2018
All These Suns ranked at number 3 on the Top 30 Albums of 2018 list at Psychedelic Waves. Here’s their quick review of the album.
The legendary US space rockers return for the “first real Quarkspace album since 2001’s Drop.” 2018 finds the band in fine form weaving their distinctive brand of space rock with both composed and improvisational parts. Solar and majestic with all the brooding power of their classic works. – Jeff Fitzgerald
Legendary, majestic, and brooding. We’ll take it!
A Five-Star Review from Sea of Tranquility
Here’s a five-star review of the album from Pete Pardo at Sea of Tranquility.
Longtime fans of US space rock outfit Quarkspace can rejoice with the release of All These Suns, the first release from the band since 2001’s Drop, and now available digitally via their Bandcamp page (link below) as well as all major download & streaming services. The line-up for this release includes Darren Gough (guitar, vocals), Chet Santia (bass, guitars, vocals), Jay Swanson (keyboards, vocals), and Paul Williams (drums, keyboards, vocals), with special guests that include Carl Howard (synth), Stan Lyon (bass), and Carlton Smith (drums), each appearing on a few tracks.
The 12-minute title track is the centerpiece here, a piece that the band have played live many times, here a percolating mix of haunting space rock, folk, and jazz, with hazy vocals drifting in and out of the mix, dreamy keys & synths, wah-wah guitar solos, and plenty of tribal drums and percussion. One can totally envision this track taking on epic proportions in a live environment. There’s a nice blend of jazzy piano with bubbling electronica, busy drumming, and rock guitar on “Who Lost Frederick?”, while the lovely “The Prodigal Spaceman” will just sweep you away with glorious ’70s styled synth explorations and Mellotron sounds. It’s Tangerine Dream meets Hawkwind on the stunning “Solar Progenics”, spacey synth blips & bleeps colliding with heavy guitars, and the drifting “Watch For Swimmers” follows suit, with a dollop of Pink Floyd thrown in for good measure. Let us not forget just how well Quarkspace can throw some addicting grooves into their music too, which they do so well on “Starbridge Freaks 4” and the chilling “The Prodigal Galaxy”, the latter again tossing in some jazzy piano to match up with the haunting Mellotron, synths, booming bass, psychedelic guitar leads, and intricate drumming. And, wait until you hear the killer guitar solo on closing cut “Space Folds Upon Itself”…talk about going on a journey.
Honestly, not a weak track to be found here, and I can safely say that All These Suns is easily one of the best space rock albums I’ve heard in 2018. Hopefully it’s not another 17 years before we hear from this talented outfit again. Mandatory listening right here folks. – Pete Pardo, Sea of Tranquility
You heard the man. It’s mandatory listening, head on over to Bandcamp and give it a “spin.”
Jerry Kranitz chimes in with His Take on All These Suns
Jerry Kranitz used to publish Aural Innovations, a legendary resource on spacerock and psychedelic music. He still posts album reviews on that popular social media network that likes to sell your personal data. Let’s check out his review of All These Suns.
The long defunct Quarkspace lives on thanks to the archival efforts of original drummer and electronics maestro Paul Williams. Billed as the first ‘real’ Quarkspace albums since 2001’s Drop, All These Suns was recorded by founding members Williams, Darren Gough, Jay Swanson and Chet Santia between 2009-2014, with help from guests, including new bass parts added this past year by later Quarkspace guitarist Stan Lyons and keys by Williams.
Starbridge Freaks 4 opens the set with the trademark Quarkspace blend of propulsive, rhythmically grooving and cinematic soundscape flowing space rock. The 12 minute title track brought a smile to my face, being a classic Quarkspace blend of space jam and song, the likes of which we’ve not heard since Drop and the classic Hidden Moon album. Strumming acoustic and psychedelic bluesy electric guitars lead the way, along with a steadily drifting yet intense space/prog jamming vibe. It’s a pleasure to hear Chet’s haunting vocals again after all these years. And I like the nasty fuzz injection from Stan’s bass. Who Lost Frederick? is symphonically majestic, led by Jay’s piano, jamming guitar and a Star Wars mélange of electronics. The Prodigal Spaceman is shear space orchestral beauty, with Blues guitar and it’s given an industrial grunge edge by Stan’s fuzz bass. Solar Progenics features more luscious piano from Jay, ripping guitar licks, and space symphonic intensity, and I love the spaced out prog key melody.
Watch For Swimmers is beautifully mesmerizing and groove jamming, with a cool psychedelically shimmering Bluesy edge and corrosively soaring effects. The Prodigal Galaxy sounds like a space-orchestral sci-fi soundtrack, with a gorgeous combination of Jay’s piano, dirty Blues guitar, floating Mellotron keys, and eerie electronic effects. And Space Folds Upon Itself is classic Quarkspace high intensity yet meditative prog infused space rock.
Quarkspace may be long gone but as long as Williams plays curator to the unreleased material, I for one am happy to them keep comin’. I miss the days of yore when Quarkspace live shows happened regularly.” – Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations
We miss those days of yore as well, Jerry. Sadly, there isn’t enough unreleased Quarkspace material left worth curating.
Expose Online Reviews All These Suns
Finally, Peter Thelen of Expose Online recently published the following review of the new Quarkspace album.
The long hiatus has come to an end; Quarkspace is back recording again. Frankly, oh me of little faith, I wasn’t sure they would ever be back. It’s been at least fifteen years since Node in Peril, and even a few more years since Drop, and with all the Church of Hed releases by Paul Williams… But let me say this: what we have here on All These Suns certainly rivals anything from their classic period from 1996 to 2001. The band features longtime bassist Chet Santia, also covering some guitar and lead vocals, longtime keyboardist Jay Swanson, Paul Williams on drums, synths, loops, keyboards, and the mighty “fake” Mellotron, plus backing vocals, and guitarist from an earlier era Darren Gough, who also features on backing vocals. Welcome back, all. In addition, veteran guitarist Stan Lyon joins on a few cuts, as does Carl Howard (analog synth) and Carlton Smith (drums on three tracks). The band members share the composition credits, and in fact much of what’s here sounds like a blend of composed material mixed with heady improvisation, but that’s much like it always was, a swirling psychedelic space rock with an abundance of keys and electronics, and it still works effectively. The title track is a sprawling 12-minute epic driven by guitars with shimmering undercurrents, a tune that the was part of the band’s live repertoire for many years, now given the studio treatment. “Solar Progenics” moves in mysterious ways, growing loosely over a piano based groove with fiery exchanges of electric guitar and synth, it’s a fine example of group improvisation. “Watch for Swimmers” is another improvised piece, following a groove set in motion by bass and drums, over which we have a cauldron of synths and effected guitars stirring the pot, the result being a dreamy slab of ordered chaos. There’s a lot more excellent psych to be found here, eight tracks in all, but you won’t find this in your local record store in any format. As for now and the foreseeable future, this will be available as a download only. – Peter Thelen, Expose Online
There you have it. A few new reviews of All These Suns for your reading pleasure. As noted earlier, stay tuned for additional news on the upcoming Church of Hed albums. Thanks for listening and reading!
Indeed. The new Quarkspace album, All These Suns, is now available.
We’ll also add a sidebar widget so you can stream it right here at Church of Hed Slash Quarkspace Dot Com. This is a very spacey and trippy album as expected, so dive right in. It’s priced at $6.99 per download, but we are currently doing a Black Friday Sale with 40 percent off our entire Bandcamp collection, so it ends up being less than $3. Whoa.
Here’s some additional information on All These Suns from the one-sheet for the album.
The long wait is over. All These Suns, the first “real” Quarkspace album since 2001’s Drop, is now available. The album features the 12-minute title track, long a staple of Quarkspace’s live shows, as well as a hearty dollop of improvisational and electronic instrumental cuts.
Ultimately, All These Suns reveals a classic Quarkspace inspired by its psychedelic mix of song craft and improvisation. Special guests include Carlton Smith from Columbus’s legendary Royal Crescent Mob, Carl Howard from Nomuzic, and Stan Lyon, our former guitarist during the early 21st Century. It’s a powerful album, veering between psychedelic folk and deep space rock excursions sometimes presented in an electronic fashion. In essence, this is Quarkspace!
A digital-only release, All These Suns is available for download from Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, etc. as well as the usual streaming services, such as Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Remember to support Indie Music!
All Music Composed, Improvised, and Played by Quarkspace
Darren Gough: Guitar, Backing Vox
Chet Santia: Bass, Guitars, Guide Vox
Jay Swanson: Keyboards, Synths, Beats, Backing Vox, Song Length Commentary
Paul Williams: Drumming, Synths, Keyboards, Fake Mellotrons, Beats, Loops, Moog, Backing Vox
Special Guests: Carl Howard: Analog Synth (3,5,6), Stan Lyon: Bass (1,2,4), Carlton Smith: Drumming (3,5,6)
Produced by Lance Starbridge
Just a quick note to let everyone know the new Quarkspace album — All These Suns — is imminent. By imminent, I mean in the next week or so. Mastering or technical issues are the only risks for a delay. The album is mixed and 40 percent mastered.
All These Suns is likely Quarkspace’s farewell album, as we are essentially retired. Chet is in California with any plans to visit a few years away. Darren perpetually hopes to make it down, but vehicular issues conspire to limit his travel. Jay remains incognito.
Any future releases likely will focus on anthologies or archival material. It has been a good run. Unexpected really, as our mid 90s reunion/genesis just happened.
Why did Quarkspace Dot Com Redirect Here, Man?
Yeah, Ye Olde Quarkspace Dot Com was an obsolete ASP.NET website I no longer wanted to maintain. The Quarkspace.com domain isn’t going anywhere, but for now it points at ChurchofHed.com. That may change in the future, but for now I am focused on doing music. As always.
Expect to see additional Quarkspace news, information, and sidebar widgets over time. You are able to purchase the three CDs still in print at our Bandcamp page. We still include freebies and postcards with any order over $10. It remains the best deal in spacerock, psychedelic, electronica, or cool prog rock. So there.
Additionally, I need to re-upload the Worcester live show to Bandcamp. That should happen sometime before the end of the year, as we are focused on getting All These Suns to the people.
Work on the Next Church of Hed Releases to Continue
After the Quarkspace release work finishes up, I return to Church of Hed activity. Most of my focus is on The Father Road, but perhaps a single is in the works? A funky piece of electronica appeared recently and Dink added some overdubs. Check back in 2019!
I am also switching from Pro Tools to Reaper as our DAW of choice. Ye Olde Pro Tools served us well, but Reaper seems a better path moving forward.
As always, thanks for reading and listening!