In which I proceed to talk about various things that are boring to most people but are endlessly fascinating to me.

I haven’t written in here in a while, but in general, things are much better, and moving forward in a way that feels natural and right for the first time in a long time. But I wanted to talk a bit about the label.

ENEMIES LIST HOME RECORDINGS has been something that I’ve been working on for a long time; I remember registering the domain from my girlfriend’s couch in Hong Kong, right before heading back to the states, so that was…6 years ago? Maybe? A long time, anyway.

ENEMIES LIST was not originally a label; it wasn’t originally anything. I’ve just put things I’ve done up there, without much plan or concept of where I wanted it to go. I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to go anywhere. I still think that sometimes. Now, however, we’re lucky enough to have some people watching what we’re doing, and so now it’s time to sit and think a bit about where we want to take this thing. Long-term stuff. What the fuck do I want to do when I grow up?

Music’s been a huge part of my life since I joined my first, awful, terrible band in middle school. It never really stopped; I just keep going. I’ve been lucky enough to have one or two small successes. What the fuck do I do with that?

Record labels are awesome and I enjoy running ours. But I’m not sure that’s a good model for us at the ENEMIES LIST. For one, we put out records that we write. We can’t possibly write enough quality records to make that our primary source of income. What’s more, I’m not even sure I want to do that. Making our personal music our source of income puts a great deal of pressure on us to write sale-able material. I want to write crazy, fucked up, mind-blowing shit, even if it’s only me that thinks so. I want to do something different every time. I want to be Miles Davis crossed with Gregory House. I want to be Nietzsche in the desert on a fucking Spirit Journey. How does that change when money becomes the goal?

ENEMIES LIST isn’t really a label at all; we’re not really interested in putting out records, per se; we want to put out OUR records (not to say we won’t put out a record if we like it, because we would; we just don’t go looking for new bands to “sign,” and to be honest, I barely listen to music when I’m writing music, anyway).

ENEMIES LIST is really a brand. It’s basically a sticker we slap on things that involve certain people and share certain philosophies. I like that idea. It means we can engage in certain activities under the auspices of the ENEMIES LIST that aren’t our personal musical endeavors that are aimed at creating income and reinvesting that income into the…whatever the fuck this thing is.

Specifically, I’m interested in film scoring. I’d like to explore that as a way to write music and make money from it (long shot, I know. Especially since I can’t write music and can barely play an instrument, but that’s why I said “explore”). ENEMIES LIST could have a “soundtrack” division. I like the idea of having a group engaged in different activities simultaneously; like a design firm for music and art.

Of course, like all art, it’s hard to monetize ideas like that without turning into an asshole. Since this is a blog post about the intersection of art and commerce, that’s a problem, and it’s a problem I don’t really understand how to overcome. But I am interested in perhaps erasing some of the boundaries between our projects, uniting under some sinister, anonymous umbrella…

Anyway, that’s a lot of hot air, but that’s what I sound like when I’m thinking out loud.

By the way, I should point out that I have a day job, have always had a day job, and enjoy it. So, living off art is the dream. Working while creating art, however, is the true path. If you don’t want to work and create at the same time, you don’t really like creating.