Greetings! I want to let you know that I have an Avant-garde/Alternative Rock music project called NETHRACEDICON.
I’m sure you’re probably thinking, “Nethra-what!?” And, you’re correct. This is not a word. It’s a fictional title I have given myself, as an independent recording artist. “Nethra” is actually a male first name that can be found in India. Also, at the tail end, you can find “Icon,” which someone I used to work with pointed out to me.
When I was 20, and still in college at Texas A&M University, I hooked up with some musicians who were needing a drummer for their Reggae group, Raggamuffin. During the Fall of 2005, I became their active drummer and managed to capture multiple rehearsal sessions with a portable device. This was my introduction into “do-it-yourself,” home audio recording and I’ve been doing this ever since.
Listen to the album while reading the text.
Roots Reggae & Hip-Hop Jazz
I began playing drums at the age of 11, so that, mixed with my love of Roots Reggae made me the perfect fit, at the time. The guitarist and frontman of Raggamuffin had high hopes of performing live at local clubs, but, as is the case with so many musical groups, it was not without personalities clashing.
I spent the Summer of 2006 in Nashville, TN. Through a mutual friend, I got to spend time with Mr. Jay Patten, a Jazz veteran who performs regularly and has even toured with Country singer, Crystal Gayle. Jay and I collaborated and produced an entire album titled, “The Hip-Hop Jazz.”
Going solo
While in Nashville, I purchased a portable recorder that was the exact same model I had used before, and all the first Nethracedicon material was made with it. The experience of recording with Jay Patten was a real eye-opener and lit the flame of my love for music even more! However, even he and I had our disagreements, and I began to experiment on my own.
In the Spring of 2007, I recorded some very unusual, sometimes chaotic, tracks that would form my debut album, “Neuron Collage.” Every instrument on this record was played by myself and about 40% of it consists of pieces I composed on a piano.
By this point, I had realized that doing everything myself, as a one-person band, was definitely more my style. I am self-taught on everything I use; drums, guitar, and keyboard. Going solo was an excellent choice for me because it allowed me to work and create, at my leisure, without any constraints or conflicts with others.
Sharing
Throughout the years, I have continued to make home recordings under the name Nethracedicon, and in May 2016, I finally got inspired to put my music online and share it with anyone interested. That month, I created accounts for Bandcamp, SoundCloud, FaceBook, Twitter, and started my own blog on WordPress.
To celebrate Halloween that same year, I released my second full-length album, “Indiglo Skeleton.” I was very excited about sharing this record! About half of the songs date back to 2008 and the rest were laid down in 2015. I was able to convince my then girlfriend to trek out into a forest area and shoot some promotional photos for me (the shot above is from that session).
Even being new to Bandcamp, I would say that the Indiglo Skeleton release was a success! A few dozen people downloaded the album during the first week.
Evolving
In the early Summer of 2017, I made the choice to part ways with my girlfriend of 6 years, and basically ran away to live in Athens, Texas. I was not taking my medications properly and suffered almost a complete mental breakdown. The only thing I could turn to was creating more music to keep me sane. During June of that year, I recorded my 3rd album, “The Inevitable Split.” This is an important record for me and this time, I felt it needed to be professionally mastered.
As for the music itself, like many musicians, I’ve gone through several different phases and the sound has evolved. This is partly because of my changing tastes, but also due to the simple fact that I’m getting older. For the first few years, I was going for an abrasive, Black Metal-type of sound, but when an administrator with The Metal Archives said my stuff was, “Not Metal,” instead of getting upset and arguing, I decided to just go with his assessment.
Then, I discovered there is actually a genre called BlackGaze. Many of my songs might fall into this category of a mixture between Black Metal and ShoeGaze, so I don’t mind using this as a tag now. But, I believe you could also label much of my recordings NoiseRock, Minimalist, and some even NeoClassical. It was suggested to me that I should focus more on the Ambient aspects, and perhaps I will continue to include this, when the mood strikes.
You really should be able to find my stuff online fairly easily by searching “Nethracedicon.” I am on Spotify and you can always stream my stuff for free on Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
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