Viking Dreams
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Check Out the Album
Original Concept:
Starting in 1960, on a black and white television, I started watching -- and loving -- the Vikings. Reruns of movies like "The Vikings" (1958) and "The Long Ships" (1964), followed by the TV serial "Tales of the Vikings" (1959) taught me how to play, with imagination and an attention to detail, as a Viking warrior child. I never recovered! This album will explore my "Viking Dreams," with an hommage to these television roots, through a lifelong obsession with the Vikings and their adventures, and my eventual travels to Iceland and Scandinavia in search of Viking museums and inspiration.
Artist Post-Game:
I have some mixed feelings about this year's record, but overall I'm pleased with my effort. The negative first: (1) I don't record very much in general, so I needed to relearn the basics of Garage Band once gain. So, even though I used GB last year for InCoAlMo, having forgotten how to use it, it was all new to me again; (2) I was on track to use the whole month for the project, but some emergency travel plans had me leaving my stuff from March 14-31, so I decided to push hard and get it done by March 14. So...yeah...rushed! (3) Probably a weak excuse, but I got sick around March 10, and completed two songs with really froggy vocals at the last second, around March 13. Yes, I can go back and fix these -- my stuff is on Bandcamp, so it is easy to fix if I want -- I'm just not sure I want to go backwards at this point.
On the positive front, I think I realized my "concept" fairly well, with all the songs reinforcing my Viking Dreams and aspirations. I also really like singing a few of the songs, which is always nice. There are some in there that I will be adding to my current rotation for open mics, etc. My research led me to learn more than I was aware of previously about certain parts of the Viking sagas. In reviewing old movie reviews of films like "The Vikings" and "The Long Ships," I found that my infatuation with these movies was largely around the action and the costumes, and less on the silly plot lines. Not exactly a revelation, but it helps me understand how some who watched those movies might have experienced sub-standard Hollywood entertainment, while impressionable, aggressive kids in inner city Buffalo, New York might have experienced them quite differently.
Finally, I'm grateful to Joe and to this InCoAlMo group for the chance to dive deeply into these kinds of projects, stumble through how to record the damn things, and otherwise get inspired by not only my own activities here but by what the rest of you come up with. I don't spend much time with Discord, but I do pay attention to your work, and my listening is the better for it. So, thanks all!