Well, it was an interesting year. Mostly highpoints, but also some things that gave me pause and made me think. I’ll take them in random order.

Splitting up Witnesses

I decided enough is enough with doing multi-genre. Is it a compromise? Yes. However, have I enjoyed the confusion this causes? Absolutely not. I’m not relishing managing multiple accounts for projects, but I’m over this. I’m glad I tried it, but no more. I certainly learned a lot.

Joy vinyl

Joy got a beautiful vinyl edition on These Hands Melt out of Italy. It really brought the artwork to life and had a very classy look. Great design work, and I love the transparent green color. Thank you to everyone who has picked up a copy!

Reviews

What a ride. Lots of positive sentiment, but some definitely negative. That’s OK and expected, but it did reinforce my view that the best reviews take a work on its own terms and wrestle with its themes and concepts. I wish I saw more of this. There’s too much discussion of where things fit in the genre landscape. 

Ampwall

It was great to use this platform (this one!) in 2024. The features are truly coming along, the community remains healthy, and I did a chunk of sales that mattered. That’s a great sign. Hoping they have a big 2025.

Shipping

Shipping still sucks, though Ampwall has made some big improvements. But Ampwall can’t do anything about how expensive it is, even US to Canada! I doubt we’ll see improvements here, which is unfortunate. We kept the price of the Joy vinyl down, but it still bums me out what we have to charge for shipping to avoid taking a bath.

Collaborators

Just over the moon about the partners who contributed to Joy. Truly invested and excited about the material. Makes all the difference. You know who you are. Thank you.

Debating Spotify

No thanks. It sucks. Streaming is a terrible business, and nothing will change in terms of them doing shitty stuff to be profitable. That’s it. 

Prog

Witnesses isn’t prog, lol. But call it what you want. This is just weird to me. 

2025 look ahead

Lots of new music being written, but none of it will be Witnesses. It’s time for a bit of a break so that fresh ideas can bloom.