FAINT WAVES

A year of highs and lows, this is my year-in-review for 2024. I had a lot written here, discussing the difficulty of the last six months and why this turned out to be a challenging year for me. I scrapped it because I sort of realized that it wouldn’t do any good to ruminate on any of it. I think it’s important to acknowledge when things aren’t going well; we all deal with it, right? Simultaneously, though, you can’t and shouldn’t indulge in misery; it serves no one. Don’t run from it, but don’t let it rule over you either. The last six months haven’t been easy for me and I’ve had to wrestle with a lot emotionally. Now, though, I’ve reached a point where I’m less concerned with what has happened and more concerned with the near future. Frankly, there’s a lot I’m looking forward to, and my focus now is on that. All I’ll say further is this: no matter how hard life can be, no matter what happens to you or what you go through, take solace in the things you’re passionate about and the people you love (and who love you). Now, on to the article proper, it’s been a hell of a year.

FAINT WAVES IN 2024

As you’ve seen if you’ve been following the posts on the site or heard me mention it elsewhere, I’ve been celebrating 10 years of Faint Waves this year. It’s been a lovely celebration and it’s been very fulfilling to release so much music and sort of move the project forward. I’ve struggled at times with the music; I’ll be the first to tell you that. There have been moments where it didn’t feel worth it, where it didn’t fulfill me, and it just seemed sort of pointless. Those feelings were wrapped up in a lot of other things: personal hardship, mental health issues, creative burnout, all sorts of things. I hit a point where I just sort of had to let go; music couldn’t be my entire world. I had to let life in. Ironically, when I did that, the music started happening naturally and I felt engaged, connected with it again. It’s been a balancing act. In 2022, I tried to hang it up altogether for a while because I was so completely exhausted. When I did that? Just about everything that could go wrong, did. I’m not the most spiritual or superstitious person, but I’m also not an idiot; I can take a hint. The moment I turned my back on music, my life immediately took a turn for the worse, so I slowly worked myself back into it. Sure enough, things got better. Ever since, I’ve just been going where it takes me, and that’s proved beneficial.

The celebration culminated in a total of 10 releases this year, which I did not plan, by the way. 10 releases for 10 years just happened to be where I landed by the end, a fun coincidence. I worked on and released a lot of music. Sentimental, a piano-driven New Wave EP that was informed by Deacon Blue, The Waterboys, and Flock Of Seagulls. City Of Night, a guitar-centric Italo Disco single that drew on acts like Kriss, Radiorama, Electric Theatre, and Baltimora, among other more typical influences of my own like Stevie Nicks, Billy Idol, and Pet Shop Boys. Rain Rhythms Vol. 3, the third installment in my Rain Rhythms series of EPs, which blended New Age, Jazz, and Trip-Hop elements this time around. The Sunset Fades, a pristine slice of modern Exotica, fit for tiki lounges everywhere. Technique, the lead single for Paradise, seamlessly blending New Wave, Chillwave, and House. Paradise itself, a slightly left-field Balearic abstraction that melds Dream Pop, New Wave, Downtempo, and New Age. Paradiso, the mellow counterpart to Paradise, which brings the Chillout and House influences to the fore. Rhythm Of The Heat by Unlimited Oceans, a 90’s-inspired lead single to True Faith, and the first release under my Unlimited Oceans name in three years. True Faith, the most Club and Dance oriented Unlimited Oceans release yet. Last but not least, It’s Time To Walk Away, an atmospheric and beat-driven piano outing.

On top of all these releases, I’m happy to report that Faint Waves had its biggest streaming year of all time this year. I’m not a big numbers junkie, it’s simply not why I’m doing this, but what a note to end 10 years on. 36,000+ listeners this year. 119,000+ streams this year. Heard in 143 countries. Those numbers compared to some aren’t that impressive, but to me, they’re positively mind-boggling. To anyone who has ever listened in the last decade, thank you, truly. To look at where the year began and where it’s ended musically, it is spectacularly gratifying. Even just getting this site going, small-time and inconsequential as it may be, is big for me. On the whole, it felt like I got things done this year, musically. Things I had been meaning to do, like this site. Things I had been meaning to finish, like some of the songs that ended up being released this year. Things that happened naturally, like the rest of the art and music that came about. To make even the small impact I’ve had and share the music with everyone, it’s been really great. Thank you. Music may have been the big focus this year, but it wasn’t all about my own music; it was about the music of others too. That brings us to what’s next: the concerts. I saw a lot of shows this year and I thought I’d sum them up for you.

CONCERTS OF 2024

In May, I saw the legendary Billy Idol in concert. It was a wonderful experience and I’d see him again in a heartbeat (I did; I’ll get to that). A consummate entertainer and performer, doing his damnedest to deliver a great performance on every song he does. Billy Idol and his guitarist, Steve Stevens, they didn’t disappoint at all (nor did the rest of the backing band). It was a very strong performance and reminded me why I loved music as much as I do. My only regret was waiting as long as I did to see Billy, as I’ve been a fan since I was little. I wrote a few hundred words that served both as a review of the show and a retrospective on my connection to Billy Idol. I was so enthused with that concert that I turned right around and saw him again in September when he announced another show even closer by than the one I saw in May. I couldn’t resist. He was joined by Nile Rodgers + Chic, which in and of itself was pretty neat, so I couldn’t pass up such an opportunity.

In July, I saw the Wallflowers. This was a local show at a local venue, The Gillioz Theater. Jakob Dylan may (unfairly) live somewhat in the shadow of his father, Bob Dylan, but he has undoubtedly charted a musical course distinct from him. Personally, I vastly prefer Jakob and The Wallflowers over anything Bob Dylan has done in his long career. Alas, that’s just me. I understand Bob’s place in musical history and respect his writing, but musically, there’s very little there for me. That’s fine; I’ll leave that for others to enjoy. If nothing else, Bob gave us Jakob and Jakob gave us The Wallflowers. The band put on a very nice show, no frills, no fluff, just good music performed well. Vocally, Jakob’s voice has aged gracefully. You can hear tinges of his father in his dusty delivery, but there’s an innate musicality in Jakob’s tone that Bob never had; the two singers simply differ in their tone, range, and approach. The band tackled the 90’s hits and more modern entries in their sonic canon with relative ease, but the real highlights came in the form of the covers they opted to perform. The covers, “Wild World” by Cat Stevens and “Refugee” by Tom Petty, were brilliantly interpreted by the band and well-suited to Jakob’s voice. I left the show thoroughly satisfied and glad I got to see the band.

In August, I saw Childish Gambino, and I’m happy to report that it was one of the most entertaining live experiences I’ve ever had. The concert was a true spectacle, so much so that I wrote an impromptu editorial on it. Childish Gambino (or Donald Glover, as he’s better known to some out there) performed an exhaustive 30-song set, heavily comprised of all-new material, as well as hits and deep cuts from his back catalogue. The energy and atmosphere of this show, it was unlike anything I had ever seen. The show I saw was the second night of the tour, Gambino was in top form, and the crowd was positively electric. Never have I seen an audience more locked in. People ages 18 to 45 seemed equally enthralled, which is not something you can say about every act and their respective live show. I attended this show with my best friend, and I can safely say it was an experience we will never forget. From our original seats being double booked and getting moved a section closer to the stages to the unbelievable encore performance of “Lithonia” that Gambino closed with, it was top-to-bottom unforgettable. With this being billed as Donald’s last outing as Childish Gambino, I’m glad I made the decision to see him. Even if it’s not, and he returns to the Gambino name down the line, it won’t change how stellar this show was. Unfortunately, not long after, in October, Donald cancelled the remainder of the tour for the foreseeable future due to a surgery for an undisclosed health concern. I’m thankful I got to see him and wish him a speedy recovery.

One thing I wanted to mention too. This is not a “sponsored ad” of any kind; just a consumer report. In this age of so many concert tickets being digital or print-at-home, I longed to have a tangible ticket for a couple of the shows I went to that didn’t offer stubs. In my search for such a thing, I found Stubforge, where you can have custom ticket stubs made up on quality material (the same ticket stock that Ticketmaster uses when they actually do physical tickets). If you wanted a novelty keepsake to remember a show by and a digital receipt or paper print-out isn’t cutting it, give Stubforge a try. The prices are reasonable (better the more you buy at once), and the stub is realistic. The only giveaway that it’s not a genuine ticket stub you received is the well-designed Stubforge logo on the ticket. You pick from a select few colors/ticket layouts, fill in all the fields necessary, right down to tiny specifics like the tour you saw the act on, what you paid for your ticket, and the date you purchased it. Then you place an order and the stub gets sent your way. It’s pretty neat and as a service, probably doesn’t get the love it deserves. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

WHAT COMES NEXT

If you made it this far, thank you. In closing, all of this talk of music and 2024, it begs the question: what’s next? To which I would reply, in simplest terms, a lot. The 10 year celebration for Faint Waves may be over, but I want to keep the momentum I have going. I don’t feel any pressure to, but I want to, and that makes all the difference. I feel good about where I am creatively, and while I intend to maintain the balance I’ve had with life and creativity, I’m keen to keep moving forward. That’s why a new chapter will begin in 2025. I’ll be continuing my work as Faint Waves and I’ll be starting an all-new enterprise too: an internet record label.

As you may or may not have seen me talk about elsewhere, I’m calling it A2K Recordings. What I’ve dubbed “music for the new millennium”, it’s going to focus largely on the genres I grew up with in the 90’s and early 00’s; Alternative, Punk, Hip-Hop, Electronica, and the genres that land between them. Inspired by labels like Machine Shop Recordings and Maverick Records, I wanted to create a place of my own, for releases of my own, my friends, and whoever comes along. I’ve been at this for 10 years and in that time, I’ve had the privilege of working with a handful of labels, I wanted to learn from that experience and apply it to something of my own. You know, something I could do, my way. It’s something I’ve been kicking around in one shape or another for the last four years or so and if I don’t do it now, I might not ever do it. It has to start somewhere, what better place than here. It has to start sometime, what better time than now. I’m going to continue my work with Faint Waves as I build A2K; in fact, an all-new Faint Waves EP will debut on A2K Recordings. It’s something sort of Madchester, Baggy, Big Beat inspired that I’ve been fiddling with on and off since the end of 2022, so it’ll be nice to finally get that out in 2025 on A2K. A full-length Eurobeat album from my Unlimited Oceans side project will also debut on A2K Recordings in 2025.

This isn’t even mentioning other coals I might have in the fire for 2025; A2K material I can’t talk about, FW releases for other labels, etc. Like I said, it’s a lot. We did it big in 2024, we may not quite reach those heights, but it’s going to be damn close. Thank you again for a great 2024. I may have dealt with a lot of personal strife but musically, it was immense, and I have you to thank for it. I appreciate you coming along with me as I celebrated 10 years, here’s to 10 more. Join me in 2025 as I keep this train moving and start a new chapter along the way.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year from Faint Waves. See you soon.

~ FW.