FAINT WAVES

As of this writing, it’s July 20th, 2025. We’re over halfway through 2025 now, which is terrifying to me. My persistent existential dread over the inevitable passage of time is not why I’m writing this, though. We’re over halfway through the year, so I thought I’d do a sort of “state of affairs” or “company update” for Faint Waves. It occurred to me that, while I share what I can, I’m not always as transparent or “promotional” as I probably should be about what is going on/coming down the line. The reason for that is two-fold: there frankly aren’t that many people who are closely invested (a few of you do exist, thank you, I see you and appreciate you), and I’m just not that much of a shill. I do get enthusiastic about my work and can get talkative about it then if I’m excited, but other than that, I don’t really go out of my way to push, push, push the “content” (gross, dislike the use and popularity of that term at this point). That’s not my thing, and I don’t think it’s pretentious to say that I’m an “artist”, a musician, not a content machine for anyone’s enjoyment. I think a lot of people feel that way now, whether they admit it or not. Some people are comfortable framing themselves and their work that way; I am not, I think “content” and the content mindset are diminishing the value of creative output. I digress; as you can see, this writing is a stream of consciousness. My point is that I wanted to provide a broad “state of the project”, talk about what’s coming out, what’s being worked on, a peek behind the curtain at my life, etc.

Music business, I do have some of that. I’ve been working on a lot of things; the next few months are pretty much stacked for releases (assuming I can get them all done without unraveling, more on that later). I recently wrapped a new single, Bird Of Paradise, that’ll be out on the Eclectics label. Some lore for you, me and Eclectics go way back. I did a release for Eclectics, Paradise Lost, all the way back in 2018. Eclectics and I, we’ve been trying to do something again for years, and it just kept falling through. I had some music ideas that just never materialized and Eclectics went on hiatus for a bit. Eclectics returned, though, and they’ve been slowly getting back into the swing of things, before recently coming back in full with The Pilina Exhibition by Statues (a lovely release; please check it out, review incoming). I pitched a release to Eclectics earlier this year, the stars aligned, and Bird Of Paradise was born. It’s sort of a tropical Synthpop thing, two tracks, A-Side and B-Side. The sound, you know, it honestly feels like something of an update to my work from 2015 to 2017; a touch of Jan Hammer, Still Cruisin’ era Beach Boys maybe, with some Dream House and New Age influence too. To point to a modern inspiration as well, I’d say A Vision Of Panorama. Me and him started producing at a similar point in time, and I’ve been listening to him for about 10 years, really talented guy. In addition to the A-Side and B-Side are two “lounge” mixes, which trade the tropical kitsch for piano and nylon guitar. Those lounge mixes were predominately inspired by the early 90’s work of Yello (“Capri Calling”) and Dancing Fantasy (“Beyond The Horizon”), two acts who have been a consistent source of inspiration for me over the years, so they were a lot of fun to produce. I’ll share dates for Bird Of Paradise when I have them; it’s coming soon. It’ll be a Bandcamp and Juno exclusive for two weeks, then head to streaming proper.

Other than Bird Of Paradise, I’ve been spinning a few different plates. I’m going to do a deluxe reissue of my single from May, Amore Mio Dolce, and turn it into a proper EP. It’s going to be expanded with new mixes of the A-Side and B-Side, a new song, a new remix, and the option to buy a 12×18 print that adapts the artwork (you can see a test print of that below). It might seem strange to turn around and re-do that, but I enjoyed that single so much, I just wasn’t quite ready to leave it behind. Wanted to live in that sound a bit more. I’ve got a full-length album that I’ve been fiddling with for the better part of three years now, The Island Dream, that is coming soon. It’s a pretty straight-forward Exotica thing, which I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s going to feature prior songs, “The Sunset Fades” and “Breeze On The Sea”, from 2024. I’ve got an extended play for A2K Recordings, my little label project. I’ve mentioned it in passing before. That’s called The Aughts, and it’s a sort of Baggy, Trip-Hop, Chillwave thing. I’ve been working on that intermittently for a long time too, nine months maybe. That’ll come out on the label when it’s ready. Had a lot of fun with that, it’s different for me but not at all foreign; it’s informed a lot by what I listened to growing up and incorporates elements like turntables that I’ve wanted to use for a long time. This year, it will have been five years since my tribute to José Padilla, Another Sunset, so I think we’re going to do an anniversary reissue of that with some all new material included. It’ll be a big maxi-single or an extended play, new mixes of the old stuff, new material, the whole nine yards. Pay homage to the master yet again. This all sounds great on paper, and I’d love to have it all come out over the next 3 to 4 months, but I’m being careful right now; I’m teetering on the edge of burnout. At this second, I’m taking it slow and forcing myself to take some days off from the creative stuff, which is hard when it’s what you love and it’s keeping you semi-sane. It comes out when it comes out, right? I’m working on it.

Outside of music, there’s some art biz. The art stuff, as I’ve mentioned here before, it’s taken up a lot of my spare time and continues to do so. It’s been a (slow) labor of love. Pictured above is a recent test print I did, adapting the artwork for my Amore Mio Dolce single. It’s professionally printed on Somerset Velvet Fine Art paper, which has a terrific texture and sturdiness. It feels firm and valuable, rather than flimsy and cheap. It’s my favorite of the papers I’ve tested and will likely be the one I utilize most of the time going forward, as it resembles the stocky thickness of some of the vintage lithographs in my collection. Working on the print stuff and, when time and money allow, collecting the art that inspires me has been very nice (recent buys include some lovely stuff by Dennis Mukai and Jim Evans). I’ve shared some here and on my Faint Waves Instagram, but you can see those art and print-related pursuits over at @oceaneditions on Instagram. As you can probably glean from context clues at this point, all my print publishing pursuits will be done under my “Ocean Editions” banner; it will act as a subsidiary of Faint Waves and a separate name, mostly for branding and aesthetic purposes. Slapping FAINT WAVES on everything I make just didn’t appeal to me. In terms of prints and people being able to buy them, I’m working on practical ways to incorporate that into this site, as well as my Bandcamp. I’m thinking some of the music-related ones will be merch on the Faint Waves Bandcamp, while those AND others could be sold here (I’ve got a couple of prints designed featuring the work of my good buddy, James Montero, that are beautiful). Down the line, maybe Ocean Editions gets its own site/shop, but I’ll cross that bridge if and when I come to it. For now, as with everything I do, it’s small-time. Anything bought will be printed to order; it’s not like I’m sitting in a room with hundreds of tubes of stock (nor do I want to).

A peek behind the curtain, too: while I’ve been through worse in the past, it’s been a challenging year or so now. If I had to describe it in one word, it would probably be “heartbreak”, “fatigue”, or just “grief”. Who knew having an important relationship implode, working about 5 different jobs, and having a beloved cat of 11 years suddenly pass away (all in the space of <12 months) would do that? You know, I keep thinking I’ve turned a corner, but you turn enough corners, and you know what happens? You make a square and you’re right back where you started. That’s sort of how it’s felt at times. Even so, it’s getting easier than it has been, and it’s not been all bad; I’ve taken a lot of solace in art and music. In many respects, they’re the only things that have ever mattered to me, they’re the great love(s) of my life. While that sounds romantic on paper, it’s not something many people can truly relate to, and it’s not a healthy way to live. I do make a concerted effort because of that to try and appreciate everything and everyone around me, because without it and without them, what am I? What is anyone? Nothing, really. My friends and those close to me, I’d say, have grounded me in this time of endless noise and upheaval. It’s loud in my head, deafening even. I’m sure someone out there can relate to that. The external world is loud too, louder than it’s ever been, and getting louder every day. Finding any semblance of peace, whatever that means for you, is all you can do. Even better if you can do it without the maladaptive coping we’ve so casually normalized as a society. Me, I’m still figuring it out; I’m doing the best I can. Even with art and music as my outlets, I’m approaching total burnout right now, like I said, and I’m frankly exhausted by existence, exhausted by the world, just exhausted. No two ways about it. All I can do is keep going.

I guess that about sums it up. I know that’s a lot, and if you read it all, you’re a real trooper and I thank you for sticking with it. If I had to end this on any one note, I’d say this: turn on, tune in, drop out (and I mean that in terms of what that phrase actually means, not what it’s wrongly associated with), and turn your attention to what you love and who you love. Thanks for reading.

~ FW.