Sardith is the name of the last album/EP I released in 2019. It has a lot of ambient and techno like themes. I had been working on this album since I lost my previous job (February 2019). I was depressed and honestly feeling even more like a failure than usual. I was hyper anxious and was just feeling hopeless about my job prospects. It was the first time that I honestly felt like there was no hope for me to get anywhere in the world.
My previous employer didn’t renew my contract after a year (which I wholly blame myself for), I wasn’t (and technically still not) really getting legit traction from my music in a way that would make it anywhere near profitable, and I wasn’t getting any interviews for a while so money was really tight.
It didn’t help that my keyboard (88 key from Korg) no longer fully works. What I mean is that middle C (C3) through to C5 don’t work. On top of that, My Arturia Minilab keys don’t work. Honestly, in that regard, music making had been a struggle. That said, I was still able to find ways around it to produce creative work so it’s not the biggest hindrance out there. I just made it work.
The album name actually came from my man. I asked him for a new artist name for a project I was looking to start up for techno music(dub techno to be exact). I was going to use it for a new artist name however I became hesitant only because Sardith sounded techno based and I didn’t know if I could fully sustain a techno based or even trance based tracks consistently (because I am genrefluid lol).
Random note: I get that there’s this notion that creatives make their best work when they are depressed and down or damn near suicidal. However, I don’t know if that’s the case. I think that when you’re in a place of legit scarcity and your self esteem is tied to your ability to survive financially, then it may not work. I found that to some degree I was ‘creative’ but in between my sessions I found myself crying for hours (therefore lost productivity). Additionally, I didn’t think it was worth it to even put anything out because I thought I was a pathetic wannabe who is too old to be putting out music (late 20s=old).
I would say that it’s easier to be creative when you are stable and relatively content. When I first got into music, it was a hobby and I was having fun with it. Heck, even when I was working at my last job (part time hours so I could also work on my music), I was at my happiest/most content because I made money, paid my rent, and still got to do what I loved. I was putting out music regularly and was creating my music on trains and in plazas with just my laptop.
Right now, I’m in a half stable job. I’m paranoid about my status at any job because…
In general though, I’m glad I have my job right now, and has allowed a better problem to arise for the time being: finding time to actually make music consistently now.
As of now, I did put out an EP which is more ‘urban’/hip hop based and I have some plans on releasing some more things soon. I just need song titles…
Very hilarious note. I’m writing this on March 2nd,2020: I was going through my a bunch of my tracks and I realized that one of the tracks I was listening to was supposed to actually be on Sardith… I just messed that one up. I usually try to group tracks together especially when the song titles are currently just dates. It’s a darn shame. Now I guess I’ll need to put out another ambient/dub techno type EP or album 🙂
