J.D. Moyer

sci-fi author, beatmaker

Tag: Momu Page 1 of 4

#3 on Beatport, Work Update, Succeeding Like Water

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On December 14

In Creative Work/Career, Electronic Music, Fiction Writing

Music

The new Momu release “Music Gets Me By” is charting on Beatport, currently #3 in Breakbeat releases and #9 on both the Melodic House and Tech House releases charts, while the various mixes have all broken into the Top 100 track charts for their respective genres. A great “big room” remix from our friend Jonathan Ojeda (artist name alias_j) is leading the charge in terms of sales.

It’s a blast to have any musical project get some traction, and the fact that this one is a collaboration with my good friends makes it that much sweeter. We’re this old, and still making electronic dance music, and some people still like the sounds we’re making? Amazing…I feel nothing but gratitude.

Check out the release, and if you like it, a purchase on Beatport would help us keep moving up the charts. It will also be available on Spotify, Apple Music, and everywhere else next Friday.

Writing

After the recent acceptance of a novella to a magazine that I greatly admire (which I will announce as soon as the release date is set), I feel motivated to write more novellas. I’ve decided to write the sequel to my yet-to-be-published novel “Saint Arcology” (currently out for submission) as a set of three standalone novellas which can be read in any order, including either before or after the first book in the series.

How will this work in terms of eventually negotiating first publication rights? I have no idea, but I’m following my writing energy, and that’s where it’s leading me right now. I will probably need an agent at some point to advise me on such contractual issues, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Which leads into the point below…

Succeed Like Water

With each year of my life I become more aware of the reality that unknown, unexpected factors will always continue to surprise me and have an outsized influence on my life. Some will feel catastrophic (illnesses, market downturns, mental health issues) and others fabulous (new friendships, financial windfalls, lucky breaks). For me the best strategy is always to navigate life according to my core values (kindness, creativity, strong relationships, etc.) and try to achieve the things I want without getting too attached to outcomes which are unpredictable and often out of my control, partially or completely.

But even while taking a step back from the pursuit of goals at any cost, I like the idea of flowing towards my ideal outcomes. Water changes its shape and form to continue in a particular direction. Water rushes or seeps in, flows in tiny rivulets or great channels, changes its form to steam or ice depending on energetic conditions. So how can I emulate water, in terms of progressing towards my goals?

  • Follow my creative energy
  • Say yes to opportunities and collaborations where I feel a spark or connection (flow in the direction of gravity)
  • Show up to events (explore channels)
  • Don’t eliminate options because they don’t fit my preconceived plan

In summary, be willing to follow multiple convoluted paths, as long as they head in the general direction of where I want to be. Which is preferable to being stuck in a traffic jam on a straight road.

Some Personal Updates, and a Request

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On April 2

In Creative Work/Career, Electronic Music, Personal Updates, Writing

Unrelated to the post, but Bumblebee was parked in front of my house yesterday.

I got back from my uncle’s funeral service a few hours ago. It was belated for various reasons — he died over a year ago — but the service was well-attended, in a beautiful location, and I feel as if we did right by him.

Both my father-in-law and my uncle passed away around the same time last year. For a few months my stress levels redlined and I had difficulty sleeping, but after I’d had a chance to grieve and the bulk of the end-of-life logistics were handled for both family members, I settled into a more reflective state. It’s been good to consider my own mortality, and the mortality of my friends and family. It’s easier to prioritize what’s important when I consider the relative imminence and unavoidability of death. I frequently let my family and friends know that I love them, I work on my big ideas, and I do the things I would regret not doing were my life to be cut short.

But I hope that my life continues for a very long time, because I’m enjoying it immensely. In terms of external life metrics such as finances and career, I’m doing fine, but what’s really making me happy are the following:

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New Momu Album, and Arturia Softsynth Giveaway

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On March 1

In Contests, Electronic Music

Mark Musselman and I have a new Momu album coming out March 20th (March 6th Beatport Exclusive) on Loƶq Records.

Loƶq Records is giving away a copy of the incredible Analog Lab softsynth from Arturia to help promote the album. You can enter the contest by following Momu on Spotify, joining the Loƶq Records mailing list, following Loƶq Records on Twitter, etc.

The contest is running on Gleam, an Australian marketing and promotion company co-founded by Stuart McKeown, who I just learned is a Momu and progressive breaks fan from back in the day. I emailed tech support about a small issue and got an email back from Stuart himself, noting that he heard our tracks Donner Pass and Sunsicle on Jon Lisle’s Bedrock Brighton mix in 2002, and that he owns our remix of Jamie Stevens – The Night Before on vinyl. Small world!

This contest is now closed. Congrats to the winner Matt Bolger from La Mesa, California!

Momu — MOVE is now available on Beatport (currently charting #23 in Breaks) and will soon be in general release.

[gleam url=”https://gleam.io/koQ2d/momu-move-contest”]Momu – Move (Arturia giveaway contest)[/gleam]

Music Update: Three New Releases, Still In The Game

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On August 23

In Electronic Music, Music Business

Arturia V collection (emulated, in my Macbook)

I’ve always hesitated to call myself a musician, composer, or even music producer. I can find the keys on a keyboard the match the melody in my head, but mostly I make beats, basslines, and sculpt sound with digital waveform transformations and effects. Sometimes I work alone, sometimes with a friend next to me. I like working both ways, the former to dig in and get work done, the latter to get out of my own head and expand the canvas–two minds are usually better than one.

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Career Advice I Wish I’d Received at Age 20

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On September 12

In Advice for Young People, Creative Work/Career, Metablog, Metaprogramming, Writing

It’s possible to have a career without really thinking about it. Nothing wrong with that. I’ve had at least three-and-a-half accidental careers so far.

  • I started doing computer support and database design right out of college, just a few hours a week, at my dad’s friend’s company, learning as I went. Ten years later I was the Senior Database Administrator for the San Francisco Symphony, and I still do freelance db work to this day as my main source of income. But none of my friends ever remember this, because it’s so boring that I never talk about it.
  • My record label business partner wanted to start a weekly happy hour at an art gallery. I thought it was a terrible idea. The ayahuasca-snorting gentleman he initially partnered with to throw the event got a little squirrelly and they parted ways. I reluctantly stepped in, and under our management we had a decade-plus run as one of the biggest dance music events in San Francisco, lines around the block, written up in international guide books, DJs from around the world eager to play to our crowd.
  • I had no interest in DJing. But we needed to promote our album. So I learned to DJ at my own party, trainwrecking mix after mix. Spesh put me through DJ bootcamp and I got a little better. Soon we were headlining the biggest dance clubs in San Francisco, voted among SF’s Top DJs in the Nitevibe poll, on the cover of The SF Weekly, and touring in Europe. But eventually I quit because I don’t like travelling, or listening to hundreds of promo tracks to find the few good ones.
  • I started a blog in 2009. I can’t remember why. Probably to practice writing, to express myself, to share my ideas. Eventually some of my health posts (about sleep and artificial light, about the paleo diet) got popular. The blog hit a million views. CNN interviewed me. A TV show The Doctors flew me to Hollywood to be a guest. I experimented with advertising. Then I wrote a post about how I regrew some of my hair by intensively massaging my head, and things went crazy. Views through the roof, readers begging me to make instructional videos, asking for personalized advice. Should I take up hair regrowth coaching? I thought about it. Maybe I could help Tim Ferriss regrow his hair, or Prince William. But I’m not patient enough to be a coach, and I didn’t want to be the hair guy. Or another paleo guy. So I made it clear to my readers that though while I would still write the occasional health post, the content of this blog was much broader (systems for living well, self-experimentation, the creative life).

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