The recent tour of Europe was such an experience. Visiting places and countries I’ve never been and returning to some amazing places, there was a lot for me to process, and trying my best to appreciate every day of it is still something I can’t fully comprehend. 

It was the biggest tour yet for Midnight Odyssey, and to be where I am from my first show a few years ago, I am pinching myself everyday. There were hiccups here and there, no tour is perfect, as much as I’d like it to be.

Meeting a lot of you for the first time, or seeing old acquaintances and friends again meant a lot. I got to see some great bands as well, and it’s encouraging to see despite what’s happening in the world that the flame is burning.

So thank you to all who came to the shows, to the promoters, organisers, staff and other bands.

In reflection, I took a lot from the words of encouragement and what my music means to you. Trying to be everything is tough, and I’ve tried to take a bit more control of my music, in terms of promotion and social media, and all I’ve learnt is how hard it is and how much I actually hate social media, streaming platforms and the algorithm.

The internet isn’t what it was or what it should have been. Everything is used for data gathering, corporate profit and ai training and diminishes the value and appreciation of human creation.

When I recently had an ai artist submit ‘collaborations’ on my streaming pages, I felt a betrayal. From the regulations of laws and copyrights and the companies themselves. To learn my music was used to train AI found in a database leak, a part of me felt like why bother. 

I realised the need for social media is a lie. I’ve started by deleting the Tempestuous Fall and Death Comes Crawling Facebook pages and I have suspended posting anything to the MO one, though keep it there for information purposes.

Maybe instagram will follow, but Facebook has been my pet hate for years now. I truly think it all makes us sick, addicted, and depressed. The news is never good, and something that only serves to keep the population divided only benefits the few.

But where do you go as a band? Bandcamp is in dire need of some updates. Do people read emails when their inboxes are overfilling with promotions and spam? Do I even need to have a presence online, just slink back into the darkness and let those who search deep enough find me?

I know I’m not alone in feeling disenfranchised with everything, there’s not a lot of good news for musicians, artists, writers & performers at the moment. 

Maybe it’s time to write some new music.