El Oscuro (2007)
- Waltz
- Abstinence ft. Scott Zakaib
- The Dark One (El Oscuro)
- Oranges
- Wasted
- Raccoons
- Just A Phase (Written by Amanda Appenzeller)
- Sometimes
- Fatherly Violence
- A Besta
- Jessica
- Granted
- Insomniac
- Untitled 2
- End Credits
About the Album
This was recorded in my bedroom in 2007. Half the album was recorded using the same methods as Dancing in the Stars With Jesus; amp-to-computer input.
The other portion of the album was recorded using an M-Audio FireWire Solo, which I still use today, that I bought second hand for half the price. It was very exciting for me making such a huge purchase that would become a staple in how I record. With it came GT Player Express which through VST plugin to Cubase made recording a dream, being able to have all those guitar effects processed without having to buy ten different pedals. It completely replaced my Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion for the most part. But, like its predecessor, suffers from really low quality.
The name El Oscuro means ‘the darkness’. I hope? Much of the album is about finding the darkness inside yourself which being 19 and dealing with a lot of internal issues at the time was really important for me despite the lyrics being a little over the top on some songs.
My good friend Scott Zakaib, who I was also working on writing other songs at the time, leant his vocal talents on the song Abstinence. The lyrics for the song Just a Phase were written by an online friend Amanda Appenzeller who gave me a poem she wrote and asked me to make a song out of it. So I did. Those are the only times thus far that I have worked on a song with someone other than myself.
- Ryan