Cityscape 08 took some time to develop. I worked with an old voice memo from 2015 for the opening midwest fingerstyle riff and then was a bit stuck. I did the cool Tame Impala fake fade out effect and decided to use that as a transition to the next segment which ended up very Tycho like. I plan to do more cityscape stuff with synth in the next volume.

Canandaigua (can-an-day-gua) is a city on finger lakes that I once went to and took these very soothing and calming photos of the boat marina. This track reminded me of water and i liked these photos so I decided to use it!

Canandaigua (Cityscapes 08)

Solarcoast is the last completed Cityscape song for the first installement. This song perhaps my favourite of the series as it culminates alot of the ideas and skills i've learned and explored while making these songs. 

Photowise, this was taken in 2017 on my friend's dad's boat in Sidney, BC, Canada called "the solarcoaster." I felt given the mood and the boat's name, "solar coast" was a fitting title that also alleviated me from paying any royalties to the original name XD

I hope you enjoy the song and share it with whoever you think would enjoy it.

Cheers. Stay tuned for the album.

Solarcoast (Cityscapes 09)

Overmorrow 

This track is the last one that I finished composing for the album. The opening guitar riff and proceeding bass/drum groove i've sat on for quite a while unsure of where to go, so I just moved on a circled back to it when it was time. 

I never imagined any vocals to this piece, but when i was mumbling ideas, i rather liked the aesthetic of very distant almost spoken word dialog. I then decided to omit vocals in the latter half and opt for using screams (which are layered goat yells in distortion with a preceding inhalation by yours truly)

Everything done by me. 

Lyrics

You are lost
More than they thought
At this point of exhaust

Breathing through the choice at hand
Recognizing forked paths

Hesitate a proper choice
Working from a random cast 
Ignoring every single voice
As what do they really know

They haven’t been at this point
They haven’t faced what you have
They only speak from their thoughts
When they see you are distraught

Rather than discarding that 
Consider giving this a shot
They haven’t been there that’s a fact
But what experience could change that 

Notion you just haven’t cracked
A care for you is still intact
Whether you believe or not 
Doesn’t mean this is a fraud



If anything what is flawed 
The group of friends that you applaud 
Instigating dialog
Your personal word of god

(goat yells) x many

Overmorrow

An exploration into synths and layering. Most likely this will be the direction of the next cityscape installment.

Version 1 Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlUNUFSBkPg

Version 2 Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSyLObWIuvg

2022-01-7: Extended Song by another minute. It goes back to a groove and then elegantly climaxes without being to big or out of place. I think the song can end here but lets see if i return to it later.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlUNUFSBkPg

Synthscape 01

I was jamming around the other day and crafted this chill groovy loop. Hope you enjoy, i'll continue it some time, probably make more slow stuff like this (with no climaxes)

Everything done by Me.

"Bass" is just pitch shifted telecaster.

Picture is a "self portrait" of me sitting at the Sacre Coeur steps in Paris watching the sunrise. The same morning i took the City scapes 1/3/4 photos.

Cheers. Share if you like. Thanks.

I Don't Want To Wake Up (but not in a morbid sense)

Synthscapes 03

This song began with the group "Hovering" that I was a part of during 2020.  It was conceived on our first day jamming together where we established the core rhythm and vibe. I later improvised the first lyrical stanza and Annie laid down the clean/dreamy guitars you hear 0:24 onwards. 

Fast forward over 2 years to Oct 2022, I wanted to develop and release this track so I finished up the lyrics and did the production and that is that. Hope you enjoy

Credits:
Guitar: Annie(https://annielehh.bandcamp.com/)
Drumming Inspiration: Lukas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh3zi6Ydm1I)
Opening & Over Driven Guitar: Hankus
Bass: Hankus
Drum Programming: Hankus
Lyrics/Vocals/Production: Hankus

About Lyrics:
I needed a subject to help melodies flow and I chose to explore the regularly family drama i have surrounding my praise for rice cookers, and my family's adamant insistence on using a pot despite the margin of error, poor results and supervision required. Thus this song is about that. The band really liked the lyrics and though it was a well suited to the previous song that was about windows.

Lyrics:
Turn it on, cover it walk away 
Stand around, if you chose to go astray (haven't recorded this update yet)
A dreadful state, saturated heavy weight
A ruined plate soaking in stubborn fate

Something simple, something beautiful gone wrong
For no sane reason, we're not living in the past
stuck to tradition, and burn the bedding once was fluff
No longer sacred, scrape this off right into the trash

will... you ever change your mind
i dont get why, you feel so inclined

Turn it on, cover it walk away 
Stand around, if you go the other way
A dreadful state, stubborn in your own way
A ruined fate destined to saturate
It's too late

Saturated Fate

A few months ago i posted and shared around a quick song idea. I posted it on r/chillhop where Tsedrek stumbled upon it and it resonated well with him. He got in touch with me and wanted to jam to the song. The latter half of the song featuring the keys, ethereal vocals and piano are his contribution which have become so integral to the song that I can't hear it without those parts.

I hope you enjoy this tune as much as we do and there will definitely be more coming from us. 

Thanks

00:00 - 01:23 Original Demo
01:24 - 02:54 Tsdrek's Contribution

Tsedrek also does music and you can find links to his work here https://linktr.ee/tsedrek

Regarding the thumbnail picture, this was me watching the sunrise from the same morning i took the first cityscape photo. "I didn't want to wake up" that day so early 4am to get to the location but im glad i did looking back. Given this may be cityscapes 11, and Tsedrek is in france i felt this was the perfect image to go with.

Thanks.

I Don't Want To Wake Up (but not in a morbid sense) [Feat: Tsedrek]

Was in need of track after dropping 2 from the album I'm working on. I started working backwards from a riff in another song i wanted to segway into, but ended up making something new.

An idea of the song was "diiv" meets "king gizzard" and the end becomes a bit of a prog-rock riff dance inspired by scale the summit.

Im planning to add some ethreal dreamy vocals to this and perhaps expand the song longer.

Thanks for tuning in.

Instrumentation: P-Bass, Baritone Guitar, Telecaster Guitar... and well drums

Midwhelmed [DEMO]

The very first jam demo i did for this song

Mis/s Erase (Inception Jam)

Here is a song I'm currently working on. It began in 2021 and was developed with project called "Hovering" which involved Lukas from "Heavy Sweater" and Annie from "Group Therapy"

The next step will be to redo the vocals and rewrite the lyrics to paint the illusion of a story. We just slapped together two separate ideas.

linktr.ee/heavysweater
https://joingrouptherapy.bandcamp.com/album/lighter 

Annie: Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar Writing (chorus chords)
Lucas: Drum guidance.... maybe bass? (i don't remember who wrote it)
Me: the other stuff including production

Helmethead [DEMO]

ive been very busy with planned and unplanned stuff, but always chipping away at music, whether in front of a guitar, in the DAW or in my head.

This is a song ive started working on recently and well i dont know when ill get around to developing it and making it sound more complete but felt compelled to share where it is at

Untitled Song 4 (demo)

Late Nate Jam

2/4

This song was a big undertaking for me. It also introduced me to shoegaze/dreampop/diiv which became importnat genres & bands for me. Sharing my WIP music led to these comparisons which led to inspiration and something to study. I was merely layering stuff and drenching in reverb because that was the only production skill i had at the time. I buried my vocals cause i didn't like them then. 

Anyway enjoy this song.

Everything done by me.

Lyrics:
Let's talk about how you want to converse/confess with one syllable words, faces and closed endings

Cause I don't Know what else I can still propose, there are so many issues that you won't disclose, to anyone

Let's talk about how you advertise, your desire to speak , well you aren't talk to me, or anyone at all

Should I pester you a little bit more, keep pushing for an answer, or just keeping asking more
cause we're getting nowhere

Cancelled dates and dynamic states
Searching for an anchor to bring you out of this
The hopeful shift

That slides it all back into place
Gets you out there and brings you face to face with your evasions

then one day you'll take off from this, desperate, tired and over this
of all the things you said you'd do
I didn't think this one you'd choose

I think helped you choose

every conversation
an interrogation
mere frustration
self isolation

an adoration
for contemplation
an aspiration
for devastation

meander around, lost and found without this
stumble around, lost and found without this
until i've taken care of that
hopeful shift

The Hopeful Shift

Song 4/4

A darker sounding song, Heavier elements too. I think its a sonic hint at what is to come.

I originally wrote the lyrics about "putting lip stick on a pig" in the context of an architecture project i was working on, where i was tasked to hype a really mediocre building, and thus "cover it up with glitter makeup" came to mind. It eventually grew to be a dialogue on an observed external self destruction.

Lyrics:
Cover it up with glitter makeup
Convince yourself of permanence
A wound so deep, not tended to, permitting you to murder you
And those who cared, tried helping you
To find a path inverted to, the one that you, were lit to choose, the one that will end you

And I know, that the best for me is the worst for you right now
And I see, that the worst for me is the best for you right now
Or so I thought

Cover it up with glitter makeup
Make me the enemy
Turn me around, seek my help
One last time then bring me down
Read my concern, as control
(goat scream)

And I don’t, want to know what you are doing now
Anymore, or how far you have gone to learn this twice
By choice, this time
Blame me, this time

And I know, that the best for me is the worst for you right now
And I see, that the worst for me is the best for you right now
Or so I thought

Glitter Makeup

Song 1/4

Another song that is based on me making up a word in the moment. "Mis-erase" instead of "mistake"

This led to the idea what if it could be either miserase or miss. erase, and that gave birth to the idea to write a song about someone disappearing via their "mistake/miserase"

Instrumentally I really like this one and wrote it in two sessions first in June 2020 and then finishing in Novemeber 2020

All done by me.

Lyrics:
How did you mis-erase
When did you erase you

And I know what you go through
Every phase
and I know what you plan to
when its too late
Miss Erase


“Stay with me
and leave me be
with this disease
heed to me
erase me”

You want me to help you through
You want me to leave you too

And
you need me to help you through
And you don't want me leaving you

You flee this to runaway
When you don't need to be afraid

And
You want me to help you through
You want me to leave you to

Mis-erase you

Mis/s Erase

Song 3/4
This one seemed to really resonate with people, both lyrically and musically. I wrote it back in the day about the difficulties of making friends/small talk. A part of me still resonates with fragments of it.
Lyrics:
Hi There we’ve met
what do I possibly do next?
there’s this protocol to apparently give you control
over my mind
Hi there again
Do you even remember me?
Do I do the same? Forget your name and play this game.
In order to… go from strangers to something
I don’t know what it, is I need to do
I know what I am never supposed to
But I don’t know any other way
If I ask you, you would run away
Are you afraid of me? Like I’m afraid of you
(From strangers to something) x4
Hi there my friend
Have I said enough to call you that?
Do we move past that or go right back cease what we've got?
Where was my fault?
hi there good bye
I guess I tried
I don’t know what it, is I need to do
I know what I am never supposed to
But I don’t know any other way
If I ask you, you would run away
Are you afraid of me? Like I’m afraid of you
I’m afraid of you
Are you scared of me?
I’m afraid of everything but it’s nothing to you
But its petrifying me
and its all in my head
How can I get it out
And not blow this all away
But its everything to me
And its nothing to you
I’m afraid of you, are you scared of me
Im afraid of everything but its all in my head
I’m afraid of you, im scared for you
Im afraid of everything but its all in my head

Hatching A  Nightmare Knowing Unhappiness Stays

From Strangers To Something

Here for archival purposes and indication of growth, please see updated track. 

Back with more grunge and edgeyness, Cutting Onions version 2.

It's a song about using the art of cutting onions as a scapegoat for your emotions.

Lyrics:

I cut myself today
and the tears they were not late
As they were beforehand
Since the morning
When I cut my finger cutting onions

Cutting Onions
My favourite cladding

And firsthand excuse
And favourite pastime 
Is cutting onions

Cutting onions x2

My favourite leisure
And panacea

Cutting onions

You see crying
And say im lying
But im doing my best
To succeed in your test	

But im 

Cutting onions x2

Slice up my senses
Leave me defenceless
When im

Cutting onions x3

Who am I kidding 
When I say im cutting onions
Cause we all know that im truly cutting

Myself
Cutting Onions

Cutting Onions (Ft. Gordon Ramsay)| Outdated

Secondary Tendency 

Written: 2014
Recorded: 2018
Mastered: 2019

This is song number 2. Its less layered and more poppy and dancey. Few tracks like this you’ll hear as I get around to finishing them. This track started with playing 12 bars blues and I’m not sure what or how it happened but the opening riff resulted from that.

Repertoire:
Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Production: MHankus (aka me)

Secondary Tendency (2019 Demo)

April 2021 Update:
After a year of aggressively working on music and honing my production skills I decided to return to this song and rerecord/remix it. I'm very happy with the result and I hope you all continue to enjoy it.

Past Description (2019)
A tune ive been working on over the past 3 years and I am very proud of the end result and whats to come. 

I hope you enjoy the tune as much as I enjoyed making it and reflecting on the outcome. 

Cheers, HANKUS

Personnel: 
Everything - Me

Lyrics:
Let's talk about how you want to converse with one syllable words, faces and closed endings 
Cause I don't know what else I can still propose, there  are so many issues that you won't disclose to me, or anyone 

Let's talk about how you advertise, your desire to speak , well you aren't talk to me, or anyone

Should I pester you a little bit more, keep pushing for an answer, or just keeping asking more 
cause we're getting nowhere 

(instrumental chorus cause that's how i do it!)

Canceled dates and dynamic states
Searching for an anchor to bring you out of this 
The hopeful shift 

That slides it all back into place 
Gets you out there and brings you face to face with your evasions

then one day you'll take off from this, desperate, tired and over this 
of all the things you said you'd do 
I didn't think this one you'd choose 

I think helped you choose 

(bridge)
every conversation 
an interrogation 
mere frustration 
self isolation 

an adoration 
for contemplation
an aspiration
for devastation

meander around
up and down without this

lost and found 
stumble around without this

till ive taken care of that
hopeful shift

The Hopeful Shift (DEMO)

First iteration of a chill hop & post rock amalgamation.

Paris (Cityscapes 01)

From Strangers To Something

A song I wrote about dealing with themes of social anxiety and just superficial social doubt. Its taken me a while to get this track done as each year i did the vocals I was never pleased. Finally on the 3rd year, I'm happy enough with them.

July 2021 Update
i reworked the drums from scratch and remastered the entire song as well as developed a rhythm guitar that i think really helps push the track further.


This song explores shoegaze, dreampop, postpunk, and progressive tapping. I'm quite fond of it.

Lyrically, the song explores social anxiety, the simultaneous severity and fictitious aspect of it and explores the superficial process one can experience while trying to make friends.

The song paints me in a much more socially meek or jaded individual than i truly am. It was written during a time where it tried to "just be social" in order to make more relationships/connections with people and alot of the small talk or barriers felt very shallow. So those experiences laid the base of the lyrical concept.

Personnel: All me
Mixing and such: Also all me

Lyrics:

Hi There we’ve met
what do I possibly do next?
there’s this protocol to apparently give you control
over my mind

Hi there again
Do you even remember me?
Do I do the same? Forget your name and play this game.
In order to… go from strangers to something

I don’t know what it, is I need to do
I know what I am never supposed to
But I don’t know any other way
If I ask you, you would run away
Are you afraid of me? Like I’m afraid of you

(From strangers to something) x4

Hi there my friend
Have I said enough to call you that?
Do we move past that or go right back cease what we've got?
Where was my fault?

hi there good bye
I guess I tried

I don’t know what it, is I need to do
I know what I am never supposed to
But I don’t know any other way
If I ask you, you would run away
Are you afraid of me? Like I’m afraid of you

I’m afraid of you
Are you scared of me?
I’m afraid of everything but it’s nothing to you

But its petrifying me
and its all in my head
How can I get it out
And not blow this all away

But its everything to me
And its nothing to you

I’m afraid of you, are you scared of me
Im afraid of everything but its all in my head

I’m afraid of you, im scared for you
Im afraid of everything but its all in my head

From Strangers to Something (DEMO 2)

3rd installment to cityscapes. This one i wanted to make more upbeat and groovy, and decided to flex with some sweeps cause i just learned how to do it.

If you're studying to this eventual Cityscapes album and this track comes up, i guess it is best suited if you are studying while using adderall, and if not it'll get you pumped to keep studying reluctantly. 

Enjoy!

Metro (Cityscapes 03)

It's back! Due to the unanticipated success of this song last year, I decided to revisit it and clean/spice it up. Enjoy.

The song was inspired by those conversations you have with someone who is concerned about you because you look upset or are crying, and are persistent in talking to you about the root; when the reality was you were merely cutting onions. 

Morale of the song, don't scapegoat onions and if you need to talk to someone, do so, because it isn't healthy to keep your troubles in your heads.

Lyrics:

Gordon:
"Gripping, the butt of the knife, its nice a weighted and therefore, its going to make slicing the onion a lot easier. (pause)
This right here is the root, that's absolutely crucial, leave that on there, if you cut that off, the onion will start to bleed and you'll start crying rapidly."

Me:
I cut myself today
And the tears they were not late
As they were there beforehand
Since the morning 
When I cut my finger 
Cutting onions

Cutting onions
My favourite cladding
And firsthand excuses
And favourite pastime is 
Cutting onions

You see me crying
You say im lying 
When I try to confess
With no success that im 
Cutting onions

Cutting onions
Cutting onions
My favourite leisure
And panacea
Is Cutting Onions
Slice up my senses leave me defenseless
When I’m 
Cutting Onions

Who am i kidding?
When i say i'm cutting onions!
Cause we all know that i'm truly cutting

Myself
Cutting Onions

.....
Gordon's Sample:
https://youtu.be/dCGS067s0zo?t=1

Also:
red onions > white onions

Cutting Onions (feat. Gordon Ramsay)

Given the positive reception, i will develop this and do more stuff like this.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCySi3aTjVI


Have you ever wondered what Tiny Moving Parts would sound like if they went shoegaze? Or whether they'd be called "Tiny Moving Valentine" or "My Bloody Parts"

I know it keeps me up at night.
While we many never know what the Minnesota family band would call this hypothetical musical concoction, I decided to create a demo of what that could sound like.

Here is "Sublime Alibi" aka my first attempt in Mathgaze
Enjoy! Also learning to play and sing this simultaneously while bouncing took way more time to get just passable than I thought.

Lyrics (which i sort of just made up while recording):

Take me back 
To the first time you used that line
Your alibi's sublime
An expertise that's so refined

Can you count to ten?
But you gotta start at yellow
That really makes no sense
Like everything you prove to me

Mask your true perception
Bypass this arrangement 
Delay this estrangement 
Social Misconception

Sublime Alibi [Mathgaze 01]

Fourth Installment in the Cityscape series.

Montmartre (Cityscapes 04)

Cityscapes 05 is here! Very bass driven hip-hop polyphia inspired tune.

2020-01-03: Update: I recently filmed the video and ended up getting a more energetic and tighter audio there so I ended up using the audio from that!

The concept of cityscapes was to create progressive-easy listening and easy to record songs and this song ended up being the most difficult song i've ever recorded. Took me about 2 weeks to get the guitar and bass tight/clean enough.

Anyway im super happy and proud of this one and i hope you enjoy it!

In regards to the photo, I recently sorted through my New York 2011 photos from a family trip and really liked this one that my dad took. I did some colour enhancing and cropping and boom! Its a cityscape cover now!

Manhattan(Cityscapes 05)

I originally completed this song earlier in March of 2020 as a fun jam one evening. I decided to remaster it and bring it into the cityscape world as it has a similar tone despite the more energetic groove. 

I feel this track as a dancey feel to it and painted a picture of nightlife in my mind, so i paired it up with a photo of I think/hope of Broadway in New York. Most likely one of my parents actually took the photo as its from 2011 and I post processed it. 

Cheers

Broadway (Cityscapes 07)

https://linktr.ee/hankus

We are a one piece band from the realm of Ontario, Canada.
Not limited to genres or labels, you'll find shoegaze, chillhop, folk and synthwave. 
Enjoy! 
DM to connect

HANKUS

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