Circa 2002-

Originally, I thought this track didn't sound like my "style", so I put it under the name "unknown".  

Apparently, I was also discontent at the time.  Hence, the name.

I'm very creative.

It does have a bit of a different groove than most of the other songs I'd done at the time.  Part of the goal of the song was to make  the lead synth a bit grating and sharp, and still make the song work.  I suppose I mostly accomplished that.

A friend of mine called the arpeggio that kicks in at 1:36 "Godly", which is pretty cool, and possibly the nicest thing anyone said about it.  Most other comments were not quite as encouraging...

Xevo - Unknown - Discontent

Circa 1998

When I was about 16, a friend let me borrow his Boss DR-5 Drum machine, and I spent a few weeks learning the ins and outs of it.  I saved up money from my first job, and got my own.  I played with it all the time, and took it everywhere.

I recently stumbled across it in my parents' basement, and was amazed that it still worked.  I decided to record the songs to the computer, as I've never encoded them anywhere other than tape

Beyond This was one of the first songs I wrote when I got the DR-5 .  I was experimenting with seeing how fast I could get the drums to go, and ended up with a pretty interesting rhythm, so I built on it from there.  

There is a version of this with real guitar, and this was also the basis for a song by my short-lived band X-Communicate.  I'd have to dig up some tapes if I ever decide to upload those...

Chaos Evolution - Beyond This

Circa 1998-

Another one from the DR-5 days.  Probably one of the more complete songs I did back then.

I tried re-creating this on Fruityloops years later, but it never quite had the same magic.  

This was another song that was used for my band X-communicate.  Also, I did write lyrics to this, but thankfully, those were never recorded....

Chaos Evolution - Breath

The first song I completed using a computer.  I was experimenting with the program Acid, and recorded the acoustic guitar line, and the song was built from there.  The majority of the song was written in 1998, but was not finished until early 1999.

While it's frustrating that this track has received more attention and acclaim than others, and that something I did as a teenager is considered one of the best things I've done, I'm still very proud of it.

Xevo - Frigidity

Circa 2000-2001 -Written in about 4 hours after being awake for two days, prior to a cross country plane trip.Sleep deprivation is a fantastic companion to creativity!

At the time, this was probably the most ambitious thing I'd done, and I considered it one of my best songs.Now I hear a ton of flaws in it, but it's still pretty nice.  

A friend once told me that this song made them cry.I consider that a compliment.

XeVo - Forgiveness

Circa 2001-

Take a guess at when I mostly worked on this song?

Most of the work on this song was done after going through a very rough breakup.  I used this song as a sort of therapy, so I feel like I put a lot into it in that respect.  I don't know if anyone else can hear that, but I can, and this song was hard for me to listen to for a while.

Now, I think it stands up as one of my favorite songs that I've done.


XeVo - Three AM

Circa 2000-

This was the first song I made using Fruityloops.  It's pretty basic, but I think the beat is pretty slick.  Samples are from the Tim Curry movie The Worst Witch.

XeVo - Behold

Circa 2001 - 

A remix I did for a friend, who unfortunately never actually finished the original song.  The vocals sound a bit different on the second verse because they were actually recorded FOR this remix.

I still consider this to be "unfinished", but it's still one of my favorite things that I've done.  It's well structured and pretty heavy.  Probably one of the most "industrial" sounding things I've put together.

Angel in Another - World Contagion (Xevo Remix)

Circa 2001

This was mostly just playing around in Acid with some orchestral samples.  I think I was going for a sort of Brainbug vibe.  I think the vocoded sample is saying "All I Need", so that probably would have been the title if I'd ever finished this.

It's mostly a mess, but there's a few decent parts.

XeVo - Untitled

From about 1997-2003, I wrote electronic music.  I have never taken the time to put it online, but I have always wanted a sort of repository for my work.  Soundcloud seems like a good place for it.

When I decided to goof off in my high school guitar class, and started playing with my teacher's drum machine, I fell in love.  A few months later, when a friend lent me his Boss DR-5, it turned into lust.  I saved up my money to buy one for myself, and I took it everywhere.  While it taught me a lot about programming and song structure, I eventually felt that I was outgrowing it.  I got a computer, and a copy of Acid, and everything changed.  Anything I could dream up was now at my fingertips.  I would spend hours and hours, late into the night, tweaking sounds to make them just right.  Later, I added Fruityloops to my arsenal, and (in my opinion) got to be pretty good.

Around 2003, I moved into my own place, and something changed.  I didn't feel the desire to create anymore, and the muse started slipping away from me.  I worked on a few snippets and remixes, but eventually, I stopped writing altogether.  I miss it, for sure, but the desire, patience, and, well, time, to do the work just isn't there anymore.

So, here is the result of that period of my life.  Mainly, I wanted a place to point people to when I tell them I used to be a musician, rather than whipping out my iPod or waiting for them to come over to my house.  However, it would be interesting to hear what other people think about it as well.  

If anyone is interested in using my stuff for a commercial or personal project, let me know, as I am open to the idea.  Please don't just steal it though, as that is uncool.

Thanks for listening.