Biography
Started playing guitar in '93, started writing almost immediatley, as bad as it was. Guitar was my thing, wanted to play bass, but couldn't afford one. Eventually played in bands, starting as lead guitar but eventually moved over to vocals in a few bands over the course of about 10-12 years. After my last band, A Taste Of Atrocity, let me go, and eventually fell apart, I grew tired of the politics. My brother, whom I had played with in every band I had been in, he started as rhythm guitar and eventually swtiched to bass, started jamming and writing just the 2 of us, and Malicious Side Effect was born in about 2010.
We were in a local music shop that year or the next and came upon a great sale on a Line 6 POD that came with a version of Ableton Lite. Then began my love for recording, even though I was truly terrible in the beginning, but I didn't know what I didn't know. MSE would record and release 3 albums and 1 EP between 2010/11 and 2014. Starting as more of a Metal/Hard Rock band, and slowly morphing to a more progressive metal style by the last album. I also recorded and released my first bent wyre album of mostly fully live instrument based music. It was rough, bowling shoe ugly as some might say, the MSE albums sounded at least passable, but the bent wyre one was so rushed and sub par that it hung over my head. Anyway, I learned alot writing and recording the songs for MSE, and my recording skills improved, just not as fast as they should have probably as I lacked a mentor, or someone to point me in the direction to get started at least.
MSE went on a hiatus (that it is still in to this day, with rumblings of finally resurfacing), and since the studio set up was at my brother's place, I didn't get to use it or practice on it, and my recording skills stagnated. I would play and sing at home, record some rough cuts on my phone of me and my acoustic, but I was spinning my wheels musically. Until 2019 when I got the POD and the studio, and was able to set it up at home for the first time ever, almost 10 years after getting it, it was finally where it should probably have been most of the time.
I hit the ground running and immediatley went about re-recording that bent wyre album, with a couple new songs added in that I had written over that time. It was a pretty big improvement, but I didn't know what I didn't know. Tried teaching myself as best I could and my recording was improving, after 3 years I connected with Mike Indovina at Master Your Mix, and within a month, I had improved and learned so much. In one month, I had come farther with recording than I had in the prevous 12 years!! Something to be said for having someone sit down and break it down for you in laymens terms, there were so many little novice things that I didn't know that were keeping me from moving forward with the bigger things, I didn't know what I didn't know.
Flash foward now and I am running full steam ahead, learning and improving every week, still working with the Academy. With everything I learned I went back and once again (for the 4th time for some of these songs), completely re-recorded that bent wyre album, called Me & My Shadow. I spent over a year from tracking to vocals to mixing, taking my time with everything. I couldn't be more proud of how far I have come with this project and can't wait to apply these things to MSE when it gets up and running.
I appreciate anyone who listens or takes the time out of their lives for this, and if you find something you like, then even better. There's something here for almost everyone.
J
We were in a local music shop that year or the next and came upon a great sale on a Line 6 POD that came with a version of Ableton Lite. Then began my love for recording, even though I was truly terrible in the beginning, but I didn't know what I didn't know. MSE would record and release 3 albums and 1 EP between 2010/11 and 2014. Starting as more of a Metal/Hard Rock band, and slowly morphing to a more progressive metal style by the last album. I also recorded and released my first bent wyre album of mostly fully live instrument based music. It was rough, bowling shoe ugly as some might say, the MSE albums sounded at least passable, but the bent wyre one was so rushed and sub par that it hung over my head. Anyway, I learned alot writing and recording the songs for MSE, and my recording skills improved, just not as fast as they should have probably as I lacked a mentor, or someone to point me in the direction to get started at least.
MSE went on a hiatus (that it is still in to this day, with rumblings of finally resurfacing), and since the studio set up was at my brother's place, I didn't get to use it or practice on it, and my recording skills stagnated. I would play and sing at home, record some rough cuts on my phone of me and my acoustic, but I was spinning my wheels musically. Until 2019 when I got the POD and the studio, and was able to set it up at home for the first time ever, almost 10 years after getting it, it was finally where it should probably have been most of the time.
I hit the ground running and immediatley went about re-recording that bent wyre album, with a couple new songs added in that I had written over that time. It was a pretty big improvement, but I didn't know what I didn't know. Tried teaching myself as best I could and my recording was improving, after 3 years I connected with Mike Indovina at Master Your Mix, and within a month, I had improved and learned so much. In one month, I had come farther with recording than I had in the prevous 12 years!! Something to be said for having someone sit down and break it down for you in laymens terms, there were so many little novice things that I didn't know that were keeping me from moving forward with the bigger things, I didn't know what I didn't know.
Flash foward now and I am running full steam ahead, learning and improving every week, still working with the Academy. With everything I learned I went back and once again (for the 4th time for some of these songs), completely re-recorded that bent wyre album, called Me & My Shadow. I spent over a year from tracking to vocals to mixing, taking my time with everything. I couldn't be more proud of how far I have come with this project and can't wait to apply these things to MSE when it gets up and running.
I appreciate anyone who listens or takes the time out of their lives for this, and if you find something you like, then even better. There's something here for almost everyone.
J
