Happenings...

Hello there!

I'm so glad to be able to share this news with you... In just a couple of days -- Friday to be exact, THE video for "I Wanna Go Down" will finally be debuted here in Detroit. Although it's Dan Diamond's version of the song, I'm all up in this video -- one of the main characters. I'm honored! Now mind you, I haven't SEEN the finished video yet, but as the days get closer, the more excited I become. (After that trip to Vegas, I can't WAIT to see how all this hard work paid off!!!)

Then I get the news... I'm DJ-ing and performing in Chicago next weekend -- July 6th, to be exact. And I'm in the house with none other than Miss DAJAE herself!!! You know I'm so happy -- again, honored! Y'all know I just remixed her new song, "Truth Hurts," right? Oh, just you wait. But hey... If you've been listening to my radio show last Friday, you would've heard it... MMMHMM!!! (Y'all better tune your butts in on Friday nights, 7pm - 9pm, EST... ) I've made it easy for u. The link's right here on my page -- click and enjoy!

Hmmm.. Bittersoulfulsweet is finally available for the world, if you hadn't noticed yet... To those who bought my CD already, I humbly thank you. People have been asking me when it's gonna be on ITunes, etc... Let me fill you in on some dates here. :-)

Bittersoulfulsweet RELEASE DATES: (and pay attention, because this is fierce, y'all!)

JULY 3, 2008 -- JUNO (www.juno.co.uk) exclusive album sampler hits the stores... YES, an exclusive sampler featuring extra bonus tracks, unavailable on the album...

JULY 16th, 2008 -- BEATPORT (www.beatport.com) exclusive album sampler hits the stores... YOU HEARD ME... another sampler featuring extra bonus tracks ONLY AVAILABLE ON BEATPORT!

Now, LIMITED COPIES of the full-length album are available @ Wallshaker Music (www.wallshaker.com). Yes, you can download it -- but not everyone... Like I said. LIMITED COPIES (that includes downloads) available. So, if you haven't dashed over to Wallshaker yet, I'd do it before it's gone.

OOOH, there's a secret I wanna tell so bad... but I can't. Not right now. I don't mean to tease y'all, so forgive me... But if I leaked this information right now, it would cause a riot.

One final note: I feel like giving some love right now. BRENDA, hugs!!! TRENCH, hugs!!! DJ AVIVA, JESSE, SPEEDFREAK and the gang, BIG OL' HUGS!!!! DARRELL, HUGS (and kisses too)... oh, what the heck... Hugs and kisses for EVERYBODY! MUAH, MUAH, MUAH!!!

Love on u...
AC

Real Life Explosions

It's taken me a couple days to get myself together enough to write this, BUT... Here's what happened to me the other day...

The kids and I went to KFC to order some dinner. In the drive-thru, I was one car away from the window; when my car shut off. I tried to start it again, and the car went POOF!!!.... and smoke barreled from underneath the hood. (Thank God I don't panic during situations like these -- I usually don't break down until AFTER...) I couldn't believe that my damn car just BLEW UP in the DRIVE-THRU!!! An employee came out and helped me push the car to another lane.

Embarrassed, I went inside KFC, paid for my food, and ate until help came along. Thank God for my friends Julian and Darren, who came and pushed the car behind KFC -- where it is now sitting, awaiting the tow truck. I decided to just "junk" the car -- there's no way I'm putting another dime into it, after it exploded on me!!!

When it rains, it pours, right? :-) I came home just in time to find out that my Las Vegas show got cancelled... And shortly thereafter, the power went out. LOL!!! Talk about keeping it real... hehehehe...

So, here I am... Carless, but safe. I have power, thank goodness -- although my laptop hard drive just crashed and died... I'm taking it all in stride.

C'est la vie.
Hugs,
AC

PS: This DOES give me more time to finish that remix I'm doing for Dajae!

P.P.S: There IS a silver lining here... I got an email from a fan of mine. Out of nowhere, he tells me he'd like to buy my album (320kbps MP3) because it's not out in the digital shops just yet. I almost cried from happiness -- I wrote him and thanked him for the support, definitely! Now, to make him a very special package. Oh yes, and Augustus, thank YOU TOO!!! Big hugs -- I needed those words, and I'm glad they came from you. :-)

Realness

...He promised me he'd call today. I hadn't heard from him in a long while. Yes, my friend... The one who lately never takes my calls. The one who dropped off the planet -- at least MY world, although I shouldn't assume anything's wrong. Instead of bugging out, I asked him directly. Hey... "is there something wrong?" Are we still friends? If we've grown apart, just tell me. Hell, I'm a grown man. I can handle this. I went on to remind him that people make time for what they want. Obviously, he has time for everything else except me. His woman, his job, the clubs, etc... And while I don't expect to be his ONLY friend, I still considered myself somewhere near the top of the list. After all, a partmer, a job, a child, a job -- NOTHING can come between true friendship. At least it's not supposed to... He dismissed my questions, as if to say I'm crazy for even feeling this way. "I'll call you TODAY." Hmmm... Today's come and gone. And like I half expected, he never called.

...It saddens me, but at the same time, I have to look at myself. Is this REALLY the type of friendship I even WANT? Am I so damn co-dependent that I can't be happy WITHOUT him in my life? I shake my head, and I laugh as I write this now. I can't say I haven't done my part. I can't say I haven't tried. I left the ball in HIS court. He dropped it. I'll just have to mourn my losses, grieve and move on... He didn't break me. ...I take that back. He broke me. ...but I managed to pick up my OWN pieces, and now I am here, reinfornced -- impervious to his bullshit and lies... I am stronger. YES I AM...

It's not just my so-called "friends" that got to me... Some of my peers in the industry have managed to get underneath my skin as well... ...Like the motherfucker who sings MYsong, woos me for a licensing deal, blows up my phone (and email) until he gets what HE wants, and then, POOF... Disappears. And all the while, I'm doing MY part. Sure, I'll let you take my song and record it. SURE, I'll agree to the terms of YOUR contract... SURE, I'll even listen to you as you "talk down" to me, proving to me that you have NO FUCKING IDEA how big my career really is (compared to yours)... SURE, I'll listen as you "explain" simple things to me, as if I don't understand (I'm not a fucking child, thank you). I listen because I know it makes YOU feel better about yourself. You love listening to yourself talk, obviously. I can deal with your personality, because I know that it takes all types of people to make a world. BUT... don't fake a friendship with me, just to get what you want. Don't practically ignore me once you've gotten your way; only calling me when you need me to do you yet another favor...

And oh yes... Aside from doing your HOMEWORK and NOTICING that I've been in this business a LOT LONGER than you may think -- I DID make more than that "one song..." -- could you AT LEAST spell my gottdamn NAME correctly??? It's NOT ARRON... not Aron... but AARON. AARON-CARL. Please don't let me have to remind you again...

I'm not asking for much... All I ask is this: If you're gonna come at me, BE REAL with your shit. Before you approach me, KNOW who the hell you're dealing with. Do your homework. You'll fare a lot better in my book, that's for sure...

If you're gonna be my friend, BE TRUE TO YOUR WORD. Be who the fuck you say you are... Don't paint a picture for me, that isn't the real YOU. Either you have my back, or you don't. Either you're TRUE, or you're NOT. Don't expect me to play the victim, while you run your game. I'm better than that. For real...

No I'm not perfect, I own that. I have my humanly faults like the rest of us. A lot of times, I forget to call... I might not remember a birthday... Some days I just don't even wanna be bothered with anyone... But flawed or not, I'm ME... And I'm being REAL. Love me or leave me... That's all I have to say about it...

Buy vs. Steal

I was once told by a friend of mine that "we don't make the kind of music people BUY, but the kind that people STEAL." I remember disagreeing, only to be reminded of the many websites out there like Soulseek, Bit Torrent, etc.. As an artist, sites like this never scared me. In fact, I embraced the idea of "throwing" a track out there to get it traded. My assumption, if people like the track they heard, they'd spend money to buy the CD.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about these corporate so-called "album leaks." I'm talking about a legitimate campaign here -- "Listen to this new AC song... If you like it, the album comes out soon... Buy it!" It seems fair enough, eh?

This morning (yes, I know I'm late), I read an article about Radiohead. They offered a "pay what you want" type of deal with their last album. My immediate thought was "what the hell are they doing?" Don't they know how many people would simply download their album for FREE? I could just hear the many excuses today -- I'm a college student; Fuck the RIAA; The economy's tight; There's too much garbage out there... All of these are valid, of course! But AGAIN, as an artist who does this for a living, do I really WANT someone else telling ME what MY hard work is worth?

I have mixed emotions about this... I understand that times are changing. I understand that "everyone" with a computer + software is all of a sudden a producer, or DJ, or whatever. I ALSO understand that even before downloading became an issue, the market was flooded with garbage.

I AGREE that the RIAA (or whomever) shouldn't be able to force-feed me some highly-marketed bullshit, and tell me it's the hottest track I've ever heard.

But in MY situation, I'm confused... I run my own record label I'm NOT a bullshit artist. And from a label standpoint, I KNOW how much it costs to produce an album -- studio time, label designers, etc... I'm not greedy. While I do this for a living, I disagree that a CD should break the bank -- especially nowadays, when there's maybe only one or two songs you'd even like.

Long story short, I've considered following Radiohead's plan. Let the customer pay what they will, for the CD. While I'm confident that I have enough quality songs to justify paying for, I CRINGE at the thought of someone downloading my album for free -- especially after all the hard work and soul I put into this project!

Digitally, the album is being distributed through an aggregator. Physically, I'm selling the albums directly through my website. I don't like dealing with distributors too much, only because then you have to play the game... "How much do I think YOU can sell?" Again, thank God, I don't really have this issue. I've consistently sold decent amounts of records over the years, but I DO NOT LIKE the corporate GREED!!! Some of these record prices are ridiculously overpriced!

So my question is... How much IS my new album worth? If I wouldn't mind paying the "average" price of $12.99, is that too much? Not enough? (In my opinion, it's just right.)

During the festival, I sold copies for $10. (Thank you, those who bought it!) I ALSO noticed that some people weren't happy unless they got the CD for free. (I gave away a couple, yes..)

And as a side note, please remember that regardless of ANYTHING ELSE, I do my music because I LOVE it. ...it just happens to also be what I do for a living! Y'all know how I feel about that! So don't say "oh he's just in it for the money..." I'm not -- but one cannot live on compliments alone...

So I hope this sparks conversation. I'm curious to know your thought, so don't be shy...

Hugs,
Aaron-Carl

PS: And by the way... for those who are asking me where they can sample and buy the album from, it's here.

In Case u Didn't Know...

The new album, "Bittersoulfulsweet" is now available...
Click here to sample and buy the "Bittersoulfulsweet!"CD.

Oh I'm optomistic!

Hugs,
AC

Lost & Found: My DEMF Experience

Alas! DEMF Weekend is finally over and I've had a chance to recover. I must tell you about my festival experience – from the performance to the afterparty. Let me first say that God has a way of putting things into prospective! Before this hectic weekend, I prayed for just that. "God, please just open my eyes and let me SEE what's going on around me…" What I saw, oh man, was unbelievable…

A BIG hello goes to all of the fans who approached me during the festival. People kept saying things like "I hate to interrupt you, but…" Trust me; it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I'm just as excited as YOU are. Feeling so much love from random people, knowing I touched their lives in a certain way, means the world to me. And with this clearer vision, I was able to understand, acknowledge that accept WOW… This IS who I am. WOW, my music IS reaching people. I was humbled and thoroughly appreciative.

Onto the performance – I'm sure you'll soon see the video footage. For me, it was nothing short of magical. Mind you, I was very surprised when I wasn't asked to play on the MAIN stage, like I did in 2005. I was told that I would be on the Real Detroit stage, which was underground. I couldn't have dancers because there wasn't any room, so I was told. My time slot was also cut from 2 hours to 1 hour. But I took it all in stride. Instead of being bitter, I decided that I'd take "what I had" and work with it – and work the HELL out of it. That's how I've handled my song recording situations as well. I didn't have the best equipment – sometimes I had barely anything to work with at all… But I used whatever I DID have, and worked it like no other! That's one of the things that impressed Mike Banks about me so much – but that's a different story.

ONSTAGE… The moment I walked onto the stage, I felt nothing but pure love. I remember walking up the stairs, and E. Dubb asked me, "Are you nervous?" I wasn't nervous at all. I was on a mission, and that ONE mission was to "beat those bitches down... with the BEATS, with the BASS, with the FILTERS…" I vowed to play with such intensity that they'd NOT HESITATE to give me the main stage NEXT year! Man, I beat the shit out of those decks… The crowd felt me, but more importantly, I felt THEM!

Veronique came onstage for her performance, which shocked a LOT of people – in a good way. Her stage presence commanded your attention, and let me say this: Veronique and I put together??? OMG… FIRE! The synergy was felt throughout the entire room. Of course, Veronique sang the hell out of "Use Me." And I mixed in our duet, "Alright." Confession: We had NEVER performed together on stage before. We had NO time to rehearse. We had NO sound check, NO practice, NO NOTHING… But when we sang that song together, it was nothing short of a phenomenon… We WORKED, do you hear me? Amazing…

DJ E. Dubb also deserves props for his very first DEMF performance. There was a slight technical glitch when he first started, so I stayed onstage with him. After all, the show MUST go on… I sang a couple songs from the new album – one of them was the newly re-worked version of "DOWN." (If you haven't gotten this album yet, you BETTER GET IT!) While I was singing, Erick (E. Dubb) mixed into his own set of Jackin' funky House. BABY, those mixes were flawless. He's a Wallshaker for a reason, let me tell you…

All in all, it was a great performance. I thank EVERYONE was in that room at that moment. It wasn't just MY show… It was OUR show. (See y'all NEXT year!)

Later that night, the official W.A.R.M.T.H. party was under way. Mind you, there was MANY parties this same night, so I expected the crowd to go from party to party all night long; not spending much time at either one. After a scare with the equipment setup, we finally got everything situated – just in time for the doors to open. Instead of TWO levels of sound, we only had one level, broken down into two rooms. Thank God for those walls, because it worked out perfectly. In the House room, you heard HOUSE. In the Techno room, you heard TECHNO. Both systems banged, but neither system clashed with the other.

Throwing a party is actually much harder than it looks! Everything rests on your shoulders – from the patrons to the talent… Everyone must be happy. We made sure the DJs had free drinks throughout the night. I know that most of the DJs I hired to play the party, did so as a favor, or to support the organization. I am SO GRATEFUL to those who showcased their talents! Katalist, Ben Wu, T. Linder, Jeff Comer, Trench, E. Dubb & The Deaken, Alton Miller, Gary Martin, DJ SURGEON!!!

Some of the DJs played their sets, and immediately left the party. While I didn't mention money to some of these DJs, I wanted EVERYONE to walk out of there with at least SOMETHING! That's just how I am. Those DJs that I didn't get to pay personally, I'm going to definitely do something nice for. Some got T-shirts. Some got CDs. Believe me, I am so touched by their willingness to help me and W.A.R.M.T.H., I would feel less than HUMAN if I didn't repay them in some way.

Overall, the crowd was sparse. Not many people were in attendance, but those who WERE, had a good time! Because the night was so slow, instead of staying open until 6 am, we decided to only stay open until 4. THIS meant that the DJs I had scheduled from 4 – 6, couldn't play. While it was a disappointing fact, it was nobody's fault! THIS is where God REALLY put things into prospective for me! ONE of the DJs (who wasn't officially on the bill, but I'd promised to give a timeslot) was very upset that he couldn't play. One of HIS guests approached me and expressed her disappointment. Now mind you, I'm excellent with people. I'm professional, etc… BUT when she said "I ONLY came to hear _____ play," I lost it. I lost all sense of professionalism within me… Yes, I let her have it.

By this time, it was 3:30 a.m. Alton Miller and Gary Martin were playing at the time… Since my other 2 DJs were basically whining and holding a grudge against ME, I asked Alton and Gary to stop playing… I told them we were shutting down, paid them for their time and basically apologized for the inconvenience. Inside, I was burning! I'd just kicked my LEGENDS off the turntables for WHO??!! Someone who's NEVER played in front of a crowd before? (That was ONE of them…) And someone else who's a good DJ, but had NO professionalism whatsoever? Oh, I was pissed. As I proceeded to curse one of the DJs (the one with the entourage) out, I threw my hands up and said, basically, "fuck it… Play now." And when I got to the edge of the room, I turned around and shouted "And you BETTER NOT FUCK UP, EITHER!" Yes, I was wrong for saying that, but damnit, I was pushed way over my tolerance level. I could've cared less about embarrassing him at that moment. I was fucking embarrassed. I felt belittled AND betrayed. So I shouted that statement at the top of my lungs, then walked away.

All in all, those two never played. They both got pissed and left. Neither of them was willing to understand that I don't make the rules of the club. If the owner says, "shut down at four," then I'm shutting down at four! They would've played to an empty room anyway… But you couldn't explain that to them. YES, I understand their feelings were hurt. I was a little disappointed for them myself! BUT… Being a professional in this business, I understand that sometimes these things happen. Both of them, up until this night, have called my house REPEATEDLY; blowing up my telephones, coming over to practice, etc. I even went WAY above and beyond what any normal person would've done for them… Hell… One of them, I picked out the records for his set. I offered to let him use my Serato, my laptop, MY tracks, everything… The other, I helped produce tracks, giving him more credit than I should've; as well as took him under my wing – against the wishes of nearly everyone I know. Did they appreciate my efforts? NO!

So this is why I called this blog "Lost & Found." Because while I may have LOST money on this party – I lost more money than I care to repeat – I FOUND out who was REALLY in it for the love, and who was really only looking out for themselves. I lost two people who I thought were my friends – but I FOUND that they weren't really my friends in the first place. And I KNOW that sounds cliché, but let me say this… It's the truth. I'm not upset about this. In fact, I'm thankful. I've never felt more successful in Detroit. I've NEVER been shown so much love and appreciation for my talents. …and I've NEVER seen things more clearly than I do right now. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

A final note… To the fan who "didn't want to be THAT GUY…" I appreciated your words and sentiments that night. I told you that YOU are the reason why I continue to do this music, and I meant it. I still mean it! You came to support my party, you bought my album, you bought a T-shirt, but most of all, you took the time to TALK TO ME. You've inspired me. Believe it or not, your words encouraged me… And the reason why I am so thankful that the W.A.R.M.T.H. party continued, despite the small crowd, is because people like YOU were there to show the love – so I believe it exists. Thank you.

Love,

Aaron-Carl

New Album Track Listing

Just because I can't wait... :-)



Just to tease you a little bit -- hey, y'all know me... :-) I'm gonna list the tracks:

Bittersoulfulsweet Intro (feat. Bruno Q.)
I Refuse
As a Threat
Interlude - Bambi
Down Revisited (yes, I re-did it... and it's effing FABULOUS!)
Forbidden (duet with Khan)
Simply
Interlude - Jennifer
Lady (That Girl)
Body 2 Sweat
Wash It Revisited (I couldn't help it, y'all...)
Nothing On Me
The Mirror
If There is a Heaven
Alright (Revival Mix) (Duet with Veronique)
Dirtyfilthysexi (Vocal Mix)
BONUS TRACK: If There is a Heaven (Daniel Kyo Remix)


YES, YES, YES!!! SEVENTEEN tracks on this record. And you KNOW how hard I've been working on it. Two more days, y'all... I'm praying that you like it as much as I LOVED making it. It is NOT Detrevolution... It is NOT Uncloseted... It is NOT STORM... And I am gonna STFU now. ...sitting here smiling and screaming to myself...

Those who can't get it from the festival, can order it online -- SATURDAY. I'll be back with the link, blah blah blah...

MUAH!
Simply,
AC