WHAT'S GOING ON HERE EXACTLY?

First, let me say I’m releasing three digital versions of each album. Each version with it's own purpose. The “short demo” versions of songs are meant to facilitate the transmission of short song memes in social media in order to gain awareness for the whole “Zenwarren” experiment and help me figure out which songs should be released as fully produced singles before "studio" albums start coming out. The singles helping finance and provide traction to the rest of the project. A project which by the way I have been referring to in my head for the last two years or so as the “Casting Shadows on Dreams” project named after the never released album that contained many of the songs that inspired these ten albums.

To achieve my goals for the “short demos” I felt that each demo had to play as a self-contained unit or “mini song” rather than like the usually random excerpts from release versions of songs found on Spotify and Apple Music that seldom give any insight into the “essence” of a song. The “mini song” strategy turned out to have an unanticipated bonus. When I started putting “mini songs” together I ended up with “mini albums.” When I tried the same thing with song excerpts - that have no real beginning, middle or end - I just ended up with an effing mess.

As far as the “solo acoustic” versions of the albums I just kind of imagine them as an intimate thank you gift to those fans that supported the “Zenwarren” experiment from the start. As much as I’d love to do more, the “solo acoustic” version will probably be as close as either one of us will come to me performing for you personally in your living room or a random street at 4:30 in the morning. The “solo acoustic” version will also serve as a kind of vocal, lyrical and arrangement shake down recording that fans can comment on for a month or so before I start work on the “studio” version of an album.

After I’ve stopped receiving significant feedback on the “solo acoustic” version of an album I’ll go into the studio and put together the “studio” release version. The version that will pleasure true Zenwarrenites the most greatly. A version loyal to it’s minimalist origins but with just enough percussion, cellos, harmonies and orchestral troupes and acoustic oddities to hold up under endless listenings. A version that will lead to substantial numbers of casual converts to Zenwarrenism. But we here today will always know who the real Zenwarrenites are. Thank you. - MZ