The People Aquarium

 

What happens to a dream deferred? Sometimes it sits for years because it is incomplete and other dreams are more important. Eventually bubbling up from the underground making its presence felt whether finished or not. That is the case with The People Aquarium.

I have always had a vision of making an album where each song was a story about a different persons life as if we were all living in a giant aquarium together. Like all albums, my idea was grandiose and over time I formulated the characters and some lyrics that would serve as the foundation for this project. My most trusted producers were aboard with Mr Dark Keys, DJ Plutoe aka Random Ran and DJ Capsize all contributing beats. Slowly but surely the album came into perspective with a neighborhood lost dog, sibling conversations, work place frustration, the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster and other occurrences all serving as motivation for album material. It was looking promising.

For whatever reason this album was put to the side as projects often are. Other songs were labeled more pressing, the plan was too scattered, the dedication lacking. People move, relationships blossom and either crumble, maintain or flourish. Old habits return, days turn into weeks, jobs change, ideas reconfigure themselves. Once time has passed the album became a wish although still spoken of confidently "Soon I'm going to release The People Aquarium" or "I'm going to re-mix those tracks and do those songs the justice they deserve" even "I have to put that album out, those characters are ALIVE! aren't they?"

Months turned into years and I had even stopped listening to these songs on my computer. They had acquired a coat of digital dust as if encased in a technological tomb. It makes sense for this album.

When I wrote most of these songs I was taking the bus, skateboarding or walking, working two jobs and was generally a defiant, rebellious and angry twenty something that was finally accepting the long held realization that my greater purpose might mean having to be a nicer person. It was quite the dilemma for me at the time.

So the folks I wrote into this album all have some aspect of me in them I guess. The slacker prodigal song regretful over his status, the laid off father of two looking for work, the sister greeting the apocalypse with a smile, the evolving or devolving kleptomaniac, the panic stricken family desperately hunting the lost family dog, the depression over learning truths and knowing you are just one of the sheep following dishonest shepherds.

Recently I just decided that fuck it. I am going to put out ALL of my unreleased material because it does me or you no good whatsoever just sitting, molding away in my computer. I guess its the fact that I am really excited about my kick ass group Woke With A Plan that has me wanting put release this old stuff out into the universe. At this point it doesn't really matter does it?

I really hope you enjoy this album. Thank you for reading this. And remember this album is not mastered, is unmixed, has not been edited whatsoever and many of these songs are "rough draft" scratch takes that ended up being the only versions ever recorded. Oh well, at least this gives the characters a long awaited taste of freedom.

Thank you to Randy Ziady Huling for doing the artwork and making 3 beats for this project. If you click on each individual song there is a different picture for each person. Also thanks to Josh Caplan and ChrisTopher M. Lewis aka Capsize and Dark Keys. Peace!




http://daviddowneyjr.bandcamp.com/

-David Downey, Jr.