Winter Market information

This year I’ll be participating in various holiday markets at local schools, partially to help them raise money, and partially to branch out with my 3d printing business. If you’d like to get more information about the things I’m making, please send me an email, or check out my etsy page at evilmachine.etsy.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Winter Market information

Nemesis Lockdown insert instructions

Here’s an overview of how to fit everything in your Nemesis Lockdown insert.

In this picture, the first tray on the top holds the mini equipment cards, as well as the dice and clear glass markers.

The tray on the bottom left holds the tokens you use for setup, but don’t need during play. The smallest compartment holds the ? hex tokens from the mars side of the board, as well as the 3 from the Chytrid enemies. The medium sized compartment holds the ? hex tokens for the regular rooms. The large compartment holds the other tokens you use for setup (CSS, power, time tracker, etc.).

The tray on the bottom right holds the fire, noise, malfunction, and damage acrylic tokens, as well as the damage dials. The 3 slots on the side hold the alien body tokens, the eggs, and the third slot holds the corpse tokens, as well as the 3 extra round tokens that may come out during gameplay.

The tray on the left holds the nightstalker round tokens that go in the bag, as well as all of the small kickstarter tokens that are used with the comic book campaign. The tray on the right holds the Chytrid tokens and smaller colored plastic pieces. Please note, the round tokens that look like christmas wreaths need to be turned the right way in order to fit, but they will fit.

As for the rest of the trays, the largest one (bottom left in photo above) holds the nightstalker minis. The Chytrid minis are stored in the long rectangular tray.

The tray with the Hex compartment holds the card stands (you need to put them in turned alternate directions to fit), rooms, and smaller cards. There is a compartment for the hero figures, as well as a compartment for the rover, first player, and large gate token.

The small rectangular tray holds the doors. There are also 3 dual deck trays. One holds the nightstalker cards, one holds the chytrid cards, and the tallest one holds the contagion and serious wound cards.

There are also 3 card trays, which are divided up as follows:

1 card tray has 7 slots, and holds the 6 sets of hero cards, plus a slot for the medic hero expansion.

The second card tray has 6 slots. From smallest to largest, Slot 1, computer actions. Slot 2, character draft. Slot 3, mars surface. Slot 4, solo/coop objectives. Slot 5, standard objectives. Slot 6, reference cards (5x each pass, crafted/contingencies, nightstalker encounter, chytrid encounter).

The third card tray is for the extra cards you won’t use unless you have other Nemesis content (original core game or other expansions). From smallest to largest, slots 1-3 are the android, bounty hunter, and pilot cards. Slot 4 for miscellaneous extra cards. Slot 5-7 for the intruder, carnomorph, and voidseeker cards. Slot 8 for the reference cards for intruders, carnomorphs, and voidseekers, as well as the extra 5 pass cards.

Fitting it in the box

To fit everything in the box, start by putting the 3 card holders (the large ones) along the right side of the box (they should fit from top to bottom). In the top left corner stack the 3 dual card deck trays. To the right of that, put the door tray. On the bottom left corner you put all of the large cardboard pieces, including the elevator, the contageon decoder, and the round tile from the chytrids, as well as the bag. In the remaining space, put the chytrid miniatures.

For layer number 2, start by putting the large bin of night stalker minis on the bottom left side, with the smaller minis facing towards the top. Then, place the large tray with the hex tiles in as shown above. This tray will sit on top of the smaller nighstalker minis. Above the card trays, place the mini cards, as well as the setup tokens. Note that they are different heights, and this is correct. The token boxes are also not the same length in each direction, and have to be placed in the correct orientation.

It’s worth noting, for the nightstalker minis, that the large cardboard tokens and bag underneath may not reach all of the way up to the bottom of this tray, and that should be fine. The combination of the chytrid tokens below, the hex token tray sitting on top of one edge, as well as the manuals above, should keep it stable within the box.

Finally, the last 3 token trays go on top. Please pay attention to orientation, and that the nightstalker round token tray has to go above the setup tokens. The kickstarter manual, as well as the comic, go above the miniatures.

Finish it off by placing the board and manual above everything. This should fit up to the top of the box.

I know this isn’t the perfect solution for everyone, but if you just want to reduce setup and teardown time, sleeve your cards, and condense everything into one box, this solution should work for you.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

It is done.

After 10 years, it’s finally done. I could not be more proud, more scared, or more excited.

For over 20 years I’ve been recording music. I’ve worked on many albums, singles, and EP’s for other people as a producer. I’ve written scores for dozens of short films, and hundreds of jingles and theme songs as a composer. I’ve recorded hundreds of live events, and engineered for countless live bands. When it comes to audio, you name it, and I’ve probably done it.

As a songwriter, though, my music has always been very personal. Sure, when I write something new I’ll throw it up on facebook for my friends and family, and I’ve put a few videos on youtube over the years, but I’ve always felt nervous about really putting my music out there for the “real world”. It felt like something that other people did, and I always admired them.

About 10 years ago I started toying with the idea of releasing a proper album. One with a cover, and a selection of songs that all went together. Over the last decade I’ve worked on it in small bursts, but taking care of the kids was always more important. After each day of changing diapers and stepping in legos, there was never enough energy left to really focus on it. So, it just sat there. Written. Recorded. Waiting, but not done.

Flash forward to last year. The kids were finally in school. I could work in my studio during the day. I remodeled. Programmed light shows. Recorded albums and EPs for other people. Lots of work that I am proud of. But, the album just sat there. Written. Recorded. Waiting, but not done.

In all honesty, I could have finished it last year. I wanted to, but something kept stopping me. I was scared. Terrified. Releasing the album meant that it was all real. The goal of running my own studio. The dream of being a real honest to god songwriter. The possibility that it would fail. Or worse. That it would not be good enough. That the art that I had so carefully nurtured for that decade, and really for my whole life, would be seen as sub par. So I waited.

And now we come to another school year. The children are back in class, and I am back in the studio, trying to figure out how to turn this love of music and audio and magic into a real job, one that pays more than just “exposure”. And the album is sitting there. Written. Recorded. Waiting. But it can’t wait any more.

This record is just a collection of sounds, put together in a way that makes me happy, but it’s also a snapshot of my musical life over the last decade. It’s a big ball of wonder and sadness, nerdy references and soul searching. It will never be “finished” in my mind, but as of today, it is done.

“The Evil Machine Is Broken” is an album I am very proud of, because it is exactly what I wanted it to be. A collection of songs about things that I love, sprinkled with humor, sadness, and a bunch of heavy guitars.

I’ve never really known how to value my music, because it is so personal, and everyone feels it differently. So, for this record, you can pay what you want to download it. Do you love the idea of supporting this crazy dream of mine to be a songwriter, and have money to blow? This is something you can blow it on. Is money tight, but you want to hear what I’ve been dreaming about for half of my adult life? Take it for free. All I ask is that you help me to spread the word. Pass it along to your friends, family, or anyone else who might be crazy enough to like it.

And now I can add songwriter to part of my career. It’s a ball I’ve been holding back, fearful of throwing into the air, worrying that it would just drop to the ground, hitting the floor without anyone noticing. Today the juggling act gets that much more complicated, but it’s also the day that I stop looking at my hands, and instead look up into the sky. To watch that ball soar into the air. To see how far it will go, and stop worrying about where it will fall.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

New Acoustic Album, full album coming soon

Well, after working the last 9 months on a bunch of projects, including producing 3 albums for other people and writing about 60 pieces of music for clients, I finally had a few days without any client work. Since I don’t have any merch to sell when I play shows, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a CD with some of my music, and so I recorded all of the songs that will make up the standard edition of “The Evil Machine Is Broken”, with nothing but voice and acoustic guitar. It’s not a live recording, since I did comp the songs together to get better performances, but it’s about as raw and deconstructed as you can get, and is exactly how the songs sound when I play them live. I’m going to have a limited number of physical CD’s (do people actually own CD players anymore?) to sell at shows, but if you’d like one of those, you can order it through bandcamp. In the near future it’s also going to be available on itunes and whatnot, but I really like bandcamp, and always suggest that you purchase music through them, since the artist has more control over the process, and gets a larger percentage of sales.

I’ll be spending the next few months finishing up the fully produced album, and hope to have it available by the end of the summer. We’ll see if that actually happens. Until then, I’m going to leave it up for free to download, so if you like what you hear with the acoustic album, make sure to check out the demo tracks of the fully produced songs. Lots of drums, bass, electric guitar, and synth to rock out with!

Posted in Music, The Evil Machine Is Broken | Tagged , | Leave a comment

What, your album’s still not finished?

Unfortunately, it’s true. The album isn’t finished yet. On a good note, the final song is now written, an upbeat number entitled “Level Up”, which has a cool dirty bass lick driving things along. It all comes down to finding the time to finish the recording process. I’m currently producing an album for the wonderul Tai Shan, and have been doing a lot of podcast themes and other production work. There’s some time booked in the studio over the next few weeks, though, so I’m shooting for a late summer release (which means I’m hoping to be done before next year).

The next Cirrus Bay album is scheduled to begin preproduction next month. As of right now the plan is that I’m going to do the engineering, mixing, and mastering, as well as the drums and bass. Bill has some special guests lined up to add some new textures to this record, so it should be the best one yet!

For people in the Seattle area, I’ll be playing a song with the Bushwick Book Club today at the Bellevue library. I hope to see some of you there, and if you can’t make it, it will be aired on 91.3 KBCS (maybe live, I’m not sure on this). Music inspired by Michael Pollan, I’ve heard everyone’s songs, and they are all fantastic, this is a show you should check out!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Emerald City Comicon, Sandman, and a new rockin’ song for the album!

The last few months have been a whirlwind.  Between writing a lot of music for clients (including some fun orchestral stuff, cheesy rock and techno, and a little bit of salsa), having another child, and repairing a house that is determined to fall apart, I never got around to writing about my newest song, one that is quickly becoming one of my favorites for the new record.

The song is called “Will You Be Forgotten”, and it’s inspired by Neal Gaiman’s Sandman comics.  This was written to go along with the Bushwick Book Club events for the Emerald City Comic Con.  I started out trying to write a happy upbeat folk song about forging your own destiny (inspired by the story where the cat’s learn of how they used to rule the world, and could do so again if they all just believed in it).  Well, as my wife often tells me, I can’t write a happy song.  There is a demo version of it as a folky upbeat acoustic guitar piece, but after having one of those “holy crap I just had the best idea of my life here in the shower with shampoo in my hair and where the hell is that waterproof paper and marker when you need it” moments, I quickly changed some things around, cranked up the gain on the guitar, added some fuzz to the bass, and ended up with a much darker song.

The lyrics are inspired by the idea of a regular ordinary person being drawn into the world of dreams and demons, and being forced to go to almost impossible lengths in order to save themselves and everything they know.  A person who knows that if they fail, the world will fall apart.  No pressure.

As with all of the songs off of my upcoming album, you can download the demo’s of the songs for free from my bandcamp page until the album comes out.

For ECCC, I was able to convince the wonderful MoZo (also part of the Bushwick Book Club Seattle) to help me out playing drums and bass with some backing vocals.  They helped the song really come alive.  Here’s a video from the show that night:

As for the rest of the album, I’ve got a few big projects coming up which will keep me from finishing it for a little while, but the songwriting is close to finished.  I’ve just got lyrics for a couple of more songs, and then it’s time to finish recording the ones which aren’t done yet.  I’m hoping for a Summer release (although I was hoping for a Summer 2012 release, and we see how that worked out).  Stay tuned!

Posted in Music, The Evil Machine Is Broken | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Yet another time travel song

It’s time for another time travel song. This one, as well as the previous song that I posted, were both written for the Bushwick Book Club for a series of shows inspired by “The Time Machine” by HG Wells. This song was written very differently than anything else I’ve ever done. I wanted the song to contain references to as many different time travel films, shows, and books as I could think of, so I started with a big list, and then wrote the story and lyrics around that list. It took me about 5 tries, but eventually I came up with the idea of an intro lesson to time travel, and it all came together after that.

This song changed a lot in the recording process. Originally it was written for acoustic guitar and vocals, and I had envisioned in my head that it would end up sounding like a Bon Jovi stadium rock piece. Once I started working out the arrangements, however, I just got the urge to make it upbeat and fun. The guitar intro came first, and from there I knew that it needed a bouncing bass line and some organ to give it a bit of an organic upbeat dance feel. When I first wrote it I never thought that the final version would sound like this, but now that I’ve heard this version, I can’t really imagine it any other way.

Like all of the other songs on the album, this demo mix version (which is very close to what the final will be) is available for free.  Once the album is finished, the free tracks will all be taken down, so if you like it, make sure to download it before it’s too late.

Only 6 songs left to go for the record.  2 of those have music recorded but no lyrics, 2 have music written but not recorded, and 2 of them have bits and pieces waiting to be molded into a song.  I’m taking a bit of a break on the record to write some more music for Bushwick (which may end up making it on the album), but at this point I’m hoping for a November release.

Posted in Music, The Evil Machine Is Broken | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Time Machine

About a year ago I wrote a song called “Time Machine” for the Bushwick Book Club inspired by 2 books, “The Shining” by Stephen King, and “The TIme Machine” by HG Wells. I went into it thinking about why a child might want to build a time machine. Obviously all children have a good imagination, and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want to build a time machine as a kid, but taking some inspiration from story in “The Shining”, I decided that in this song, there would need to be a strong reason for the child to want to get away from their life. My goal was also to write a song that would unfold as the song went on, so that every time the chorus came up, it would have a slightly different feel, even though it was the same every time.

While this song was originally written for acoustic guitar, I thought that the sound of a Rhodes fit better with the overall vibe I was going for, so I made that the main instrument for a lot of the song.  It gave a bit of a sad vibe that just wasn’t there on the guitar.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hands of Time – inspired by “The Watchmen”, cowritten with Tai Shan

For the March show with The Bushwick Book Club Seattle, we wrote music inspired by “The Watchmen”.  It was a fantastic book, and I had an idea for a song about a superhero who is getting too old to fight.  The music was mostly there, but the lyrics were giving me trouble, and I felt like I needed another perspective on it.  So, I got in touch with Tai Shan, and asked her if she was interested in working together on this song.  She agreed, and we spent some time in the studio together writing.

Tai brought so many ideas to the table, it was unbelievable.  Her approach to songwriting is much different than mine, and I must say that I learned a thing or two working with her.  We approached the subject of the song from a lot of different directions, and were able to bounce ideas off of each other fairly quickly.  In the end, the song became much more than it ever could have been had I gone at it alone.

When recording it, I wanted to make it a huge rock song, with an ending that had tons of electric guitar and heavy drums.  That’s what I recorded, and it just never gelled (or, as my wife said, “You took a pretty song and bunked it up with all that rock stuff”.  So, I went back to how the song was originally written (just acoustic guitar and vocals), and then added some lighter elements to enhance the harmony and emotion.  Rhodes and piano, and a string quartet were added in, along with a few extra vocal layers.  The end result is a nice hybrid of the songwriter sound and the Broadway musical sound that I love.  While I will release the rock version at some point, I think the more acoustic arrangement fits the song much better.

[audio:http://markblasco.com/media/evilmachine/tests/HandsOfTime20120714B.mp3|titles=Hands of Time Cover|artists=Mark Blasco & Tai Shan]

Download this song

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Evil Machine Is Broken – Title Track

The Evil Machine Is Broken is the name of the album I’m releasing later in the year. I just finished a rough mix of the title track for the album. It still has some finessing to do, and a couple of small changes, but overall this is pretty close to done. It’s the heaviest song on the record (with the exception of maybe the final track, which will be the second part of this song where the evil machine is fixed). I tried to capture the feeling of an evil genius who has a little bit of bad luck. Take a listen and be prepared to have your face rocked off.

[audio:http://markblasco.com/media/evilmachine/tests/EvilMachine20120708A.mp3|titles=The Evil Machine Is Broken – Rough Mix|artists=Mark Blasco]

Download this song

Posted in Music, The Evil Machine Is Broken | Tagged , | Leave a comment