hi, i’m nuri. this is where i’ll post things i’m working on (when i remember to) — whether its music, or musings, or fiction, or video, or live events, or whatever comes next. if you want to follow along, it’s free, or you can choose to pay. you don’t get anything extra if you pay, but you help support me to keep doing the things, and i appreciate it. 💕
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Recent posts
this cheese had nothing to do with you
in the interest of journaling my process, honestly, i thought i should share something that literally just happened.
i was craving a snack, for...reasons...and my partner's super codependent dog (he's so cute, but so needy) followed me into the kitchen, so me — being a cruel bitch — I taunted him by singing at him, "no — i'm gonna eat this cheese and it's got nothing to do with you."
a new release
ok, so i guess i finally am putting out a new track. i've been alternately struggling with / ignoring this one because (in part) i was having trouble with the vocal line. Prior to my transition, I was always pretty proud of my bass voice. I can comfortably sing a low C, and even touch a B, even a B-flat (though it's not a terribly useful / pleasant sound). My tessitura was always low E to like the G or A below middle C — and I feel weird about trying to alter my voice for transition.
posting every day?
i just realized i hadn't posted yet today — and i had been posting every day the past few days — so i came here to ask if posting every day is desired / too much.
i had an idea, but i forgot it 🤣
i was going to post about something else completely today, but i guess i'll keep sharing works-in-progress (WIPs). here's the second draft rough mix from october's abortive effort to write, record and produce an entire album in one month. i know i could probably make *something* out of any of these, but i'm not really sure what.
music discoveries
unless and until i completely give up on spotify / find a suitable replacement, i'm continuing my personal tradition of creating a new "discovery" playlist for each new year. the (vague) criteria are that the artist should be unknown to me (although i've broken this on occasion for an exceptional track by an artist known to me), and the track needs to have — in some way — grabbed my attention.
dunno if i could bear to listen to this
but i suppose i did say i would start sharing these WIPs. without listening — because i'm really not sure i could bear it, i'm pretty sure i was not happy with the lyrics to this one, possibly the harmony and form (i.e. the whole damn song). and this was just the first one i started laying down.
next share
ok, so maybe going through some of my WIPs will actually inspire me to get working again... so what do you want to see next?
The Misery of Aphok
Little bit of intro... this piece is old. Very old. I wrote it originally in like 2005–2007 or thereabouts as part of a sci-fi novel i was working on that i called "The Passenger." This story was supposed to be a folktale from one of the unaligned (as in, not directly associated with one of the major powers) planets in that story's universe. I keep thinking I'd like to expand on the idea, by writing a bunch of different folktales set in a sci-fi universe.
Shouting into the wind
So, in the spirit of what I posted yesterday, here’s a bit of an update on this past season, before I start sharing all kinds of random crap in the hopes of jollying myself out of this depression / actually getting back to the things i want to do.
sharing other things?
so — i've been debating whether folks (I guess as of time of writing, that's still just you, Becca) would be interested in me sharing random other things here that are non-music.
Processing >>productivity<<
I have not been very >>productive<< these past few months. Why write >>productive<< like that? Because I feel like I shouldn’t have to be. But I also feel a great pressure to be. To produce. To create. To “do my job.” Whether it’s my actual job, the thing that keeps a roof over my head, keeps me and my kids fed, keeps the power on, etc., or it’s my art — that I have to resist putting in quotes as “art” because I feel like it’s not legitimate. Without audience. Without money. Without cred. Without working for it.
Spotify stealing from small artists to pay big ones
Spotify is hoping you won't notice, but they've just announced a new policy to steal from small artists to pay bigger ones. Buried in their recent Spotify for Artists newsletter was this notice that "Starting in early 2024, tracks must have reached at least 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months in order to generate recorded royalties."
Watch it...
So, as I may have alluded to in my last post. I have a new track that's done/almost done/ready to be mixed and mastered.
an update. why? because capitalism.
i checked my bank account balance this morning. it's something i typically avoid doing for a while, and then force myself to. it was less than i thought it was — which is fun because i have a week until my next paycheck, groceries to buy, and a kid's birthday coming up (thankfully, i already have some presents bought). i look at the handy digest of mail coming today and find tolls and tax bills, numbering way more than the balance of what's in. my account, and try not to think of the already-late mortgage payment i have to make next week as soon as i get paid again, and how that will eat about half my paycheck — the other half going to pay off debts i incurred in the year after separating from my ex.
feels a little silly
so, with the collapse of buttercup (or presumed collapse, i should say — maybe it's continued without me?) i've been drifting, community-less, for nearly two weeks now. i feel isolated. i feel silly even writing here, for an audience of one-ish.
It's over, and no one sang at all
It seems that project buttercup is over.
Ch-ch-ch-changes...
I've been thinking of making some changes here. Nothing drastic — but more of an addition, to reflect the full breadth of the work I've been doing.
#intheberkshires
Well, I've hit the button.
My new / old song is now "in review" and on its way to be published.
a new roughmix
like i said in my last post. i've been mostly focusing on project buttercup.
if you want to check it out, or even join, you're more than welcome. some people balk at the word "art," but the way i see it, all of life is art. humans make art. animals make art. the rocks and rivers make art. the stars in the sky make art.
project buttercup
i haven't been the most active here.
i apologize for that. folks are paying money, i suppose they expect a service 😅
i was careful not to promise anything when i started this patreon because i very much want to avoid my art becoming "work."