After Kaiju by Pigeon Scratch

After Kaiju. Creation started before the release of I Wish I Was Kaiju.

Who genuinely knew that trying to make an album related to a very vague story that I made in my previous full length release would be such a hard project to make and would also take well over a year of constantly grinding out thoughts and ideas pretty much every single day that I could? I probably should have known better, but then again, who would've thought that the year I released I Wish I Was Kaiju would be so incredibly taxing and painful for literally everyone in the world? But there I was, alone in my room in the upstairs of my house, not even finished with I Wish I Was Kaiju, and already making ideas and plans for a sequel album.

Initially, I was planning on making a much shorter release, probably about half the length of I Wish I Was Kaiju. The album was also gonna entirely be just ambient instrumental electronic tracks, since I believed that I was enjoying making those kinds of songs much more than the constructed acoustic ones, and also at the time I just recently got my Roland D-5 synthesizer and I wanted to experiment with it more than what I did for I Wish I Was Kaiju. This was actually around the time when the album cover for After Kaiju was created, which was inspired by an image of a deer in an isolated subway terminal in Japan. I'll be honest, this sequel album wasn't even gonna be a sequel album. Initially, the album cover was gonna include some anthropomorphic deer, but I later went against that idea and realized a deconstructed sequel to the previous album would be a much better concept album. During this time, I began recording many of the tracks that I thought would be on this sequel album. When I released The Kaiju Sessions alongside I Wish I Was Kaiju, the majority of the electronic tracks on that album came from this first attempt of a sequel album. The initial idea didn't work, because I was already incredibly mentally and physically burnt out.

Even after finishing and releasing I Wish I Was Kaiju and The Kaiju Sessions, I just couldn't get anything down, and I was getting super frustrated over my inability to do anything that I liked. Furthermore, I was suffering through personal issues that completely crippled my confidence in my work. Even trying out other album ideas didn't work. I tried more electronic ambient songs, more acoustic guitar songs, more electric guitar songs, and everything else in between. Months kept adding on and on and I just kept trying, and trying, and trying. I was genuinely so unhappy with almost everything I was making at that time. I became so frustrated over how much time this album was taking, yet I didn't want to release anything else before I finished After Kaiju.

I think this period of frustration, lack of motivation/confidence, and complete obsession over my music started to fade after the beginning of 2021 for several reasons. One was that I was essentially diagnosed with OCD, and I was prescribed a small dosage of Prozac. While I'm still unsure if it has done anything, or if its just a placebo effect, I definitely feel better, calmer, and more I was able to work on stuff a little easier without being on a verge of a meltdown. The second thing was getting new equipment for Christmas and my birthday, which really helped reinvigorate motivation to actually make stuff. The last thing was when I decided to upload my "pieces" series. I think just finding a purpose for a ton of the tracks I've made helped out a ton, as well as hearing all the positive comments regarding the tracks. It helped me realize that I haven't been making garbage all this time, not gonna lie. The last two months probably had the most time spent on the album, because I was finally confident in myself to actually make what I wanted too.

After Kaiju is something I am very proud of. I'm very happy that I spent the time working on this album, and I think it is my best work yet. I really hope everyone does enjoy this album. I think I can finally say that the Kaiju era of my musical hobby is done. I can move on to new stuff. Maybe I should fuckin' relax for once, I don't know. It amazes me that almost three years ago as I am writing this, I released Dear Grandma. I think I've finally found my sound.

After Kaiju, just like the previous album, has many firsts, but also many lasts. This is the first album with my new drumset, an MPK Mini, a new electric guitar, and ableton. It is also the last album in the Kaiju series, as well as the last album finished with my cat Jet still alive. I love you Jet.

Thank you to Vixia, Seaweed, Sobe, Knives, Tiara, Friend Hell, everyone from Broken Camera Records, Nonnie, Echo and Jet, my mom, and everyone else who I may have forgotten to put on here. You have all helped me so damn much over the past year, and I am forever grateful.

Make sure you listen to The After Kaiju Sessions, as well as the Pieces series!

Thank you for listening, I hope you all enjoy.

My name is Pigeon Scratch. I make music.

Northern Minnesota, Part II. Coming Eventually.

bsky.app
Kaiju The Cat
Scrigeon Patch