Alpha Address #1: 4/19/20 (Part Two)

Alpha Address #1: 4/19/20 (Part Two)

For those just tuning in, this is the second half of the transcript to the very first Alpha Address (a sort of quarterly state of the union for the band and biz). We left off from Part One in addressing that it was really time to get to work once quarantine came around...

There were so many missing pieces to the puzzle that I could now work on. To be honest, I didn’t even really want to start getting the word out there to friends and family, much less potential new fans until I really had a professional presence for Alpha Pegasi. Before Quarantine hit, I didn’t. I didn’t have a website, I rarely posted on social media, I didn’t even have a YouTube channel for the brand, much less any subscribers to said channel. There was no system set up for me to have or sell any merchandise related to the band. Bottom line, outside of friends and family, no one even knew I made music or had anything of value to offer to the world. Time to change all that.

For about a month now (as of recording the first AA on 4/19/20), I’ve been pulling in about or over double-digit days for the build. Unlike every single one of the 20 plus day jobs I’ve worked in a bit over a decade, I actually enjoy putting in the huge amounts time, effort, and energy needed because I actually truly care about my art, my business, and what they can offer to others. 

Like the buds of leaves and bits of green showing up on the trees as we segue into Spring, there’s signs of life that my art is beginning bloom too. First and foremost, I’ve got a website! MitchMelodia.com is now fully functional. As a great trifecta, I’m working with BandZoogle for the domain, Shopify for an online store, and Printful for On-Demand printing and shipping of merchandise. There’s some cool stuff in the catalog so be sure to check it out! Additionally, you can hear samples of the whole debut album there.

Speaking of which, the first single for it drops soon! Mark your calendars for 6/22/20, the 2020 Summer Solstice ‘cause that’s when the debut single from Alpha Pegasi drops. It’s called “Summertime (Doin’ Time).” It’s a fresh spin off of the Sublime classic with more of a Denver twist to it. I’m so psyched to get it out there! Sean Weyers from Daybreak Digital Studio did such a fantastic job mixing and mastering both this one, and the next single due out a month after the first . That one is called “Star,” and as Alpha Pegasi is the name of a star, it seems fitting the first original released to be called just that. On 7/20/20, “Star” will be released, and on 8/22/20, the third single called “Next To Me” will make it’s appearance. Lastly, the debut album from Alpha Pegasi will be released on the Autumn Equinox, 9/22/20. It’s called The Birth of A Star and God am I stoked to get it out there.

In other news, my first book is basically done! I believe the final revisions will be wrapped up tomorrow on 4/20, haha. The book is called You Know You’re Stoned When…Part One. (laugh) The title kind of says it all! This book captures the experiences, events, and overall states and situations I found myself in while after enjoying the effects of marijuana. The first part takes place in a tremendously important time period of my life: graduating from high school (an environment I didn’t really like or thrive in) and transitioning into college (an environment I loved and absolutely bloomed in). It’s meant to be a fun, funny, insightful read into the world of weed. Just gotta find a good literary agent and publisher for this subject matter and we’ll be on our way to getting it out there! I’d rather not self-publish, but that is an option nowadays so we’ll see. Either way, I’m aiming for this work to be published by or before 10/9/20 so stay tuned!

Along the lines of the literary front, I’m also working on a Sci-Fi series. I love and I’m fascinated by alien culture. A deep-seeded interest in life beyond our Solar System was planted in my brain near the end of 2018 during a binge of the show Ancient Aliens. Are there many other planets with intelligent life besides our own? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes. And I do too. With this series, I’m doing my best to blend fact and fiction to paint a picture of several other worlds and beings besides our own. A universal schism erupts and suddenly creates a spectrum of entire civilizations competing to either keep life on Earth alive or completely destroy it once and for all. The root of the series gets it’s name from the planet at the forefront of the fight to save our species: Dogazek. As there are galaxies yet to be born, and more of a focus right now going into You Know You’re Stoned When… I’m aiming for the first of the Dogazek series to be out by or before 3/3/21. 

And that’s the general gist of where things are at! To recap, the first single from Alpha Pegasi called “Summertime (Doin’ Time)” will be available for your streaming pleasure on the 2020 Summer Solstice, 6/22. It’s the first of three singles to be featured from Alpha’s debut album The Birth of A Star. That album will be released on the 2020 Autumn Equinox come 9/22 (sample the songs on it by clicking this link). The Birth of a Star is the first of four albums I’ve currently got in the works, along with another EP all set to be released called In A Forest of Sound. Additionally, I’ve got both a full album and a double album charted out and ready to hit the reel in the studio (seriously, I hope I get to record on a tape machine for at least one of them).

The digital home base of Alpha Pegasi is now up and running! Check it out at MitchMelodia.com. I may speak for all performing musicians here in saying that I am reeeeeeeeally looking forward to playing shows again. I may speak for others that also live for live music in saying that I’m reeeeeeeeeeally looking forward to seeing shows again too. Thank you for taking the time to watch and listen to this, and for all those who end up supporting me and my art now and over the years, thank you thank you thank you thank you. With your help, I feel like this year could be the year that I finally realize a dream of mine I’ve had since I first started playing guitar over 16 years ago: to be able to make music and art for a living.

Stay healthy,

Mitch Melodia