Story behind The Faithless Elector

T'was the Spring of 2020, and I kind of came to a crossroads in regard to where I stood politically and culturally in the United States. I inherently realized that, to me, the election in itself in 2016 was going to be much more detrimental than who was going to be elected President even that year. I decided to not to veer right or left, and just to take it as is. I sort of boarded the Trump train in 2017 (even though reluctantly) because I realized I had overreacted to the George W. Bush administration, in comparison. I had learned at least a little more about how politics works, and how many things had changed- around me and with me. Although I didn't vote for Trump, I saw a chance to at least follow the flow- in a good way-for once in my life. I started volunteering at a local church whose pastors were looking for a live musician. I started playing there on a regular basis as a guitarist; occasionally bass player, keyboardist, and vocalist (although I honestly get really bored with Gospel music) as well as being brainwashed by many-a-religious right wing fanatic. I then left because of the drama. Early in 2020 I ran into a problem with the COVID crisis as I resigned from my job because of the restrictions that were being put upon myself in many ways. Rather than being overtly pissed off about it, or complain to other people about the ridiculousness of the situations, I figured that I'd go about it artistically. I'd make something creative: straight to the heart of the problem. I'd heard a broadcaster mention on the radio about someone in the political spectrum being a "Faithless Elector" using those words; so I thought, "Ok, that's it!" and I thought I'd be satisfied by making it as barebones as possible. I started with the concept of the Electoral College, (which IMO should be reformed or abolished) channeling into those darker and deeper places, people, etc. and I ended up writing a subtly conceptual album with a story to expand upon; so I released the first part of it on Bandcamp, (Side A) from The Faithless Elector as well as a distributed version via Ditto Music that excluded the (Side A) part because they said it wasn't necessary. I went along with it because I knew I was going for a minimalist, semi-abstract digital vinyl concept that would only make sense to a select group of artists and fans. I'm currently working on (Side B) or a soon to be renamed sequel; it's almost fully recorded. I can't wait to share! -Joe (There's too much more to share, will conclude with sequel album).