#unofficialmspafans

[fatuousscribbles]

The LOFAM 5 Act 2 (@unofficialmspafans ) Album finally dropped yesterday, so I'm posting the art I made for the track "Puppeteer", by (Thomas Ferkol / eidolonorpheus on Soundcloud)!

Go listen to it!!

[power464646]

First off, forgive me for the poor audio quality. It's really the best I can throw together here.

Last week's SAHcon panel me and Ucklin from @unofficialmspafans hosted seemed to do crazy things to the popularity of this track, which is something like four years old at this point. Absolutely mental. Anyway, I figured since people were getting into this song I might as well give what little I can recover of a peek under the hood, so to speak, to give you an idea of what a huge step up this part of the track was from the original demo.

First up, we have that demo. This was not the first thing I made for Home, but it was the first thing that made it into the final version in any recognisable form. Maybe some other time I'll show off some highlights. I remember making this because I had in my head an idea of a three (later four) act structure to the song, capping off with this big climactic rock explosion. I also remember thinking this was a part of Sburban Jungle that, shockingly, nobody had ever quoted before, unless they were directly covering the full thing.

Second off, we have something that is probably much more recognisable. I still hadn't written the synth solo at this stage, and most of the backing was pretty barebones violins, violas, and flutes, but once that guitar over the top of everything was in there, it felt so much more like this idea in my head was coming to fruition. At the time I was so inexperienced at music that this was more or less equivalent to a minor miracle. But we weren't done yet.

The final version you hear here has a few major distinctions from the one immediately preceding. First, I put some reverb on the drums. Second, I ran the guitar through some reverb - and this is important - *before* it went through the guitar amp effect. This results in the guitar and its own reverb tail being squashed and distorted together into sounding like one thing, which is what gave it its distinctive shoegaze quality. Go amp, and then reverb, and the result is something much easier on the ears, but - if you ask me - far less exciting. Then I sent it off to @splitsuns who did some real good mixwork which I still think holds up damn well, even though we both have another four years of experience under our belts.

[ludicrousfalcon]

Land of Fans and Music 5 Act 2 drops today!

Check out the livestream, or the bandcamp page if u miss the stream! Tons of homestuck fan music is on this thing!

(disclaimer: i might or might not have contributed a track to this :3)

[haveyouheardthisband]

[unofficialmspafans]

LOFAM 5 Act 2 Release Date

We've confirmed a release date for the album, and it's coming right up!

We'll have a live release stream on our YouTube channel (youtube.com/@umspaf) on September 16, at 1pm Eastern (5pm GMT). Right after that, the album will be available for streaming on Bandcamp and download on a hosting site.

This album may have some of our best art and music yet, which is astounding considering how long the project has been around and how long it's been since Homestuck officially ended. Come join us in enjoying our niche musical tradition— Where else are you going to get this stuff?!

One last call for artists:

The team has claimed an impressive 88 art slots which are on track to be completed by release, but there are still a few songs left that need art! If you're interested in making some emergency art, get in touch by messaging Ucklin on Discord, or emailing unofficialmspafans@gmail.com

(Art used in this post by Circlejourney)

[circlejourneyart]

Maybe it'll turn out better this time: A love letter to all the joy and sorrow that this story has given me

(Art by @blogofyolo)

Here's the first of two tracks I had on Land of Fans and Music 5 Act 2, which came out two days ago! I'm dedicating this one to @utopianparadoxist, who wrote the post that made this track appear in my mind in such blinding clarity I couldn't stop making until it was done.

I also have some extended commentary about this one--it's more important to me than I give it credit for.

When I finished reading Homestuck, I was...disappointed. That disappointment morphed gradually into disgust as I watched schisms violently open in the fandom following the Epilogues and Homestuck^2, and in the process I felt like I'd lost something.

I kept thinking that maybe, if I just read the comic again, it would turn out different. Maybe it'd be the story I'd once loved and it would fill me with breathless wonder again. Maybe it'd be better.

But earlier this year, a post by uP crossed my dash after he'd disappeared from my periphery for well over a year. He was outlining his plans surrounding Pumpkin Path, a story he's writing that runs adjacent to the Epilogues and (eventually though not yet?) gives these characters the futures they've earned.

And I realised...the way I'd been thinking about it, that's not how it works, y'know? It's not the story that has changed: it's my heart, my relationship with it. And the best thing I could do was take what this once-beloved story gave me and make something new with it. And that's what many people have done in the wake of Homestuck's end: we've all gone off and made new stories, for which this long-beloved comic was an undeniable progenitor.

It reminded me of a certain recurring motif in the comic itself. Every time the universe resulted in a corrupt or barren session, the players...well, they rebooted it. They left the old universe behind, and started a new one, billions of years all over again just to see where it would go this time.

There was no use in searching for the story that used to be, because it was me that had changed.

You may as well leave that old universe behind and start a new one from scratch.

This is the idea that seeded the above track, and it caught me off guard, because it was the first Homestuck music I had made in more than two years--after I thought I'd sworn it off for good. And then, two days later, Maybe it'll turn out better this time was done. (Two days is, by the way, a very short time for a track to emerge.) It was a small, silly, wonderful little thing, a sapling in the ashes, that proved to me that things could change.

But beyond my track, the entirety of LOFAM5A2 feels especially so. It's a startling breath of fresh air that emerged from so much genuine joy and excitement. I'm happy I got to contribute even just a little work to it and I really, really hope that the fandom sees it for all that went into it. An UMSPAF manager once said that my music always sounds hopeful, but it was never intentional until this one. Thank you to everyone who's made good art that has inspired others in turn, you create life with your own hands.

[davorton]

I worked on two tracks from LOFAM's newest album: Derse Dreamers II and MnSttR

I recommand you all to give the album a listen: more than 100 tracks made by really talented composers and features awesome track artists!

[weirdmageddon]

LOFAM ACT5A2 JUST DROPPED TODAY??

[ender--slime]

i had the honor of getting to draw track art for the latest @unofficialmspafans album, LOFAM 5 a2!!

this one is for “Light in the Darkness” by SplitSuns!

thank you to the whole team!! i’ve been such a big fan of UMSPAF for a long time and having my name on one of the albums is just bonkers surreal :,)

my first track art is here!

track and art commentary under the cut!

Unfiltered version

[conceptofjoy]

a wild challenger appears

AWW look at him hes so cool n i love the track to...o... .....

why the fuck is he

[woosh-floosh]

Hey! It's homestuck day AND the final trailer for tears of the kingdom came out today! Believe it or not this song has BOTH of that in it!

[aradia-with-geese]

lofam 5 2 is so much fun im so proud to be on it!!! everyone should listen to all the tunes on it but especially mine!!!!!

[eightfourone]

for when you need to think about tea and sugar and cats and feel better

[homestuck-vocals]

he's also got a LOFAM 2 track about Rose, IIRC riffing on it being a bit of a meme when he called her gangsta during his liveread

this is so fucking sick. how did i not know about this. fuck yes

[unofficialmspafans]

Seeking Visual Artists

LOFAM 5 Act 2 is well on its way, and has gained more traction than we dared to expect, with more than 50 tracks already confirmed on the tracklist!

Because there are so many tracks this time around, we are seeking additional artists interested in joining the team and drawing track art to compliment them.

If you're interested in helping us out with track art, you can contact me on Discord (Ucklin) or email us at unofficialmspafans@gmail.com. Just send a few example pictures, and I'll invite you to the Discord server, where you can see the prospective tracklist and pick out a song that you want to do art for.

I look forward to some new faces!