Hello everyone out there who enjoys music! My name is Todd and I am The Ideal Setback. I've been playing music in some way ever since I was four years old (from piano to trumpet to bass and guitar), and in early 2006 I decided I wanted to start recording and making music. To be honest, I originally wanted The Ideal Setback to be a pop-punk band, because most if not all of my influences up to that point had been made up of pop-punk bands (Blink-182, Green Day, The Offspring, etc.). I tried for several months to get a band together to make this happen, but in the end, no one who was available was interested. I really had no clue what I wanted to do at that point. In mid 2007, a good friend of mine introduced me to Ambient music. The very first of this I heard was Sigur Ros, which would then be followed by bands and artists such as The Album Leaf, Eluvium, Hammock, and so on. I had finally found music that I really liked and that I could make by myself. The thoughts of using electronic elements had never really entered my mind. I was focused on guitars, bass, and drums. After spending a very brief time in the now disbanded post rock band, Mosi, I decided to work with what instruments and technology I had, and in late September of 2007, I finished my first "demo". It was 6 songs, 15 minutes, and it was only composed of guitar and keyboard synth. I was pleased with what it came out to be, given the short amount of time it took to record and mix, and also because I was still very new to listening and making ambient music. Eventually, I got better recording equipment, and a better understanding of ambient music (finding that Minimalism could play a very big part) and in October I started recording again, recording and mixing the songs which became the album "Dream Dialogue". It's a very dark album, but with some sense of beauty in it (at least to me). The cd is currently out now via Cdbaby, Itunes, etc. (see link(s) ).
Looking back on Dream Dialogue, I realize what kind of cd it was. I went in with little ambient experience under my belt, and wrote a record that I didn't have a direction for. I didn't have an audience in mind, and I wrote what I felt like writing. All of the songs came naturally, and most of them ended up being dissonant. Not to say I'm not proud of it, though. I just know what I needed to change. When I started to record Window Seat, I had an audience in mind. I had an idea of what kind of ambient record I wanted to make. I went in with the intention of making a more uplifting (or "happier") type of ambient record, with still incorporating some minimal aspects. For more information on the release of Window Seat and Dream Dialogue, read my blog on The Time Element. Overall, I feel Window Seat is a much more solid record. It is out now via Cdbaby and Amazon, and soon many other digital distributors.
“How We Spend Our Days Is How We Spend Our Lives” is a representation of my personal emotions over the past year of my life. I feel it is the most truthful record I have ever written. Each song is intended to be it’s own separate entity (meaning the songs don’t flow together as one), and is intended to represent how I was feeling at that point in time.
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