New: Introducing The Escaping Society — House of Abandoned Pools + Music Conservatory

ES08

It started out with the question: what do you want the next 12 months to look like?

For some time, I’ve envisioned establishing a conservatory—or perhaps a collective, depending on how one chooses to define it. That idea began to take clearer shape during the Zoom calls with backers of The Haunted House Kickstarter campaign. What became increasingly evident was that I was speaking with thoughtful individuals—people with a genuine interest in music, a desire to share their experiences, ideas and even their struggles.

It occurred to me that the perfect starting point for a conservatory is the very fans who have been supporting AP over the years. So I began developing a dedicated platform—one designed not just for fans of Abandoned Pools, but also that gives composers and songwriters a way to interact with me and each other to help create our best work. A dedicated, private, Patreon-style platform, free from the distraction and mercurial algorithms of social media, and a focused setting for serious musical inquiry and collaboration.

There are two parts to The Escaping Society:

I. House of Abandoned Pools — the foundation on which this community is built — is a space for connection between artist and listener, and among those who have found something resonant in the music. It's also a place to chronicle a definitive history of AP.

Just as the music has evolved, so too have the lives of those who’ve followed it. What has it meant to you? In what ways has it impacted your life? We invite you to consider, write, and contribute your insights to the ongoing archive. This platform exists not only to preserve a record of Abandoned Pools, but also to build one.

It started when I cleared out my storage space and it turns out I have a lot of Abandoned Pools archive material sitting around on old hard drives, CDs and even cassettes. Some of it predates AP when I had bands with names like Tely and Metromax. This collection will grow over time — rare, unreleased, demos, alternate versions of Abandoned Pools songs, archival documentary footage & photos, live shows from different eras, behind the scenes and live touring videos, track breakdowns... whatever I find in old boxes full of AP stuff.

It's a great way to support the creation of new Abandoned Pools music. The first 30 members get Founding Member badges.

II. The Conservatory is where we bring together like-minded songwriters and composers, dedicated to the exchange of stories, experiences, and ideas, so that they can inspire one another to achieve creative outcomes beyond what they believed possible.

I will serve as the host of The Conservatory, and, as a working composer, engage with fellow writers to exchange ideas and sharpen craft. As I continue work on the sixth Abandoned Pools album, you can follow along while I share details of my process and progress. Conversely, I invite you to share your ideas, goals and progress toward how you want the next twelve months to unfold in your own work.

In addition, The Conservatory is a place for composers and songwriters to:

• Develop & hone your skills, showcase your work.
• Seek opportunities for mentorship as well as find talent to develop
• Unlock relationships that could lead to your next opportunity
• Workshops and challenges for songwriting, composition, trailer music, film scoring, etc., including guidance on building a career.
• Enriching activities like book clubs, score study, and song analysis ranging from music theory, production techniques, songwriting, film scoring and more.
• A centralized location for relevant + curated information with a companion newsletter, podcast, and iPhone + Android app.

All designed to be engaging for both aspiring and more seasoned composers and songwriters.

I've set goals that I want to focus on for the next 12 months that I will chronicle on The Escaping Society. These include finishing the next Abandoned Pools album and writing a full work for orchestra.

All members of The Conservatory will have full access to House of Abandoned Pools.

In addition, this newsletter will also be re-branded as part of The Escaping Society. You will still get updates regarding Abandoned Pools as well as the articles I've been writing about music.

So I ask you, what do you want the next 12 months to look like?

The Escaping Society is accepting new members now. The official launch is July 29th.

VISIT THE ESCAPING SOCIETY

Want to talk music? Or just talk?​
If you’d like to go deeper into music, creativity, songwriting, or anything else you'd like to discuss I offer discussions over Zoom — and I recently dropped the price to make it more accessible.

Handwritten + Signed Lyrics:

I plan on posting video tutorials on my YouTube channel in the near future. It would be greatly appreciated if you would subscribe:

Late pledges are still available if you want to support the new album on Kickstarter. Click here to contribute.

Thanks for reading,

Tommy

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