CHARACTER INFO:
I'chi is a seasoned alcoholic, drowning out the horrific reality of his past crimes with the harshest ale he can find. His life as a merciless ship captain to a crew of savage, murderous pirates is now long behind him, but the blood he spilled all those years ago is still fresh in his mind. This cool cat's charming, easy going exterior is just a guise to hide the painful truth; that he can't live with the guilt he bares, and he will never forgive himself for what he has done. Meanwhile, those that can forgive him, never will. Despite all of this, I'chi still tries to make the best of himself in the present, using what skills he has to help those he would have killed in his youth, trying to right his wrongs while there's still time.THE PROCESS:
Whenever I open a new project with the intent of making a song for I'chi, I first start with his base inspiration - the image of a dark, stormy coast. With black sands and heavy clouds above, and white seafoam to contrast the pitch black sea. I'chi, being blind, is entirely reliant on sound, smell, and touch to navigate, so I focus on these senses when describing how he sees these visuals that I describe. I do the same with his music, trying to translate sensations into music; usually sensual ones, in I'chi's case. The warmth in your chest after a sip of alcohol, and the lingering sting on your tongue. The comforting vibration of a baritone voice against your ear. The sinking feeling in your stomach when you smell that one familiar scent, and thoughts of the past catch up to you - thoughts of someone or something you never wanted to see again. I've found that low, somber tones work best for capturing the mood that I want to present with I'chi's character - full, captivating, intoxicating, and with just a little bit of dread and regret.

CHARACTER INFO:
What if survival is all you know? The world is out to get you, and it's not just anxiety that convinces you of that. You can see it in everyone - literally. Their thoughts echo from their mind to yours, and you know exactly what they think of you. You're a monster. An anomaly. Something to fear. Something that can be used. A tool. A beast.Adali has never known a world that can accept who she is - what she is. Disgraced by both her Elven and Troll ancestors, she wanders in the shadows for fear of ever meeting the ire of others ever again. But the call of loneliness always beckons, and tempts her out of the dark corners she calls home. Out onto the streets, into local taverns and inns, trying to blend in with the locals while adorned in naught but her pride and ego. Standoffish and brash, she threatens to push everyone away before they can even try to judge her. Unknowingly perpetuating a never ending cycle. Though she leaves the shadows with hope that that will one day change, she never gives anyone the chance to see her true self, and so she slithers away to the dens of the dark to slumber and to seath. To reflect.THE PROCESS:
Adali, as a character, deals with a lot of anxiety and fear. There is a large emphasis on the psychology of shame and grief over one's own self and their heritage, and how that affects our perception of ourselves and the things around us. When making a song for Adali, I veer towards trap beats and incorporate more odd sounds to get across a feeling of discomfort, of restlessness, or of unease. Music I make for her tends to be divisive by design, it isn't meant to be commercial or broader appealing - Adali herself is anything but that. I take influences from hip hop and rap, genres often dismissed by commercial and, to speak candidly, white audiences for being 'too aggressive' or 'too urban' or whatever other shorthand they can think of to disguise their racist rhetoric. Race is a big part of Adali's story, and though it is explored through a fantasy world via "Elves" and "Trolls", as they are presented in World of Warcraft, I don't think it's hard to see what real world issues are actually being expressed in her story. The song Pariah, the first song I composed for Adali, attempts to express the divide and contrast between her more outwardly intimidating facade and her inner, more tender and delicate self - though I don't personally look back on the song too fondly, I have included it because of that very feeling that I have about it. My mixed feelings about the song mirror Adali's mixed feelings about herself.

Character art by Adrian