Creating Something out of Nothing

(The History Behind The Making of Fur Roach Music)

When I came to prison, it felt like I died. I stayed immersed in a dark place, a shell I created to hibernate in until I felt I was ready to face the world again. Thankfully I’ve moved forward and discarded that old broken shell of mine.

I never really gave up on life, but I needed a lot of time to reflect, and process the horrible decision I had made that led me to call the Oregon State Penitentiary my home.

It’s been a long hard journey, and I’ll admit that I had some intensely dark disturbing experiences along the way that brought me close to the edge of loosing my mind. I had moments when I completely felt like quitting, and I just wanted to hang it up. But everything changed when I was given the opportunity to record and produce music again.

Late 2012, I procured all the necessary equipment needed to further develop my Fur Roach Music Production Studio. This allowed me to truly take sound engineering to a new level.

Projecting all my energy into my two Fur Roach Music studio projects has provided me with a rejuvenated positive outlook on life. Recording and producing LooNurGooSe and element66 music has helped me let go of the past, and has allowed me to embrace the possibilities of the future.

Leapfrogging back and forth between both projects has given me enough momentum to get a strong underground following of loyal fans. Although LooNurGooSe did come into the world before element66, it was element66 that first pulled in the electronic alternative crowd that has helped gain so much attention.

My blind dedication to both projects has been a fulltime job, but as of now my focus is back on my original project, the one that started it all, LooNurGooSe. Although I do plan on recording new element66 music in the near future too.

The first single released from my LooNurGooSe project, titled – Flesh Robots, was released as a digital download late November 2015. Flesh Robots is the first LooNurGooSe track that I’ve released with vocals.

LooNurGooSe took its first breath as an experiment, but didn’t crawl from the womb until 2012, after I’d completed a collection of instrumental recordings that I was just goofing around with my new equipment. Some of those older demos can be found on the LooNurGooSe instrumental demo album titled – Code Name Jabberwocky (Released 2013). I did a follow up release in 2014 with the instrumental LooNurGooSe album titled – War For The Throne.

Being able to produce both LooNurGooSe and element66 has been a huge achievement for me, considering that I’m housed in a maximum security prison at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

Getting established with a web presence was a very difficult undertaking. I can’t just turn on a computer from prison to set it all up, I needed a support team to help me get started. I was fortunate enough to have some really good friends that believed in what I was trying to do, and thanks to them, Fur Roach Music became my own personal record label, giving me the means to release both LooNurGooSe and element66 music professionally. Using social media as a way of networking on Face Book, twitter, and Reverb Nation, has given me the opportunity to build a solid cult-like following of devoted loyal fans.

In 2013 the websites went up, and element66 and LooNurGooSe were both officially launched onto the Internet, making the music available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon, and many other sites that provide digital distribution.

By 2014 both projects had been featured on FM and Internet Radio.

In 2015 LooNurGooSe and element66 had grown beyond what my friends could manage, so I had no choice, but to hire a personal assistant to help me maintain the ever expanding growth on social media.

Releasing music under the strict conditions of a maximum security prison has taken a lot of ambition on my part, but it feels good knowing that I’m creating something from this side of the prison walls that ends up getting set free. It’s like a little piece of me is getting paroled every time I release a song.

The uniquely stylized emotional energy of both LooNurGooSe and element66 are ever evolving. Just as our minds expand with a deeper understanding of the Universe, so does the music.

Step away from the norm and experience the bizarre creative production techniques of Fur Roach Music all recorded and produced at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

Enjoy The Ride
Chad Hamlin