UPDATES!!!

Hi everyone!! Thank you so much for being here with us in the month of May. Lots of exciting things have been happening, namely: MY HEART SHOULD BE FIXED (FOR GOOD) NOW 🥹❤️

I know I talked about this during the livestream on Wednesday, but basically, the second heart ablation procedure on Tuesday was pretty difficult for me. They had to keep me awake for a large portion of it, and they had to send wires (SKIP THIS NEXT SENTENCE IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH) into my jugular vein in order to access my heart 🤢🤢🤢 Thankfully, I was able to go home the same day, and I didn't have to say overnight this time. This ablation procedure overall was much easier than my first ablation when I was put under anesthesia. I got a bad infection last time and also had trouble falling asleep thanks to the breathing tube that they had to use, so I ended up being awake for almost 50 hours straight and had to go back to the emergency room the day after I was discharged. This SVT heart problem has been happening since December 17th, and almost 5 months later, I'm hoping it's gone for good. Fingers crossed!! 😭

In other news, Russ and I have been exploring lots of fun new modular and semi-modular tech like the Moog Spectravox and the Pedal Brainz CV, and we just ordered Pamela's Pro Workout and the Make Noise Morphagene modules, along with two gorgeous powered modular cases (we're selling our Doepfer powered modular case that you can see in this video in case anyone is interested!). If you know me, you know I don't consider myself an expert on the world of modular, so these recent projects have been extremely fun for me to challenge myself and really explore different possibilities adjacent to the world of pedals.

I think the most EXCITING news in my life is something that hasn't officially been announced to the public yet, which is that Russ and I were awarded an artist residency at the Pollock-Krasner House in East Hampton, NY. This is the first time in 40 years that they have ever offered a residency to an artist like this, and I am ridiculously honored to have been the inaugural artist they chose! Over the next year, Russ and I will be giving talks, performances, and workshops, and we'll be traveling back and forth to the house in East Hampton to work on an album of 12 original compositions that reflect the space where we'll be working. It was surreal to be in the same studio where Jackson Pollock did most of his work. I'm not entirely sure what direction I'll be going in for the album production, but I know I'm going to be incorporating modular synth! :)

Other exciting things coming up include: performing and being a guest speaker at the MoMA in a few weeks, teaching classes at Somerset Harp Festival in NJ, working on a new indie video game soundtrack (currently in the works!), working on a dungeon synth album, an exciting podcast interview, collaborating with one of my favorite groups for another album that I can't talk about yet, going back to WPI for more tech events, and more!

This would all normally be impossible for us to handle with our current workload, but I'm also thrilled to announce that Russ recently left his 9-5 job to do this full-time with me, so we're officially "all in" now!! It's been very difficult trying to juggle our workload on top of our jobs (we both worked 40 hour full-time jobs in fields totally unrelated to music), with the added stress of my heart problems / not being able to drive my car for the past month and a half.

I think this is also a good time to talk about mental health, because honestly, mine has been pretty bad lately... With the uptick in YouTube subscribers and views lately, there is also the inevitable rise in hate comments, threats, and disgusting sexual harassment. I'm not talking about the comments that are like "oh I hate Emily Hopkins" or whatever, because honestly I'm so used to that by now and it doesn't even bother me. I also don't care if anyone dislikes my music; I know my music isn't for everyone and people love to give their opinion on the internet! That's totally fine with me! But the stuff that really gets to me is the threats of violence / sexual assault. I've been seeing a therapist for the past few months who is absolutely amazing and understanding, and it's been really helping me deal with a lot of things. My new coping mechanism? ✨ don't read any of the comments ✨ 

This has been difficult for me because A) I love answering comments and connecting with my audience, and B) I think it's very important to keep the community heavily moderated so that others feel safe and aren't exposed to the toxicity. So I'll still moderate comments and answer comments that aren't flagged for review, but I can NEVER read the "held for review" comments anymore... They don't show up anyway. I probably should have been doing that the whole time, but most of the horrible stuff I've been dealing with has been coming in through other ways (like emails / public forum posts). It's tough when all you want to do is post funny / educational / shitpost-y videos about music gear, and people see that as an invitation to try and rip you apart. It's something we shouldn't have to deal with, but as creators in the public eye, it's inevitable. :(

(Although I will say, our Wednesday livestreams have been the highlights of my weeks. Everyone -- for the most part! -- seems to behave, and it feels good to be able to hang out in a space where I can communicate with the people who truly get it and really do enjoy the channel 🥹❤️)

Speaking of streams, "Patreon-Only Monthly Livestreams" are going to be starting up in June, so please let me know approximately what days work best for everyone in the comments!! I'm thinking a Saturday or Sunday?

I'm still recovering and I'm not back to 100% yet, but this is probably a good time to mention that Russ and I have also been working on an upcoming merch drop with an "EMILYHARPIST design" by one of my favorite artists. We have stickers, "accessories," t-shirts, and sweatshirts (with a different colorway design), and I'm doing my best to figure out international shipping without it being too much of a headache. Filing international taxes with the respective departments gives me anxiety, but as of right now, merch will be available for US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, and Patrons of course will get: A) priority for the limited quantity runs, and B) a percentage discount on anything!

Also, I had to do the "merch photoshoot" part by myself, because I don't have any actual models LMAO but Russ and I had an amazing time! Here's a preview:

Lastly, because of all the medical bills still coming in, we're planning on having another ~PEDAL SALE~ with everything heavily discounted. I'll be posting a list of everything that's available sometime this weekend if you're interested in anything (offhand, I know I'm selling my UA DelVerb and Red Panda Context pedals).

Thank you again for being here with us, and I hope you know how truly appreciative I am of all your support... The year of 2024 has been a rough for me up until this point, but from here on out, now that I got a functioning heart again, I'm excited to get back to feeling normal and crushing some goals!! (which includes public speaking in front of a huge, live audience....! ahhhhhh!) 🥰🥰🥰