-First and foremost, thanks to everyone who made 2009 the best year ever for dharmata 101:

Ilker Yucel (primarily for making me love music again); Valdyr (aka Laura Hofford- love you!); Scott Royce & Midnight; Heath, Em, and the rest of the staff at Ground Xero that took a chance on this no-name band from DC; Red This Ever & the Depot folks; 2501 & all his posse at Town; Kele-De & the Ascension crew; Art-O-Matic (we shall return); David Frost (for letting play with his Die With Me Tonight material); Dan Clark; Sean Payne; XUBERX; and lastly the legendary Ryan Hill for giving us Strangeland Records for that brief period (and letting us drink and make noise in there)

was there anyone I forgot?

Oh yeah- YOU!!! We couldn't have gotten anywhere without people like you who enjoy what we do. Thank you all so incredibly much!

-The EXTRAORDINARILY delayed new EP, Transcendental Hygiene, has been pushed back to March for release. As it currently stands, there will be remixes from Cyanotic, The Dark Clan, Third Realm, Savage Ideal, and Ilker is pitching in as well. There will also be two brand new D101 tracks: "emoticon" (the demo version you can hear here as well as on the FREE Lockout compilation at www.radio-active-music.com), and the bouncy "silicon mala". We're still waiting for some of these remixes to get back to us, as well as the artwork.

-In the meantime, there's some stuff that can tide you over:

-My new project Mutable. Wanted to focus on the use of samples for this, in addition to a bit of programming. Worth checking out if you like the D101.

-Die With Me Tonight. I produced this project through 2008, and David & Valdyr have some terrific ideas for music together.

-You can expect to finally see D101 live again soon. We're planning on a short tour in May supporting The Dark Clan (we've already nailed one date down with them in April in Baltimore- check it out!) as well as having one-off dates throughout the East Coast in early to mid 2009.

-Ilker and I are also currently writing new material for the next full-length D101 album. It's coming together as a plot-driven concept record (which it seems there's never enough of) that's showing us growing slightly more rock oriented than we were on PSFTC. We're hoping to have some of this new material playable by the time we come to your town this spring!

-Personally, I've gone 3 months without a drink or a smoke. I'm kinda proud of that.

Not much else to say, but I'd like to wish everyone reading this a safe, happy, and mindful 2009.

Namaste,

JSun

That's right. Snag the sampler (featuring dharmata 101, xUBERx, Die With Me Tonight, Gravity Euphonic & others) and the debut from Steve Archer's Hopeful Machines for FREE.

Just clicky here.

Figured I'd post my "once a month" blog. :)

-I'd like to start off with some nice reviews we've gotten for "Protest Songs for the Content" over the last year, Check em all out!

http://www.regenmag.com/Reviews-1152-Dharmata-101-Protest-Songs-for-the-Content.html

http://alternativeexplosion.com/2008/10/25/dharmata-101-protest-songs-for-the-content/

http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/index.php?search=coldwave&type=music

-Secondly, out forthcoming EP "Transcendental Hygiene" is still slated for release for January 2009. The EP will include some remixes from Cyanotic, The Dark Clan, & Galvanax (among others), a song from our next full-length, a brand new exclusive-to-the-EP track, and possibly some live stuff as well.

-In support of the new EP, we'll be hitting the road in March 2009 with The Dark Clan & XUBERX. Our travels will take us into parts of the country we've only dreamed of playing, and we're looking forward to it. Dates soon to come, and we'll keep you posted.

-I'm currently wrapping up production & mastering work on the debut release from Die With Me Tonight, featuring the composition talents of Roanoke's David Frost & the vocal talents of Radio-Active-Music's own Laura Hofford! I'm impressed with how this record has come together, & am really happy to have had a hand in it. The album is due to be released December 2.

-In non-D101 related news, I've just started writing reviews for ReGen Magazine. Go check it out!

www.regenmag.com

TTFN,

JSun

Ilker & I would like to thank all you folks who came out to support Exogenesis in Springfield, MO. For our first show EVER in the Midwest, it was great to deal with generosity & true professionalism (from Heath, Emily, & the rest of the Ground Xero crew) as well as forging new relationships with truly talented folks in other projects (Reliquary, Espermachine, & Cryogen Second).

We promised Heath & Emily we'd be coming back through there sometime in the near future, and considering how great the audience was & the unparallelled hospitality we recieved- it'll be damn near impossible to keep us away!!

Thanks again,

JSun

After it initially being cancelled due to economic issues related to Hurricane Ike, we have just been confirmed to play Exogenesis Festival (formerly Masque & Veil) this next weekend in Springfield, MO!

Go check it out!!

http://www.groundxero.org/exogenesis.html

-Just finished my taxes. Looks like I'm getting a *decent* return, at least enough to keep my head above water these next couple of weeks. Might pick up a new stage mixer, considering how I'd love to change the stage setup for the average D101 show.

Yes, I miss using a large multitude of synths live.

-I just got though watching "Airheads", and a couple lines of dialogue really hit home- about playing a stage for 15 minutes to a crowd that consists of the other bands on the bill and their girlfriends...

...I'm really thankful that I have some fantastic friends that come out to see us play when we do; even if it's at a venue that's far out of the way and less than desirable.

-I'm also thankful for friends that have the courage to say, "I don't care for your music, but you're a cool person." That takes a lot of guts to say to someone, particularly to someone like myself who's pretty passionate about what I do. I love you all.

-It pains me to see a lot of my friends going through a large cross-section of deep, emotional problems (even if they don't share them with the rest of the world and deal with them silently), but I'd like to tell any of them that if they need someone to talk to- I'm here for you.

 -A band I have a good deal of admiration for, Mankind Is Obsolete, just got into an accident whilst on the road. A drunk driver hit their tour van, and they're trying to scare up some funds to try to keep their tour going. Unlike us, touring in a band is ALL they do for a living, and they could really use some help. You can contribute a couple bucks via Paypal at their MySpace site. Toss em a buck or two if you can afford it.

-I'd also like to plug a band that REALLY impressed me Friday night, Almost Human. Recommended for anyone who appreciates a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-styled sound. Really nice guys, too.