Milkshake Daddy started in 1995 under the name “Milk Shake Daddy” (3 words). Milk Shake Daddy music was recorded using an HP computer, a PRS guitar, a Boss Dr. Rhythm drum and bass machine, and samples from movies and TV shows. Two cassettes were released in 1995 and 1996. Either you liked it, or it made you cringe. The name Milk Shake Daddy was inspired by the “Hamburger Pimp” from one of the Dolemite films.
Milk Shake Daddy was mostly music made to entertain friends, and was inspired by DIY culture, 1970s funk, industrial and electronic music, and a steady diet of B-movies watched on VHS tapes. Most of the music I listened to at the time was funk, rap, industrial, punk, metal, and music made by local bands.
I can’t remember when I recorded The Pirates of Raritan Bay but it was in the Bush or Obama zone. It isn’t really a Milkshake Daddy release.
I was inspired to make music again influenced by my friend Lief (of }hexdump{) and the RPM challenge (make an album in a single month). The themes found in my music at the time were generally outer-space related. 2008-2012 was the peak of cable TV shows about outer space.
The Milkshake Daddy arrived in 2008 with The Milkshake Daddy: Secret Lives of Probes, Satellites and Rovers (2008). It was recorded using an iMac, Les Paul guitar, Schecter bass, Micro Korg, Korg Electribe MX, some non-musical samples, and voice synthesizers.
Generally speaking, The Milkshake Daddy albums are concept albums and Milkshake Daddy albums are a mix of various themes. The Milkshake part became one word because I forgot how I originally spelled it.
The first Milkshake Daddy is Milkshake Daddy: Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (2010) which is not a concept album. It was recorded using an iMac, Les Paul guitar, Schecter bass, Micro Korg, Korg Electribe MX, some non-musical samples and voice synthesizers, plus a slew of iPad music apps that were popular at the time like Pocket Organ, Synth, FunkBox, Drums! and Animoog, and a Novation miniNOVA.
The six RPM-inspired albums are Secret Lives of Probes, Satellites and Rovers (2008), Triglidae Cosplay Facsimile (2009), Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (2010), Substitute Songwriter (2011), Stranded on the Shores of Space (2012) and Murciélago va al Infierno EP (2013) (not officially submitted because it was too short).
Somewhere in the midst of this, I started a music label called “Anti-Boredom Team” but I never used it. I used to have a website for it as well, but I let the domain go.
After Hurricane Sandy wrecked my apartment, I lost my musical momentum. Milkshake Daddy: Murciélago va al Infierno EP (2013) was recorded outside my apartment (in exile in Hueco Mundo) and that’s why it’s probably the least good of the 2008-2013 six. There is also a theory that a magical music ghost lived in the apartment next to mine, and it disappeared after Sandy. That excuse is as good as any.
After very little musical activity I changed the name of the band to Kurohitsugi which means black coffin. Kurohitsugi: Wear a Mask (2018) is the one and only Kurohitsugi album. It sounds just like Milkshake Daddy, but other than the name change I felt something is missing… the 2008-2012 vibe is missing.
