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ZipZipper
Just an awkward clown that showed up late to the clown pile. I love to provide goofy-spook music but I'm open to anyone that challenges my comfort zone. Send me details of your lifestory when you get the chance!

Thomas Ashcom @ZipZipper

Age 32, Male

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ZipZipper's News

Posted by ZipZipper - July 4th, 2023


Merry July 4th, all you Americaneers! It's kickoff time!

I've just released my newest album:


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Fully available right now on BANDCAMP: > > > click here < < <

Or you can listen to the whole playlist on my YOUTUBE: > > > click here < < <


This project was inspired by the horrific spiral of the pandemic and my heightened attention to local and international news during that time. I do believe lots of other people were also inspired to raise their awareness, but unfortunately the most toxic outcomes are produced from it, in relation to the hyper-speed environment we currently deal with. Willful ignorance becomes the creative coping mechanism or widely accepted brand on life, and for some that's an existential necessity, while for others that's just a lack of maturity.


Make no mistake, I like burying my head in the sand too. And it's that paradox and awkwardness in accountability that gives a peculiar character to this music. Not that the character is too much different from what I've already done, but I assure you that I put more thematic and harmonic attention into these tracks, for consistency and slightly better ease in transitions.


If you get activated by any of the political charge in this album, then roll your eyes or sigh as if you don't need a reminder that problems exist...well that also sums this up. Please remember, every single situation that fuels a national crisis can also be extremely nuanced and unheard of.


Anyways, have a great again day!

~ ~ said ZipZipper


Tags:

3

Posted by ZipZipper - May 1st, 2023


...with my next album. As with most of my personal projects, I'm proud of what I've accomplished and can only wish upon a star that anyone will be affected by it. I take my seemingly comedic writing seriously, but I think people mostly hear it as a bad joke. And you know what? Whatever. At least it's easy to trick people into the first two seconds of listening. I'm thinking of July 4th as a release window, considering its political subjectivity. And I guess to highlight my seriousness, here's the summarized context and the final track titles that took hours for me to perfectly write out because something is wROnG wiTh ME:


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Opinionated

Thomas Ashcom

[@ ZipZipper]


The growing disappearance of the polar icecaps may very well reappear as growing polarity between our sociopolitical positions. A lot of stressful, traumatic, conflicting, and extraordinary things have happened in the past decade. And in my view, most of these things were realizations rather than discoveries. This has lead to open discussions frozen into blocks of opinions, then stacked into walls that aren’t very useful in creating impactful, balanced solutions.


One of the biggest obstacles towards social success is simple: meaningful, organized work is…work. It’s extra effort alongside the daily struggles of maintaining our immediate livelihood. There’s also huge trouble in that the shrewdness of misinformation has turned accusation into an instinct; compromise comes off more like a risk than a need, when stability is so fragile.


‘Opinionated’ is my small snapshot of politically incorrect cartoons fitted as music. In particular, each track deals with a contested topic surrounding U.S. instability, topics that can also apply to broader global issues. I’ve always had to laugh louder than I’ve cried. If I didn’t, I’d be sad beyond saving. The poetic quotes are my own imaginations, but I hope they reflect something similar you’ve thought of, even beyond the context of the song titles.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


[1] Speak To The Manager


“Each societal, often existential dilemma 

Will beg me to ask the same question: 

Who’s in charge?”


[2] LGBTQ+


“My deeply personal potential

Is allowed or restricted by choice.

Otherwise, it’s a cheap label.”


[3] Weather Or Not


“Modern convenience disrupts nature. 

And nature responds appropriately,

In ways that will outlast me.”


[4] Great Again


“The whole world is simple

When I deny how complex it is.

There, my boredom is justified.”


[5] COVID-19


“Any contact could be for worse,

Especially if my heart is so close.

How do I continue living?”


[6] Triggered


“Only I know what threatens me!

 Let's shoot all the bad guys!”


[7] Wage Is Just A Number


“Blood and tears lose to sweat;

The hustle derives some safety.

Still, my fair share isn’t a healthy one.”


[8] Next Generation


“There’s a chance I fail to meet

A myriad of so-called deadlines

That my kids have zero chance with.”


Anyways...as a reminder, there are two main reasons why it's been taking me a year+ to finish this project. One is my day job. And two is the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra [@ WMGSO] I mentioned in a previous post that my marimba concerto arrangement was being premiered? If you want, you can click here to see that performance. It's not the best audio, but we're continuing to improve. Can you spot my bald-ass head in the 2nd row amongst the alto section??


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So that concert pictured there, along with our upcoming Spring concert on May 20th, have included a majority of Final Fantasy arrangements that we'll be recording over the course of this summer for our 2nd studio album:


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We are an official 501c3 nonprofit organization. So we rely on charitable monies to function, especially now with this album very much on the way. I please ask that you click here for donating to this project. We're about halfway to our goal right now and you can choose to contribute any amount (which is tax deductible). Sharing this link, or any of these links, with others is also greatly appreciated. And yes, one of my own arrangements will be recorded for this album and premiered live in our next concert:


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At any rate, you could also tune in to the concert on May 20th via our Twitch channel. In fact, any of our concerts, recitals, and streams can be viewed/reviewed for free on there. Or if you happen to be in the area of Largo, MD at that exact moment...well you could attend in-person! Click here if you wanna get tickets now!!


Okay that's all for now. I've also been spending an unhealthy amount of time playing Have A Nice Death and can't wait to be even more sunk with new Legend of Zelda and new Pikmin coming out soon. See you in 59 years!


~ ~ ZipZipper


3

Posted by ZipZipper - November 14th, 2022


Do you like video-game music (VGM)? Or are you a musician, whether by hobby or by trade?


So actually, lemme start this post by saying the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra (WMGSO) is always seeking volunteers and remote helpers. If you have extra energy and a heart for supporting a nonprofit that seeks to deliver arrangements of VGM to the general public, message me with your experiences (not that having any is necessary) and how you'd like to help. Obviously, bonus points if you're within the hemispheres of DC-MD-VA, but again, we could also use satellite volunteers for public relations, Twitch streams, or minor bookkeeping.


At the moment, our musician roster is pretty full, but after we record our second album this following year...there'll probably be more opportunity. If you've got a knack for writing arrangements, or would like to have a good excuse to practice writing, we accept submissions. Click here for our guidelines regarding arrangements, or message me here, as I am part of the music review team and have been very active with arranging for the past handful of years.


~~~~~~~~~~


Now...it's time to plug about what's been going on specifically with me, which circles around WMGSO anyways:


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Tune in this Saturday for our Fall concert, which includes half of the repertoire to be recorded for our second album. If you can't tell by the artwork and the guy slated to do a pre-concert lecture, this album will be music exclusively from the Final Fantasy series.


Also to be premiered in this concert: a spooky marimba concerto arranged by me, featuring the extraordinary talents of multi-percussionist Doug Perry (@DrumUltimA) on marimba...I'm actually dead because he does have a forgotten NG profile here. You'll also get to hear a different arrangement of mine with me at the piano playing it and me also trying so hard not to have stage anxiety.


All our concerts are streamed for free on our Twitch channel and archived for later consumption.


But, if you'd like to contribute monies or be a part of this performance in-person...

Click here to make a donation or purchase tickets.


I would really appreciate any and all outreach you can do. The concerto was especially one of the most challenging and rewarding pieces of music I've ever tackled. I'm proud of the accomplishment, but I'm even more proud of the ensemble and the work we've done together over these past couple of difficult years.


~~~~~~~~~~


Aside from WMGSO...I'm making lots of progress on another album/EP of my own. It's not much quantitatively, but its musical ideas are a lot to carry. I hope to have it complete before tax season next year, at the latest. If you're not familiar with me, listen to my last album, which was a compilation of indie songs I've done across the ages, along with their instrumental tracks. This EP won't involve much of my voice, but I think the titles say enough already:


Opinionated


1~ Speak To The Manager

2~ LGBTQ+

3~ Hurricane Handy

4~ Great Again

5~ COVID-19

6~ Triggered

7~ Wealth Gap

8~ Next Generation


And aside from that...I've got a woodwind quintet ready for the same guy who premiered a clarinet piece I wrote earlier this year. He's organized another composer contest with more players, so of course I have to try. More details on that will come once I actually submit it and he makes his selections, which could very well not be mine.


And aside from that...soon I'll be celebrating being employed at Target for four years. I actually like my job, which is especially made nice by me getting along with my coworkers...but it'd also be nice to safely afford housing, y'know??


Help??


~ ~ ZipZipper


Tags:

4

Posted by ZipZipper - April 8th, 2022


Yikes!


Within these past few months, the amalgam of annoyances with the apartment I've been living in for a year and a half has boiled over to the point that I'm paying the enormous fee to get out of the remaining eight months of my lease. It's even more aggravating because the renting market here is a nightmare. In fact, I just checked to see how much they're charging for my studio now that it's available and it's $150 more than what I was paying, not including the extra $100 they'll charge for utilities. With the additional fee they'll get from me, it'll be as if I fulfilled the entirety of my lease anyways. And I'm sure they'll get someone to occupy that space quickly...I don't know if I'll feel sorry for that new tenant, but I'll at least leave comments online about my very frustrating experience with this property.


So I've come full circle. I am supremely fortunate to be at my parents' house again. And at this point I don't think I have an ounce of shame left in me. Not just because I did a whole ass flop with a teenage dream in Hollywood, but imagine what the future is for children born in the past couple years. Heck, even the kids suffering through COVID college right now. Already, it's a pretty rigid choice between the cost of living or the cost of education. All while climate change continues to pass breaking points and conflict isn't so much avoided as it is sought after.


This is why NG is great. It doesn't necessarily try to be an adult, which every other social media outlet has to do to some extent. And it also challenges people to create content, arguably more so than any TikTok challenge does. The irony is that I'll say this and then not be very participatory here. There was a time when I really really was, but as mentioned in the beginning...real world things get more and more insistent the older you become. In fact, I wanna plug the more positive real world activities that make me busy.


The biggest one is my further involvement with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra. Late last year, I was officially selected as one of two repertoire editors to our restructured library branch. I'm also officially the choir's accompanist. AND I also had another arrangement of mine performed at our first in-person concert last Fall, which was also performed at DisCon III. If you take a guess and squint, you can see me in the choir:


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Now that COVID never existed again, and now that the org has thoroughly experienced what a struggle it is to try and coordinate online performances, we're trying to stick with in-person performances from here on out. In our upcoming Spring concert, there will be two arrangements of mine being performed, one of them based off of the soundtrack from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. It's coincidentally timed with the recent release of The Forgotten Land, which I have played and had a great time with. Below, you can guess and squint again at how this snippet of an eyesore I put together is somehow the iconic Gourmet Race:


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I really like arranging. It keeps both my analytical and creative gears turning. But what about music entirely by me? For Zipper, I've been considering doing another outburst of content in the form of another album. If you haven't ever listened to an album of mine, The Fire Sects is a long-ago gem that I didn't upload anywhere. Otherwise, there is a student clarinetist with a recital coming up soon, and he'll be premiering a piece of mine that I wrote for him specifically. You definitely don't have to squint to see my Target-hat-face in this flyer:


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And don't squint to see this snippet of the piece here, because I just love showing off engraving yes PLEASE steal everything. This is the beginning of the last 'movement' per se...it's not a very long piece, about 5 minutes, but it is divided into three tempos:


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Speaking of Target, I've been working with them for three and a half years. And although the work itself gets rough a lot of the time...the friendliness and sense of belonging I get from my coworkers makes everything tolerable. If I can make it through the inception of COVID with them, I can stand to stay there for a bit longer while other turmoils still rock my life...like ignoring the emotional damage from my LA endeavor! We'll just see what happens once the nuclear warheads finally obliterate DC!


Anyways, if you didn't already guess, the moral of this post is...don't try to be an adult. You'll always have a bit of happiness if you take at least some of your guilty childish pleasures seriously. Whether it's playing the piano badly, drawing boobs on the bathroom wall, or eating ice cream for breakfast. The bottom line is not caring about what other people may think. I mean, just look at how other people can be so terrible and so painfully boring and still be handed the riches of the world with no concept of respect to its incredible value.


Alright...I think that's the most I can come up with. If you wanna help me with some money, that'd be nice. You could buy that album I plugged up there. It's cheap. Maybe that's whY noBOdY wANtS tO GO oN a DAte wiTh mE???


~ ~ ZipZipper


Tags:

7

Posted by ZipZipper - May 24th, 2021


So...my retail job's got a hold of almost all of my work ethic and motivation, which helped me get a fake promotion recently. That started with me being vaguely interested in actually being promoted, but the way in which I was suddenly thrown under the proverbial bus as a haphazard solution has turned me supremely off to the idea. Regardless, they are still "training" me as a backup. Now, I know my heart has purposefully allowed all of this so I can avoid sorting through my musical soul being torn to pieces after learning many hard truths from living in Los Angeles. And COVID beginning immediately after returning from that heartbreak just created the perfect storm. It's been almost two years and I'm still not okay. It's no joke that every drop of self-discipline I have goes into not killing myself today. It's been working so far, but I can see myself getting handed the straw that broke the camel's back eventually.


Anyways, that also means there's very little self-discipline with my creative sides. Within these two years, I've kept taking on seemingly easy promises for others that I've failed to keep, and clearly that doesn't feel good either. The only thing I managed to accomplish was for the NG Orchestral Competition, which was very fulfilling and I'm thankful for it:



But...now I'm trying hard to do something in time for the Art-Inspired Music deadline, as well as a bunch of other outside projects that kind of have a similar summer deadline. I dunno if I can do it. And yet...amidst all the stuff I struggle to light the fire under my butt to do, something suddenly clicked, maybe a week ago, that I don't necessarily have a hard time throwing up: improvisational piano miniatures (...)


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It began with this one (that's just the first page of it whoa please don't NFT it) and now I've got a set of "errors" that is already five strong and has a sixth on the way. I think these clicked because it's something for my own purpose, something I'd have full control of performing by myself right now, and something perhaps another pianist could try out some day because it's written down...sigh I can dream I guess.


In conclusion, I mostly wanted an excuse to post some sheet music I did and it'd be nice if people found that interesting or were excited about it. Otherwise I'm fully vaxxed and yeah whatever...der-pression is real and music does nothing and is uselessly around while you're on the phone with the bank begging for fiscal mercy tHAnKs oBaMA!


~ said ZipZipper


Posted by ZipZipper - February 9th, 2021


Some of the rhetoric that came to my attention, with the more-than-expected activity on my casual BLM song that got frontpage'd recently, is disappointing...but living in the States, from quarantine to insurrection, is unfortunately the biggest selling point in proving how passionately impolite people would rather be. And why should internet trolls do better when the internet is for trolling? Because lowering the bar is the perfect advantage for opportunists, like Donald Trump and those that wiped their buttholes on the US Capitol, to make everything worse in real life. Which only makes societal outcries, like BLM, more resistant.


So, if you believe your impact online means nothing in comparison to what you don't do at home, why don't you start believing in yourself? That's kinda why I made the song. And that's why Black lives deserve better. They have a very long and twisted history, but they're still stuck with a current cultural standing that goes against them more often than not. Yet, they have to muster all the belief in themselves to accomplish the things that White folk get tired of thinking about for more than a minute. Stop protecting this agreed aspiration towards Whiteness and tell these people to drop that old attitude off in 2020. Seek PoC and ask them how their week is going. I bet something will surprise you and make you that much more informed. Hell, I bet even if the All-Lives-Matter crew was asking that to as many strangers as possible, they'd be able to learn. Period.


Include people you normally wouldn't into your hemisphere. Derive action from your rhetoric, even if that means an astute Heil! There's enough that's happened within the past 300 days that can validate whatever you've got going on in there. Just remember that your subconscious knew all along that it was morally unsound because you kept hiding it until now. Discover your place in this divided world, not your stance.


I'm posting the song again from my YouTube. The latter half of this vid actually has the instrumentals without my gay voice getting in the way (I guess for those that also hate gays). I don't even wanna get started on homosexuals because at least half of them are part of the problems revolving around BLM too:



If you truly don't know a thing about Black history, you're in luck. Because it's Black History Month. An easy Google search can set you up with basic, relevant information right away!


~~ said ZipZipper


Tags:

13

Posted by ZipZipper - November 9th, 2020


How amazingly unfortunate that the decision to start my life over by moving back to my home-state ended up being at the same time COVID bombshells erupted across the country. Clearly, that situation did not deescalate the depression accumulated from my 2019 Hollywood experience. And yet, the turmoil shaking the nation incidentally gave me a dozen valid distractions to avoid sulking.


I mean...the great civil unrest directed all of our attentions to the true elephants in the room, and luckily it wasn't totally for nothing. I believe a majority of his voters are comforted not by the fact that he's elected, but by the fact that the other guy lost his chance. It's a relief to know that next term we won't have extra-strength divisiveness as the poster boy of the United States. I could very much go on about my political feels, but all I'm gonna say is:


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Stop allowing White people get away with their racist intentions.

They're not cute and they're easy to address.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Anyways, life did get a bit bumpy aside from all the national drama, but I also got some big takeaways. I'm around much more tolerable coworkers, I bought my first car, and I moved in to my first studio apartment. The latter two of these things I hate because they make me extra-strength poor, but I am feeling better having this amount of independence. I'm still not seriously thinking about music or any next steps in my life. For now, I'm going to keep hobbling along at my retail job until a widespread sense of normalcy comes back. Optimistically, I think that'll happen within a couple years, so I'm just gonna believe that, since there's an overwhelming scarcity of good news.


Here's another random snapshot from My Pet Requiem that I am trying to occasionally noodle with:


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Anyone wanna go on a date with me yet?

~~ said ZipZipper


3

Posted by ZipZipper - March 4th, 2020


After about a year of living on my own in Los Angeles...I've decided to return back home to all my friends in Maryland. Unfortunately, the whole of my experience made a gigantic negative impact on my mental stability. And musically, I've been faced with a lot of discouragement, punctuated by the extremely stale buffer to not give up.


I've seen boring white dudes, both young and old, in the positions I'd ideally want as a composer. Their advice was generic and their current work situations always sounded like bigger headaches to manage than what they're worth. Comments from peers and teachers have hurt my artistic soul in ways I didn't think would stick in my subconscious for so long. It's funny because I do read such confused comments on a lot of my more recent work and only feel stung slightly, but to also have the affirmation of someone right in front of you saying "...your music sounds clueless" is more of a lasting pain than what I initially didn't feel when it was said.


Luckily, I have overwhelming support from all my weird music friends back home, but I need some time to heal before I consider seriously pursuing music again. As a tool for healing, I've been getting back into writing arrangements and being involved with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra, integrating my uncharacteristic musical voice in my arranging because I'm selfish and stubborn. I will always make music, if only for myself, which is essentially what ZipZipper is. But, developing my identity in the professional world may never happen. I'm so f-ing tired of being my own biggest cheerleader. Social media is becoming more and more of the ubiquitous necessity to facilitate one's exposure and success, and I get worn out just trying to casually keep that up.


So basically, I'm giving up the dream. I've learned a lot about myself and it sucks. Now I feel like I have to figure out what to do with my life all over again. And that is why I've also begun orchestrating my Requiem...so I can perish and then never hear it performed live. I've got five out of nine movements pretty much completed so far. Here's a snapshot from the Confutatis Maledictis that I hope gives you a migraine:


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Please don't hesitate to message me if you wanna go on a date sometime just to throw up your life trauma on me like I did here. Uncomfortable sharing is one of my favorite activities. See y'all later.


~~ said ZipZipper


1

Posted by ZipZipper - October 12th, 2018


Over the course of this year so far, I've been stressing out over regular jobs and serious life goals while being deeply involved with two music-related nonprofit organizations. I've premiered a bunch of work that I've written for both organizations, since I've been focusing on my engraving skills, and I couldn't be more pleased with how much I've learned from playing around with writing and arranging! I feel confident enough to make that move to Los Angeles that I've been a broken record about for the past couple of years, but I'm also really at a point where I'm very fed-up with my own fears; I won't know the results of such an endeavor if I don't try. So, I'll officially be leaving on a cross-country journey in January of next year.

If you haven't seen 'Gosh! What a Sight!' yet, then please check it out on the front page. It's the most intricate scoring project I've done so far and I'm very proud of it. (Thank you, Clockwork Pixel, for giving me the opportunity and having a similar attraction towards horror stuff! You should also check out the other collaborations we've done over the span of many Halloweens.) Instead of fully explaining the loads of music work I've been doing for others, I'm just gonna plug two personal projects.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

1] This is a preview for an album I released of compiled works from old me to new me. Like a normal album, it showcases the indie vocalist in me with the songs where I'm singing my own lyrical nonsense, and it also comes with the joint instrumental tracks. This is my way of getting my fans and cheerleaders to give me money, since I haven't really put out any of my own music for profit...and I have gotten messages from people who wanted to donate to me but couldn't because I'm a stubborn grandma. Well guys, here's your chance to poke me with some pocket change, which will be exceedingly helpful with LA life!

I believe the whole thing is available on most streaming services, but also here are some links to purchase it:

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/11-jobs/1436101098

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9NWMCB

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Zip_Zipper_11_Jobs?id=Bxh3tg5tdq2pwszc7h5z36erol4

Tidal: https://tidal.com/browse/album/94980443

Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/73035502

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

3479962_153939601721_ScreenShot2018-10-12at9.58.02PM.png2] I am one movement away from completing my Requiem. (This is a screenshot from the 5th movement.) For those that are unfamiliar, a Requiem is a musical setting of liturgical text said during Mass for the dead. A lot of classical composers write one during their lifetime, usually later in life since the subject matter is meant for departed souls, but I decided to write one as my first original multi-movement classical piece. Currently, I'm just trying to vomit it up as an arrangement for full choir and piano accompaniment, but I would definitely not be opposed to expanding it into a full orchestral setting later down the road. Once I finish the last of all 9 movements...I dunno. I'll find a way of sharing it in bite-sized fashionability instead of just sneezing a bajillion pages in your face.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

And that's what's happening with me lately! Send me a message if you wanna know more or if you wanna go on a date some time! I'm in a really great mental state for casually chatting.

- Zip Zipper


1

Posted by ZipZipper - September 22nd, 2018


I know I've said this twelve-hundred times, but I swear I am making some sort of big move to Los Angeles at the beginning of next year. Here's a goofy video of me begging you to buy me:

Purchasing links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9NWMCB
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/11-jobs/1436101098
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Zip_Zipper_11_Jobs?id=Bxh3tg5tdq2pwszc7h5z36erol4