Okay, so if you didn’t get the memo that The Lives of Dexter Peterson is going to be a book, an album, and a graphic novel, here’s your wake-up call. The lovely and talented Genesis Whitmore is drafting up sketches and character sheets in preparation for the full project. Here’s a collection of what she’s been able to produce thus far, along with desktops and a printable full-color poster in two sizes.

The Images of Dexter Peterson – August 2010 – 12.3MB ZIP

Yeah, this month it’s another UStream recording, but this one’s got more robots! I’ve been changing my entire live setup to try and bring back the robot drummer, so this month’s recording is the first step in that direction. Sure, I’d love to use a real drummer, but I’m working on that!

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Matthew Ebel Live via UStream, August 2010 – 63.6 MB MP3

(Also available as individual tracks.) – 63.8 MB ZIP

This is the first installment of my book The Lives of Dexter Peterson. It’s the first eleven pages, transcribed and given a rough edit from the original NaNoWriMo version. Dexter wakes up in New York City in his own bed, with his own face, and cold. Most of us take mornings like that for granted, but not Dexter.

It was cold in New York City, a welcome import from a Canadian storm that temporarily held the summer at bay. Dexter awoke to a sharp breeze blowing through his window as though someone tossed ice water onto his chest. Sitting up smartly, he looked about the walls of his apartment. The mirror he knew, the bedside table he knew. His leather-bound journal by the lamp on his dresser he knew intimately. Every scrap of peeling wallpaper and cracked plaster he recognized with relief. Dexter had been here before. Dexter was home.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he could feel the cold radiating from the hardwood as though the storm lurked between the floorboards. He braced himself and his toes, planting both feet down. Nobody else would shut the window for him, no matter how much his feet wished someone would. As soon as he closed the latch his alarm clock shattered the morning serenity with news of a hot sale on Mazdas. Dexter planned the day carefully and the alarm clock was his starting gun. One hour to get himself together and catch the bus, one to get coffee and write in his journal, and one to get to his appointment downtown. Planning beyond that made no sense to Dexter; he lived by the clock, not the calendar.

The Lives of Dexter Peterson v1.5, Pages 1-11 – 127k PDF

This is the first update since announcing the new membership structure. I explain a little bit about the creative process and just how much of a shift this is. The music creation process is an entirely different animal from the book writing process.

Making Dexter Peterson – Part One – 42.1MB m4v

More technical woes hit me in July, devouring two live-with-a-huge-audience concerts before I realized what the weak link was. Fortunately, I had two audiences for this recording. One online chat room full of people, and one enormous cat getting comfortable right on my sustain pedal.

The robot revolt wasn’t through with me yet, however… I apparently overloaded my USB bus by running both UStream cameras and all my MIDI controllers on the same hub. Halfway through the concert, things started to go very, very wrong.

We all make mistakes, I guess, and these are some I can learn from!

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Matthew Ebel Live via UStream, July 2010 – 54 MB MP3

(Also available as individual tracks.) – 54 MB ZIP