Metal Anarchy

Failure frontman Ken Andrews has released a remastered version of “Shifting Skin” from his ON project. Fans can find the updated version of the album on Bandcamp.

Andrews commented:

“After Failure disbanded in 1997 I was completely lost. I had put every ounce of creativity and effort I had into my pride and joy. Sitting there in my apartment with no obvious direction or goal was unsettling. Untethered from purpose a deep depression began to settle in.

Every time I looked at my guitar all I could think of was Failure and the pain the end had brought. That’s when I decided to go to the music store near me, West LA Music/Universal City, and see if a new guitar or pedal might perk me up and inspire something. Looking at all the guitars, all I could hear was Failure.

I was about to leave when I spotted a small desktop sized synthesizer that was within my budget. I ended up coming home with my very first synthesizer, the Access Virus. That little synth packed a huge amount of sounds and I was hooked. All of a sudden I was able to create music that didn’t have an obvious connection to Failure’s sound.

My love for 80s Pop Music, like the Cars, was streaming out of me effortlessly. I had found a way back into music making that felt therapeutic and joyful. I was also writing songs that emotionally were less dark and even playful compared to Failure. I knew some fans of Failure would probably not be into this new direction I was following, but I didn’t care.

I needed to do this for myself. Eventually I had a handful of demos that I started playing for friends and that’s when my friend Matt Marshall, Tool’s A&R, heard my tape and signed me to Epic Records/Sony under the moniker ON. In 2000 my first post-Failure album was released. I called it Shifting Skin because that’s what it was for me. The style and sound was a definite shift, but the underlying soul, I hoped, was still intact.

I recently located the original mixes and have remastered Shifting Skin in 24bit/48k. You can pick it up now on my Bandcamp page today.”