Apocalypta Vol. I started as an idea while I was living in California, renting a room from a coworker. I didn’t really have much of a setup at the time, so this album became a way for me to experiment with what I did have.
A lot of this album came from me testing different sounds, textures, and orchestral ideas using EastWest VSTi plugins. It was less about trying to make something perfect and more about figuring out what I could create with the tools in front of me. Because of that, Apocalypta Vol. I has a more experimental feel compared to some of my later work.
The whole album was written in FL Studio, which was the only DAW I had access to at the time. Looking back, I think that limitation is part of what gives the album its identity. It captures a specific point in my life where I was still finding my sound, trying new things, and seeing how far I could push the music with what I had.
I think the title Apocalypta fits because the album always felt larger than life to me. Even when the production was limited, I was trying to write music that felt massive, dramatic, and almost end-of-the-world in scale. It was me reaching for something bigger than what I technically knew how to do at the time.
In a way, Apocalypta Vol. I became the starting point for a lot of the cinematic ideas I would keep chasing later on: huge orchestral moments, darker atmosphere, emotional weight, and music that feels like it belongs to a story, even if there is not a specific film attached to it.
Apocalypta Vol. I is rough around the edges in places, but that is also what makes it honest. It is an early chapter in my writing, and a reminder of where a lot of this started.