There’s something endlessly fascinating about the way a demo can hold both everything and nothing at once. A fragment of melody, a half-finished lyric, a voice memo mumbled into the static of late-night exhaustion – these are the fragile starting points from which projects that may change an artist’s life are born. For Portland, Oregon based artist ARENTUMINE, the project of turning six years of scattered sketches into a complete debut wasn’t just about making music – it was about survival.
ARENTUMINE, known in the real world as Justin Alvarez, released his first album “Wasting Time” in July with a catalogue whittled down to the songs that felt like him at his core: raw, emotional, and deliberately larger than life. The record is a scrapbook of heartbreak, upheaval, and resilience, stitched together in the solitude of his bedroom studio. Tracks like “Daylight”, “Lostboy”, and the title track carry the weight of displacement and longing, yet refuse to wallow, choosing instead to burst forward with cathartic energy.
What’s most compelling about “Wasting Time” isn’t just its story of personal struggle, but the way Alvarez refined over forty demos into one cohesive package, channeling anger and loss into something cinematic. We sat down with him to see just how he did it. Take a listen to the album, and read on to learn a few things about refining your demos into finished tracks.
You’ve been working on your craft for six years, producing dozens of demos in the meanwhile – when did you realize that you wanted to take the next step?
From the very beginning of making music I had the itch to eventually release something bigger and polished. For a long time, though, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pull something cohesive together, so I kept holding onto everything I made until something finally “clicked.”
I also knew I didn’t want to just put out singles. I wanted an EP or an album, something that felt like a full statement. There’s nothing wrong with singles, in fact that’s how a lot of artists build momentum. For myself, I needed a larger project to motivate me towards a single goal, to say, “Hey, this is me, ARENTUMINE.”
Last year, I reached a point in my life where I was going through a lot emotionally and needed somewhere to put those feelings. The demos became a kind of garden for me to grow in, and that’s when I knew it was the right moment to finally pull everything together.
How did you go about selecting the twelve tracks that make up “Wasting Time”?
It was a fairly long process; I had around 40 songs that I thought had good bones to them. I spent probably two weeks listening to that huge folder and picking songs out to put into demo albums. Eventually I had around 16 songs that I was trying to decide with, I probably annoyed my friends a little bit with how many times I asked them what their favorite songs were! Ultimately, I chose songs that I both loved and thought would tell a story.
What went into these tracks to take them from demos to fully-polished finals?
Most songs were around 70 percent finished, with most of the instrumental already finished. The only exception to that is “Wasting Time” and “Crumble” which were very barebones when I decided to include them. “Wasting Time” was just a very rough version of the guitar in the beginning, and “Crumble” had no guitar and instead was only the synthesizer in the intro and some drums. Every other song needed vocals sung and layers and layers of tracks added. I think my largest project got to around 140 layers!
Vocals have often been a hard point for me which is why I typically like to save it for last. I think with this body of work it’s the first time I started to like my vocals and how I was able to make them sound. It’s something I’m still tweaking with to this day though, I think that’s something I hear many artists struggle with. I guess it feels strange to love your own voice.
You say this album draws from personal struggles. Did you use any specific production or lyrical techniques to help you convey your feelings in ways that traditional technique can’t?
There were quite a few times where I intentionally broke some rules to get more emotion out of the music. For me one of the larger ideas I kept finding myself leaning into was a floating lingering feeling I wanted to infuse in the music. Like when you’re lost in thought, or you can’t make a decision, so I decided to include a few switch-ups like in “Crumble” where it hard cuts off of the chorus to build a completely different part. It gives you no time to say goodbye to the last part and leaves you feeling off until the next part comes in.
“Wasting Time” is another example where I pull the rug out from under you. The beginning of the song builds and builds to a payoff that doesn’t arrive. I think it mirrors how I was feeling, looking forward to something that wouldn’t arrive, and yet still hoping for it.
Everything about this record was entirely done by you, in your bedroom studio. Why did you choose to do it this way, and do you think being fully independent influences your work?
That’s funny you ask that, I never really thought about it as something I decided to do. I think for almost everything I’ve done creatively I’ve always preferred to do as much as I can myself. Often I feel like my best work is done when I lock myself away without distractions. It’s fun to work with others and collaborate like I did with Torson on “Freefall” but it becomes difficult to get deep in the production zone when I have someone else in the room. I do love getting feedback after I get to a point where I can call it “good”, but that takes days!
Lastly, for those producers and songwriters who are sitting around on hundreds of unfinished demos, what advice can you give to them to help them go finish those tracks?
The biggest thing is just time. I know that’s funny coming from someone who made an album called “Wasting Time”, but it’s true. This project only came together because I put in the hours. When I started in April 2024, I thought it would take three months at most, but it ended up taking over a year. It takes time to develop ideas, to be creative, and to live your life so you actually have something to write about. So be patient with yourself, never stop creating, and trust that all the unfinished demos are part of the process.
Stream “Wasting Time” here.
The post How ARENTUMINE Turned A Massive Demo Playlist Into a Refined & Cohesive Album appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.