The story behind this project: I got an email from a freelancer job board I subscribed to, and the listing said the person needed a freelance designer to create an album cover. Pay: $1,000. "What?" I yelled at the screen. I go to the post, ready to apply for the gig, only to find out that they required "extensive" experience and examples in a portfolio. Well, I had only designed book covers at the time, but I was immediately determined to create some, maybe 10 or so...drop them in my portfolio, and apply. Easy-peasy.

I wrote down seven or eight music genres right off the top of my head, deciding to go with Heavy Metal as my first genre.

I created the album cover, then sent it to my friend Laurel, a fellow Metal enthusiast. She loved it. But then I wanted a track to go with the album, because I thought that would "boost" my application with the guy on the job board. Within two days, I had a complicated spreadsheet, 20 genres, three albums planned for each, the names of the singers, their backstories, and about 18 album covers and songs done. "This will hopefully get me an interview," I thought. I go back to the post. Too late. I see "The posting has reached its limit on 'free account' applications."

So, I decided to start my own record company, Fortitude Records, with my 20 fictional artists, 20 songs, and 60 fictional albums. Eventually, the artists will "go on tour," have merch, and have complete albums. They'll each have their own social media accounts. Their music will be on streaming platforms, and my portfolio will only get bigger and bigger in case another job opportunity like that comes along. People are going crazy for some of the songs right now. Stay tuned, you guys.

This is going to be EPIC.