Cloudkicker

Cloudkicker is an instrumental progressive metal project from Columbus, Ohio consisting solely of musician Ben Sharp. He has gained significant notoriety amongst the internet music community, and releases all of his music for free under a Creative Commons license. He has released 8 LPs and 3 EPs on his Bandcamp website.
History
Ben Sharp began writing music under the moniker BM Sharp, or Ben the Sharp, In 2005. He began releasing short, ambient tracks, for free download around once a week. A desire to write something "heavier and more in depth" led him to write a 15 minute song, which he performed with a small garage band. The piece was received well, encouraging him to continue. He borrowed the name from the character Kit Cloudkicker on the TV show TaleSpin.
He began releasing material under the pseudonym Cloudkicker in 2008, beginning with his first full-length album The Discovery for free. The tracks were segued into each other, much like Pink Floyd's albums. Sharp made the whole album a lot like post-metal, his starting style as Cloudkicker. The album was mixed on Cakewalk Sonar.
He followed the album The Discovery up with three shorter EPs: The Map is Not the Territory, Portmanteau.
In September 2010, he released his second full-length album, Beacons, via Bandcamp. This was his first release available for purchase, using a pay what you want scheme. Additionally, this was his first release available on CD as well as vinyl. Sharp has said this is a result of a constant deluge of requests since he began Cloudkicker.
In an interview with ' Ben Sharp said of the switch to Bandcamp: "I switched from MySpace to Bandcamp. It was right around the time or right after Radiohead put out an album that was donation-based , Nine Inch Nails put out an album that was donation-based . That was the new thing and I had never considered that. Bandcamp enabled me to do that. Obviously, if you’re going to buy a shirt or vinyl, then I have to justify the production it requires. All the profits that I make I’ve used for equipment - I bought a new computer, a guitar, obviously, guitar strings. Then, of course, putting out albums - everything is funded. At this point, it’s a self-sustaining machine."
On 17 November 2011, Sharp released his third full-length album via Bandcamp, Let Yourself Be Huge. The album was available on CD, as well as vinyl. This album featured a notable difference in the genre of Cloudkicker, delving a little more into experimental and out of post-metal and progressive metal. The title track, Let Yourself Be Huge, featured Sharp's voice, the first song of Cloudkicker to do so. Sharp's primary influence for the record was Sufjan Stevens.
Less than a week later Sharp released the album Loop via Bandcamp. The tracks have been named after numbers of the track, and the album featured various loops.
In 2 August 2012, Sharp released his fifth full-length album via Bandcamp, named Fade. The album is available on CD, vinyl and also cassette tape, the first album to do so.
During the Christmas of 2012, Sharp released Signal/Noise, a gratitude track to his fans. Explicitly asking listeners not to pay for the track, he later moved the song to SoundCloud. In the March of 2013, the song would receive a music video by Fairlight under the title 5 Faces.
In 15 January 2013, Sharp released a track via Bandcamp, named, Hello. The track came with 18" by 18" art print that was Stamped, signed and numbered out of 100 copies. The art print was sold out quickly, but the digital download is still available.
Sharp remains unsigned to any label, saying I don't like touring and I don't want to have to pay the bills by making music, that would suck all the fun out of it for me. At this point I'm not sure a label could offer me anything I can't already do for myself, and other people seem to be perfectly happy to promote Cloudkicker on their own. He has cited Jimmy Eat World, The Appleseed Cast, Jeremy Enigk, Radiohead, The Books, Sufjan Stevens, Tycho, Death Cab for Cutie and Glassjaw as non-metal influences on his work, as well as minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. He maintains a commitment to the quality of his work, saying his goal is to "not make anything that's bullshit while...also not creating the same thing over and over again."
Discography
Studio albums
* The Discovery (2008)
* Beacons (2010)
* Let Yourself Be Huge (2011)
* Loop (2011)
* Fade (2012)
* Subsume (2013)
EPs
* The Map is Not the Territory (2008)
* Portmanteau (2009)
* 1549 (2010)
* A New Heavenly Body (2010)
Singles
* "Signal/Noise" (2012)
* "Hello" (2013)
* "The warmth of the daytime seemed like a dream now." (t16 remix) (2013)

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