Impulse Nine is the solo project of Tucson-based guitarist and designer Steve, who spent over two decades writing demos before finishing what he now calls the most important thing he’s ever made. NOTHING IS EASY is his debut album, but it doesn’t feel like a debut. It plays like closure.
The album was built across years of personal loss: his mother, father, stepfather, and a close friend all died during its creation. It’s not a concept album about grief, but the weight of that grief lives in every track. The opener, I’m Sorry About Your Everything, was the last song his father ever heard.
The record blends ’90s rock, shoegaze, grunge, and post-rock, but doesn’t stay locked to one style. Heavy Metal Mama is all crunch and fuzz; Fireflies feels almost lo-fi, recorded outdoors with crickets and a running dryer in the background. Shadow Over Johnny Ringo’s Grave is cinematic, bending Western themes into post-rock. The fuzz tones are thick, layered through multiple pedals. His production references everything from Smashing Pumpkins to U2 to Mogwai, but nothing feels borrowed. The album is messy in a good way: alive, full of texture, imperfect on purpose.
Steve recorded most of this alone, but mixed it with Christian Burnett and had it mastered by Jim Blackwood. His wife pushed him to swap out synthetic bass for a real Fender 5-string, which he learned mid-recording. It changed everything.
Now, he’s soundtracking an indie game called The Origin of Gravity, being developed by a close friend. It’s a different project, but the same ethos: building slowly, intentionally, for the sake of something real.
NOTHING IS EASY is not for streaming algorithms. It’s for the people who asked him to finish it – and the part of him that still believed he could.
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