If your first thought is this sounds like noise, you’re not wrong. It kind of is. A lot of artists who later figured their shit out started exactly here – tangled, unsteady, not sure what to hold onto yet. “Demo 2025” lives in that space.
The demo came out December 6, 2025. Two tracks only: “Cabin” and “Ghost Song.” Celebrating is the solo project of Atticus Mitchell from Indianapolis, Indiana, and this thing is clearly a step along the way toward a semi-concept album planned for this summer.
Mitchell doesn’t hide behind polite language about why this matters to him. “I don’t believe music can be a product and still be considered art,” he says. “Music exists for an intimate purpose, not soulless corporate greed.” That’s not a slogan — it’s the reason this lives on Bandcamp, the reason there’s a clear statement that no AI touched any part of it, and the reason nothing here feels flattened for algorithms or playlists.
“Cabin” hits first and doesn’t bother cleaning itself up. It’s dry, abrasive, kind of boxed-in, like the sound is pressing against the walls. The track feels assembled more than performed. Mitchell built the fuzz pedal for the bass himself and wired a fuzz circuit straight into his electric guitar. Both were recorded DI, no safety net. The mix started in Logic, then got pushed through a Tascam 414 and a ’90s-style tile reverb for atmosphere and tape compression. You can hear the choices, and you can hear where he didn’t bother sanding things down.
“Ghost Song” drags things out instead of tightening them. It moves slow, stretches time, flirts with ambient and post-rock pacing without ever committing. There’s emo in the emotional drag, noise in the edges, folk in the patience, alternative rock in the bones — but none of it lines up neatly. The synths come from a 2008 Yamaha keyboard Mitchell got for free, which feels right for a project that clearly doesn’t care about gear flexing or polish.
When it comes to meaning, Mitchell doesn’t want to pin it down. “I don’t think I myself can put the meaning into words,” he admits. He throws out fragments instead: derealization, wanting to be eight years old again, the gut-punch of watching people kill each other. Then he pulls back, calling that description only “semi-accurate.” The point isn’t to explain it cleanly. The point is that you have to sit with it.
“I don’t want to take myself too seriously,” he says. “I don’t want to look like I am trying to sound more important than I am.” That attitude leaks into both tracks. They don’t chase attention. They don’t resolve. They just stay where they are and let you decide whether to stick around.
All the music and artwork are Mitchell’s. The thanks go to parents, friends, siblings, DIY spaces, places that clearly mattered at some point rather than institutions that look good on paper. The license is some rights reserved. The tags mention alternative, art rock, experimental rock, noise folk, singer-songwriter, but the songs themselves don’t really give a damn about sitting cleanly in any lane.
“Demo 2025” is a snapshot of Celebrating mid-motion and Mitchell leaves it hanging with one line that doesn’t explain anything and doesn’t try to: “Everyone is deserving of love.”
