Murder Circus

Perhaps the most revised release in the Trig Jegman catalogue, Murder Circus is the second EP released by Trig Jegman, published originally on SoundCloud in 2019. It was re-released onto Bandcamp in November 2020, and a deluxe expanded/remastered version was put on streaming services in April 2025. 

The original release contained a cover of the Allah-Las song "On Our Way", which is still available on YouTube. This was removed for the Bandcamp release due to licensing, with the song "Dubious Resort" taking its place. The deluxe version omits an admittedly inferior second mix of "Mystery of a Foreign Town" for the inclusion of the rarity "The Mysterious Crypts" and the Trig Jegman and the Toast Syndicate live jam entitled "Watermelon Jam".

The SoundCloud release is no longer available for listening, and the deluxe version on streaming services is the suggested method for listening to this early Trig Jegman material.

01 — Bass

This was oddly the most successful track on SoundCloud. It is literally a bass guitar exercise written for a friend at the time, but it must have done something right. 

02 — Ice Breaker

At time of writing, the only Trig Jegman song to have ever been played over the radio. This piece was used for several programs as null music in between shows in the case that there was any dead air. This is all synthesizer—no string instruments are present.

03 — Mysteries of a Foreign Town

Two versions of this song exist, and are generally the same musically. The second version (Logical) was reliant upon a different soundfont for the MuseScore platform, of which this was written in. The song itself is mostly just a single riff on the double harmonic scale with a spooky saxophone solo in the middle and some dramatic key shifts at the end. Dramatic, but doesn't actually go anywhere.

04 — Quiet Ponds

Beauty in audio form. A gorgeous chord progression makes the gorgeous, though somewhat sad sax line feel ephemeral and distant...a stillness that one can never quite achieve. This song would be awesome to hear by a live orchestra!

05 — Narrow Isthmus

Say that five times fast. This is probably the piece most overtly referencing the Pikmin series of games and method of composition, with "loops" that add in various extra instruments depending on the character's environment. On top of that, the erratic drum patterns in 5/4 time, with lurching, abrupt stops really push the "alien" feel of slipping through a tight space...without making mistakes. This piece was a hard lesson on how to do these styles of composition properly: Too sparse and the piece isn't interesting, and too busy and the extra tracks added during the loops won't mesh properly, or have enough room to grow. This most critically applies to pitch and rhythm...leave some space for other stuff! It will go further than you think.

06 — Entering the Deep Forest

Extremely experimental for its time, this vaguely attempts to do storytelling/worldbuilding, particularly with its sparse, erratic opening. It's meant to be unsettling and unfamiliar, but still presses onward regardless. Would fit right in with an animated video or movie. Originally written off as a failed test, this has grown on many people over time.

07 — Dubious Resort

The entirety of this song was written live on Twitch. Like most of the spooky resort themes, it revolves around the use of diminished chords and chromatic movements to set a very particular tone. Drums carry this piece much further. The string section was one of the most fun parts to write, in its James Bond-ian way of being spooky. The ending being tense as it is (especially for an EP closer) is hilarious, conceptually.

Tracks below are only found on the deluxe version.

08 — The Mysterious Crypts

A direct sequel to the first single The Mysterious Pyramids in terms of location. It attempts to cover breaking into the depths of the Pyramids for treasure, only to run away from a trap that is sprung in the crypts. This was written off as a failure for a long time, given its somewhat cheesy nature, but there are still a lot of really interesting ideas. Multiple time signatures are cleverly changed and flow quite well into the next. The descending bridge around the 2 minute mark is also something that probably wouldn't have been thought of in the current day. It's not a total loss, so it makes its way onto an EP after all.

09 — Watermelon Jam

A long, long, long, LONG time ago, Trig Jegman was in high school. Terrifying. This was an ancient recording from the very tail end of that time. Trig Jegman plays keys and some bass over the span of this song. While three recordings remain of this performance/jam session, this is the only one with any merit in saving. Most of the other musicians here—who are intentionally kept anonymous—have effectively disappeared...how dramatic! This is probably a good indicator why live music was never in the cards for Trig, or for a more optimistic mind, why it was a missed opportunity.