Category Archives: Record Club 2012

Waiting, Checking, Boxing

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So I’ve long since finished the work for the first Record Club “deliverable” — the “Buildings vs. People” vinyl EP which will drop in February.  All’s I’m doing now for that particular piece is waiting for United Record Pressing to send me the test pressing, which I’ll listen to and (hopefully) approve.  Then it’s another couple weeks of waiting, and then they’ll be sent to me…and then I’ll mail them out to the appropriate backers.  If this sounds like I’ll barely squeeze this into my February window, you’re hearing correctly.  I’m sorry it couldn’t be swifter; the turnaround time just got the best of me.  The good news is that I’m already assembling artwork for the NEXT record, set for May, and I plan on having THAT sent to URP by the Ides of March.  I should have a preview of the sleeve soon.  But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

While waiting, I’ve had some administrative stuff to do.  I surveyed you backers for addresses, and I downloaded those into a single spreadsheet for easy envelope-addressing.  Also in that survey, I asked the people who are commissioning me for a cover song if they wouldn’t mind me SHARING that song with the world.  Remember, per the initial Kickstarter video, the deal was that the songs would be “for your ears only.”  But then my friend (and backer) Jessica, said,  “No, I want people to HEAR what I forced you to do!”  (I’m paraphrasing.)  (Hi, Jess!) I imagined maybe other people would feel the same, and I was right.  So look forward to future updates containing cover songs.  I figure I’ll let the commissioners dig them for a week or two alone, then I’ll unleash them for general download…

Also in the survey, I asked poster-receiving “deluxe” people if they’d like a random gig poster, or a poster specific to the record club.  Most votes were neutral, but enough people (three) supported the club-specific poster for me to head in that direction.  I have a wacky visual idea for the CD and I think the poster will be similarly themed.

SPEAKING of CD’s, I’ve decided the CD’s — both the vinyl-roundup and the outtakes disc — will be packaged in Jewelboxes.  The jewelbox is a sort of design-minded, round-cornered update of the standard jewel case, dreamed up right here in Chicago by Coudal Partners.  Years ago, I ordered a box of 30 of them, thinking I might use them for some special project down the road.  While crunching the numbers last weekend, I had a real V-8 moment, realizing that THIS was the project I’d been waiting for.  So I ordered some more, and I’ll be picking them up downtown in the next few days.  They really do look sharp, almost space-age.  I think I have a picture of one in here somewhere…

I think that’s about it for this time.  I’ll send a picture of the test pressing once I get it.  Meanwhile, enjoy the mildness of our winter…

Here to Make Friends

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I'll never read all these books.Well, I have listened to the five songs for the first record on the office stereo, the kitchen CD player, the fancy Tivoli in the living room, the iPod, and in the car.  I’ve tweaked the mix and applied compression sparingly and judiciously.  For comparison, I listened to my last CD, and in some ways, i think this one sounds better.  By “some ways,” I guess I mean vocally.  I’ve gone all-in with the doubling of vocals — four out of five songs have it.  It thickens what I sometimes think of as a thin voice.

What’s more, I really think this collection of songs is solid.  I’m especially excited about the side two opener, “Get On With It.”  It’s an extremely simple song (even for me), but the way the bass drum came out was a surprise, very surging and deep.  I am also very thankful that I got that tambourine last weekend; since then, it’s sounded better with each listen.  Lastly, one of the songs has a sample in it.  It’s kinda silly.  For the sake of variety-in-updates, I’ll share the video I used; maybe you’ve seen it?

Oh, and I’ve pretty much locked down the cover, and I’ve included it in here somewhere…

Next, I have to do my research on RPM, and what exactly the pressing place needs from me.  You see, the two sides of the record are about 4:10 and 4:48 in length, respectively.  That’s just about the upper limit of what they recommend for a 45 RPM seven-inch.  Anything past that, and the quality of audio starts to suffer.  I could go to a 33-1/3 seven-inch record, but I’m kind of assuming that is, in and of itself, a notch down in audio quality.  I have to confirm whether or not this is the case, and place the order accordingly.  So yeah, it’s probably going to be 45, and I’d like to make that a constant across the records.  But I make no promises…

Record Club Update #5: Post-Holiday-Blackout Bulletin

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The Set-Up. Pretty Much.

With the exception of a show on the 23rd, I allowed the final days of 2011 to slip along in holiday / relaxation mode, not getting terribly much done for the Record Club.  Most folks lay low for this period of time, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.  However, I did start to worry that I’d never reach the funding goal.  On the way to Christmas Eve celebrations in Cincinnati, I was around $450 short, and for the whole week-long trip, the pledge level stayed frozen there.

And then seemingly all at once, between Amy and I returning on the 30th and New Year’s morning, the final few backers stepped up and put the Record Club into the black, officially.  So first and foremost, I want to give a sincere and humongous THANK YOU to all of you for throwing in for this hare-brained scheme!  In 2012, I promise to make all the products and prizes as special as I can.

Starting, of course, with the first record, due in February.  I’m firm on the tracklisting now:

Side A:
Come for the People, Stay for the Buildings
Lisa Pruett Will Have Her Revenge on Coventry

Side B:
Get on With It
Exterior, House
Come for the Buildings, Stay for the People

I’ve made solid starter mixes, and listened to them through my big ol’ office stereo.  I have some bass concerns there, but I have yet to take notes and chip away at them in earnest.  Ditto a couple of strange clicks I heard when listening via iPod.  Some idiosyncrasies I love, the “imperfections” of the recording bulging out like the browned edges of home-made cookies.  But some of them are straight-up glitches; I know the difference.  Spare the former, smooth out the latter, and make the whole thing sound as full as possible.  Such is mixing.

So today, my last vacation day before going back to work, I plan on getting those glitches fixed and then start listening with spiral-bound in hand on as many devices as possible — kitchen CD player, living room Tivoli, car stereo, cruddy basement computer speakers, etc.  The goal is to have the audio and artwork ready to mail for pressing on my next payday — the 16th of January.

Why is my payday important?  Well, for one, after the 5th, it’ll take Kickstarter a couple of weeks to funnel the pledges into my bank account.  But secondly, as you may have read in the FAQ section, I purposely set my funding goal somewhat  shy of the actual budget for this project.  After Kickstarter and Amazon Payments take their cut of the $3200, I should have somewhere around $2900 to use.  But the project, in full, will end up costing closer to $3500.  I knew this going in, and I can absolutely cover the spread — otherwise I wouldn’t have set it up.

Naturally though, it would be nice not to have to do so.  The project closes at midnight on Thursday.  If you haven’t joined up yet, please consider doing so.  I genuinely think $30 for four records mailed to your door is a straight-up deal, and the CD levels — regular for $10, regular-n-outtakes for $20 — are also reasonable for an independently produced physical product, if I do say so myself.

And if you’ve already joined, sometime between now and Thursday, if you would consider joining me for one last link-blizzard — via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or even a good old fashioned email — I’d really appreciate it.  Here ’tis:

http://kck.st/rrXpFN

Stay tuned for a peek at the actual artwork and updates on the mixing process, plus the exciting world of 45 RPM vs. 33 1/3rd…   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

p.s.  It feels really silly to even say this, but…  If by some miracle I end up grossing more than $3500 in the next three days, I promise all funds will go to the project — an extra page in the CD booklet, a thicker paper for one of the seven-inch sleeves, a new sticker design, what-have you.  In other words:  No candy, no microbrews, no Kiss records on import for yours truly.  I swear.  Peace.

Record Club Update #4: First Five + Artwork Preview

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What're You Reading?

I dipped into the hard drive this morning to pick out songs for the February record.  I could tell right away that two of them needed something extra: Bass on one, echo-y guitar on another.  Halfway through cutting the bass part, the ol’ 2004 iBook froze up and spit a ridiculously loud fax-like noise into my headphones.  So it would seem that the era of iBook recording is over.  After moving a more sturdy table from the attic down to the basement, I set up my iMac and got back into it.

I really should have done that months ago.  Not only was the screen way more comfortable, the incessant buzz I used to get from directly recorded instruments was gone.  And no revolving beach balls popping up on the screen with every other click.  So yeah.  After the technical difficulties, I had a good afternoon of recording.

As for the artwork, I’ll be recycling an image from a year-old gig poster.  I don’t plan on doing that every time, but for this first one I wanted to take it easy on myself.  And in truth, there’s something about a white wall of books that strikes me as both wintery AND appropriate for an E.P. called (something like) “People vs. Buildings.”  I’m going with (something like) that title because the five songs will be bookended by two linked pieces called “Come for the People, Stay for the Buildings” and “Come for the Buildings, Stay for the People.”  I don’t know about you, but I eat that kinda stuff up…

Tomorrow I have to start mixing the songs and making sure they string together as well as I’m imagining.  Wish me luck!

Record Club Update #3: Workingman’s Holiday

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Let's Do This.

I’d initially taken the penultimate week of the year off in order to put up molding and paint in the living room.  But then Amy reminded me that we’d have a tree and decorations up, and would I really want to do that?  She had a point.  Besides, I have plenty of Record Club work to do now.

The other night, I mapped out possible records using the songs I’ve already finished.  I technically have enough songs to put together all four records right now, but I want to place as much of the “good stuff” (according to me, I guess) into the first two 7″s (February and May), leaving the second two (August, November) more open for future recordings.  Knowing me, I will probably come up with plenty of stuff between now and summertime; songs are bound to show up which I’ll be anxious to share.

I gotta say, that’s one of the coolest things about this project.  All you backers aren’t just paying for a record; it’s more like you’re funding a one-man record LABEL, letting me plan out a full-on RELEASE SCHEDULE.  It’s a dream come true, and a lot of fun.  But also, when I picture all these packages going out into the mail next year — once or twice, or four or six times, depending on your format — the responsibility of it truly dawns on me.  At the risk of sounding like some sweaty, over-eager dude at a job interview, this opportunity is a huge vote of confidence on your part, and I want to honor it with the best music I can make.  F’reals.

So, once I solidify the first record (and maybe the second, I’m not sure), over the next few days I plan to sit down and properly mix whichever songs I’ve picked.  I won’t be doing any mastering for this project, and that does make me a tad nervous.  But I found that on my last CD (Heads Together), if I just took extra time mixing (listening in the car and in the kitchen and on the cruddy computer speakers hooked up in the basement), I can keep the (unintentionally) unruly elements well under control.

Aside from thoroughness, the other trick to mixing this time is the fact that these songs are going to be on vinyl, something I’ve never had to mix for.  I’ll listen closely to the CD and vinyl versions of some of the albums in my collection, to get a sense of whether either format is biased towards certain frequencies.  I’ll scribble down what I’ve learned and dive into the process as ready as I’ll ever be.

On the less-daunting side, with these solo-type recordings, having just a few elements per-song is its own advantage.  It’s easier to “place” each instrument in a mix with just a few tracks, to get them to stand out from each other.  Man, I can’t wait to get my hands (and ears) on ‘em…

My next update should include a sneak preview of the cover image for the first record, so stay tuned!  And thanks.