Monday, March 10, 2008

... will forever be the day that I actually mailed out my first demos! Nine CDs went out today, on their way to:

• Carpark Records (Washington, D.C.)
• Domino Records (Brooklyn, NY)
• Hefty Records (Chicago, IL)
• Ninja Tune (London, UK)
• Planet Mu (London, UK)
• XL Recordings (London, UK)
• Peacefrog Ltd (London, UK)
• Skam Records (Manchester, UK)
• Morr Music (Berlin, Germany)

I sent nine as that was the number of bubble envelopes I had on hand- I've got five more printed CDs here, so I'll be sending out at least that many more. Does anyone have any additional label suggestions? I came up with this initial list by discoging (not a verb yet, but I'm working on making it one) some of the artists whose work is at least vaguely similar to mine and seeing where they'd published their work. Surprising (and a little disheartening) how many labels are specifically not accepting unsolicited demos due to the overwhelming number they've already received- this might be a longer shot than even I expected. But at least I finally did it!

Photographic evidence of the event:

Way to go, me.

Where's Your Head At?

Mine really ought to be resting peacefully on my heeug pilla, but alas my brain had other plans. Another sleepless night- the first in a long while thankfully, but still not something I've been looking forward to. It took a couple hours of tossing and turning, but I've resigned myself to consciousness for now. At least I can be productive and whine to the internet! It's great living in the future.

In more pertinent news, work on the demo CD continues! Fourteen blank CD-Rs with the previously discussed cover art arrived in the mail from my dear brother Eric on Monday, and I spent most of tonight (after Project Runway of course) tweaking and adjusting two of the four tracks that'll ultimately represent me to the world ("It's Come To This" and "Forever And Never Again" if you're curious). Didn't make any major changes, just fixed a couple of nagging issues that I've noticed since their initial release. I've burned a test CD-RW of the final final (final) four, and assuming a couple run-throughs at work tomorrow don't reveal anything terrible I'll have the first batch in the mail first thing Friday! This is a big step for me, and I'm really excited to finally be taking it. I'll finally be able to say I tried.

Really though, this whole label submission thing might be going the way of the dodo sooner than I'd expected if this is any indication:

If Trent Reznor wasn't already your idol for his limitless musical brilliance, now we can all admire him for his cutting edge musical humanism. Five dollars for all 36 tracks in FLAC format? Ten bucks for the double CD? Releasing it all under a creative commons license? I'm in awe of you (still), Mr. Reznor. Best artist ever.

But enough about people with real accomplishments- back to me! I'm still pretty close to done on the next track, so keep an ear to the ground. The demo takes precedence for now, but under the current schedule it shouldn't be taking up my time for much longer. And writing music's certainly a hell of a lot more fun than promoting it! Anyone want to be my manager?

Until next time, then: goodnight moon...

Don't Want No Short (Track) Man

And now for something completely different: a song that's under three minutes long!

Mr Sniggle's House (Instrumental)

This one's written as the beat for an MC to flow over (as we say in the biz), hence the "Instrumental" caveat. If I can't get someone to throw down in the next few weeks, I might temporarily layer an existing acapella to give it the proper feel- we'll see. As it stands, it's a no-frills, to-the-point track that ain't gonna hurt nobody.

In other news, my long-delayed demo will finally be hitting the mailbox next week! After endless delays and deliberations, I've put together a CD label and tracklist that I think is representative of what I do. Here it is (phone number removed for internet safety):

And the tracklist will be:

• It's Come To This
• Forever And Never Again
• Undelayed By Reflection
• From A Platform Above

I'm still not expecting anything to come of these, but it's going to feel damn good to say I finally tried. Wish me luck!

P.S. New (full-length) track almost finished! Watch this space.