New songs on the way … we promise!!!
I’m sorry, I’m realizing it’s been like two months since we’ve posted on here. I’m so bad about keeping up on this stuff … I’m always more interested in getting stuff done than talking about getting stuff done. Sometimes I have to force myself to stop and check in with you guys!
Sooooo … it’s been about three or four YEARS since we released any brand-spanking-new material. We released “Antidote” way back in 2004, and have been busy doing other things ever since. We did re-release a remixed version of that album this year. But in terms of new music, not a thing (minus a few unofficial demos and live recordings here and there).
However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy working on new stuff. Quite the contrary, we’ve got a good solid two dozen unreleased songs sitting in our catalogue, waiting for their chances to shine.
That is why this new EP is so exciting. FINALLY, four really good songs that we can totally be proud of, thrust upon an unsuspecting world. We frankly just cannot wait to get this music out there.
But all in good time. We recorded these songs late last year at the Hive Recording Studio in Burien, Wash. (I know, we’ve been saying this EP is coming for a long time now, but bear with us!) It took a little while after some technical difficulties, but I managed to get my hands on the digital audio files and I’m in the process of mixing right now. I can tell you that it’s sounding GREAT. (I hope it’s as good as I think it is! hahaha)
This mixing process has been a liberating one. I had never had my own DAW (digital audio workstation) setup. Erecting (huh-huh I said erecting) one now opens up a whole new palette of options for us. For instance, we decided that once this EP is finished, we’ll begin work on our second full-length LP, very tentatively due for fall 2008. With so many unreleased songs to choose from (two dozen and counting), deciding on the lineup will be a challenge. But it’s certainly a problem we’re happy to have!!!
You know, I’m realizing there is even more news I should be updating you on. Well, for one, we decided on a name for the EP: “Age of Delirium.” I had been pushing for “American Idle.” But Mark and Justin brought up a few good points … including the fact that people won’t get the play on words and satirical attack on the Fox television show when they audibly hear the name — they’d have to see it visually. And we wouldn’t want people to mistakenly think we were in any way affiliated with that fine bastion of culture (the satirical attacks continue …). So we decided to name the EP after one of the songs, one that most pointedly makes an attack on pop culture in general.
We’re also well under way in getting the cover art done. The artist Jon Williams is working up the artwork, and it’s looking pretty cool. We hope to make a strong statement with that one.
Another bit of news … Grim Smiley from here on out is a three-piece band. We had been playing with a guitarist we met here, but we’ve since decided that we wanted to strip things down and make things simpler. The sound just got too muddy. And the three of us have such awesome chemistry, we decided to go with that. I’m not saying we’ll never add another member, but for now, we’re pretty stoked to be rocking it as a power trio.
So that’s it for now. I hope I’ve given you a lot to chew on. Hopefully this should tide you over for another two months!
ROCK!!!
=Ben=
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