I won’t lie to you. We used auto tune on one song. I’m no professional singer (Clinton and Charlie usually handle the vocal duties for good reason) which is why, despite my practicing the vocals all weekend and even doing a preliminary working session with Clinton at his house, I still couldn’t peg it perfectly. Sure, I was able to get a lot closer to where Steve’s work a lot less difficult but there are notes that are pushing the limits of my vocal range on “The Road” that are hard for me to hit with the level of consistency necessary for doubling vocals. (Funny enough the one harmony tossed in that I figured I’d screw up, I hit in one take. Go figure.) So, for this and other reasons, just don’t expect any of these three tracks to be played live beyond the release show.
As for the rest of the session… Well, Clinton threw in some wonderfully doubled Beatles style guitar leads on “The Road” while Charlie, coming in largely cold to the idea, managed to toss in the sweet little keyboard line on “La Jetée” that was right on the money. Then it was mixing until 2:30 am and by and large we are done. We’ve all been listening to the mixes and the consensus is that, barring a few minor tweaks, we should be good to do mastering next Tuesday and then send off the masters to A&R in Dallas for the pressing.
If the timeline holds, then we should see the EP released on July 8th with an EP release show not long after (possibly that following weekend). The tracks will be available through the usual Internet places (iTunes, Emusic, Amazon, etc.) at the standard amounts but on that date we will also begin taking orders for the 7″ as well. It will be sold for $5 and the vinyl will include a download code for the tracks in the highest possible HD audio quality we can muster.
If you think $5 for a 7inch is a bit high for three songs, consider the economics of small runs of 7″. It’s not a format that really is geared for making money and that’s why we are bumping up the run of 100 to 200. Simply put, at 200 copies we will be losing a lot less money in the long run. At 100 copies, the per unit cost was around $8 and that didn’t even include the cost of jackets and art. So, 200 hundred it is.
As for an EP release show. Well, we’re not looking at doing a big to do over at a club. Instead we’re planning on a small, chill, and relaxed release at a local record store. Once we get the masters over to Dallas, we will announce a date. Hope you all can make it out.
More deets soon as they arrive.
