It’s shaking up to be a busy year for us this year so we figured we’d let you in on a couple of projects that should be completed the next few months. First Up…
We just got word from C.J. Boyd that our version of Kate Bush’s “Watching You Without Me” made the cut for the anthology and that Running Up That Hill: Kate Bush Covers for Reproductive Rights will be available on February 4th on Bandcamp. You can check out album’s bandcamp page here:
http://runningupthathill.bandcamp.com/
It’s a pretty nice line-up and as a fan of Adventure Time and LAKE (who do the show’s closing theme) I’m pretty amused that former drummer Lindsey Schief kicks-off the comp. The idea behind the whole project is pretty neat. C.J. and Molly McDermott will provide postcards for various reproductive rights organizations and those organizations can use it to raise funds or however they want at no cost to them. The sales on Bandcamp will go to offset the royalties and other costs involved until those are paid. After all those costs are paid, the remaining Bandcamp money will go to National Network of Abortion Funds. So, kind of cool to be involved and kudos to C.J. And Molly for making it happen and being nice enough to extend us an invitation.
Our other project is of course the “C is for Cthulhu” record which I can tell you is recorded, mixed, and mastered. We even have gotten our good pals Wo Fat and Southern Train Gypsy from the DFW tentatively set for the record release shows once we set a date.
So, you may ask, what’s the hold-up on the so-called Winter EP and will we finish before Springtime?
Well, to the first question, the reason is not the music but all in packaging and the video. As you can see in the picture above, the stop-motion set is largely completed but there are still a few small things to work out before I can start shooting. At the moment, I need to create a stepper motor controlled track for the camera to get shots exactly how I want them. (I’m researching right now on how best to do this and will likely order all the parts I need this weekend and have it built soon after.) In other words, it’s all been months of building this and that oddball item.
But stop motion isn’t everything; there is arranging all the live action shoots and even that hasn’t been just about casting and coordinating schedules. We had to buy a large green screen, lights, and I built (with a lot of help of my dad) a light control box which will let me control the lighting for up to 12 lights from six dimmers. Did I mention that we haven’t shot even a single frame outside of test shots at this point?
So, yeah, the video shoot is working out to be a bit more involved than we initially expected and our goal is to have the video completed or at least substantially complete before we set a release date which is a big big factor in the delay.
As for the packaging, well that’s the other part of the puzzle. Clinton recently found an artist who he thinks will work perfectly for making the cover art. He runs a site called the Cryptocurium (http://www.cryptocurium.com/inner-sanctum/) that does all this crazy Cthulhu stuff. In fact, we’re using one of his idols for the video which is how Clinton found him. We’re looking forward to working with him and can’t wait to see what he dreams up.
Which all brings us to the big question. Given that Winter ends on March 19th, will the Winter EP really be a Winter EP? Well, to borrow a line from Captain Barbosa , the LP4 Pirate code is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules. Yes, it is possible we finish by the end of Winter but it will be tight if we do make it and the odds are that the release won’t happen until April. In the end, it’s better to have something we’re really happy with and be slightly late of our self-imposed deadline than to just rush it out just to get it out.
Regardless of whether we make that deadline or not, as we start shooting and moving forward in the project we’ll be posting a bit more so you guys can see how utterly insane the project has become.
Happy New Year
