Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Birth

From Squirrel:

I'm so excited. I can't hardly wait for next week. There's something incredible about something that's been in the making for over 5 years finally being "made". Done. Officially. Without gushing over the people who made it possible, I'll remain composed for another week and some days and save the emo for Tuesday, November 16 - our OFFICIAL WORLD-WIDE CD RELEASE!

Slight tangent, but still very related...

I was reflecting just the other night with some friends of ours who used to be in a band together (hint: this band included the infamous Lawson White on percussion). This band was short lived but it's legend will live on if only through various basement and coffee house mini-disc recordings (still in the hands of band members and some die-hard fans like myself, shameless), a gem of an EP and of course word of mouth. During their hey day, this group of fine musicians polished a handful of their favorite tunes and took them to "the studio". Without knowing the exact number of hours spent there or over how many years these tunes were in the making, it's safe to say that it was a labor of love in all the best ways. Imagine 5 guys geeking out over real time arranging in the recording studio, adding big percussion to their unassuming combo as well as the occasional "trash" cymbals (does any of this give it away yet?). All of the energy paid off musically, if I do say so myself, to produce a killer record.

But here's where the story takes a nose dive. The record was never able to make it past the mixing phase of post-production. I might even be wrong about that. It was "laid down" but any polishing that's done after recording in the studio costs mucho mula and sadly, there was none left to push it forward. Although the raw version of this album would suffice for a die-hard fan like me, it wouldn't hold the same water out there in the field of glitsy, professionally produced recordings. Some would say "just put it out there" as is - however, these 5 guys were much too proud to release a half-polished record. So... it remains in album limbo, a place that is the home to countless incredible works of art and almost-finished productions. Last time I checked, I'm still logging at least two tracks (that I know of) in this musical purgatory and I'm sure those won't be the last. It's a sad story that so many of us know too well - the need and drive to make a recording of your music only to see it stunted by the expensive steps involved to get it DONE.

I'm definitely not saying that post-production is inflated or that we're being jipped as artists by our engineers and producers. On the contrary, they're not paid enough for what they do! However, as the record-making world has changed drastically (and the world of record stores, companies and buyers-not-burners), it's no secret that the artists themselves are losing in the battle to both produce albums as well as plain old perform as we used to! And, it becomes an upward struggle when one faces the question "should I record an album?" - a question which carries much more weight than simply whether or not to literally record an event.

Luckily for us, there has been a silver lining! Namely, our record label New Amsterdam Records, as well as an extremely supportive group of donors and organizations (including Argosy Foundation) who've all come together to help push this album into the world. Though we haven't fully funded the making of this album and are continuing our fundraising efforts, the birth is t-minus 4 days away! It's happening. It's happened.

Although janus has taken the past 4+ years to create "i am not", this labor of love is about to drop. And, believe it or not, we're already talking about our next baby. I've heard that there's a hormone the body produces after birth that makes the woman forget about all the pain and suffering she went through to get that baby born - specifically to prepare her for birthing the next one. Maybe it's not just true for the creation of humans?





Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Spark!



I LOVE mid-western cuisine. Weird. ? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm 6 months pregnant, but the focus on white, cream and cheese-based toppings and bases... LOVE it. The images prove: beautiful. Check out the walleye hogie with a side of chili!! Okay, so Nuiko's dish is a little more "healthy" per-say with the mound of wild rice (real wild rice, she pointed out), I can hang with that, too. As the only non-midwesterner in the trio, this was truly my first introduction to the area. Minneapolis is a special place for sure. I've been to Chicago before but never west of there. My last trip with janus there was dedicated to a tour of soul food, which feels somewhat different to me (being from south of the Mason Dixon) and less mid-western. But I'm learning! Psyched to experience more come our winter tour through Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin. I wonder what my post partum taste buds will think then?

SPARK was amazing. If yall don't know about it, you should really look it up: http://spark.cla.umn.edu/ Super cool line-up of performers and composers. It felt pretty underground and the audience, who seemed mostly to know each other already, a group of people I wish we'd had more time to get to know. Next time we'll plan to stay - we missed Fred Frith's performance on Saturday! Bummer. Fred, won't you write us a trio? Pretty please??

We played Kevin Ernste's Numina for the second time now. Another perfect venue for that one: the Love Power Ministry. Something about that piece being done in a church makes it all the more creepy. I'm thinking it needs to be played exclusively that way. Kevin's writing is unlike anyone else's I've played - his combo of live electronics, processing our acoustic sound and the way he highlights the trio are all really special characteristics. You have to check it out. Maybe soon we'll have a recording for you!