Well it ended up being too cold to camp, which means too cold to record any new songs while camping! I guess I’ll have to try out the State Shirt back country mobile recording studio some other day.
Today I made it all the way out to Massachusetts. Traveled along some windy back roads and came across a couple beautiful family farms and took some more photos. Will be working on some new music next week, and working to getting This is Old released!
Ok, so I’m not exactly on tour, but I am driving across the US, taking some photos and recording some music along the way. Today I drove for a while along Route 66 in California, and spent some quality time with a few dilapidated houses and buildings. The setting sun was providing some perfect lighting, so it seemed like a good opportunity to shoot some new photos, some of which for my bio.
Tonight I’m keeping it classy, spending a night in the lovely roadway inn in flagstaff, arizona. I’m currently accompanied by the sounds of trains raging by every half hour. A bit too tired to work on any songs today. If I hit a campground tomorrow evening, I’ll see if I can start (and finish) a SongFight song. Here are some photos, more tomorrow.
Going to be taking a little road trip to NYC and Massachusetts, see some friends, record some new music. Will see if it’s possible to record a SongFight song from a campsite somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I’ve got this laptop, a guitar, some effects, a microphone and a power inverter for my car. And I might just stop off of Route 66 in the desert somewhere to play a show on the side of the road. Come on by. Hoping to take a shitload of pictures, and update my site from any unsecured wireless connections I can find! Check back for some updates along the road.
The release of This Is Old is near. Mastering went well (it sounds great) and all of the artwork is off at the duplicators. Hoping to have final discs in my hand in about two weeks. Preordering will start soon, stay tuned!
So there is a lot going on right now. Final mixes are off to Don C. Tyler for mastering. Looking forward to checking out his handiwork, since he has mastered a few albums that I love (Elliot Smith: XO, Figure 8, Hot Snakes Suicide Invoice). I know mastering is a subtle art, but if he can subtly find a way to make my album as great as those that would be super.
Apart from mastering I’m trying to keep everything else pretty DIY, I just finished designing the artwork for This is Old… I’m excited, it will be a 6-panel digipak, and features a bunch of photos I took on a soggy spring morning on the back roads of western Massachusetts, including one inquisitive cow.
I’m hoping to start online pre-ordering of the album in a few weeks. After I figure out how to make these interwebs work.
So the last few years have not been very kind to me musically. Life has been incredibly droning, wasting away in the San Fernando valley, doing the full time job and feeling fully beaten down. But I have found some precious spare moments to write and record. This Is Old is really about how I’m not going to be able to take life along this path much longer. New song This Is Old available for download now. New album coming 11.11.08. Thanks for listening.
New State Shirt album will be titled This is Old. Release date will be chosen very soon. Working on obtaining amazing photography for the album artwork. Had a sick fucking dream last night, hoping I can scrounge up enough money to turn it into a music video. More soon.
Ok, i know this song isn’t exactly new. But we recently completed a music video for the song. Here it is, the official debut of the “Straw Man” music video. Hope you like it!
Slightly higher res version is here!
I’ve made a muxtape of some of my favorite songs.
:::: Listen to my muxtape here
Here’s what’s up there now.
I think I’ll update with a new theme every few weeks:
- The Helio Sequence - Nothing’s Ok : Everything’s Fine
- Unkle - Rabbit In Your Headlights
- R.E.M. - Walk Unafraid
- Hayden - Dynamite Walls
- Sebadoh - Careful
- Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun
- Elliott Smith - Wouldn’t Mama Be Proud
- Crowded House - Fall At Your Feet
- Josh Clayton-Felt - Too Cool For This World
- Neil Young - Old Man
- Toad The Wet Sprocket - Always Changing Probably
- Radiohead - Let Down
If you have a muxtape, comment on my blog post so I can listen!