Firstly, we are thrilled to announce that Headshop Records will be releasing our 2nd full-band studio album, "PUNCH SKY" on September 16th! Even though that's a week away, the album is up on iTunes NOW so stop reading this, go buy it, and then head back here to read the rest of this wonderful blog.
Recording this album was an incredible experience from start to finish. First we went into Retromedia Studios and laid down bass and drums on 11 tracks in 3 hours with our good buddy engineer Adam Vaccarelli. A couple of the songs ("Whore" and "Oh No") we pretty much learned on the spot, and they came out great.
After that we recorded most of the overdubs at my apartment, with everyone coming in on different days and laying their parts down. It was a truly collaborative experience and watching the songs grow and take shape was amazing. It was easily the best experience I've ever had making an album, personally, creatively, and financially. Here are some of the highlights of the recording sessions.
After the tracking was done we went back to Retromedia Studios for an intense mixing session with John Noll and came out with a gem of an album. Next we needed an album cover, so everyone decided to shoot me out of a cannon.
The landing kinda hurt, but I'm glad we got the shot! Special thanks to Dave Biskup for his fine photography skills. I owe you a handy, Dave.
Anyhow, overall I think this is our finest work to date, and possibly the first album I've ever produced that I'm 100% proud of! I honestly believe you will love it, no matter what type of music you like, so if you have a chance, give it a listen and let us know what you think!
In other news, I finished up my 7th Lifeguard Nights "solo" album, "Following the Hollowing", and much like "Punch Sky", I think it's hands-down, start-to-finish the best album I've ever created. Recording-wise, songwriting-wise, everything. It's a big album, with 13 fully-realized tracks in the tradition of "After the Disasters" and I can't wait to get it out there.
In even more recent news, I'm almost finished with my 8th Lifeguard Nights solo album, titled "Ate", featuring a plethora of indie-pop songs hovering around the 2 minute mark, with a couple of interesting and unusual detours thrown in for good measure.
Finally, within a couple months the ENTIRE Lifeguard Nights (including the two new albums just mentioned) and South Jersey Seashore Lifeguard Convention Band catalogs should be up on iTunes! I'm pretty excited about this, and the possibilities it opens up for the future. No longer will I have to wait to be able to afford duplication for every album, I can simply release albums digitally once they're completed! From my apartment to your ears in mere weeks! Everybody wins!
I'm off to celebrate. Peace.
