Author: Greg Johnson

Goodbye October, we had fun. The trees appear to be dying, but we’re back with another edition of fall musics for you. Amongst a few remixes on I Can Fix Things In The Morning is an original from Mike and triple-threat 30-minute exercises from Aryn. I electro-fied Mike’s “No Reason” during a long stretch of road in western Kansas, and Robin Hilton of NPR fame makes a welcomed guest appearance with his take on “The Imitators.”

Judge the result for yourself here. Or right click here to DOWNLOAD the entire album.

You can always take us with you via the podcast. And of course there is MySpace. And most important… leave comments on the blog or via email at octoberEP@hellocomein.com. Enjoy!!

Tracklist:

1. No Reason (Greg Remix) (Katzif/Johnson)
2. Autographs (Katzif)
3. Trilogy (Crowley)
4. Craptastic (Crowley)
5. Mr. Prolific (Crowley)
6. Ocean Of Noise (Arcade Fire/Katzif)
7. The Imitators (Katzif/Hilton)

—-

Two months left. I think we sometimes feel tied to this thing. Are we creating music because we want to or because we’ve manufactured a deadline? It seems like when I sit down to record music the past few months, I have the thought of “Got to get something together for this month’s ep” in my head. In some ways, that’s the point. If we don’t have something pushing us to push out the music, we won’t do it. We live busy lives, and music is usually the first thing to take a back seat. But has it lost it’s purpose if we’re creating the music to meet the monthly deadline? Originally the goal was to keep a record of our monthly happenings- however unfinished, unmixed, unmastered, out of tune, out of beat, etc.

But, as we’ve moved farther along each month, I think we’ve lost track a bit of that goal. We’re not so much using the ep as a journal, but as a presentation. And I’ve found that my motivation has dipped as my focus has transitioned from recording for us to recording for the ep, recording for others. If I’m creating music for myself, I really could care less if something is listenable and catchy. If I’m recording for myself, the song can be as repetitive and formulaic as my ears can handle. But recording for the EP forces you to think from the listener’s perspective. “Damn, this progression is the same as intro to Black Mirror…” Thoughts like that usually put the brakes on the creative train. A riff that may have otherwise evolved into a full song is halted because I’m afraid someone might tell me I ripped off an Arcade Fire song.

OK, this is all true. But, when I stop and think about it, do I really care if someone regards what I wrote is lame? Not really… if I like the glockenspiel melody I wrote, then the rest doesn’t matter; I still devoted time to music. And that’s more than I do when I’m caught up worrying about a deadline.

So what is my goal for the last two months? My goal is to come full circle, to remind myself of the original intent of the ep project- to keep track of our music, not to force it out.

— Greg, October 2007

—–

Past EP’s

Temporary Setback :: January 2007
Clouded Spaces, Falling Skies :: February 2007
First Pull Up, Second Pull Down, Third Take Away :: March 2007
Ancient Telephones :: April 2007
The Cavalry Arrived Again :: May 2007
Designed In Anticipation Of His Centennial Years :: June 2007
The Rundown :: July 2007
The Ninth Great Fire :: August 2007
Empty Bottles And Dog-Eared Books :: September 2007
I Can Fix Things In The Morning :: October 2007
We Are Full Of Useful Noise :: November 2007
The Last Duel :: December 2007

Yet again, we present to you hot of the internet presses the latest edition of helloEP: Empty Bottles And Dog-Eared Books.

We’re offering three songs this month. “Made In The USA” starts things off as an instrumental pop thing. Look for this one to re-appear in the near future with full fledged lyrics. Mike’s song, “No Reason,” started life as an organ synth experiment and ended up as a lament for childhood memories piled in a closet- too good to give away. And in some ways, Aryn’s crazy “Digital Interlude” is one of those memories, pulled off of his college hard drive for a fresh listen.

Enough of this talking. Take a peek at the music here. Or right click here to DOWNLOAD the entire album.

Or cut the cord by taking in the podcast. Or compete with facebook by giving the MySpace page some traffic. And most important… leave comments on the blog or via email at septemberEP@hellocomein.com.

Tracklist:

1. Made In The USA (Johnson)
2. No Reason (Katzif)
3. Digital Interlude (Crowley)

—–

It seems like things work out better in threes. It’s that extra person that can help get over the hump if the other two are stuck. This is one of those months where we win again due to being three. It’s been a crazy month for me work wise, and fortunately we had two other people to step it up and find time to collaborate and get some new songs done.

The challenge of releasing an EP every month for a year would be a daunting task for one, even two people, but with three even if the other two people are MIA for that month we have one fall back to get it done. And the beauty is that fall back can even rotate every month. But hey regardless we’ve done it again, 9 out of 12. Already three quarters of the way through the year on this project, with only 3 more to go…

— Aryn, September 2007

—–

Past EP’s

Temporary Setback :: January 2007
Clouded Spaces, Falling Skies :: February 2007
First Pull Up, Second Pull Down, Third Take Away :: March 2007
Ancient Telephones :: April 2007
The Cavalry Arrived Again :: May 2007
Designed In Anticipation Of His Centennial Years :: June 2007
The Rundown :: July 2007
The Ninth Great Fire :: August 2007
Empty Bottles And Dog-Eared Books :: September 2007
I Can Fix Things In The Morning :: October 2007
We Are Full Of Useful Noise :: November 2007
The Last Duel :: December 2007

It’s that time once again for another installment of helloEP. Our short but sweet August rendition is entitled The Ninth Great Fire.

Only two songs? Yep — our offering is small this month as we hunkered down leaning some new software (Live and Reason) and spent the rest of the time frying our pale skin in summer activities. As we head towards the hibernatory months, you should see more songs as we reenter our basement studio dens. Personally, I spent some time figuring out how to use Ableton Live for beat programming on Mike’s title track.

So put away those cigarettes and take a music break instead here. Or right click here to DOWNLOAD the entire album.

Or take it with you on your subway ride with the podcast. Or be cool like the college kids at MySpace. And most important… leave comments on the blog or via email at augustEP@hellocomein.com.

Tracklist:

1. The Ninth Great Fire (Katzif/Johnson)
2. War Of The Crickets (Crowley)

—–

Between juggling real life and jobs, finding time for music takes just as much planning as anything…especially when trying to learn new toys to add to the process. August saw the three of us expand getting new software like learning some basics on the amazing and complicated synth modeler Reason or trying something completely new like Greg learning to program beats with Ableton Live. Oh yeah, and I finally was reunited with my long lost pal, my Fender Rhodes after a two year trial separation. How I missed you.

Sometimes in music these new toys can be as much of a hindrance as they are helpful and inspiring…especially at first. They can open up countless new options and conjur ten new songs or they can bring you back to square one. One step forward, two steps back.

Years back when I first started picking up new instruments, I remember how frustrating it was to have all this previous knowledge but having to start at the beginning with memorizing fingerings or new clefs. Adopting a new program like Live or Reason (or any other software for that matter) is just the same…trying to learn what it can do, how you can use it easily and how it relates to all the other pieces you have in place.

Unfortunately no matter how many new guitars, glockenspiels or high-tech gadgets you add, you still have to have a song to write. People tend to forget that step, or at least overlook it. Finding that time to write a great song still seems to be the challenge. One step forward, two steps back.

— Mike, August 2007

—–

Past EP’s

Temporary Setback :: January 2007
Clouded Spaces, Falling Skies :: February 2007
First Pull Up, Second Pull Down, Third Take Away :: March 2007
Ancient Telephones :: April 2007
The Cavalry Arrived Again :: May 2007
Designed In Anticipation Of His Centennial Years :: June 2007
The Rundown :: July 2007
The Ninth Great Fire :: August 2007
Empty Bottles And Dog-Eared Books :: September 2007
I Can Fix Things In The Morning :: October 2007
We Are Full Of Useful Noise :: November 2007
The Last Duel :: December 2007

July has come and gone, so it’s about time we pop out another one of these mini EPs. We’ve decided to call this first-of-the-second-half EP The Rundown.

It’s a typical month for us, no special rules or stipulations like the past couple EPs. We think the tunes turned out great, but judge for yourself the lonesome cowboy wanderings of Aryn, the social laments of Mike, and the minimalist folk of myself. We’re still working towards meeting our ideal level of collaboration, but we’re making recordings and building up the library, which is the important part in our minds.

It’s time. Stop everything you’re doing and peruse The Rundown. Or right click here to DOWNLOAD entire album.

Or check the podcast. Or be 21st century at MySpace. And most important… leave comments on the blog or via email at julyEP@hellocomein.com. Cheers!

Tracklist:

1. The Imitators (Katzif)
2. Sequel Pending (Crowley)
3. Following Payment (Johnson)

—–

Last week I woke up to the bitter taste of orange juice and toothpaste. I mean I was awake, but not really fully there I suppose so that biting acidity was a welcome catalyst to stir the summer lethargy of the morning. On sweltering hot days like we’ve been having, everything just seems to drag to a slow crawl. And as we get deeper into these summer months, it can be hard to find much ambition aside from aspiring lounge in the air conditioned bliss.

On this particular morning I was in a half daze, thinking of, unsurprisingly, music. More specifically, my own music. More specifically, why I could not write a chorus to a song. A song I had been nursing for a few months.

Writing lyrics is still fairly new to me so it can be a constant battle of writing and rewriting and overthinking the whole process. And for me, creating a sturdy and memorable chorus is by far the hardest part. Put it this way: if writing verses is like climbing to base camp of Mt. Everest (a mere 5400m, or 17600ft for those who would like to know), then writing a refrain is like summiting. Without oxygen. Sometimes I think I need a songwriting sherpa.

There is something about that repeated stanza and finding the right mixture of melodic hooks and memorable words that can be nearly impossible. I’m not sure if others have the same problem, but man it can be a struggle. This particular song was giving me more trouble than normal. After many aborted attempts, I had nearly given up. That is until I drank some orange juice after brushing my teeth. It was then that a melody popped into my head that I thought would work.

After that it somehow just came together. I cannot explain it really, and I certainly don’t attribute that vile taste to giving me a sudden moment of clarity. But sometimes when that song is pretty much a lost cause, I’ll take inspiration from anywhere I can get it.

— Mike, July 2007

—–

Past EP’s

Temporary Setback :: January 2007
Clouded Spaces, Falling Skies :: February 2007
First Pull Up, Second Pull Down, Third Take Away :: March 2007
Ancient Telephones :: April 2007
The Cavalry Arrived Again :: May 2007
Designed In Anticipation Of His Centennial Years :: June 2007
The Rundown :: July 2007
The Ninth Great Fire :: August 2007
Empty Bottles And Dog-Eared Books :: September 2007
I Can Fix Things In The Morning :: October 2007
We Are Full Of Useful Noise :: November 2007
The Last Duel :: December 2007