tracking drums today!

It's winter break, and I recorded drums on Monday for a five song EP that I've been passively working on for the last couple months. Adam Salsberg helped me out with drum recording, and it sounds awesome! I'll probably work on more vocals tonight. I wrote these songs back in August/September, and I'm glad to be able to work on em again.

I am currently at CarterCo Recording with Jonah Kort recording drums for another (can you believe it? you should!) EP that has six songs. I will also hopefully be recording the bass for that album today. Guitars have been mostly tracked, and we're gonna finish em up tomorrow at Jonah's own Albany Recordings.

back to work

My semester ends tomorrow and I have more material than I know what to do with. Like So EP is getting finished pronto, I'm recording a whole lot of Options from tomorrow till thursday, and hopefully that Young Bull record will get finished too.

big show tomorrow!

My friend Mike and I are having a dual birthday show. I am playing an Options set by myself with an electric guitar and a DL-4. My roommate's band Small Wonder is playing. Cage Match is playing. A secret guest is playing. It is going to be really awesome, and you should go. AND it's free.

RSVP here

back in print

After not having CDs for a really long time, I finally made copes of Back Home and Some Light, and more copies of A Fisherman's Drought. You can get them at Bandcamp or click the aforementioned links.

I'm currently working on another pressing of Baby Steps as well as a first pressing of This Year by Sneaky People. Stay tuned...

Cage Match has CDs that you can get here for a minimum of $3 (to cover shipping).

soundclouds!

I got a soundcloud for Options. I'll be posting new ideas and songs occasionally and then taking them down. http://soundcloud.com/optionstheband

Cage Match also has a soundcloud http://soundcloud.com/cagematch

Cave Math is done and out!

Cage Match's debut album Cave Math is out now for free/donation at http://cagematchmusic.bandcamp.com. Get it!

working on a bunch of stuff!

I have all guitars and drums tracked for two songs on the upcoming Options EP. It still doesn't have a name yet, but I think I might have some album art. I'll figure it out soon enough. It's been put on hold for the last couple weeks due to a sprained right ankle. I've almost totally recovered, though, and I'm hoping to get back to recording within the next couple of weeks. I also got a 4 track tape recorder and I'm relearning how to use it so I can record a set of songs that have been done for a while.

Due to some technical difficulties, Cave Math, the new EP from Cage Match isn't online yet, but it should be sometime this week. We're playing for free this friday at Phyllis' Musical Inn, which is in Wicker Park (off the Division Blue Line stop on the CTA) in Chicago. It's 21+, which totally sucks. Sorrrrry!

Like So's EP has been put on the backburner for now. It'll get done eventually though, promise. No shows are planned and we haven't played together since May. Do the math.

This summer, Scotty Leitch (of Pirouette) and I wrote a bunch of songs in a few weeks and then recorded them in his basement. I play drums, Scotty does everything else. We're called Young Bull, and hopefully you will be able to hear our music soon. I'm really excited about it!

Options winter tour 2010? We shall see.....

Cage Match Cave Math

go to our EP release show this sunday at the beat kitchen in chicago. i'm pretty excited for it.

It's been a minute...

I'm currently recording a new Options EP with Jonah Kort at CarterCo Recording in Chicago. It's going to have 6 songs, and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm still hoping to get a live band together to play my songs.

Cage Match is finishing mixing our EP today and we'll probably announce something about it's release soon.

Like So's EP is still getting mixed. Remixing of the demo has been put on hold because I don't have enough time for it right now.

sorry about this...

As you probably know, I currently give away all of my music for free on Bandcamp.com with a donation option. In fact, I've given away 630 free downloads of all my albums to date, and I'm really proud of that. However, Bandcamp's model is changing to a limit of 500 free downloads. I do have the option of paying for more free downloads, but let's face it - that doesn't make any sense for me. I'm making next to nothing off of my albums as it is, which I don't mind at all, but I'm not about to effectively pay for people to download my album for free.

So here's the scoop: I'm going to keep ALL of my music free until the end of this month. Then, I'm going to make a song or two from each album free, but sell each album for a reasonable price with a set minimum donation. I'm thinking something between $3-$6 depending on the album. If you really can't afford to buy my music, go on google and find a download of my stuff or get it from a friend. The bottom line is, I want you to have my music, and since I record and mix nearly all my music myself, it's at no cost to me. I feel like this is pretty reasonable, and you still have the rest of this month to snag my discography for free!

In other news, both Like So and Cage Match's EPs are being mixed. Get stoked.

Sneaky People's debut EP is out now!

Download it here if you'd like. Four songs recorded in January and mixed last month.

Some Light on CD!

My newest full length Some Light will finally be available on CD on 9/21! Pre-orders are up here and are at a minimum price of $5.

I print everything at my house and assemble it with my own two hands. There's even a neat little booklet inside with a blurb about how the album came to be and some information about when and where I did everything.

Pre-order @ http://optionstheband.bandcamp.com/album/some-light

xoxo

Sneaky People EP nearing completion...

My old friend Alex and I wrote and recorded an EP in three weeks this winter under the name Sneaky People. He played drums, I played guitar, and we both sang and wrote lyrics. I was never satisfied with the mixes I made and we never got artwork done for it, so I put it on the back burner and didn't think about it for a while. When I got back to Chicago, I decided to record the bass tracks and I'm currently mixing it. Hoping for a September release - keep your fingers crossed?

Like So EP done recording/demo re-release

Almost a year ago, my band Like So recorded our first demo. In listening back now, I recognized many flaws in the final mixes, so I am mixing the album again. It will be re-released as an EP.

Colin also just finished recording his vocals for Like So's newest EP (which I believe is called Has a Pajama Party!). Drums were recorded at CarterCo. Everything else was recorded at Albany Recordings. Recorded and mixed by the fantastic Jonah Kort. We're hoping to play these songs live before the end of the year, as well as our older songs.

Release dates will be announced upon completion.

back in chicago!

One 14 hour drive and several rest stops later, I'm in Chicago again! Sneaky People EP should be out really soon, Like So EP is on the way to being done, Cage Match EP is being mixed, and I'm still plodding along for this new Options thing. Hang tight!

this weekend was a good weekend.

new members of my family. awesome.

writing again!

So I'm finally writing and demoing music again. I've been cursed with a bad case of writer's block for the last month, but I finally shook it and I couldn't be happier with how these new songs are sounding.
I also recorded my first cover song - Aside by The Weakerthans. This is one of maybe three covers I have ever played live, so I figured it'd be a good one to start with. I'll probably keep recording covers of songs I like and put them on Bandcamp when they're done, so keep an eye out for that!

Download Aside: http://www.mediafire.com/?cz1a4vsge4za4kp

Some Light free download

Some Light will be available for free until July 1st. After that, it will be a minimum donation of $4 online.

Get it: http://optionstheband.bandcamp.com/album/some-light

Hey everyone

I tried making a blog awhile ago, but I got lazy with it and didn't feel like maintaining it. Here's my new start. I'm going to be writing about music things that I've been doing lately and posting audio and visual media, too.

Right now, I'm in Pennsylvania, living at my parents house for the summer and working. I've really missed my drums here terribly, and I want to bring them back to Chicago at the end of the summer. I need to get a couple mic cables and some new drum sticks so I can start demoing for my next record. Actually, I recorded two songs the other day with one mic and posted one on my facebook music page. It's called Yours Truly, and I'll probably post it here soon enough. Today, I'm gonna work on making some neat physical copies of Some Light. There won't be too many copies made, since hardly anybody still buys CDs, but the copies that will exist are going to be pretty cool! Stay tuned and thanks for reading my blog and taking the time to listen to my music. You rule!