Stormcellar Band Home Page

Marketing department nailed this one. Back on Sunday.

Bah. I have a schedule.

Don't let your kids use spreadsheets, it leads to scheduling.

Worse, they could become a ...project manager. Also 'Bah' cos I now have a schedule.

And questions. So....thinking by blog.

1. We're aiming to release the 4 unplugged songs as an EP. Great. This last piece has now taken 3 guitarists 4 months to not finish it. I only need one guitarist for the right 4 minutes. Ok. No worries. Let's let that one sit.

2. We have so much stuff in the greenhouse we now have 5 separate project names for the various flavours. As I have Generative Image Bots, artwork is now AWESOME!!! Here's a sample concept for the EP.


3. We've got sample art for the stuff yet to come:

4. Gigs are few between at present, so we're not getting to roadtest all the tracks quite as much. Bah.
5. I have 6 tracks lined up for drums...do they go out as one thing? Does it matter? Does the concept of a 10+ track Album count?

'Moving at the speed of quality' - that's where we are at. What good work can we do and what good work can we do when we let it sit for a bit.

So I'm making a video instead while I wait.

Managing this rock star lifestyle has two equal and important components, good parking and spreadsheets. These are their stories.

I realised today I need a new spreadsheet to track the development of the current crop of stuff. There's a lot going on, and an increasing amount of it is now being done 'remotely'. Everyone's got a home studio.

There's too much for me to keep in my noggin, thus, spreadsheets. I freaking love spreadsheets. No, really.



As things are, we're not bound to 'albums' or other structures by more than usages, custom and...maybe some degree of logic?

We have a craptonne of songs in progress and yet...what....how....why? (LOL). Spreadsheets.

Do we release an EP, then a 6 track album or do we wait or combine or does it even matter?

I'm up for releasing the 'unplugged' stuff we did as their own EP.

Following that, we could release the first 6 songs from greenhouse phase 1 as an.....err....or...we could wait and finish the batch from phase 2.

Our production process is so bass ackwards - final drums are going on towards the end of production. That's the exact opposite of how we have done everything pre-'signposts'. I get that this is a result of the change in tech, times and money. I also think it's perfect. Each album has been its own trip. they sound different because the circumstances were different at each stage.

I got 'buttons'. I love buttons. I love spreadsheets. OH! Also I got new internet based stuff to play with to make some videos. Good times.

It's an odd place to find ourselves after a release in November. Considering 'Signposts' took...2 years? Maybe? And now...6 months later we're looking at Album Names for a new thing?

This is all so backwards.

The drums are going down at the end. This is too weird.

And so far, no takers on Mutato Potato. I know I am not gonna win that one but I kinda like it.

I am not sure how long finishing this...thing...part 1 of the greenhouse project...will take. Sort of.

We could put out an EP now with the unplugged stuff. That's a solid 'maybe'.

We already have 'something to go by' out as a single.

How long will it take for the first batch from the greenhouse project to mature? I figure it this way. When my brain starts thinking 'album names' that's usually a sign that things are drawing closer.

If I observe my own logic over the years it has been 'project name' and then a bunch of songs and then an album name.

There's no rush. It's more like....an enthusiasm to get new stuff out into the set and cos I'm looking for something beyond what we know. Fair question is whether we have the capacity to manage a high workload at a quality level we are happy with. Good question indeed....but I kinda wanna find out :)

Technology is on our side. We have continued to mutate - it leads me to think of the beach boys and Pet Sounds. How bands evolve their stuff over time.

Because we can embrace the changes that have happened in the music world we get to have the fun that is possible now. Gold toilet seats on our private jet? Not so much. Getting on with it because we can? Hmmm.

And remember our motto, mutate early and often!

A shout out to Paul S for lending a hand in the greenhouse. Things are growing at a fast pace. More buttons, more filters, more stuff.

We're so busy mutating that we have to let it settle before Theo does drums. This is very different to our previous methods of producing an album.

There are different challenges in this environment, dealing with so much material. We're solely limited by our ability to master the practical. Each thing must take the time it takes, and there are so many things.

I have set a totally bonkers target of 2 albums this year. Yeah you heard me. Send help! (send cash we still gotta pay for mastering LOL)... https://paypal.me/stormcellarband

Ok, so hear me out. I'm already sitting at Album 1 worth of material at the 70% complete mark.

We have 4 tracks out already from the green house - The Duke, 2 X unplugged+ 'Something to go by'

I still think we take all the depressing stuff and put it on 1 ep. Ok great. That leaves 'Something to go by' as first released track for...ummm ....whatever the next album is called.

There are 26 tracks in the greenhouse now, with around 11 of them bearing fruit. The rest are still growing.

They're also mutating. That's what I am after.

I am hoping to use up all the ideas we have until we run out and have to come up with something that's truly new for us. To continue to the metaphor, there are another dozen songs in concept or 'seed' stage. I want them out of the way too so I can find what's beyond what we know.

There's an old saying, 'you have to have a talent for having talent' and that leads me to consider 'you have to manage the practicalities of doing this much work to the standard that you prefer' and that takes some brainpower and elbow grease. Brain grease?

I guess I am also explaining my slow down in blogging. It's cos I am in The Cooler, mixing and listening. One day I expect we'll be back in a studio with someone else manning the desk. Today is not that day.

That's why I share'em on video sometimes before we officially release. We're doing what we dig, where we are at, the stuff we like hearing. 99 pictures of haystacks until you find the right one.