‘People think this state is a bunch of mountain man ski bums living in the forest with our animal friends’

Junior’s Cave, an online indie music magazine, just published a Nuts + Berries interview, I talk about the concept of laptop punk, why DFA Records and the Talking Heads are a big inspiration to me, and how the rest of the world looks at Colorado.

We also discussed how online music services like Tunecore, Sonicbids and Dropcards are changing the industry and creating room for acts like Nuts + Berries. Enjoy.

Larimer show & setlist

Had a great time at the Larimer Lounge show/EP release party Thursday night. They booked me on folk night, which was an interesting choice. I was sandwiched between several banjos, dobros and acoustic guitars. I don’t think I fit in.

It was a fun night. I debuted a new song called Meth Mouth that went over nicely. The bass was so loud it felt like I was being punched in the chest onstage. I loved it, especially after spending the last few days remixing many of the songs to add more low end. Nuts + Berries is starting to sound really bouncy. Thanks to those who came.

The setlist:

Dayglo Cowtown / A Good Friend is Hard to Find / Feet in the Snow / Meth Mouth / The Edgar Song / Your Whole Garden Sprouts / Arch Deluxxx / Forgive Your Hometown / The 1st Year Sex Didn’t Sell / Flevoland

Lousy economy? Budget concerts

Last week’s New Yorker featured a cool Alex Ross story about budget concertgoing. The writer saw a really interesting mix of peformances in one week and spent $81. And this is in New York’s classical music world, no less.

I’m sure there are lots of cheap shows in Denver, too.

I will try to put more non-Nuts + Berries news here. Putting out an EP is time-consuming.

It’s out

The Nuts + Berries EP is slowly popping up on several online music retailers.

It’s on sale at Amazon and the iTunes store. More stores coming soon. And I’ll be selling download cards at my show at the Larimer Lounge on Feb. 12.

Tapes for fun

Says-it.com has an amusing cassette generator. Since my EP will never come out on cassette (and probably not any physical format) this was a nice novelty. You can make your own cassettes all day and buy magnets of the image.

Music and adverts

An interesting new marketing approach at TuneCore, as posted on the Huffington Post: letting artists cross-promote their music with products they approve off.

I’m intrigued. The Internet and TV are doing a better job of promoting music than most radio stations I’ve heard.

Incidentally, I’ll be using TuneCore to release the EP.

Setlist, 1/2/09

The Nuts + Berries setlist from the Friday night show at the Old Curtis Street Bar:

Mooncalf / Look at all the Progress / A Good Friend is Hard to Find/ Feet in the Snow/ Dayglo Cowtown / Arch Deluxxx / Flevoland / The Edgar Song / Your Whole Garden Sprouts / Forgive Your Hometown / The 1st Year Sex Didn’t Sell / The Boco Song

Listening and listening and listening

I got the first of four tracks for the Nuts + Berries EP back from West West Side Music. Their engineers are wizards. It is louder and bassier than I had expected. I’m intrigued. I’ve listened to it on four different stereos to see how it sounds. It sounds immaculate on my Sony golf balls and pretty good in my car. This thing is very bass-heavy. I compared it to tracks by Bjork and Kanye West and it’s bassier than any of that stuff. I’ve asked the mastering engineer to make a less bassy version I can compare it to. I feel like a wuss asking to have the bass turned down on my electronic music EP but it might be what it needs.

Snow delay

A snowstorm socked the Northeast and delayed the mastering engineer I’m working with at West West Side Music from adding her magic to the tracks on the Nuts + Berries EP. Too much snow to get to the studio in North Jersey.

I’m hoping to get them tonight.

Mastering and sound wars

I’m waiting to get the Nuts + Berries EP back from the mastering session at West West Side Music outside NYC. I came across this very relevant and slightly sad Rolling Stone article from a year ago on the death of high fidelity. I’m not some audiophile who thinks everything has to sound crystal clear — I love my Hank Williams and Chuck Berry albums. But it’s interesting that mp3 technology is demonstrating that music buyers want convenience over quality, even if an mp3 album is only slightly cheaper than a CD.