In a few days the long-awaited (by the band at least…) IHO album Spaced Out will be released out to the public, ready to take the world by storm on May Day 2019.
This event represents the culmination of more than ten years’ work. Obviously not without interruptions and even long breaks while something called life intervened the process.
Still, why so long, why were we slower than Boston? Well, aside drums and solos from the guitar players and other guests, all the instruments were played by a single person. That just takes time. Kari Peitsamo (a famous Finnish rock star, in case you’re lacking the reference) says he recorded one of his solo albums in a little less time than it takes to listen to it, due to the breaks between the tracks. Even for him it would have taken at least some 15 to 20 albums worth of time to record this one due to the overdubs on the various instruments.
Why not build a real band then, with a proper number of proper musicians, instead of this DIY to the second power attitude? Because we could. And because we were too lazy to start really searching for the suitable players. And because the vision was already there within the existing crowd (this can always be debated though – more input with successful filtering often produces better results). Probably just because we did not want to.
This was also a great vehicle for learning. And boy did we learn, from the whole process. So many steps from writing the tunes to recording each instrument to mixing (often at the same time with recording, all the time adjusting the sonic image) to mastering to actually producing the release and finally sending out the final album as a DDP package to the production plant, with a little nagging voice yelling out ‘are you sure there are no mistakes?’
Well, of course there are mistakes and all of them are there on purpose, supposedly. But it is very good and we are genuinely proud of what we have achieved. A few initial comments from some trusted parties seem to agree.
The work (and the learning) does not stop here though. Now it is time for marketing, pushing the album out to reviewers and making some noise about it – definitely not my comfort zone, Jimbo might fare a little better there.
And perhaps even sell a few. Certainly we are not in this for the money – that would be more than a little crazy in the genre we have selected – but buying a record is also an act of appreciation, respect for the work that has gone into producing that physical item and especially its contents, so in that sense a sale is very rewarding, for the soul. It’s a pat on the back, a virtual hug – someone actually likes (or at least appreciates) what we have dreamed up and made real.
So, bon voyage to Spaced Out. May you live long and prosper!