Safe in Ueda (Jun 27 2010)

Productions have officially been moved to Ueda, Nagano at this point. This town is very nice and easy to live in, though there are moments where I wish there was a little more to do. I get the impression it's the "somewhere" in the middle of nowhere. I got a little tan today from biking around the city, which I tend to do most weekends. So far there has been significantly less inspiration than there was in Kyoto, but I am sure time will change that. Maybe I'm just looking in all the wrong places. Though I am an awfully long way from Highgrove Studios, things are still happening little by little. I've done a few recordings for Rosie's movie, and I hope they help her out one way or another, even if it helps her figure out what kind of music she doesn't want to use. I'm excited to see the movie, so hopefully Rosie posts it one way or another (as in posts it online or posts a copy in the mail to me). Packages from Rosie and Ilya are always amazing.

I'd also like to thank everyone for helping out with the music video for Kyoto Calling! That means Shane, Buck, Jason, Eug, Dylan, David, Lee, and of course Rosie and Ilya. The whole thing was a ton of fun, and I think it came out great. I'd also like to thank everyone for the positive response to From A City Far Away. Maybe it's a little less low-fi than I Am I Am I Am, but when in doubt I still tried to keep things simple I guess. I generally like it better that way, for some reason. I'm really glad so many of you like it, and that really inspires me to keep on making music over here. I'm currently armed with only an acoustic guitar and a computer to record with, but that's really all I need. That's all I had in Kyoto, and got a ton done there in the five months in my apartment.

Well, thanks for reading all of this. You should listen to Jason Clackley's new album, it's been in my head all day!

Eric

Done done, not done (Apr 06 2010)

So at this point, two things are done for the new album, From A City Far Away. I have written all of it, and have now recorded all of it. The only thing left to do is all of the album art/packaging etc. I will be coming up to the bay area next week, so hopefully it's all done by then, and I can bring a bunch of copies for everyone. Today is still without any concrete plans, so a big part might be getting some of those things done.

I just realized today that my singing on this album is pretty different than that of I Am I Am I Am. I was singing a little quietly on I Am I Am I Am, and From A City Far Away has less of that. I hope it's all for the best, and hope this album doesn't disappoint any of my loyal fans. As for my non-loyal fans, well, I hope they like it too, but it's not as big of a deal I guess : )

We'll be working on a music video for Kyoto Calling next week, and I think it'll be a blast. I don't know what it's all going to look like, but hopefully we can peer pressure Eugene and/or Jason to be in it somehow. David and Ilya did splendid jobs as my band already...

Progress!/Moving : ) : ( (Mar 25 2010)

Even more significant progress has been made on the next album! Album art is still being finalized, as well as some last editing of songs. I realize it sucks to just keep posting "I'm getting work done." etc., so what I have for you on this sleepy evening is the title of the album: From A City Far Away

It comes from lyrics of one song in particular, but we feel it's fitting as an umbrella for the rest of the songs. We will finish everything as soon as surrounding circumstances allow me, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's in the next few days. I'm so psyched. In addition, we might be having a second release soon after, but a much smaller release that is tentatively titled Smiling All The Way. It will probably have three or four songs I'm thinking.

In other news, I must bittersweetly report that we will once again be moving productions across the Pacific to our neighbor Japan. One of us has a teaching position in the city of Ueda, in Nagano prefecture, of 1998 Winter Olympic fame. It's a smaller town, but big enough to have a bullet train station and Uniqlo! I must reiterate, we are moving productions over there as well, so things will continue as usual. It will be strange to be so far away from our studio for so long, but we will still get plenty done, I assure you. Before our departure, we will be swinging through the upper half of this lovely state of ours to finish the next video and see everyone.

Bay Area mini-tour (Jan 09 2010)

Our Bay Area mini-tour was a massive success! A Chugach Mountain-sized thank you to the 215 Storey House and Dana St. Coffee for putting on those shows. It was great as always to play with so many friends and sing along to their songs (that we don't know all the words to). We were able to play a few new songs, and the funny parts received a lot more laughs than we bargained for. It was also awesome covering the Dear John Letters once, and I hope I didn't terrorize that song too much. Either way, thanks to everyone that came or played, and we should all make grand plans again sometime to gather. If you didn't have a chance to make it to either show, just come next time, because you know, you're all always invited.

HEY! (Dec 28 2009)

Hey everyone, thanks for checking this out! I don't have much to say right now except that the new album is still being worked on, but more regularly than before, now that I've quit my office job. It'll probably have 9-13 songs, and they all have to do with our 6-month stay in Kyoto this past year.

Here's a list of songs we have so far:

1. Laughing Tiger Resolution

2. Invitation Pt. II

3. Rainy Season

4. Kyoto Calling

5. Kyoto On Hold

6. The Castle Song Pt. II

7. Tribute to the Kamo

8. Gion, Out of Time

9. Coolest Girl in Kyoto

10. Christmas in Kyoto

11. Back to the Future

12. Kyoto, in My Eyes

I'm really excited about this album! One thing I'm really glad to have is an authentic Japanese police car siren solo in the middle of Back to the Future! I don't know how they managed to time it so well, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

Cheers,

Eric James