Critics

Well, so far the response to "bleak" has been very positive. It's hard to have any perspective on something that you've been this close to for so long. I've had the various mixes burned on CD-Rs, blaring in my truck for well over a year, so there's no way I can have an objective opinion.

Two of the first CD packages assembled were shipped to MaximumRockNRoll for a review, and that should be coming out in issue #282. If they like it, great. If they don't I'll be curious to hear why. Either way, I'll post their comments here.

We put together a flyer that folks are welcome to download, print, photocopy and post. This says a bit about where the album is coming from and has the information on where to find more information and where to order it. I'll probably post some around "Hangtown" for what it's worth. I see mohawks and some leather jackets around from time to time. (They could be tourists for all I know.)

I did run into some cool skaters from Lake Tahoe the other day. I had a copy of the CD in the truck and asked them if they'd be interested in giving it a listen and shooting me some comments. When I asked if they had email - they shuddered and said, "Computers scare us." I could be relying entirely too much on the web to reach the folks that would enjoy our message the most. Again, if Forrest and his buddies send me any comments, I'll share 'em here.

On another note, I finally heard from Corin Stiggall after many, many years. He was the bass player in the second incarnation of Anxiety and moved on to graduate from Juliard and do some big-time gigs in NYC. When I get caught up with him, I'll post some links to his projects. Super-freakin' talented man. Jim Monack, the drummer from ANXIETY v2.0 also paused on his travels in Uganda to hop on CD-Baby and pick up a copy of "bleak." It will be waiting for him when he returns to DC to start his teaching gig this fall.

That's it for now.

Peace,

-MT

Parts is parts

As of yesterday afternoon the rest of the CD components arrived. This included 3 26-pound boxes with jewel case parts and mylar sleeves. We already have a stack of orders for "bleak" and the first batch of orders shipped out yesterday afternoon!

MAXIMUMROCKANDROLL confirmed that they have the two review copies in hand and the review will be in issue #282.

CD-Baby has already posted the album online and there are 1:00 minute samples of many of the tunes there.

I have been collecting media for our first video and we have setup our YouTube Musician account (no videos yet, so I'll hold off on creating the link until we do.)

It's been a great project to work on. Stay tuned for more!

Stacks of bleak

UPS dropped off the boxes from Oasis CD this morning. I popped one in for a listen and they sound great! Oasis did a fantastic job on the art screen printing too. I've dropped the first batch to our distributor, so they will be available for sale online soon.
Two have been sent to MRR as well, and the review should be in issue #282. If you're interested in ordering copies of MRR (MAXIMUMROCKANDROLL for the uninitiated) look here. Our ad starts running in the current issue (#280)

Welcome to the machine

It's been about 21 years since I started the band. I think my biggest reason for starting the band in the first place was so that I could make cool Tshirts with skulls and shocking graphics. And cool flyers. We're just about ready to launch the new album - CDs should be here tomorrow. The ad is running in MRR (issue #280) and we'll have a review in issue #282.

A huge "thank you!" goes to my wife who has supported me through the reforming of this band and the many, many hours of mixing and mastering the 13 tracks for "bleak." She had to listen to these tracks 100s of times in short little bursts as I cleaned up vocals, tried out various effects and tried to find the "magic mix" for a great sounding master. The results are pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Another huge "thanks" goes to Chris and Todd who were so enthusiastic about reforming the band in 2000, and stuck with it for the next 5 years as we weathered the implosion of the economy in the Bay Area, the 9/11 attacks, relocation to new living quarters and picking up all the pieces and starting over. The fact that we were able to track all the songs in less than two days is a testament to their musical talent and psychic short-hand in working out arrangements with each other. I guess being brothers and having toured with STIKKY and their various band projects have given them the ability to cut to the chase and make music happen pretty efficiently.

Welcome to "not your pawn" - the record of the third incarnation of ANXIETY. And beyond.