Debut Album Out Now!

It's been ages since the last blog post but with things on the back burner and still in development this was to be expected...until now that is!  Check out this video for Toe The Line...Forever! created by friend and fan Micky Tose.  What a fantastic surprise it was to receive this. 
Thanks Micky!

It is now the "dead of winter" as they say and it has been a hard one here.  Unusual amounts of snow and low temperatures have made this easily the worst winter I have experienced in Berlin.  But the sun is shining today and it is "relatively" mild so you take what you get and hold on until it's over.  4 or 5 more weeks should do it...I hope!

One good thing that has come of this is that there has been little to distract from getting the word out about the debut album and it finally seems to be working.  2010 started off well with some podplay on Zaldor's World but things really went into overdrive last week with podplay on Dark Compass and Electrical Language (that one included a station identifier that was really a lot of fun to make - listen closely at the start of episode 198) two great podcasts out of the U.K.  Then, just last night Found And Lost was played on SMASH Radio here in Germany, a great broadcast for underground and independent music.  There is also some indication that there will be more podplay very soon on some other shows but we'll let those eggs hatch before counting them...

Another thing that had been put off for a very long time was a facelift for the Fine Print Pariah Facebook page.  With the help of a great app from Reverb Nation the page now looks like something and has music, video, photos etc...If you are on Facebook stop by and check it out and heck, why not sign on as a fan if you like the music?!  Won't cost you a thing and you get exclusive content in return...great deal, huh?

Some songs were also added to the "internet radio" streaming service Jango and if all goes well the same will be happening with Pandora very soon.  There were some issues there but now that the CD is available "on demand" from Amazon.com all of the criteria for inclusion should be filled.   Which brings me to the next point.  Until now the CD has only been available through the shop here and from Amazon.de but an "on demand" version is now available for the great price of only $9.98.  Definitely a great deal even if the "on demand" version doesn't have all of the cover art and liner notes.  If you are interested in that kind of stuff, order here.

So, as you can see, FPP came pretty hard out of the starting gates in 2010 and we will see how things go with keeping up the momentum, but the really big development here had absolutely nothing to do with FPP, at least not directly.  I have been hinting at this for quite a while now and it is now time to make it official:  Paul E. Phonics is alive!!!  Yes, that's right, I have unleashed my alter ego and some music is finally online - check it out at www.paul-e-phonics.com.  This is just a small sample of what has been going on here in the studio over the past couple of months and work continues on a debut album which will definitely be ready and released in 2010, probably earlier rather than later but we'll see how things go.  The project is still in its infancy and there is a lot to be done so that is where most of the energy will be going for the next few months.  Which brings me back to FPP and the news that this will be the last blog post here for quite a while (unless something absolutely earth-shattering happens).  I will still be blogging but it will be here and not here.

And so, on that note, I bid you farewell for the time being.  I will probably check back in later in the year but for now it is time to accept my new identity...

A bit late checking in here in this new year and new decade but "Happy New Year" all the same.  The holidays were great but right after Christmas the snow started falling here and hasn' t stopped since.  Kind of nice in a way but it has made getting around a bit difficult and caused some real traffic problems in other parts of the country - and Europe for that matter.  On top of that it has been fairly cold and grey here, not exactly a great start to the new year but what can you expect when you live in the northern regions.  And then there's global warming...ummm...whatever...

But except for the weather things have been off to a good start here.  Spent a lot of last week freshening up the web presence and added some new sites to get the music out there which has already produced some positive results.  This will continue for a few more weeks with more songs from the debut album popping up here and there but then it will be time to focus more on the real life aspects of the "band" and actually get the live show sorted out once and for all.  This will probably take quite a few months and during that time I will be working more on new material for the next album but another surprise which will be anounced soon will actually take top priority for a while.  The groundwork for this is being laid right now and will be ready very soon.  More on all that coming in the next post.

All for now.  Have a great year/decade!

Looking at the calendar it is hard to believe that 2009 is almost over and looking back I can see that I have been a bit lazy in the blogging department.  This has not been for lack of something to say, but between recording and releasing the debut album, launching 5th Estate Music - essentially my own "record label" - and getting things ready for a new side project (details of that coming very soon) there has not been much time to organize my thoughts into blog entries.  But the holidays are upon us and things are slowing down for a few weeks until we enter the next decade so I feel I can take a step back and a deep breath and evaluate how things have gone over the past year.
As 2009 began it was my goal to get the Fine Print Pariah debut album recorded and released.  Even though all the songs had already been demoed it took a while to establish a game plan and a production strategy and real recording didn't begin until around March and it wasn't until the end of April that real usable tracks were being put down.  Progress was good but a lot of backtracking and redos were necessary, especially with the drums which were recorded in less than optimal circumstances.  Things picked up speed in May and June and by the beginning of July all the tracks were down and mixing began.  The mixing took longer than expected but by the beginning of August all the songs were ready for mastering and the final product was basically ready at the end of August.  There was still a lot to do to get the release ready - CD artwork and pressing, distribution to iTunes etc. - and that is the reason I put the release date off until Nov.2 in order to ensure that everything was in place on the actual day.
Through this whole process a lot of other stuff was going on behind the scenes which led to the creation of 5th Estate Music, my own "label" that would release the album and probably all future albums as well.  So not only was I preparing Fine Print Pariah and the debut album but also the label which took some time as well and finally went online at the beginning of September.  All of this was a lot of work and that combined with other presonal obligations forced a restructuring of priorities leading to the one disappointment this year which was the lack of a live presence for the band.  Some contact was made with interested musicians but scheduling conflicts, other commitments and personal issues got in the way and it was clear at the beginning of November that Fine Print Pariah would not be performing live in 2009.  I am not giving up on this however and the quest for the right live lineup will continue but I refuse to rush it or force it.  When the time is right Fine Print Pariah will hit the stages and that might even be by the summer of 2010.
So I can honestly say that it has been a great year even though all the goals were not met but this leaves a very clear goal for 2010, namely the formation of an actual band to perform this music.  Some preliminary work has begun for a follow-up album but whether it makes sense to finish and release that in 2010 is not yet clear.  Besides, 5th Estate Music will be busy enough with my side project anyway and at least for the first half of 2010 this will be my priority also.  So I can say that I will try to keep up with the blogging a bit better but chances are most of that won't be happening here in the next six months or so.  And where will it be then?  Patience, patience...when the time is right, all will be revealed!

Happy Holidays and have a great "slide" into the New Year as they say here!