RM64 Artists Record

Well hello everyone! Suzie here. Typically, I’m responsible for the lovely Narrative video content you see on RM64 every so often, but the past few weeks have left little time to sift through footage of the 3 of us trying to take ourselves seriously. Apparently, we can’t do that when there’s a video camera present (without multiple takes). However, we do take ourselves very seriously when it comes to the business side of our band.

That being said, we are getting ready to SELF-RELEASE our first full length record. Yes, self-release. We kept telling ourselves we’d sign to a label if we got an offer that made sense, but I’m not quite sure anyone knows what makes sense when it comes to putting our records these days. If we put all that work into a full length, paid out of pocket for all expenses related to that endeavor, does it then make sense to go and give 90% of that to a bunch of people we probably could only get to know over the course of a few weeks, or maybe just one fancy dinner at Nobu? I guess maybe? Maybe if they promise to really promote our record, you know, “push it” and really get it out there. Or mayyyyybe we’ll sign our contract, give up ownership of the record and then 2 weeks later someone else will be having dinner at Nobu and we’re leaving 10 messages a day with the secretary. What’s our recourse? Suing them? We’re artists! We’ll never have the money to win that battle. Sigh. The music industry is a weird place so here at The Narrative camp, we’re taking things into our own hands. (more…)

time seriously flies… seriously. it soars. i have no idea how it’s 3 am, and i also have no idea how it’s june 2010. it’s hard to believe that it’s been months since our trip to good old austin texas… even harder to believe that we’re so close to completing this full length album after spending well over a year developing every last detail so that it could be everything we wanted it to be and nothing less. the day that record comes out, we are going to seriously, seriously need to celebrate.

in the meantime, here’s a bit of footage from our travels back in march – we’ve got some great shows coming up this month so we’ll be sure to document them for you all. we’re always looking for shows too, so if you’ve got them, send them our way. but now it’s bed time. seriously

WHOA, WHO’S THAT?  THE NARRATIVE?  WHAAAAAAAT DAWGZ?!!!!  THAT’S CRAZY!!!

Yea, we’re still alive.

We’ve got a lot of stuff cookin’.  We’re leaving for tour tomorrow.  Our upcoming full length is in its final stages of mastering.  Charlie is wearing adult diapers.  He says it’s a back brace, but I’ve suspected for a while now he was heading down the adult diaper road.

I’m kind of a big Paramore fan.  I’m not really a closet Paramore fan, because I’m totally ok with it because I think they’re awesome, but I feel like I might be the kind of Paramore fan you might not suspect is a Paramore fan, and that gets me a little nervous about talking about it.

Anyway, I hadn’t spun their last record too much.  I guess I couldn’t fit it into my busy schedule of losing sneakers to my dog and wondering whether or not the guy who begs for change by my subway stop every day makes more money than me (I’m almost positive he does, it’s a prime location).  I happened to decide to sit down with it over the last week or so and have to say I dig it pretty hard.  For me, it doesn’t quite stand up to either of their other releases catchy-wise, but at the same time some of the songs blow any of that stuff out of the water musically.

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Whew… it’s been a while!

My lack of Internet access was half due to us being on the road and half due to myself enjoying any excuse to not have to be hooked up to a computer.

Although I’m super computer and tech savvy (brag brag *vomit*), I tend to enjoy my solitude… and the whole smart phone and online social networking phenomena has been somewhat of a terror for me.  I’m increasingly introverted, and my profession somewhat demands the opposite… However I find it even more difficult to break this shell through the no-longer-anonymous Internet than I do in person.  Tweets, Facebook status updates, and Myspace bulletins seem egotistical to me – I can’t justify publicizing my daily activities or emotions because I can’t figure out why the fuck anybody would care.

Not that I frown upon anyone who is active in this culture.  It honestly doesn’t bother me in the least to know other people partake in such activities (unless, ahem, they’re doing them constantly on their iPhone whilst in a real social setting, neglecting the fact that there are actual people around them)… but as for myself… well, it just doesn’t feel like me.

Another thing that doesn’t feel like me:  Playing music to backing tracks.

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6 days on the road
5 shows
1 non-contagious bacterial conjunctivitis eye infection

I’m having a difficult time not rubbing my eyes when they ITCH this bad, but… Doctor’s orders.

Speaking of itches, Suzie broke out with a pretty bad allergic reaction tonight after our show in Tulsa.

So, aside from those things, we’ve been having a great time playing, meeting new people and seeing new places.  About 10 minutes ago we were driving through what was essentially a man-made canyon, lined with rock and evergreens.  Now we’re back out in the country with the cows and horses, no cell phone service (Verizon AND ATT), and fittingly blasting some Band of Horses in the van.

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You mind if I do a J?

I’ve been learning the bass line to “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5, which isn’t the most difficult bass line in the world, but is super duper nasty.

It’s interesting how learning to a play a song on an instrument can create new love or re-invented love for that song.  I’ve probably heard “I Want You Back” over a hundred times in my life, and always dug it, but never grooved so hard to it while listening.  It’s a completely new found love for a song I’ve always loved, and has inspired me to go grab the entire Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson catalogue.

Another way to re-discover music you’ve known and loved before:  Don’t listen to it for multiple years and then come back to it.  Not just because sometimes it’s good to take a break from the music you really love, but also because you’ll be a totally different person when you come back around to it, and you’ll benefit from that new listening experience.  I haven’t listened to Michael Jackson (and I mean really listened – like a dedicated kind of listening where you’re married to it for better or for worse) since I was about 7 years old and was rocking my “Black or White” cassette over and over.

One of these days I’ll get back to Sublime, who guided the better part of ages 13-20 for me… but for now, Michael will do just fine.

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so, we’re going on tour… heading all the way down to texas! we decided to make some limited edition tour EP’s to commemorate our first trip out to the midwest. we really hope everyone enjoys them. there’s only 42 copies total, and they are all hand-made by a a fantastic artist by the name of Jackie Lee, and The Narrative. Yay, Teamwork!

What is the price people will pay for not paying for music?

A good friend of ours, Will Noon of the band Straylight Run, briefly explained in his recent blog post that a band is a business, and like any other business, without a sufficient income it simply will not survive.  Such is the current fate for Straylight Run, and a thousand other bands who seemingly have it all.

Within the last several years, music has become more accessible than we ever could have imagined.  More than ever, we are sharing our favorite bands with people we’ve never met, stumbling across songs that we feel literally save our lives, and expanding our music vocabularies, libraries,  and boundaries, and are growing musically as a culture in a way that is unrivaled by any era.  Never before have we had such a difficult time classifying music into genres.  A new sound is born every day.

Do we take it for granted?  Of course we do.

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hello rm64 blog world! in the spirit of our goals for 2010 (to tour our faces off), here’s a tour video from our trip to Canada back in ‘09. i don’t believe we were acquainted back then (wink wink). if all goes according to plan, 2010 will bring tour videos from all over the US!

I can’t say more than enough nice things about the fine folks in Destry and their music.  It’s always enjoyable to be able to watch a band whose performance inspires you, and truly flattering to be able to play before one.  They are a phenomenal live act, and if you don’t dig the music you’d be well off to see them anyway… at the very least to watch Nicole lock it down as she finesses her drum kit with a variety of sticks and mallets.

I was glad to find myself grateful to be opening for Mean Creek as well.  They’re a solid band, tight harmonies, some killer bass lines, and if you want to watch a chick kill it on guitar this is the band for you.

Believe it or not you don’t always get to play with bands you appreciate, but I’m wholly thankful for our show last night and if those bands think even half as good on us then I’m happier than an amazing gymnast in a gymnastics competition.  That is a metaphor you won’t forget.

Here’s something else you better not forget, a bunch of pretty faces:

Destry

Mean Creek

Read more after the JUMP!

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