This was sent directly to those who are part of the successful Kickstarter campaign. The samples I've heard since the last update still sound awfully promising, and the progress, certainly reasonable. I am looking forward to getting to hear it around X-Mas or early in 2012. I just hope Andrew doesn't have to bend over backwards after facing the changes in recording time crunch (along with that 1 backer who apparently *backed out*).
But to expect it as part of the 2011 Index probably pretty unlikely now. So be it, here we may have the early leader for 2012 for that reason.
The Age of Rockets
Monday Aug 15, 12:06am EDT
Here is a long update on album progress. It's difficult for me to properly explain some things, so I hope you will not be offended at some of the vagueness. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the album ended up falling 100% into my lap. Saul, Bess and Adam will be a part the record, but not nearly as much as originally planned. This bummed me out for a while, but it is what it is, you know? I took a small break from recording while I produced the most recent mc chris record, but that is done and I am hoping to finish up the basic recording of the record by the end of November. The first disc is just missing vocals, one track of cello and a few electric guitars. Not including vocals, it will be done by mid-September and then the rest should be far easier and quicker.
Disc one is the "over the top orchestra record", and while it's one out of three discs, it was 50% of the total time and work the album needed. I am hesitant to give an exact release date because some final lyrics are not done and I am just beginning to work out artwork & things like that, but I would like to think that you Kickstarter backers will have the full three-disc album by Christmas. The goal is for you to be sick of it by the time it's actually released.
Not really.
Certainly if it's not completely done by Christmas it will be done soon after that, and by mid-Autumn you will surely have another big update on the progress.
While it pains me greatly to acknowledge the haters, I must address what Kickstarter backer Mike Finkel angrily said on the comments section today. I will gladly give him his money back and have his name appear nowhere on this project because he addressed his concerns in a totally inappropriate way, but he is right about there needing to be more updates. You all deserve that.
As always, you can hear some clips of the new record on theageofrockets.com and see how things are coming along on my blog. You can always message me on Facebook if you have any specific questions or concerns. I love talking to you guys and I hope you know that you can always reach out to me.
I really, really appreciate all the people who took to the comments section of the Kickstarter project and defended me and this record. It warms my heart to know how patient you all are and that you have my back against mean-spirited people. While I am sure this won't be the last Age of Rockets record, I am wary of doing anything else after it because I don't know how to top it. I am truly excited about this album and I can't wait for you all to hear it.
Additionally, I am going to record disc three alone in a cabin in the woods in the late Fall for a week. I think I am going to document it because it will probably be spooky and there is no interent there, so I will need a camera to talk to/go insane The Shining-style at. If that sounds at all interesting I'll send you guys the results.
Thank you again for everything you've all done for me. Knowing that people truly believe in something I care about so much is all I could ever hope for.
Much love,
Andrew Futral
4/21/11 8:31AM
a couple of bits:
4/20/11 Facebook post
sneak peek clip of a new song
still missing vox and cello
http://soundcloud.com/theageofrockets/sneak-peek
SNEAK PEEK by theageofrockets
sounds a bit like Kiss Kiss, which is a good thing.
Holy shit. Disc 1 is going to be hard to beat. Nothing like a 16 piece string section to make an album feel like the end of the world!
all violins for disc 1 are done. Disc 1 might actually be done this month.
Good to read about progress. Whether it'll be done and available in 2011 is still up in the air tho.
12/1/10 1:28AM
UPDATE!
By The Age of Rockets For Backers Only
Hey guys and gals,
some of you recently and kindly have asked for an update on this album. I will totally give you one. I have been working with all of my free-time to get this sucker done. I decided to tackle this album 1 disc at a time. So far I am extremely happy with the progress. Currently there is about 2-3 more days of guitar tracking for the 1st disc and then all of the strings and horns and then i will move on to disc 3 (disc 2 will be recorded last) . As some of you may or may not know Hannah was made mostly by myself. Saul, Adam and Bess did vocals but only helped on The End of Faith and Actors/Ghosts. I am thrilled with how that record came out but I really want the whole band to be part of this record and so that means it will take a little longer (as they are all doing their own musical things all over the place). The end product will also be a little better. The concepts behind the discs are: Disc 1 is the over the top disc, meaning that it will be huge and loud and have giant orchestras everywhere. Disc 2 will be the subtle album. It will be full band as well but will be made with a "less is more" attitude. Disc 3 will be the weird album. It will kind of be like If I made "The Drive Home" now. The concept behind disc 3 is that songs will be recorded for the sake of a weird idea more than for the sake of the song. For example one idea is that there is a song that I am going to learn how to play backwards, record backwards, then reverse and record some additional stuff on top of it so that the whole thing sounds like a reversed track but also sounds 100% correct. Something like that totally excites me as a person but I would never have the balls to actually release it if it were just 1 disc. Disc 1 so far has been pretty much arranged by just me and Adam. Disc 2 will be much more collaborative and I am hoping disc 3 will have tons of friends on it.
If you want to hear any clips from songs you should follow the official age of rockets webpage / blog at www.theageofrockets.com/ i have been posting lots of recording things there. The album is going to (hopefully) be done by the late spring and around that time I am going to start to deal with kickstarter prizes. A lot of the prizes are musical things and I would really like it if all my creative energy was spent on 1 thing at a time.
I am really excited for everyone to hear this new record / new direction.
thanks so much for all of your patience.
A lot of what makes Age of Rockets special to me is that I make sure I am always "earning it". In that I have tons of other projects going on all of the time so that this record is the thing that I am working FOR. I think it makes for a better product. It keeps me passionate but also makes things take a hair longer. I am sorry I work like this BUT there will be new Field Mouse music soonish, a Lauren Zettler EP that I am producing and a bunch of other fun things.
Some of you may have seen the Favorite Day music video for Bess Rogers. I edited that footage and also helped direct it. I am about 24 hours away from launching a second kickstarter to get a camera so that I can help make music videos for age of rockets, field mouse, jenny owen youngs, weiss, and Rogers. Probably more people as well. Making videos is something that it is hard to do cheaply and so I am trying to make it be something that requires less doing. I want to make sure you all don't feel weird about me launching a second kickstarter. This will in no way slow down kickstarter 1 or album 3 progress and will only add to the amount of fun things I am able to do.
COOL!
I care about you all.
also if we are not currently facebook friends we should be
facebook.com/andrewfutral
DOUBLE COOL!
- Andrew
Okay, so reading about this, obviously the best news is it's coming along and let's hope it actually is released next Spring or Summer ("late Spring" unless it's a digital download, probably means Summer with printing, promotion, etc) sometime. On the surface, the 3 cds on this "super-pretentious choose-your-own-adventure-style concept record"
-the 1st CD is the meat for me. That's The Age of Rockets I would assume that will resemble the work to a point from 2008's Hannah.
-The 2nd more subtle, "less is more" sounds to be good as a blending. Perhaps in the whole mixing of songs off each record together, etc..maybe a little like The River Empires: Epilogue, the last dredg album, or of course The Dear Hunter Act III in some ways. Who knows.
-And the 3rd disc it sounds like is out of left-field a bit. That one may make or break just how unique this record really is. That's the "avant-garde" or actual "experimental" side to this thing. Sort of the maudlin of the Well, Deerhoof approach in some ways.
So now thinking about this, I can say I'm probably as, if not more intrigued. But the proof will be in the pudding. It could end up disappointing, but I'd rather that happen than it never happen at all of course.
edit: of course it's mentioned in that update about sound clips being up. http://theageofrockets.tumblr.com/.
um, wow. This stuff sounds potentially awesome! the most recent clip marching piece "Darling Street (Unmixed Clip)" namely...Fuck, I wish I had known about these clips months ago when they were shared, lol. Better now than later of course.
Now Andrew has also launched a NEW kickstarter campaign for making videos I decided to put $10 towards it, in the hope/belief that it will lead to some cool things and more long-term work for him, Field Mouse (who I also donated to), and The Age of Rockets of course as well. I guess we'll see.
