EP5 - Free Download

The Hair Thieves are delighted to announce the release of the only slightly delayed EP5 today.

In the past we have spent many hours, cups of tea and Tesco's finest cookies in the writing and recording of this EP and for the most part, given the rarity of us playing live, very few people will get to hear it.

To this end, we are offering the whole EP as a free (as in no cost at all, zilch, nada etc) download from your Bandcamp site.

All we ask is that you have a listen.

For your free download, please use the contact form and we will email you a download code.

If you hate it please tell us, if you like it, please tell us and either make a small donation, so we can record another EP ,or preferably, make copies and give them to a friend or three.

If you are old fashioned, like us, and prefer a physical CD with original artwork, you can purchase one for the princely sum of £3 + p&p from Bandcamp. Which also includes a digital download of the EP.

All monies received will be put towards EP6, which we are currently writing.

The EP is also be available on ITunes / spotify / amazon etc if that is your preferred digital delivery medium. Due to the capitalist nature of our society, you will have to pay for these.

EP5 Cover and sneaky listen.

Above is the cover image for EP5.    Making some reference to one of the songs on the new EP.

We've also put up a sneak preview of one of the new songs.

It is called Assimilation. This is likely to be close to the final version.  Some of the mastering of the other tracks have thrown up a couple of issues that need addressing in the mixing stage.  So mastering is taking longer than usual.

   

First Pass

Initial mixes have been generated for EP5, I'm happy to say. 

A few Cubase issues aside, it has been a mostly painless process so far!  Fun with actual mixers and virtual mixers on Android have been a bit of a welcome distraction too.

We are going to live with these mixes for a week and pick up again next week with tweaking them into submission.

Hopefully, next week, we may release a un-mastered version to Soundcloud for a very limited period.

I don't think there will be a massive amount of changes needed to get these to an acceptable standard, ready for release.

So hopefully, by the end of the month, it should all be mixed and mastered and we can think about releasing it into the wild.

In the meantime, we have started collating a few new tunes and bits and bobs that we have left over from previous EPs, with the idea of getting EP6 out sometime this year, rather than in several years time.   We shall see how well that progresses! 

Mixing it up

Yesterday saw the start of mixing EP5.

It was pleasantly painless experience.  The plan was to do a rough mix of "Beijing Morning".

This was archived and mixing started on the instrumental "Bathmophobia".  So for once we appear to be getting ahead of ourselves.

So the plan is to live with this mix for a few days and then tweak again later.

More mixing sessions are scheduled for later in the week.

Below is a brief video E made, using his Android Tablet to control Cubase. Even though we normally use a hardware controller, it is interesting to see how modern technology can be used in the music process.

It also contains a sneak peak at the new song "Beijing Morning".

Happy New Year!!!!!

We believe we have finished the last recording session for EP5.

As it turned out, after comping an existing part, we decided not to rerecord the bass for the instumental, "Bathmophobia".

I had been struggling at home alone with re-recording the acoustic for "Invisible Wall", Not being happy with the current version nor the freebie acoustic version we did for the Bridgnorth music festival.

So we spent some time testing different mic setups, but especially distances between the mic and the guitar.

I then went home and re-recorded the acoustic part, which I a lot happier with.  So that is it, EP5 recorded.

Now comes the task of mixing.  This will begin next week in earnest.

My plan this week is to get all the project files into some kind of order, sorting out the grouping, topping /tailing the audio files, setting up some basic send effects and general organisation of the project. All necessary but tedious jobs.

So next week mixing begins.

The track listing for EP5 remains:-
1. Invisible Wall
2. Beijing Morning
3. Assimilation
4. Bathmophobia

We will be making a simple video for Beijing Morning.

This will also be the first EP where we have not collaborated with other muicians.

More news next week.

Rollasoc