I think I finally did it. For it appears that this site is for the most part operational.
I have pissed my wife off enough lately with all the time that I have spent learning PHP, SQL, and who knows what else in trying to get my home built.
Here is to this small victory. May it open up a door to something…
Center aisle. Not the kind of aisle that you would expect to be performing in… or on…but the kind where you are contained within 2sqft whilst breathing recycled air, gagging on the salted 28grams of peanuts you were blessed with, and praying that you don’t catch DEATH from the coughing souls around you.
Thank you Delta Airlines. Thank you to my slight case of work induced adult ADD. For between the two of you battling for my time, I somehow forgot to check my seat reservation and realize that it did not get saved correctly. Full flights don’t forgive, and if we forget, well that is a calculation that equals a loss.
So while sitting in my dreaded middle seat I have plenty of time to ponder something. 38 spins around this thing we call life. See today, January 19th…I turn 38. Yes if you have read this far you might have come to the correct assumption that I am traveling on my birthday. Happy, happy, happy day to Mark!
I swear this has happened before…on spin number 35 or 36, who can remember anymore
2011 has started with a promise, like all years do, of potentially amazing things. Sara and I are trying to find a place to call our home. March 29th will finally see the release of my very first MUSIC release “Going Somewhere…?”. www.markyoungrocks.com will finally be my home to park my various music projects and releases on, which is something that I have lacked for many years now. HISTORY for SALE will be going into the famed STUDIO X on February 5th to start the recording of our second EP. All of these things will be happening before the completion of March…so as we start to rotate around spin 39…I am off to a good start.
The seat smells…the asses of so many leaving their mark, their stains before me.
Oh thank you for the present…
It’s my 38th birthday.
"Write your own story..."
Today I introduce my new friend. I bought him last night with my wife Sara at Michaels Craft Store. He was only $1.00 and though he was stacked in a bin with many like him, this particular one spoke to me. Maybe it was the voices of the factory workers in China that make .015 cents per 100 cups? Maybe it was the fact that I have been feeling creatively taxed these past months? I do not know exactly why, but his little message spoke clearly to me: “Write your own story”.
It is gentle little reminders like this one that continue us on our path. They nudge us along through these days of dark rise and dark fall. They help to keep our eyes somewhat focused on a horizon that we at times feel may never really approach. A horizontal line of color and life that we swear is out there, knowing so because we can see it, but still afraid to believe in because it seems so far out of reach.
It took a little $1.00 mug to help put me back in sync with my mental GPS. Today I feel like I am slightly back on course. Maybe it is the cup of strong coffee that sits inside my new friend. Maybe it is just a case of mental diarrhea that needed to be purged. Regardless the job has been accomplished and I sit here typing for you.
Writing my own story…
A quick update on what I have been up to!
I have pretty much finished the packaging layout and print work for “Going Somewhere…?”. It took way longer than I expected due to some tech issues with my old laptop (speed) and then figuring out how I wanted to package the whole deal.
So I sent out 10-15 packages last week and am slowly getting feedback that they are arriving in good shape! This is exciting news due to the amount of thought I put into the final presentation.
I am still working on getting my cover song cleared. I can’t technically sell the music till that little issue is taken care of. It shouldn’t be long…as it is now just a money thing to pay for the license.
The next mechanical step is to save up the scratch $$ to get a run of 100 or 200 color discs replicated. Then from there start assembling the hand packaging for these little beauties!
Hope everybody is embracing the change of seasons and the way it changes our minds.
I know I am.
Best to those who read this…
As promised in an earlier blog…here is a little video compilation from my mastering session on January 6th. It is just a little something to show you the room, the day, the effort that goes into making a song sound “polished”.
Ed Brooks of RFI/CD is an amazing Mastering Engineer. The word “amazing” gets tossed around so easily now days, but with conviction…I express that he is the definition of the word amazing.
I am going to be making a couple hundred CD-R’s of this 9 song disc. The title of the project is as you might know now “Going Somewhere”. Some will get mailed to labels (know any looking for a middle aged dreamer?), some will get mailed for reviews. After that, I don’t know what is going to happen with the songs…if anything. That is part of the reality of this art form.
All I hope is that in the next 8 months, regardless of what happens…you will have heard some of this music. That you will have felt my message. That you will want more.
Thanks for watching, reading, and listening.
Today I turn 37.
I am definitely not a youngster any longer…but I still feel young at heart. There are scars that remind me of the battles that I have fought, wounds that were very deep in penetration, yet my blood runs warm and under high pressure.
They say that people blossom at different stages. That if they ever realize a decent percentage of their potential…it will come at a different time or stage of their life than their neighbor does. I feel that I am starting to come into my time, my now.
Sometimes the train is hard to get going. There are re-routes, track switches, and even banditos wanting to sway the forward progress of Engine 37. I think that I am at a time in my life now where I can see far enough down the tracks and steer the locomotive. I have the experience to know the rammifications of certain actions, yet contain enough youth to still enjoy the ride…however bumpy.
In the next month or two I will be working on seeing if there is any “traditional” interest in my 9 song release “GOING SOMEWHERE”. The work is done, the songs are mastered, all that is left is to see if anybody wants them. If nobody wants them…which realistically will be the case, then I will be going a “non-traditional” route.
I am trying to start a franchise. I am the franchise. I will be working on at least two other projects this year. One project will be for HISTORY for SALE and the other will be an EP titled “El Bano” that will be finished this year.
I will be shooting and directing my own music videos (Mark Young and HISTORY for SALE) this year. They will be better than you might expect.
If all of this can’t find an interested home…to help mainly with distribution and promotion, then I will create a home for them.
I am starting a franchise.
I am the franchise.
Today I turned 37.
Step right up…
I am making an early prediction about what will be my favorite album of the year. It is not a clear decision as of yet, but the two front runners haven’t even been released yet and they still are loudly battling.
Up first is:
POST HARBOR – “They can’t hurt you if you don’t believe in them”
http://www.myspace.com/postharbor
They are in my opinion what music is about. They do it all so well…paint the picture, tell the story, convey the emotional message. They make music that moves you. For that alone I appreciate their art in all its forms.
Post Harbor is not a bandwagon group. You won’t find them mentioned with the “current cool kids” such as The Maldives, The Moondoggies, and these other “rock” bands that are supposed to be the next great sound out of the Seattle scene.
This band is who the local blogs should be writing about. This band is who you should invest the franchise player card on. There music imprints on your mind and requires you to take listen number three, four, and five to disect just what they are doing at 2:43 in song number 7. Rarely does a band make you do that anymore. They do.
If you ever get the chance to see them live, I highly recommend it. You too will be fan just from the energy that they exude.
Up next is:
The Forecast – “The Forecast”
http://www.myspace.com/theforecast
I have been a fan of this band for 3 discs now. They were originally signed to VICTORY RECORDS and were thought to be the cross-over salvation for that label. Unfortunately VICTORY did not do the band justice and put them on the road with bands that drove away their core fanbase.
My band (HISTORY for SALE) has played with The Forecast and I have seen them every time they have come through town. There is no other band that I think I enjoy seeing more than The Forecast. They are 4 friends who make music…they live for this…it is who they are.
Mark my words that either one of these discs will be on lists for year end results…mark my words.
Well last week I mastered.
To be correct in the above statement *I* did not master, but the very, very talented Ed Brooks did. He took 9 different songs and squeezed life into them.
One could take that statement and ask…”hey, don’t you mean squeezed life *out* of them…?” The answer would still be the same. He squeezed, pulled, lifted, and compressed the 24bit/44.1 units into something whole and new. He gave them life.
Rob Sharp of The Playroom Studio came in with the tracks and we went to work. Rob is someone who I think will continue to grow in the local music world. He has a great sense of sound dynamics, and most of all he really cares. I would recommend him in a heartbeat. Hell, he put up with me and my schedule for the past 2-1/2 years.
Probably the most exciting thing about the mastering session to me was the education. There was no judging about my music. No looking down upon was done. There was only a free flowing giving of the experience that Ed has amassed over his long career. That is why I love this hobby…coming across people who share the passion of creation.
Now that the disc is mastered…I am trying to figure out what I want to do with it. For that reason I didn’t even get a CD or VINYL master. I will decide that later…
Since I am not really in a hurry…I am going to spend a month sending out mailers, emails, blog requests. If I can find a home for this disc that will help with getting it out to the people that should hear it, then I would love that.
Would you like to hear a track? Shoot me a message and I will let you hear one.
Hello world…
I thought I would share a little article I found that I thought was very nicely thought out. It is a great summary of the little things that can quickly get forgotten.
That music is the thing that is supposed to matter, and if someone doesn’t get the message, or doesn’t understand your form/shape of the art…then it should be considered their loss and not yours.
The energy spent trying to convert would be much better spent creating…
Hope you enjoy:
http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/10-mistakes-bands-and-musicians-make.html
PS…I hear from Rob Sharp at The Playroom that the final mixes with the outboard LA2A and 1156 compressor’s are turning out silky.
I am getting very excited to bring this full length debut out to the world.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Mixing is done.
Three long days got me and Rob (my engineer) through the first phase of mixing. The songs are so refined now and are in a great shape. I will post a short video when I figure out how to get it off of my new HD camera.
Rob is now taking my notes that i compiled after listening over, and over, and is starting the final phase.
LA2A compressor is going to be routed for three of the slower sexy songs. The real compressor…analog…not a plugin.
So, so, so very excited to be this close to having the technical side of things done. There is just one more step after this and it is scheduled for January 6th.
Mr. Ed Brooks is all I will say right now…Google him. He is busy right now doing a Pearl Jam project…come on.
Much love if you are reading this…It means you care.
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