It seems that Small Glowing Pig has been relegated to only producing music that is part of a failed writing challenge. Cause for celebration, for sure! What better way to celebrate, than with a tribute to cheap two-octave Yamaha keyboards and Dio. 
(Fun is) What We’re Made of
The new rock and roll band remains nameless, but not showless. We’ll be playing a Jack and Jill for a buddy of ours in a few weeks. The plan is to tape it.
-Mike
As mentioned in the previous update, there’s a new band afoot! After a couple of practices, several sandwiches, and a few extraneous bagels, we’ve got some fly-on-the-wall recordings of a few covers. No band name yet, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be Grill Brush.
As always, our real thanks goes out to those forced to listen to us work out harmonies and Purdie shuffles. Thanks, Julie!
More to come…
-Mike
Despite prolonged blog silence, things are happening in the world of Small Glowing Pig! First, a new challenge is completed. I played the ukulele and programmed drums, while Steve played the acoustic guitar and programmed the bass. Be both “sang.” Was it written and recorded strictly in two hours? You be the judge! Also, no, it wasn’t. Also, read this for information on the inspiration.
Next, a new band has been formed and has begun working towards a live performance or two by the end of the summer. No name yet, but we’re looking to cover a pretty eclectic mix that so far includes Stevie Wonder, Beck, Steely Dan, Cake, and Men at Work.
Hopefully we’ll have some practice recordings in the next few weeks and a name to go with them. Until then, enjoy the challenge rok!
-Mike
A few weeks ago I took a look at the small glowing pig discography page and was immediately saddened. As of even this morning, the only release this year was an album written and recorded over two years ago that finally saw overdubs, mixing, and mastering in May of this year. Had we really not completed anything new? Was this really the most musically devoid year for small glowing pig since 2006? How did this happen?
Before building a resolve to right what was wrong, I reflected upon the causes. Surely much of the blame can be laid upon the doorstep of SpaceBase’s continued expansion into it’s third production year. Having a one and a half year old with a 7:30 bedtime also didn’t encourage late night rock and rolling. For most of the year, Steve was also busy playing in approximately three dozen bands ranging from renaissance and Celtic to blues rock. Jefim had moved to Boston and Devin and Angello continued to be busy working a ridiculous schedule and shredding the Les Paul in a new band, respectively. So, considering all this, what was to be done?
How about release that six month old two hour challenge and then do another one last minute when Jefim comes to town? Yeah, that sounds alright.
First, take a listen to “Parcel Octopus” by Parcel Octopus off of their album Parcel Octopus. We random band name generatored the name and then surmised that they were a punk band that had expanded into psychedelia and left behind their days of protest on route to their eponymous album and song. Nailed it.
Two Hour Challenge – Parcel Octopus
Next, it’s about time we released a song that Jim Hernovic and I put together about six months ago. We started by feeding the lyrics of the then-current top 10 pop songs (“Get Lucky,” “Radioactive,” etc.) into a word cloud generator.
Two Hour Challenge – Bones are Radioactive
So what’s next for us? Maybe some The Name. Maybe a new Vacation record. Maybe we’ll even get around to the Small Glowing Pig 10th Anniversary Album (13th anniversary?), who knows. I’m pretty sure that we’ll hear from Predicament again soon, and that Blonski and I will bang out at least a few more frames of SpaceBase before having a catastrophic hard drive failure that drives us to the brink of suicide. Whatever it is, hopefully it’s more than a two year old album and two challenge songs.
Well, until next time. See you next year. Ha!
-Mike
We can now move Reserved from a category that contains this to one with this and this. Our thanks go out to Carmen for her artwork, Pete for his spectacular mastering job, and to anyone who still has a t-shirt or sticker. Enjoy.
-Mike
In order to properly gear up for the release of Reserved, the posthumous album release from Black Velvet, I dug up some recordings of the final show at Sully’s Pub in Hartford. It’s incomplete and poorly recorded, but we did get some guy to move his truck. I think. Enjoy!
Download the show here.
-Mike
Let us check off what is done:
We’ve put ourselves in a position to begin filming the scene between Winona and the Tutorial Screen the next time we get together. The hope is that since one of the characters doesn’t even move, the taking of photographs will go much more quickly than the first scene.
As a bonus music-related piece of news, the long rumored to be in production final Black Velvet album may actually see release within the next few months. Rumor has it that near final mixes of the tracks are being considered for mastering. Hop on over to thewaywardsoldier.com for more info from friend of the label, Jefim Piekarz.
-Mike
We’ve taken a week off from SpaceBase after finishing the first scene, but found the time to write and record a protest song for wrongfully accused rapper Max -B. We’re not sure of all the details… he may have organized a homicide, he may have done something terrible to someone’s grandmother, and he may be an unexcusably dangerous mix of rappers Notorious BIG, Jay-Z, and Tupac Shakur… but we’ve got his back.
Friend of the label, Jim Hernovich, helps out on the first song written as part of the One Hour Challenge. Technically, this one clocked in at about 1:15, so I suppose we failed.
Last fall, Jefim Piekarz (friend of the label and singer of Black Velvet and Corona of the Sun) and I got together for a dozen or so sessions to record his solo album under the moniker The Wayward Soldier (many demos of which can be found on his site). He had been kicking around a bunch of songs he wrote before, during, and after his time with Black Velvet, and we holed up in my basement in Newington to track the drums. I was working on Meat Without Feet‘s WPOP at the time, and was loving the freedom that comes with recording digital instruments. Naturally, I hard sold him on using the MIDI drum kit. We laid down drums and vocals before he split for Cambridge, MA, but even though the fruits of those sessions remain in the oven a bit longer, we do have something to show today for our efforts.
While working on The Wayward Soldier, we penned one complete track and a few half-baked ideas for a new, untitled project. The first fruit of that collaboration is Predicament‘s “Crossroads.” It’s not an Eric Clapton cover, seeing as Jefim and I play guitar. Reflecting on it now, the lyrics are clearly prophetic. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” and all that…
You can also rock to some lossless goodness if that’s what you’re into over at bandcamp.
Hopefully more tracks to come in the months ahead!
-Mike
After taking some time off, the production of SB:I resumed with a whimper today. After two hours of computer hassle, we learned ourselves some lessons and have barely anything to show for it…
Also on our to do list:
Enjoy the video, but don’t blink!
Finally, The Name is penning a fourth original tune. The live show will have to be delayed, but maybe it’s time for a second EP…
-Mike
