Tag: Ear Buds

Nipping it in the Ear Bud

While the winding path that is 2020 has not led us to destinations envisioned at the start of the year, it has provided some opportunity for creativity. Steve and I originally hoped to be wrapping up work on Steve Blonski and Our Forefathers right about now, but instead we’ve got a different album to drop. After displaying a focus and dedication uncharacteristic of our usual endeavors, Blonski and I have put a bow on the second Ear Buds EP.

New to this album: overdubs! Unlike Volume I, Steve and I agreed to lay down some tasteful additions to a few of the songs. We stayed away from the “wall of sound” approach and instead looked to incorporate subtle harmony or even a balalaika or pan flute.

You can cop the new tunes over here on Bandcamp or here on our discography page.

Murder Buds

The Ear Buds have finished writing and recording demos for the latest EP. The original goal was to have final recordings ready for mixing and mastering by the start of September but time and power outages and going back to school during COVID makes fools of us all.

A week or so ago Blonski and I met virtually to listen to the demos and talk lyrics. We decided it only made sense to do so while slaying hordes of undead nonsense in Diablo III. Naturally we recorded it.

We’ve got pieces of two songs laid down for the final album and hope to get moving on the rest in the coming weeks. More info as it comes…

-Mike

Odds and Ends

Despite a lack of posts and varying levels of quarantine, Small Glowing Pig has a handful of projects in the cooker. Let the updating begin!

First, in late spring, Jefim, Steve, Devin, and I began writing some new tunes. Steve, Jefim, and I recorded a bunch of ideas and we’ve laid down partial tracks for six songs – two from each of us. Most of the bass, rhythm guitar, and percussion are done and there are vocals on two of the tracks. The progress has slowed a bit in the last month, but hopefully more will come of this at some point.

Next up, Steve Blonski and our Forefathers has not been abandoned, but is on a recording hiatus. One of our goals with the project was to get the instrument recording sounding the way we wanted and then take a few weeks to lay down each instrument in a sonically consistent and cohesive way. With COVID mucking up any chance at consistency in the short term (and long term?), we’ve decided to wait on this a bit rather than compromise on sound.

In the meantime, Steve and I have started writing for the next Ear Buds EP. Our timeline has us finishing up the demos of the new songs in the coming week and then taking August to record the proper versions of each track. We’re also planning to change the formula a bit. There will still be a few songs that we write and “pass off” to each other for full re-recording, but we’re also going to record some tracks and have the other person build off of them to complete the song. It should result in an album that’s a little more varied than the stripped down original. If all goes according to plan, we’ll have a release ready in September.

Finally, here’s the mp3 version of the General Pancakes show from a year ago at The Cue in Danbury. Enjoy!

GP Live at the Cue 2019.07.31

General Pancakes2016

Wild World
Daniel
No Woman No Cry
Won't Back Down
Ziggy Stardust
Comedy Night Advertisement
Crazy
Bad Leroy Brown
Easy
Brown Eyed Girl
Mary Jane's Last Dance
Last Call for Raffle Tickets
Hard Day's Night
Land Down Under
All Night Long
Santeria
Brandy
Jenny (8675309)
50-50 Raffle
Movin' Out
Stuck in the Middle with You
Superstition
Comedy Night Advertisement Reprise
Hey Jude

-Mike

Demos and Dead Political Figures

I was originally planning to put the demo tracks for Volume I of Ear Buds up about a month after the EP released, but here we are and it’s November already. That happened fast…

In any case, these are the original demo tracks. We passed these to each other a year or so ago and then took another few months to learn them, practice them, and record them.

01 – Edification Demo [download]

02 – Going Home Demo [download]

03 – Paint Demo [download]

04 – Moments Demo [download]

In other news, we’re in the thick of writing the next album. We’re finally getting around to an idea Steve had probably a decade ago for an R&B album about the founding fathers. Who else could be more qualified for this endeavor than the two of us? We’ve written parts of seven songs and are at the point where we can arrange them and fill out lyrics and melody. The goal is to have some demos laid down in the next few months so that we can practice and then record before/during the summer of 2019. Hopefully we’ll have more to talk about soon!

-Mike

We’re on the cover!

After completing the most recent season of Duck House, Blonski and I decided that we’d tackle a shorter project before delving into something long-term again.  Season 4 took about a year and a half to complete, and we were eager to turn some music around more quickly.

This time, we found our challenge in a new way of writing and recording.  Each of us would write and record live demos of two new originals using only acoustics and vocals.  Then, we’d learn each other’s songs and record them for the final EP.  Each song would be devoid of overdubs or layering – they’d be tracks we could theoretically play live just as they sound on the album.

And so, the Ear Buds project was born.  With Volume 1, we’ve got four tracks of singer/songwritery goodness for your collective ear holes.

Maybe we’ll do this once a year or something.  Maybe we’ll revisit these songs and record them as “full band” tracks one day.  Maybe we’ll take more photos of us awkwardly holding instruments and then put them on top of Hubble Telescope photographs of deep space.  Who knows!

Download the mp3s here, visit the discography page, watch a static image of the cover art over at YouTube, or visit Bandcamp for some FLACs!

-Mike