Greetings all! Ya, sooo it's a mighty fine time for an update I'de say... very long overdue. Best way to catch everyone up to the recent haps is probably to check out this interview I did with the Austin Music Examiner last week about the forthcoming Sounds Under Radio release 'My Communist Heart' (on shelves, instores and available online March 30). Keep checking back here, at www.soundsunderradio.com or on myspace/facebook pages for new info about the release... when you'll be able to sample new things... tour dates supporting the new record... etc etc etc. We've been undercover for a bit working on this new record... but we have emerged. New things very soon. Until then... check out info about the new release here below- LAngLang Freeman of Sounds Under Radio talks being different in a changing industry
Austin band Sounds Under Radio has had a very busy studio year in 2009 working on a brand new album called “Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind” which will be released in two E.P.’s and later a full length album. Front man Lang Freeman talks with Austin Music Examiner about how the band is striving to stay different in an ever changing music industry.
Austin Music Examiner: What can be expected from the first of the two E.P.’s, “My Communist Heart,”set to release in late March?
Lang Freeman: Well... one of the goals with recording this record was to create something that was larger and more grand than anything we’ve ever done before... yet at the same time more create something more delicate and more intimate, and I do feel like we were successful in achieving that. With the recording of our first record 'Cinematica' we were still a band becoming... a band learning what and who we were going to be as artists all through the process of making a record... this record on the other hand differs in that we started with a foundational musical identity, but the challenge for ourselves was to grow from there, expand the framework, push our own boundaries as musicians, songwriters, artists and people in general. What we found was something very reflective of where we had been and what we had experienced the year prior both personally and professionally. There is far more angst, aggression and angularity in this new record... but it's balanced and juxtaposed by some far more delicate and what we feel very beautiful things. It's a record about finding those balances.
Austin Music Examiner: What can be expected from the second E.P. “My Capitalist Mind” to be released later in the year?
Lang Freeman: So the second EP, planned for release later this year, is really going to be an extension and conclusion of sorts to the 'My Communist Heart' EP. The two pieces were written to be one continuous movement... we write song singularly yes, but our natural tendency as writers is to write in a themed record format. That's how we feel we can best express the things we are trying to say. I love the drama of a full length record that takes you somewhere from song 1 to song 10... and this was our goal for writing this record. A themed element, a thread that made the album a compositional and unified whole. So... the second EP can almost be considered a second act... the time between the releases as somewhat of a theatrical intermission. Like I said, we're drawn to the dramatic elements of records and the sense of theater that a great record can create... and in my mind, what better way to create that drama than to have a strongly definable and hard set spot to breath in the middle? That was the concept.
Austin Music Examiner: Will a full length be released out of these two E.P.’s? If so, what can be expected from that combination?
Lang Freeman: Yes yes, yes... the plan is most definitely to at some point release the 2 EP's as a fully realized and combined album that is 'Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind'. We have a good number of ideas for that combination floating around and we're still sorting through them all honestly... though the core plan is to combine some elements of visual arts and other multimedia to the package so that the record is not just simply the 2 EP's stitched together. The plan is for something much more... not just your normal record... we want to build an experience for the listener that goes far beyond the normal "put CD in player or iPod and press play" experience. We are very much in to exploring the combinations of artistic medium... and we're going to try to use the full length release as a palate or canvas for that.
Austin Music Examiner: What was the idea behind the concept of releasing an album in two parts/two E.P.’s and then combining them?
Lang Freeman: Well, the modern music industry is a very changed place these days... in a certain sense it's frightening at times because really... there are no more standards and there are no more steadfast rules as to how ones is supposed to go about releasing their music... but in that, it's also a completely liberating and and exciting place to be. It's a wonderfully open ended environment for independent bands and artists to release things and reach people in completely different and unique ways, we're no longer locked in to 'record cycles' and standard formats for release. It's actually quite an inspired time in the industry if you can look at it optimistically. So with that all in mind we decided to try something different with the release or with these releases as it may be of 'Where My Communist Heart Meets My Capitalist Mind'... we write, record and appreciate the full length LP record format... but we wanted to go about presenting that in a different way this time. We are not reinventing the wheel by any means... but we're exploring different ways to reach people and different avenues to get new music to our fans with consistency while giving new ears a chance to hear and experience what we do.
Austin Music Examiner: What was the idea and inspiration behind the titles of these releases?
Lang Freeman: Well, the titles of each EP really serve the greater conceptual good of the combined record... yes, this is a album about politics, but is neither about domestic/ international affairs nor about communism or capitalism directly for that matter... it’s about people, and the internal politics of the self. This is an album about the HEAD versus the HEART... and how we as individuals choose to cope with their agreements and their disagreements, and what happens when they either align or don't. It's about how we try to influence them, and then all the successes and setbacks we can find at each turn. The head and heart often rest in polar opposition for whatever reason.... yet can in the right moments blissfully align. This record is about how those things affect us and those around us, those that we love and those that love us... and ultimately what that struggle does to us as people, what it does to the self and what it does to the relationships we build. This record is in a sense a dialog speaking to that struggle and the things we learn and discover from it.
Austin Music Examiner: What can be expected to be seen from Sounds Under Radio in 2010 besides the new releases?
Lang Freeman: Touring touring touring. We've been on the road consistently for the last few years and we are eager to get back to say the least. The process of recording a record is a time consuming and arduous one... it’s a labor of love no doubt but it keeps you stationary. So, in that labor we are excited about taking these new songs and presenting them to audiences in the best way that we know how... by performing live. So for 2010 you can expect us to be releasing these EP's and record, touring like madmen, writing new songs, recording new songs and trying to reach people in any way that we can.
Look for Sounds Under Radio to be under "Austin Examiner Band Watch" in 2010 as this band continues to put their signature touches on the Austin Music industry. Keep updated on band news from their myspace www.myspace.com/soundsunderradio. Many thanks to Lang Freeman for his time with this interview.
