Living Bodies

(e)

So without further ado...we present to you our sweat and toil of the last 6 months. Living Bodies. Late last night I sat, once again with my head down on the table, a speaker at each ear and a smile on my face. I knew that it was done and ready for anyone who would open their ears to listen. It feels good to finally complete this project and be able to move on to the next stages of our life as Flights. I couldn't be happier with these songs and I truly hope that you enjoy them/hate them/love them/feel them/make them your own. Along with Brian's now 4 jobs and two internships and my new film on the way our lives have never been busier, but I know that I can say for the both of us that the music we are creating here makes us feel more truly alive than anything else we produce. And really, isn't that the point of living, to truly feel alive.

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(b)

It's finally done. The four songs we recorded in Winter are here, for your consumption as well, not just ours anymore. We wouldn't have it any other way, after hearing, manipulating, and slaving over these songs the past 6 months. I know we've said it or at least hinted at the fact the songs were finished. This time it's a reality.

So, I'll let you in on what we're going to be doing as Flights. We're going to be releasing Packages to our mailing list members. These packages will include any of the following: songs, films, stories, art in various ways, and other forms of media that we create. It's exciting for us and shortly we're going to ask you all to participate with us (more details to come).

To receive Packages, all you need to do is sign up for the mailing list. Anyone who signs up will receive the first package - "Living Bodies". This includes our 4 new songs and lyric sheets. In the coming days, you'll receive another package - "Old Wings". This will have photos and the performance video we did for our song, Old Wings.

Here's the mailing list you need to sign up for. We promise never to spam you or send you anything that isn't worthy of taking up a spot in your email inbox.

Lamps!

(b)

I decided to go back to Milwaukee this past weekend to spend some time with my girlfriend, Kate Loehrer. She's a photographer from that area - does really good stuff on her own. Clicking on her name will direct you to her photo journal. Support more artists!

Anyways, we were sitting around one night and didn't have the luxury of turning to Conan (it was Sunday) for entertainment. As one might expect being in such a desperate position as we were, we started to turn the big wheels in our brains. She's a crafty person. I'm not. Her "Want to help me decoupage!?!" was met with a half-hearted "...Yes!". She knows me too well at this point. Idea scratched.

What started as "hey, let me take a picture of you" turned into playing around with lamps. Much to her dismay, I wanted to bring the lamps to life. After my thought of having them become a family was erased from our imaginary board of ideas, we decided to give them all their own traits, without much of a story.

For people who like stats (me, remember the previous post about job applications?), it took us about 2 and a half hours, and required 159 pictures. I should also mention that the music is Tenuousness by Andrew Bird.

So here is the end product, our first go at producing a stop-motion film, our one-minute piece, "Lamps".

Think Tank Pow Wow

(e)

Every time you create something and it sits complete in front of you, you ask yourself the question "Is this perfect to me?" This is the question that I was faced with when I sat, my head down on the table, a Bose speaker at each ear, listening to "Living Bodies" complete for the first time. The answer I came up with was "No". Because of this I scrapped most of the melody and lyrics to "Dead Bodies" and started fresh...again. To say that I am being very picky with this song is an understatement but I know from experience that a small feeling of dissatisfaction can soon turn into a giant feeling of regret and disappointment. From the beginning I wanted these songs to be the best music we have ever made and I feel, with just a little more creation and a little more work, that they will be soon. One song that we were very happy with was "Old Wings". This song is now up exclusively on this blog and we couldn't be happier. I promise, soon, all four songs will be complete and in your hands. Until then, I will keep my pen writing and my voice moving. I hope you enjoy "Old Wings".

Writing's On The Wall

(b)

It's been far too long since we wrote. We've been through one of the worst moves possible (albeit to a great space for us), and some of the most stressful times financially. All of this surrounding us while trying to finish up the songs. The last song we're working on is Dead Bodies. Eric has come up with melodies, recorded them, and in the same day thrown them away...a few times. I promise, it's going to be good. Songs that get worked on this much have momentum behind them.
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I should update on the move. Here's what happened, in chronological order. Eric came to Chicago from Boston in the middle of May to stay in my apartment through July and then get a place with Alec as well (yep, the band is going to be all in one place). You might have seen the move in a video Eric made of his trip. So the end of June comes and we're just starting to clean and pack up for our move on July 1st. My door, which was never used this way before, startled me with loud clacks. The kind of noise you know doesn't bring good news. We do have a buzzer but I suppose the landlord doesn't give a shit. Anyway, the landlord promptly tells us through a thick Western European accent that we have "to move by tomorrow noon". Needless to say, we were stuck with all of our belongings and no where to put them, or ourselves for that matter, for just a tiny gap in time. 20 hours to be exact.

The plan for us was: A.) sleep next to all of our stuff for the night on the curb or B.) move into my brother's condo for the night (old brick building, tiny elevator with two heavy doors to be held open - much harder than it may sound). We chose the second option, though somehow and at many points during the move to my brother's, the first seemed much more appealing. So the first day was Eric, my Dad and I moving a whole apartment into a condo, knowing the entire time we had to do it again tomorrow (though the next day would be just Eric and I). Next day rolls around, waking up at 7am to move, load, unload, repeat - we finish around 8pm. Finish meaning all of the boxes, mattresses, equipment taking up any and all floorspace in our new living room, hallway and kitchen.

Enough complaining. My conscious is just looking for a pat on the back for all of that good ol' work.

"Financial situation?!? Aren't you in a baaaaand?" Yes, and bands don't make any money. Even ones on "record labels" (what does that even mean to anyone anymore?). So we have to find jobs to pay for places we move in to and inhabit. We should also probably pay some sort of nuisance fee to all other tenants for every noise a band makes (not always musical). Anyways, I'm on my 27th application and I know Eric's tally is up there, though I know he doesn't have a running count. (The fact that I know and keep track is another blog for another time)
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I also want to let you in on a video we made a while ago at my old place. We came up with the idea for the song the same night we recorded this little video. It was one of those times where it fell into place - Eric had some chords, put them together, and I wrote some melodies over it. For your viewing pleasure:



We'll be using Vimeo from now on to host our film. Why? Because it looks better than YouTube and I'm a sucker for that attribute in websites.