Archive for the ‘News’ Category

I made two more cassette mix tapes. Both have similar themes: Enticing yet dangerous; the lure of sex appeal mixed with the danger of a visually cute animal. To me, the hippo looks kind of like Fabio with lipstick on. Thanks to Sam Conklin for her direction and inspiration.

Art direction: Sam Conklin and Jeff Raudebaugh

Gluing and cutting: Jeff Raudebaugh

For more information regarding J RAUD’s mix tapes, and how to order one, go here.

At Home By Myself…With You (featuring Song), will be playing at The Station Cinema Film Festival in September. Tell your friends in the UK (across the great big pond) to go see it!

J RAUD & THE FIRING SQUAD’s upcoming album is about 70% complete. The title is Dance of Words. Its projected release date is sometime in the Fall of this year. Most of the songs were written between September 2009 and May 2010. Ryan Minton is producing, with assistance from Bryan Bowman and me.

Songwriting Process

When I write a song, I like to work quickly. My lyrics and music are usually finished after about 15-45 minutes. I edit later. Artistic clarity is brief.  I usually write after an epiphany or a summation of thoughts I’ve had over the course of days or months. The songs are helpful to me (that’s why I write). I also hope others can discover something from them and be a part of them.

The songs for Dance of Words were written while I was sitting at a desk, guitar in lap, and typing out lyrics on my computer. I would look out the window. The words just came to me like epiphanies do.

More updates to come…for your reading pleasure, lyrics for “The Ego Song” from Dance of Words are below.

The Ego Song

I’ve been going through day to day

Waiting for a change

Wait could make me new, not stay the same?

I live in a world where humans are robots

And robots stay the same

Have I lost all feeling? I’ll be lucky when I’m blue

Chorus:

Take my money, take my clothing, take my car

Take my status, take my ego too

Take my blindness, take my narrow-mindedness

Take my heartache, take my selfish nature too

-

It’s a matter of sane

This day to day

What could make a change?

Though my heart stays the same

I live in a world where humans are robots

And robots stay the same

Have I lost all feeling? I’ll be lucky when I’m blue

(Repeat Chorus)

I made a new casette mix tape. This one was inspired by a dictator-looking frog.

My album “Nickels & Dimes” is 5 years old this year.

This album took a long time to create. All of the tracks were recorded between 2001 and 2004. They were recorded in a don’t fret over the mistakes (punk folk?) manner, in my Dad’s basement, when I’d come home from college during breaks.  There are so many different styles and sounds incorporated on the album: electronic, folk, alt-country, psychedelic, and more. Its chaotic, messy nature was either loved or loathed (or somewhere in-between) by people who heard it.

I found an old review of the album here.

Give a listen to a few tracks (and read about each) from “Nickels & Dimes” below:

Candy Cigarettes This song was created from scratch over a period of 3-4 hours on a sunny day in 2001.The lyrics were made up on the spot. The vocal you hear on the recording is me ad-libbing (sort of like what a lot of rappers do, although done in the genre of folk pop). Inspiration for the chime sound hook came from the tubular bells at McCurdy Park in Owosso, MI. It’s reminiscent of a Beatles song.

Red Rover I had the keyboard part for this kicking around in my head for months. In 2004, I finally came up with a vocal part from just joking around and having fun. You can hear my ecstasy in the Jerry Lee Lewis piano at the end.

Running Out Of Batteries This one was written in 2002, I believe. I used to write songs while standing alone in my Dad’s kitchen, looking out the window at birds and butterflies, and this was one that was written that way. I didn’t record it until about 2 years later, because for a long time I couldn’t get the right sound. This song is best done in a sparse way. One of my favorites.

NEW MUSIC RELEASE!

J RAUD’s mix tapes are limited availability cassette tapes consisting of 22 songs per tape. Each tape is a compilation of various songs recorded between the years 2000-2009. The songs included are fan favorites, rare instrumentals, and various album tracks, all performed in various musical stylings. The artwork is handmade and individualized so no two tapes look the same. Currently, there are two volumes of music available at shows for $5 each.  

If you can’t make it to a show and are interested in ordering a tape, go to the “Mix Tape” section of this website for further details.

Every time new tapes are released, pictures will be posted of them. The tapes shown below have already been sold at the Wonderland Ballroom show, so I have to make more!

“At Home By Myself…With You“, the romantic comedy film featuring “Song” by J RAUD, has been selected to showcase at the Marché du Film, which runs during the Cannes Film Festival this May! What a pleasant surprise for a movie made with such a small budget, mainly from pocket change donations. 

I have a number of updates:

A) You can listen to J RAUD on last.fm, an internet radio station. Go here to listen!

B) You can rate three of my albums at rate yourmusic.com.

C) If you have not obtained a copy of “Naked as a Jay Bird”, J RAUD’s newest release, you can purchase it through iTunes or CDBaby. You can also download individual tracks. To preview songs, go to the music section of this website.

ALSO: A new limited special musical/ artistic release will be for sale soon! More details to come shortly.

“At Home By Myself…With You” featuring “Song” by J RAUD, will be released on DVD! It’s official release date is April 20. To pre-order a copy, go to AMAZON.