Here we are! We cannot believe we are
on the verge of recording our first full-length record. It
simultaneously feels like we've been a band for a long, long time and
also like it was just last week that we started jamming the first
tunes that would become Marmalakes songs ("Ghost of Jeff,"
"Dance," "Adam's House," "Martha &
Carol"—a handful of you remember those I bet) in the Halpern
extra bedroom, in the Aldridge garage apartment, in whatever space we
could borrow that we could set up a couple mics, amps and drum kit.
Hearing the first songs from the bare bones of a half-confident voice
over fumbling acoustic-bound fingers first take shape by being
filtered through the heads of three best friends and remolded into
something grander, more energized, durable and (most importantly)
more fun to play was a bizarre and gratifying era.
That process has become familiar in
many ways, yet there is still some mystery, some magic that shoots
sparkles through the brain when you land that first take of the new
chorus, that first start and stop going into the third verse that
makes you want to do it again and again and then muster the courage
to put it in front of an audience. Back then, it was our closest
friends, our sisters and parents, the guy making pizzas and maybe the
half-drunk wanderer whom we played for. Luckily many of the folks
who've carried us this far are still rocking the front row, clapping
along with "Vittoria" and showing the newcomers the unfamiliar twists.
Touring consistently over the past
year, we have connected with many new friends and sincere listeners
who have taken the time to care about our songs, who care about us
through our songs and who we owe a lot more music to.
Over the last half-decade we have
independently booked and managed ourselves through three self-released EPs, a 7-inch split with our friends The Sour Notes (No
Play) and a 10-inch split with Belaire via Austin non-profit
Attendance Records in which we co-wrote three songs with high school
students. Last summer we hired our manager, Travis Newman, who has
made us a much more dynamic and capable team. Since last August we
have been on five national tours looping through the Midwest,
Northeast and South and back through Texas. We've been fortunate
enough to play at many of our favorite venues in the country
including The Bowery Ballroom, Double Door, The Bottleneck, and The
Hamilton, in addition to being selected to officially showcase for
the first time at CMJ Music Marathon in New York this October. This
will be our third major festival having showcased at South By Southwest in 2012 and 2013.
And now…the next step is here: THE
FULL-LENGTH RECORD, the debut LP. And just like playing shows, just
like touring the country, just like everything we do—we cannot do
it alone.
We have scheduled a week in November at The Echo Lab in Denton, Texas with award-winning producer
Danny Reisch. As you can probably imagine, however fun it is, making
a full-length record is a time-consuming, complex and expensive
process.
The songs are written and we are
currently making demos to ensure this record is of the highest
quality, but before we can really set forth on this exciting
undertaking, we will need to gather the necessary funds. We know
$25,000 sounds like a ton of money to ask for, but broken down below
you can see where the money is going.
- Initial Tracking at The Echo Lab
(Denton, TX)
- Overdub Tracking at Good Danny's
(Austin, TX)
- Hiring a Producer
- Hiring an Engineer
- Session Musicians
- The Mixing Process
- The Mastering Process
- Pressing the Vinyl and CDs
- Hiring a Visual Artist to Design the
Cover
- 3 Weeks of Migas Tacos and Iced
Coffee
Lastly, we want
to express our gratitude to everyone who has helped us over the years
in our hometown and all the new friends we've met in their hometowns.
We are very fortunate—we travel around the country playing songs,
acquainting ourselves with new cities and meeting people that
energize us and intensify our need to continue making, sharing and
trying. If it were not for the kindnesses, hospitable will and
sincere gratitude we've received over the past years, we would
certainly not be this excited to keep growing and moving forward.
Whether or not you are able to contribute, thank you for reading,
thank you for listening and thank you for making this all possible.
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A GREAT RECORD!
One last huge thank you to Erik Gatling, the man behind our videos.