EP Club Newsletter: Vol. 4
Submitted by paul on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 21:26.Hello friends,
Paul DeGeorge writing to you today. Thank you for taking the time to read the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Newsletter: Volume 4.
Current subscribers should note that the 3rd mailing of EPs had been delayed by a few weeks. This is mostly due to busy times at the pressing plant as well as some delays in getting artwork settled. If all goes well from here on out, Matt should have the CDs in-hand by October 17th and will start shipping them out probably around October 20th. Sorry for the delay. These CDs are worth the wait!
In the meantime, those looking for a taste of what's to come in the 3rd shipment can head over to the following myspace pages to hear songs from the upcoming releases:
Harry and the Potters - listen for "Expulsion During Disapparation"
the Nifflers - featuring 3 songs from their upcoming EP!
Big Whompy - check out "Whompy Iz A Gangsta"
And for those who haven't yet subscribed to the club, this gives you two more weeks to do so. If you subscribe now, you'll be getting shipped 9 CDs towards the end of the month, which include not only the 3 bands listed above, but also releases from the Mudbloods, Gred and Forge, the Hermione-Crookshanks Experience, Catchlove, Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills and the Gryffindor Common Room Rejects!
There are still a handful of subscriptions left, so subscribe now!
Remember: all proceeds from the Wizard Rock EP Club subscriptions go to support First Book and the Harry Potter Alliance!
I'll take a moment now to tell you about the upcoming EP from Harry and the Potters (July 2008). This is the first album where Joe and I recorded everything ourselves. If you've followed our band over the years, you know that our drum stool has been a revolving door of characters. I just tried to listing it out and, to my best recollection, we've had at least 12 different people playing drums for us during the past 6 years. This EP marks the first time that Joe and I have gotten behind the kit. This is maybe the most "punk rock" stuff we have recorded yet, because it literally captures us picking up an instrument and playing and learning it for the first time. I'm not saying it's a pretty experience, but these songs definitely capture the sort of primal urgency that can be missing from so many recordings. We recorded it over 2 days in our parents basement on a Tascam cassette 4-track without any overdubs (except of one rippin' guitar solo). You can hear one song on our Myspace right now and we look forward to sharing the rest with you soon!0
And now, let's hear from some of the other bands!
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The Basilisk in Your Pasta (October 2008) writes in from France to say:
So far, we only have three songs fully recorded, but next week we'll record the rest of them, for your listening pleasure :) Our summer's been pretty awesome and it ended on a perfect note when we went to spend a week in the countryside where we celebrated our one year anniversary... We even baked a cake and everything! :) We ended up practicing our songs, thinking about new ones, etc. We can't wait to record our songs and the hear all the other EPs from the other bands. We're really glad to be a part of this and hope you'll enjoy our EP! (you can hear "Bad Guy" and Potterwatch" on our myspace page). Thanks to all of you who suscribed! We love you!
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Of his forthcoming EP, the Giant Squidstravaganza (December 2008) writes:
BEWARE OF SCIENTISTS, THOSE BASTARDS!!!!!!!
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Amber from the Gryffindor Common Room Rejects (February 2008) writes:
The summer was incredible amounts of major awesome. Shawn and I got to meet and see a bunch of the bands from the EP of the Month Club, which was so great. I'm so proud of every single one of the bands that are a part of this project. What I've heard so far is, without a doubt, the best there is when it comes to WizRock and I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for the next installment of EPs (which I keep in my car and listen to constantly). That being said, The Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club was the catalyst for GCR.Squared to become a better band. Being a part of this club gave us a reason to pump up our volume and add a guitar, because before this we were the wall-flowers of Wizard Rock. Shawn and I are immensely grateful to Paul and Matt, both of whom we love and adore, for giving us this opportunity, for sharing our music with such dedicated wizard rock fans, and for having faith in us.
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Fun times ahead:
In late October, the Whomping Willows will be heading out on tour with EP club colleague Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills. They will be turing this tour into a HP Alliance chapter that focuses on poverty on a domestic and international level. This tour will be raising money for disaster relief in Haiti. See the Whomping Willows Myspace page for tour dates and details!
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Once again, let me remind you all that the Wizard Rock EP Club is the ONLY place where you can get these CDs, so subscribe now because spaces are limited!
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In other news, the Wizard Rock EP Club seeks interns!
Are you a wizard? Do you want to work with us to raise money for awesome charities and non-profits? We're seeking very, very, very responsible people to help with CD MAILINGS, PUBLICITY, and GRAPHIC DESIGN. If any of those areas seem to excite you then please email us at wizardrockEPclub at gmail dot com. These internships are unpaid and are relatively small, but very important, commitments. Expect a couple hours/week of work at most. We don't really need resumes or any official application, but do please send us something that indicates to us that you are a responsible/intelligent/trustworthy individual with a passion for ______. Impress us!
Thanks for being a part of this,
P. T. DeGeorge
Harry and the Potters
EP Club Newsletter: Vol 3
Submitted by paul on Wed, 09/03/2008 - 23:07.
Hey y'all,
It's time for Volume 3 of the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club Newsletter! Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but both Matt and I have been pretty busy with touring for most of the summer. But now we're both back at homebase and getting ready to send off the 3rd Awesome Mailing of EPs at the end of this month. For those already subscribed, you stand near your mailbox because you won't want this package to be sitting in there too long because this sh*t is HOT! New EPs headed your way from the Nifflers and Harry and the Potters as well as the debut from BIG WHOMPY!
In the last newsletter I promised to tell you a bit about the new Harry and the Potters EP, but that will have to wait until Vol. 4 because I'd rather talk about the Mudbloods. I had the pleasure of seeing them live for the first time at Terminus and they totally blew me away. When they performed during the live Pottercast, they had the room absolutely electrified - and this was all with a couple acoustic guitars and no mics! I hope some of you had a chance to see them on their tour this summer. And if you didn't, then I'm happy to tell you that you can still subscribe to the EP Club and get their incredible EP, "A War Amidst Pop Songs," which features the song, "I Wish You'd Be My Witch," - an absolutely necessary inclusion on any wizard rock love-mix tape.
There are still a handful of subscriptions left, so subscribe now!
I recently uploaded 3 news songs from the last batch of EPs. Check out our Myspace page to hear new stuff from the Hermione Crookshanks Experience, the Mudbloods, and Gred and Forge!
Now, I'll share the floor with the Nifflers and Big Whompy, who will both give you guys a preview of what to expect from their upcoming EPs.
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From the Nifflers:
The Nifflers have never been more proud about music they have put out. We finished our EP back in early June with the help of our amazing dear friend Christian from Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls and we have created something that, we think, is sure to surprize you for music a smaller band put out. We have put a really good amount of our most favourite songs we have ever made on this EP and we hope that it will get you clapping along. We are proud, and honored that the Nifflers music is coming out with two of the most awesome bands in Wizard Rock. We just want to thank Big Whompy for choosing us and Uncle Carl for all his love.
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From Big Whompy:
Yo, what up witches and wizzards,
Big Whompy in tha hizzay wit tha 411 on my new EP, word. I bin rollin 'cross tha atlas in my six fo' jus tryna keep it real all summa, nex' thing i know HP's in my blackberry tellin' me my shiznit's bout to drop. An' I be like soilin my draws cuz I bin waitin on dat fo'cast fo' like eva! This product be real, dawg! Five trax guaranteed to make yo' main squeeze drop her panties, word! This be doper than Kanye and Snoop put 2getha! I ain't even braggin, jus' tellin' it like it is. We got Dumbledore in the hiz, we got my boys D-Malf and JFF tearin it up. Yo' street cred's gun' getta boost just receivin' this sh*t in the mail! Ungh!
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And now Justin Finch-Fletchley drops some knowledge:
Hey everyone!
I’m writing to remind you all that if you haven’t subscribed yet the 2008 Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club you better hurry up! The next mailings are at the end of September and if you’re a subscriber you’re going to get EP’s by HARRY AND THE POTTERS, THE NIFFLERS, and BIG WHOMPY. I’m pretty excited about this mailing because this is the first triplet set that I’ve heard prior to the mailing and all three of these EP’s are fantastic! Have you ever heard Big Whompy drop some free-styling gangsta wizard rap before? The Nifflers totally niffle it up and the Potters bring it back to their “roots”….and then back again!!!
Oh, wait, there’s more!
If you’re going to be a new subscriber you’re also going to receive the other EP’s that have already been released for 2008.
-You’ll get Gred and Forge’s prankstatic EP “What Witches Want” and if you’re a witch or a wizard why would you not want more Gred and Forge in your play list?
-You’re going to get the Hermione Crookshanks Experience’s EP “Penelope” so you can hear how lovely Kristine’s voice and music sounds in EP format.
-You’re going to get Catchlove’s EP “Wake Up Harry”. It’s your chance to toast with your friends to the great Albus Dumbledore!
-You’re going to get the Gryffindor Common Room Rejects EP “Still Recruiting”. Shawn and Amber are the funniest and coolest girls I know south of Orlando and so is their EP.
-You’re going to get my EP “Hufflepizza” and it’s full of studio recordings of most of the songs I played to you on this summer’s tour!
-And you’re going to receive the highly acclaimed EP from the Mudbloods “A War Amidst Pop Songs.” This EP is beautiful and is full of love and war and fun.
Okay. Go subscribe. www.wizardrockclub.com. Proceeds from the EP Club benefit First Book and the Harry Potter Alliance. That means that as a subscriber you’re going to help give children the opportunity to read their first books and also help fight the Dark Arts in the real world.
Take care and thank you,
JFF
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This is the ONLY place where you can get these CDs, so subscribe now because spaces are limited!
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In other news, the Wizard Rock EP Club seeks interns!
Are you a wizard? Do you want to work with us to raise money for awesome charities and non-profits? We're seeking very, very, very responsible people to help with CD MAILINGS, PUBLICITY, and GRAPHIC DESIGN. If any of those areas seem to excite you then please email us at wizardrockEPclub at gmail dot com. These internships are unpaid and are relatively small, but very important, commitments. Expect a couple hours/week of work at most. We don't really need resumes or any official application, but do please send us something that indicates to us that you are a responsible/intelligent/trustworthy individual with a passion for ______. Impress us!
Thanks for being a part of this,
P. T. DeGeorge
Harry and the Potters
EP Club Banners!
Submitted by paul on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 20:52.Sweet new EP Club Banners made by Jace (Catchlove)
Post it on your webface today!
Wizard Rock EP Club: Newsletter #2
Submitted by paul on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 22:48.Hey guys,
Paul DeGeorge (aka Harry Year 7) here to introduce you to Volume 2 of our awesome EP Club Newsletter. I thought I would use this opportunity to give you a little insight on what's involved in running the EP Club. Today, we're talking about packaging!!!!
If you've already joined the EP Club, then you've seen the first three releases from 2008 and you know how awesome they look, sound, and feel. This year, in honor of the Whomping Willow's participation, we've printed the jackets on 100% PCW recycled cardboard stock. The incredible design work you've seen on the sleeves was done by my dear friend and one of my favorite artists, Marty Allen. Marty plays in the band Uncle Monsterface and also produces and sells sock puppet portraits. Marty collects all the artwork from each band, as well as tracklists and liner information, and then seamlessly integrates them into the overall design aesthetic that he's crafted for this year's CD covers and discfaces. When that's done, we send them off to Bellwether Manufacturing, our CD manufacturer. They make sure everything is cool, send us some PDF proofs and then we tell them that everything is cool and they make the CDs.
We had a little hiccup in the process of manufacturing the 4th, 5th and 6th CDs. When we got the quotes back from Bellwether, we discovered that their CD jacket printer (a separate, contracted company from Canada) had raised their prices for printing on the cardboard sleeves. And this wasn't just a slight increase, they more than doubled the prices. This really freaked me out because at the new price level, it was going to cost us $6000 more than we anticipated to continue printing on these awesome cardboard sleeves.
Fortunately, the folks at Bellwether Manufacturing were super helpful. I've been working with them for 6 or 7 years now and they are great people who take a lot of pride in what they do and really care about making sure every project comes out right. The EP Club is a something they are really excited about, and so when the price increase came in, they were just as concerned as we were. They really went to bat for us with their jacket printer and were able to lock-in a much smaller price increase which will enable us to continue to print on the cardboard sleeves for the duration of the project. Their efforts saved us nearly $5000, so I'd like to use this opportunity to thank Michael McPeek and Kristin Londergan, of Bellwether Manufacturing. They are truly some of the unsung heros of this project.
In the next edition, I'll give you an update on the new Harry and the Potters EP. Joe and I recorded it a couple weeks ago in the basement and we're really pumped about it. We can't wait to share more with you.
From The Basilisk In Your Pasta:
So far it has been really great to build this project together, because as a gigantic band we all have ideas for songs and it's fun to experience different styles. As this EP will be our first release, we have decided not to go for a specific theme or genre, we are just going to record any song that is ready. The EP will then be a kind of compilation of all the member's songs- because there are some that we wrote all together, and others that were invented by only 2 or 3 members of the band. For example, Nelly wrote "Bad Guy" on her own, and then Glutte added some chords to it. Also, we include a lot of our friends into the band, whether it's for writing lyrics, playing guitar or singing- because the whole thing about our band is to share the fun with as many people as possible. Lately, we haven't been able to see each other a lot to rehearse, but hopefully when everyone is on vacation we will write some more kickass songs! That's it for the update, we'll keep you posted :) Oh and Lou just called me to say that we received the EPs, I can't wait to listen to them!
From The Nifflers:
Update time baby boo!
Our recording from the EP of the month club has gone so well over these past few months. Our tracks our better than we could have ever hoped for and we think you'll think the same when you hear the EP. If you haven't noticed yet our page has a brand spanking new version of the smash hit song "Sweater For Christmas."It was just uploaded last week-ish. I'm in love with this new version, it's too sweet. The new electric parts, Christian from Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls put in, is sooooooo good. So if you have the time please feel free to check it out along with our other new songs if you have not heard them yet. There is still one more song coming that is being brought back from the grave of Nifflers songs, and it is going to kick mega butt. I'm not just blowing smoke either. That song is in the works and should hopefully be finished by the end of the month.
Both the Nifflers want to thank our amazing buddy Christian, from Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls, for helping us record and mix our songs. Without him we wouldn't be able to give the subscribers the best. You can check him out at www.myspace.com/oliverboydandtheremembralls.
Finally, here's an awesome video of Matt and Justin packaging CD mailings! Woo!
www.wizardrockclub.com
Wizard Rock EP Club: Newsletter #1
Submitted by paul on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 00:27.Hello friends,
This is the first installment of the EP of the Month Club’s official newsletter! Every two weeks or so, we’ll be updating you with the club’s latest happenings, including glimpses into each participating band’s experience recording and ultimately receiving their new EPs. We’ll also include anecdotes from Paul and Matt about the complicated process of running a charitable CD subscription service. This first issue includes updates from The Whomping Willows, The Gryffindor Common Room Rejects, and The Giant Squidstravaganza! In addition, we have a review of Justin Finch-Fletchley’s EP, courtesy of fellow Club participant Gred and Forge!
From The Whomping Willows:
Hi everyone!
My EP is due to the manufacturer in about a month, and I’ve yet to actually begin recording it. This is because I’ve been working on a million other things over the past month, and I haven’t had any time to spare. But I have been writing lyrics for my Treestylin’ EP, some of which I’ve sampled on my youtube channel (youtube.com/thewhompingwillows). Currently I’m working on lyrics for “Cover Your Junk,” a song about how one should be careful when taking a bath at Hogwarts, because Moaning Myrtle might be hanging around trying to sneak glimpses of one’s private parts. Oh yes, I was very pleased when I heard that this would not be considered inappropriate for the EP Club.
In mid-April I spent roughly 22 hours packaging and sending out the first shipment of EPs. It was quite a process. I just kept thinking about how awesome the CDs were and how much people were going to enjoy them. From what I’ve heard, we have a bunch of very happy customers so far. I am really looking forward to the next round of CDs!
From the Desk of a Gryffindor Reject:
On Friday something too amazing for words arrived in my mailbox. I held three of the most beautiful EPs I'd ever seen in my hands. In early February GCR.Squared had the incredible pleasure to perform alongside both Justin and Jace, so I was really excited to hear their EPs. I popped the songs unto my iTunes and they've been on repeat ever since.
I've been singing "We're the Students at Hogwarts" all day. All of Catchlove's songs are just such good quality and so amazing. "Legacy of a Fallen Wizard" is the catchiest song I've ever heard. Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills never cease to amaze me. It's hard to put into words just how awesome he is. Whenever anyone one mentions a certain Bulgarian seeker, I have the uncontrollable urge to say, "Krum! Oh, Vicktor Krum! Oh, Vicktor Krum! Oh, we love you, Vicktor Krum!"
I took the copy of GCR.Squared's EP and pretty much showed it to anyone at school who would look because it was just that pretty. My teachers all approve of Marty's design. I signed on to MySpace, and we had new comments. Everyone likes that feeling, and it doesn't happen often for us because we're not very popular (We try, but alas...). So I check the comments, and we had something like four or five comments all telling us how much they liked our EP and how "The Moon and Stars" was completely awesome. It was a really cool feeling. And then we had an entire PAGE of friend requests. It was an amazing feeling. (Given, a page is ten, but it was still really cool.)
-Amber, Gryffindor Common Room Rejects
Update from the Giant Squidstravaganza:
I had originally intended to release a quadruple vinyl version of my EP, but Harry Potter said it would be too expensive and we wouldn't make enough money for the charity. I'm not sure that's a good enough reason to stifle my creativity, but whatever. I'm thinking of including a cooking segment, so if anyone has any good recipes for toast, email me at giantsquidrocks@yahoo.com and I'll try them out and if I like them, maybe I'll put them on my album.
A Review of Justin Finch-Fletchley’s “Hufflepizza” EP
Written by Jarrod of Gred and Forge:
"JFF's cd is like inserting a party into your stereo. But better."