It’s been a little while since I posted anything on the website… and with good reason! My last bulletin was written while I was in the throes of moving house and making any progress with the forthcoming album ‘House of Cards’ was proving difficult to say the least. I am, however, pleased to announce that recording is finally over! Whoohoo!
Fourteen months. That’s how long it has taken to record this album. I’d like to say it has been ‘on and off’ but to be honest, short of heading into the office each day, it’s been pretty much ‘on’. With the exception of moving house (and the small matter of dismantling and resurrecting the recording studio within), 99% of my free time has been dedicated to working on the ‘House of Cards’ project. Of course, we’re not out of the woods yet (there’s the small matter of mixing, mastering, artwork, promotion yadda yadda…) but the completion of the recording represents a huge milestone in the project’s history and one that I am very pleased to announce. Removing myself from the distractions of online interaction has been a key contributor to freeing up enough time to finish this important part of the project, so I hope this goes some way to explaining my absence of late.
Looking back, my original prediction of ‘oh it should only take about six months to record’ seems extraordinary. Even though I based this on the length of time I had spent in the recording studio for the Overdrawn At The Memory Bank album, it is fair to say that I completely underestimated the amount of work I’d set for myself this time around. ‘House of Cards’ has been a hugely ambitious project, and I’ve continually added to my workload by introducing new arrangements and production ideas as things have evolved. Add to this the huge overestimation I made when I considered the amount of time I would actually have available to record the album and you can start to see why things have taken so long. And did I mention I played all the instruments too?! Well, nearly all of them… 
If my original forecast had been correct and I’d muttered ‘fourteen months’ as I planned the timeline then there is every chance I would have shied away from the project altogether. Don’t forget, this is in addition to six months worth of songwriting. Putting my life on hold for almost two years has been frustrating, and even more so for those around me. It’s true to say that I have seen just a handful of people during the history of ‘House of Cards’, but friends have been patient, understanding and appreciative of what it is that I’m trying to achieve. For this I am thankful, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my long suffering girlfriend (I think I’ll wait a while to mention the triple CD concept album I’ve got planned next hehe )
I’m not complaining of course. This commitment is entirely self inflicted; after all, I didn’t have to record an album did I? Wouldn’t a song or two here and there have sufficed?! Well no, not really. You know what it’s like when you get the bit between your teeth… Despite my early intention of creating a four or five song EP, the ‘House of Cards’ project soon evolved into something that was going to have to be delivered in a ‘long play’ format, and without compromise.
As mentioned above, had I fully appreciated the strain and the level of work I was about to give myself then I am certain the ‘House of Cards’ album would have been shelved indefinitely. This would have been a personal disaster as I have had such a clear vision for the project, but the ’sensible’ thing to do would have been to break it down into manageable chunks, perhaps across several releases. In a perverse way I’m glad I made such a gargantuan miscalculation during the original planning stages; this ensured the project got underway as I had intended.
The next stage is to mix the album, a task that I will be undertaking myself. This isn’t going to be a particularly quick process (yes, I’ve finally learned to approach the timeline with caution!) but I am confident that things should move pretty swiftly once the first song or two are out of the way. I will keep you posted as each song is completed. The album will then be professionally mastered ready for release. We really are getting close(r) now! Haha!
I haven’t forgotten that I promised you a free single as soon as the album was finished. I stand by this pledge and you have my word that prior to the release of ‘House of Cards’ there will be a single available for you to download – gratis! I hope this goes some way to expressing my appreciation for your patience while I’ve regularly repeated the words ‘almost finished, update to follow’ at you parrot-fashion…
Wot no Reardon? A parrot(t), yesterday.
Well that’s it for now, but I’ll get back into the swing of updating the website, picking up where I left off with the 30 Day Song Challenge (well I didn’t say which 30 days did I?!) and I invite you to get involved over at the Audio Justice Facebook page, the Audio Justice Twitter page and here at www.audiojustice.com using the comments form below this blog entry. I look forward to chatting with you.
Thanks again for your continued support.
Dan
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