Exitproject gig – Cellar Gate, Highwood, Illinois
Posted on | March 31, 2010 | 1 Comment
Exitproject
Cellar Gate, Highwood (view map)
Friday 9th April 2010
8:00pm
FREE
Cellar Gate (www.cellargate.com) is a wine market, so you’ll be able to get your hands on some seriously nice vino. We’re playing for about an hour, including the three newest tracks from our ‘write and record one song per month‘ plan.
If you’re car-less, the Metra drops off pretty close to the venue (visit Metra website).
Hope to see you there!
Beware the ides of March… song…
Posted on | March 25, 2010 | 4 Comments
We’ve just had an outcry for information about the March song. These videos pretty much say it all…
First we wrote this:
Then this happened:
Then we scrapped the whole thing and started from scratch…
Basically, it’s been a tricky month in exitproject-song-writing-land. We’re tackling a major subject and it’s causing mini rifts in where each of us wants the song to go… We both care a LOT about how this one turns out, it’s important, so we’re both sensitive about every little decision that’s being made.
One of the issues was that the NB thought the chorus was too repetitive – but I wanted the melody and lyrics in the chorus to stay ubersimple. I’ve been daunted by this unwritten chorus for weeks. I decided the only way to write about something so important was to keep it really simple – anything else would sound cheesy or trite. So we were at an impasse. The NB wanted a new chorus and I wouldn’t give up the existing one.
BUT!
Tonight MAJOR progress was made! I went out to rehearsal and returned to a chorus engineered so triumphantly perfectly gorgeously by the Ninja Butler that I was laughing out loud.
The March song is right on track now and we’re both relieved and glow-y… woop!
New track February 2010: Daylight
Posted on | March 7, 2010 | 30 Comments
It’s March now and February may now seem like a long distant memory, but I’ve only just had the chance to do a final mix and master of track 2 of our song-a-month challenge – so here it is.
The track is called “Daylight”, and is about taking action and not being wasteful.
Anyway we hope you enjoy it, and we enjoyed hearing your comments last time so please do keep them coming.
Daylight - Exitproject (10191) (right-click and choose ’save as’ to download)
Copyright Info
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
February’s track features birds tweeting *happiness*
Posted on | February 25, 2010 | No Comments
We spent tonight in the studio – first I pushed the buttons and J played the notes, then J pushed the buttons and I sang the notes. Then J started arranging the notes. Kinda like baking a cake… a cake you can hear.
And Exitproject said, ‘Let them hear cake.’
Or something.
But the high point of the evening actually came when we were arguing about the chorus. We were passive aggressively discussing if the piano should be syncopated or straight. But our heated debate evaporated when we heard some birds tweeting in the background of the vocal track.
GENIUS! You can just about hear the birds tweeting here:
Birds tweeting in the background 'Daylight' (4029)
(it’s right at the end of the clip – you’ll have to crank the volume to hear it.) It makes me EXTREMELY happy…
The February track is coming along, people! Feeling the burn a little, but I think that’s part of the reason we’re doing the one song per month thing. Come rain or come shine, February’s track is just around the corner.
Lyrics – Daylight
Posted on | February 16, 2010 | 2 Comments
Daylight lyrics - 1st page
Daylight lyrics - Page 2
——————————————————————————————–
There is no hiding place where daylight cannot find me, nowhere
Even underground it seeps under my nails and into my hair
Running is wasting in disguise, wasting is tragic in the daylight
Running is wasting in disguise, wasting is tragic in the daylight
Make believe that I am strong
But take away the daylight and I’m gone
Make believe that I’m the one
But take away the daylight and I’m done
Creeping slowly forward swallowing my words, only
Afraid the time it takes to uncover every story
Silent is complacent in their eyes, silence is tragic in the daylight
Silent is complacent in their eyes, silence is tragic in the daylight
Make believe that I am strong
But take away the daylight and I’m gone
Make believe that I’m the one
But take away the daylight and I’m done
——————————————————————————————–
This track kind of carries on from an older song of ours called Modern Times. It’s about a couple of things – it’s kind of a self-criticism about not being grateful for the things we have, it’s about not taking action when action is needed, and it’s about a ‘Good’ (with a capital ‘G’) that exists in the world that I think we all rely on (and without which we would crash and burn).
One of these days I’ll write some nice light hearted lyrics about sunshine or a summer’s breeze… or not. 
We like the cello, we like Canada – we have a Canadian cellist
Posted on | February 15, 2010 | 4 Comments
We posted on gumtree looking for a cellist a couple of months back and got a handful of responses. One response in particular stood out because of her impressive experience and total lack of ego. Score, right? Yeah, I know…
Enter Robin the cellist from Canada! We’ve had 4 or 5 rehearsals now and it’s shaping up really nicely. (I’m being reserved while writing this – trying to convey my actual excitement would involve constantly using all capital letters and setting the page to have the E.T. theme playing in the background… but in the interest of time…)
Now the North Americans out-number the English people in the band… the POWER! Although the Ninja Butler, with his ninja-butling skills could out-smart us both, I’m sure…
Seriously, though, it’s flippin’ fantastic to have Robin in the band. Quality musicianship and nationality aside, we all get along really well which is pretty as good as it gets.
Next we’re hunting for a synth / keyboard player to provide the weird noises. If anyone knows a synth player in Bristol, send ‘em my way. Otherwise – gumtree, here I come…
It was too slow, we had to start over
Posted on | February 13, 2010 | 1 Comment
It was an eventful day in the studio today… we’ve just limped out. Our head’s are sore from being squeezed by headphones and our ears are knackered from listening to the same verse and chorus for 3 hours…
J programming
But spirits in the camp are high! Recording has been done, progress has been made, tea has been swigged (and a special ‘thank you’ to Ben and Jill Weaver for supplying the AMAZING Betty’s biscuits for sustenance)
The first thing we realised when we listened to the tune was that it was too slow. Not great news, but I think we were relatively brave about it. I manned the controls while J laid down new acoustic guitar, bass and electric guitar parts.
J strumming
The aforementioned broken-tuning peg on the Les Paul finally gave up the ghost good-and-proper. J tuned the offending string with some pliers – rock n’ roll…
Broken tuning peg of dooooooom...
Then I did re-did a wheezy rough vocal (I have a sore throat) so J could get down to some serious production-action.
The tune has changed a lot since the last session, but I’m having trouble putting the differences into words. It’s probably because we’ve been listening to it so intensely – it’s a big fuzz in my head.
J mentioned the other night that we wanted to make a track that sounded really ‘Bristol-y’. I think that’s probably the best way to describe it…
I think we’re both feeling the ‘holy madness, it’s February 13th’ pinch in terms of launching this track. But I say ‘meh’ to any of that stress shenanigans – I’m flippin’ LOVING it…
February song is 66% written
Posted on | February 7, 2010 | 3 Comments
Tonight J and I sat down and decided to write the February tune – WOOP! Only 7 days behind schedule – not toooooo bad, right? *shuffleshuffle*
I think saying ‘the heat is on’ is an understatement here, but we like heat. And all heat aside, we bashed out two verses and a chorus in about an hour so here’s hoping this pace will stick, eh?
Then we *shuffled* right into the studio and recorded scratch guitar and vocal tracks.
And then the Ninja Butler went into producer-mode! Fast-forward another couple of hours and I just listened to the result so far. Sha-WING! Another song-crush is born! But is it just a late-night fling? Will I have second thoughts in the morning? Only time will tell, but you bet your bottom dollar that I’m going to stumble back into the studio first thing tomorrow, don some headphones and have another listen 
I think the tune is going to be called ‘Daylight’ and so far we think it’s sounding a little influenced by Fink and Beth Orton. Along, of course, with all the regulars – I’ve been listening to a LOT of Laura Veirs lately, her new album is aaaaaamaaaazing.
New Track January 2010: Easy
Posted on | January 29, 2010 | 21 Comments
Fasten your seatbelts and hold on to your hats – our January installment is here for you to listen to and hopefully enjoy! Just right-click the link below and do ‘save as’ to download.
Easy - Exitproject (475) (right-click and choose ‘save as’ to download)
We dedicate this track to Jake and Eliza and wish them every happiness together
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Generic License.
If You’ve Got It, Tweak It
Posted on | January 17, 2010 | 1 Comment
I’m SO rock n’ roll that I’ve spent Sunday evening watching Cold Case and playing Solitaire – that’s right, hard core. The rest of the day was spent being music-ish, I swear. Practising and performing and more practising and a nap somewhere in there.
But J (never the type of Ninja Butler to sit around) just wandered in and confessed to a little late night tweaking…
of the SONG…
Lordy! You have a filthy mind…
Anyway, J went into the studio with his game face on. He listened to it a couple of times, made some quick decisions, took out a couple of tracks that were causing a ruckus, and emerged triumphant and grinning.
WOOHOO!! Mixing awaits!
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