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06.22.21

Last night was our first practice since January of 2020. We were ... okay. Shaking the rust off. Sure, there were two times when we stopped and listened to the recorded version of a song before attempting to play it through. "Oh yeah, that happens six times." Weird to forget music that you wrote, but not impossible.

At one point, we both messed up in the same way, both ending a part four measures too soon. Now, if we'd had a live drummer, we would have insisted they made the mistake. "C'mon, how could we both have made the same mistake?" Well, we did.

I (Justin) got in touch with our pressing plant and mastering engineer. "Let's say we want to have 500 records on our doorstep on September 1, 2022. What do we have to get to you by when?" They each gave us some dates when things need to be in their hand. It might seem ridiculous that we need a year to write, perform, and record ~25 minutes of music. This stuff doesn't just pour out on its own. Point is: setting a deadline means now we have a date. You'll have your record before Labor Day next year. As for us, we've now got some anxiety that will translate to motivation.

While we're booking a few shows, I feel a small bit of ... something ... as we all emerge from wherever we've all just been. Festivals are announced, bands posting things about big plans, clubs gleefully reporting "tickets are available". For a moment or two I wonder: should we be doing something else? Investing our energies in something that we're ignoring? Did everyone else gets some memo on the right way to do things? 

But (and I know this sounds really old) I'm comforted by experience. Thad and I both live with this band in the way that keeps it sustainable as a part of our lives. We prioritize what's important to us: making the music that answers our creative impulses. All the other stuff is great, but it has to falls into line behind those two things. In moments of doubt, it's easy to slip into "why doesn't more happen faster? Are we doing something wrong?" But in the long run, those first two goals keep getting met, so we trust the processes we've developed. It should keep us going in the long run, and it provides comfort in the meantime.

That said, sure, you can fly us to Australia if you want. I'm judy saying that we're not structuring our choices around that happening.

But you could.

Thad claims he's going to stop wearing flip-flops to pratice. I don't really care so long as he's comfortable. Please don't tease him about it. 


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