SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION

[Surly]

haha, this seems like a bit of promotion but anywho…

Our band has just recorded a new EP (with the producer who did Sonic Boom Six's first 2 albums) and it sounds pretty cool. There's a promo video coming very soon which is pretty funny and you can see us all recording it.

Check out 'Who Knew' and EP Sampler on our myspace: http://www.myspace.com/smallerthanyouska

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Here's the promo video for all you who can't be arsed to click. It's a bit on the large size so give it a sec to load.

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[Jeanie]

My link wouldn't work…maybe I'll try again later.

[Surly]

Just fixed it.

[Super Sonic]

I liked it. Nice one.

[Rock it With I]

Not bad actually!

Alice is not bad looking too

[Sonic Libido]

I like it…… though if you want honest criticism

1.) vocals could be turned up (but if this is the final mix than no biggy…. the vocals just sound like "Keasby Nights" and could stand to be louder)

2.) the intro (the piece in the video where it shows you setting up the drums) sounds kinda hectic and sloppy… it sounds like a train going off a cliff…. sorry if that's blunt… but once you get to the opening verse it sounds really good…..

[Jeanie]

I did get to hear it. I like it too!

[Surly]

[quote1217587461=Sonic Libido]
I like it…… though if you want honest criticism

1.) vocals could be turned up (but if this is the final mix than no biggy…. the vocals just sound like "Keasby Nights" and could stand to be louder)

2.) the intro (the piece in the video where it shows you setting up the drums) sounds kinda hectic and sloppy… it sounds like a train going off a cliff…. sorry if that's blunt… but once you get to the opening verse it sounds really good…..

[/quote1217587461]

Nah, that's what I want to hear!
Honestly, MySpace and YouTube compress the quality of the songs a lot and with the actual CD the clarity is stronger.

And for that sloppy bit, we didn't realise how difficult it would be to record that in the end, since it's just horns and the timing changes. Didn't think about it when we were doing drums and in the end had to make a hurried make shift click. We were rushed on the horns as we were running out of time, and that part is definetly the sloppiest part of the recording.

It's tight live. I swear. 😀

Thanks for all your comments though.

And i'd go easy, Alice is 17. 😀

[Sonic Libido]

[quote1217591891=Surly]
[quote1217587461=Sonic Libido]
I like it…… though if you want honest criticism

1.) vocals could be turned up (but if this is the final mix than no biggy…. the vocals just sound like "Keasby Nights" and could stand to be louder)

2.) the intro (the piece in the video where it shows you setting up the drums) sounds kinda hectic and sloppy… it sounds like a train going off a cliff…. sorry if that's blunt… but once you get to the opening verse it sounds really good…..

[/quote1217587461]

Nah, that's what I want to hear!
Honestly, MySpace and YouTube compress the quality of the songs a lot and with the actual CD the clarity is stronger.

And for that sloppy bit, we didn't realise how difficult it would be to record that in the end, since it's just horns and the timing changes. Didn't think about it when we were doing drums and in the end had to make a hurried make shift click. We were rushed on the horns as we were running out of time, and that part is definetly the sloppiest part of the recording.

It's tight live. I swear. 😀

Thanks for all your comments though.

And i'd go easy, Alice is 17. 😀
[/quote1217591891]

I figured that was the case, it sounded like the horns couldn't keep up…. but I didn't want to say that 'cause I didn't want to insult your horn players…..

[Surly]

[quote1217594195=Sonic Libido]
[quote1217591891=Surly]
[quote1217587461=Sonic Libido]
I like it…… though if you want honest criticism

1.) vocals could be turned up (but if this is the final mix than no biggy…. the vocals just sound like "Keasby Nights" and could stand to be louder)

2.) the intro (the piece in the video where it shows you setting up the drums) sounds kinda hectic and sloppy… it sounds like a train going off a cliff…. sorry if that's blunt… but once you get to the opening verse it sounds really good…..

[/quote1217587461]

Nah, that's what I want to hear!
Honestly, MySpace and YouTube compress the quality of the songs a lot and with the actual CD the clarity is stronger.

And for that sloppy bit, we didn't realise how difficult it would be to record that in the end, since it's just horns and the timing changes. Didn't think about it when we were doing drums and in the end had to make a hurried make shift click. We were rushed on the horns as we were running out of time, and that part is definetly the sloppiest part of the recording.

It's tight live. I swear. 😀

Thanks for all your comments though.

And i'd go easy, Alice is 17. 😀
[/quote1217591891]

I figured that was the case, it sounded like the horns couldn't keep up…. but I didn't want to say that 'cause I didn't want to insult your horn players…..
[/quote1217594195]

Nah, it's cool. We had a LOT to do 4 days and towards the end we had to rush it abit. It didn't help that the producer wanted to record seperately the horns, as I know we could have gotten it so much tighter together. But oh well, I'm still really happy with it. 🙂

[MAX!]

Which one are you again?

[Sonic Libido]

Rikk

[Sonic Libido]

[quote1217600223=Surly]
[quote1217594195=Sonic Libido]
[quote1217591891=Surly]
[quote1217587461=Sonic Libido]
I like it…… though if you want honest criticism

1.) vocals could be turned up (but if this is the final mix than no biggy…. the vocals just sound like "Keasby Nights" and could stand to be louder)

2.) the intro (the piece in the video where it shows you setting up the drums) sounds kinda hectic and sloppy… it sounds like a train going off a cliff…. sorry if that's blunt… but once you get to the opening verse it sounds really good…..

[/quote1217587461]

Nah, that's what I want to hear!
Honestly, MySpace and YouTube compress the quality of the songs a lot and with the actual CD the clarity is stronger.

And for that sloppy bit, we didn't realise how difficult it would be to record that in the end, since it's just horns and the timing changes. Didn't think about it when we were doing drums and in the end had to make a hurried make shift click. We were rushed on the horns as we were running out of time, and that part is definetly the sloppiest part of the recording.

It's tight live. I swear. 😀

Thanks for all your comments though.

And i'd go easy, Alice is 17. 😀
[/quote1217591891]

I figured that was the case, it sounded like the horns couldn't keep up…. but I didn't want to say that 'cause I didn't want to insult your horn players…..
[/quote1217594195]

Nah, it's cool. We had a LOT to do 4 days and towards the end we had to rush it abit. It didn't help that the producer wanted to record seperately the horns, as I know we could have gotten it so much tighter together. But oh well, I'm still really happy with it. 🙂

[/quote1217600223]

yeah, it seems if that part worked tight live you'd record the horns and drums together for that bit…. oh well

hey, why are you selling the full length L.P. for Less Than the E.P.?

I'm excited to hear the whole E.P., you guys are proving Ska still lives! any chance I could get a signed copy?

[Surly]

[quote1217606002=Sonic Libido]
[quote1217600223=Surly]
[quote1217594195=Sonic Libido]
[quote1217591891=Surly]
[quote1217587461=Sonic Libido]
I like it…… though if you want honest criticism

1.) vocals could be turned up (but if this is the final mix than no biggy…. the vocals just sound like "Keasby Nights" and could stand to be louder)

2.) the intro (the piece in the video where it shows you setting up the drums) sounds kinda hectic and sloppy… it sounds like a train going off a cliff…. sorry if that's blunt… but once you get to the opening verse it sounds really good…..

[/quote1217587461]

Nah, that's what I want to hear!
Honestly, MySpace and YouTube compress the quality of the songs a lot and with the actual CD the clarity is stronger.

And for that sloppy bit, we didn't realise how difficult it would be to record that in the end, since it's just horns and the timing changes. Didn't think about it when we were doing drums and in the end had to make a hurried make shift click. We were rushed on the horns as we were running out of time, and that part is definetly the sloppiest part of the recording.

It's tight live. I swear. 😀

Thanks for all your comments though.

And i'd go easy, Alice is 17. 😀
[/quote1217591891]

I figured that was the case, it sounded like the horns couldn't keep up…. but I didn't want to say that 'cause I didn't want to insult your horn players…..
[/quote1217594195]

Nah, it's cool. We had a LOT to do 4 days and towards the end we had to rush it abit. It didn't help that the producer wanted to record seperately the horns, as I know we could have gotten it so much tighter together. But oh well, I'm still really happy with it. 🙂

[/quote1217600223]

yeah, it seems if that part worked tight live you'd record the horns and drums together for that bit…. oh well

hey, why are you selling the full length L.P. for Less Than the E.P.?

I'm excited to hear the whole E.P., you guys are proving Ska still lives! any chance I could get a signed copy?
[/quote1217606002]

Because while we're still proud of the full length, it's quite old and we just wanna get rid of it now. Half of it I recorded when I was 14! The singers voice is still really high (which is hilarious compared to the new stuff) and quite frankly our newer stuff is better written. We're all only 17 and I find our writing skills are constantly improving. The bottom two tracks on the Myspace are on the full length.

Shortly i'll be adding a 'bundle' of the full length and the EP on the shop for a little discount. If you really want a signed copy, sure. Just say so when you order one. 😀

[Desensitized]

Good song, but that intro doesn't really fit for me. I love drum intros and drums in general, but it doesn't really seem to fit for this song.

But whatevs. Great job.

[jrock241]

I can hear what you guys were going for in the intro and it would work if it was better planned/executed. But anytime you're recording with a professional producer/engineer they should have you play the songs for them and help you approach the recording correctly, because it is much different than playing live. So blame the producer. But it is a very good song!

[madamadam]

I pretty much agree with what's already been said – good song.

[The Wind]

I like the intro. It's rare to hear drum intros in ska.

[Surly]

[quote1217778793=jrock241]
I can hear what you guys were going for in the intro and it would work if it was better planned/executed. But anytime you're recording with a professional producer/engineer they should have you play the songs for them and help you approach the recording correctly, because it is much different than playing live. So blame the producer. But it is a very good song!
[/quote1217778793]

Yeah, I was hoping we were gonna do that. Since we're quite a 'live' band, we asked the guy about recording a lot of it live to keep up the energy and hopefully make parts like that tighter but he didn't seem so keen on it. I also wanted to record the horns as a section instead of individually but he wanted to do them seperately.

We got 5 tracks done that came out well in 4 days. So we're all happy. 🙂

[jrock241]

It looked like a small studio, which would cause bleed through if you recorded everything together. But you still could have done the horns all together. You need to do "pre-production" next time with your producer, but again it's his fault for not planning based on your bands needs. How much did you guys pay?

[Surly]

The only part of the studio in the video was the main mixing room really. The live room was to the left which also housed the booth where the vocals were recorded and there was a dead room on the right. It ended up costing £600 for 4 days. He did a some amount of mixing and all the mastering outside of those 4 days though.

In the end it only cost a little more than if we did it in our home town (this was in Manchester, we live in Norwich) and he has a lot of experience of recording punk and ska, which in our eyes made it totally worth it. Plus it was an awesome week and he gave us somewhere to sleep.

[jrock241]

I don't know how much that is in american money, but if it's under $1000 it's a good price. Especially for giving you a place to stay at. I could tell by the video how big the studio is, it's decent, the vocal room looked lame but the finished project came out very well. Good drum sounds, the only thing is that the guitar tone isn't that great.

[madamadam]

Unfortunately the dollar sucks so £600 = almost $1200

[Surly]

Yup. There's not regret though. Helped us get connections, sounds great, awesome time had by all and only slightly more than if we had done it locally with a random engineer.

[samiluvsaaron]

better than a lot of the shit i've been hearing lately. where can I get a copy of the CD?

[Surly]

There's a link from our MySpace to our webstore. Shipping is obviously more expensive to US.

[Surly]

Just put up another new track if any of you are interested, called 'Can You Hear Me'.

http://www.myspace.com/smallerthanyouska

[Author]

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