Western Civ: News

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OK...we will be posting updates from the studio here over the course of the week of intense tracking. We'll try to post daily, but no promises! We will also try to post some pictures along the way and maybe even a video blog from time to time. Drop me an e-mail if you have anything you want to know that we haven't covered and I'll try to post answers as well!

mistydawn(at)westerncivrock(dot)com

This is going to be one crazy week!

Day 1 -

We arrived at The Fidelitorium at around noon carrying all of our pillows, duffel bags, about a weeks worth of groceries and various supplies for making a rock album. Basically resigned to move in to the place, we got situated and after some conversation began the process of choosing from all of the incredible gear that was available. When I said to Mitch, "Wow, you have an amazing amount of toys!" he responded, "This is serious business equipment," with a sideways smile. As the day rolled on he got the drums set up with about a dozen or so mics, which led to a truly great full kit chorus that was well defined and ready to have tracks laid upon it. By the end of the day we had a couple of takes of Capitol Steps and an almost complete Inkblot Candor. We broke at around 1 AM, found all of our sleeping spaces and crashed for the night. I fell asleep gazing at the shadowed frames of five gold records. What a great way to go to sleep.
-Misty Dawn

I want to look into whether there's some official means of seeking asylum at Fidelitorium. Seriously. I've been long overdue for a few days' off from my miserable fucking dayjob anyway, and to find myself spending said days off at this beautiful, magical place, in the company of my best pals and Mitch Easter and a shitload of the finest music equipment available to man is...well, serendipitous, to say the least.

The simple act of draping oneself upon one of the comfy couches in Fidelitorium's control room in order to listen to playbacks takes on a whole other set of meanings when the sounds that come blasting back from monitors are easily the best ever sonic representations of our music committed to tape. Or disc, or hard drive, or whatever. To say that Mitch's stellar, thirty-year reputation as one of the best producers on Earth is deserved is an understatement of vast proportion.

Rich slept on a sparkling vinyl couch in the lounge last night with his shoes on. Misty and Jason occupied an upstairs room in the studio, a room reached via spiral staircase, a room in which gold copies of "Murmur" and "Reckoning", among others, adorn the walls, a room which is home to an unspeakable number of classic guitars. Jason Hall and I occupied the aforementioned control room couches (he got red, I got blue, because that's how I roll) and slept bathed in the lights of the massive mixing board.

Then we woke up, breakfasted over laptop news, and got down to business.

So, the real question is, where do I fill out the asylum petition? Who has to approve it? Does Mitch Easter have to agree, or is he somehow honor-bound to recognize a legally-declared designation of my status as a refugee from stupid jobs, an infuriating political climate, and the student loan people?

I'd better start buttering up the State Department.
-Bryan Cabler

Day - 2

VIDEO BLOG (Misty)

Day - 3

Studio tour (Misty)

Day - 4

So, we have a day off in the middle of tracking the album and I am at home wishing that I was back in the studio. The raw tracks that have been laid so far sound better than anything we have ever been able to create after painstaking mixing and effecting of the sound. I cannot wait to hear the final product after mixing in Mitch’s incredible studio. So far, the guys have laid basic tracks for the entire album and have also begun to fill in the gaps with percussion, keyboards and some vocals. I’m really impressed at how far along they are and how comfortable the process has been! Mitch is a dream to work with and knows just how to make someone feel at ease and confident. I know that will come across in the album, and I expect that it will be an obvious factor in the final product. We have been writing down info on what amps, microphones, effects, and other equipment that they have been using and we will post that info later on. Jason Hall had mentioned that he would love to know what equipment was used in creating all of his favorite albums, so he decided that he would share that info with people so that they don’t have to wonder how we got a particular sound. We go back to the studio tomorrow and will be there thru Tuesday night. After that we will take some time to listen to the tracks that we have and the mixing will be done in June. We are on schedule, if not ahead of schedule and expect to release the album by this Fall. Those of you who sign up on the mailing list below will have a chance to get a copy of the album before the official release date, so if you are interested, take a moment to sign up!

Talk Again Soon,
Misty

Day - 5

We had a relaxing day off Saturday and got back to work around 1PM today. The guys had a very productive session laying down vocals and guitar for Capitol steps, vocals for The Disturbing Presence Chachi as well as keyboards, vocals, some guitar and percussion for American Pines. We are at the stage where you can really hear what the tracks are capable of becoming and I have to say that I am more than pleased at what Mitch has been able to capture! We have two full 12 hour days of tracking left after we finish here tonight and the whole project is really coming together better than anticipated.
Something is starting to nag at me however. I am really going to miss this place when we are done! What was it Bryan had said about seeking asylum?

-Misty

In the Can!!!
***
The guys have finished tracking the new album and will go back to Fidelitorium in June to mix!! Mitch has made the whole process memorable and comfortable! He is really great to work with and was able to get some wonderful tracks from the guys and honestly, the raw tracks sound better than anything we have ever had before! I can’t wait to share the album with everyone! (Yes, I’m using a lot of exclamation points! But I’m excited!!!) We had a great time and will miss both Mitch and the Fidelitorium….Until the next time! ;)
The pictures from the studio will be up soon, so keep an eye on the “photos” section for those!
We’ll let you know, as the mixing and mastering take place, when to expect the album release!
Thanks for sharing this with us, it’s been an incredible experience and we are all extremely appreciative of the opportunity!
-Misty

Hey again,
Just wanted to update everyone on the FM stations that Western Civ is being played on these days. If you live in the broadcast range of one of these stations please support them because they are indie supporters! Oh, and if you wanted to call and request some Western Civ songs from these stations it couldn't hurt! ;)

INDIE104 ~ iRADIO LA (LA, CA)

RadioX
94.7FM, 94.9FM and 104.5FM
Long Island's only Alternative
http://www.radiox.fm/

Trent Radio 92.7 FM - Peterborough, Canada

WRIR 93.7 FM - Richmond, Va

WNCW 88.7 FM - Spindale, NC

92.9 FM - Boone, NC

100.3FM - Charlotte, NC

97.3 FM - Greenville, NC


WCVF 88.9 FM - Freedonia, NY (SUNY)

WPVM 100.3 FM - Asheville, NC

WVOF 88.5 FM -Fairfield, CT on "The Upper Room With Joe Kelley" on Mondays from 4-8 pm EST.

KYCY 1550 AM-
SAN FRANCISCO, CA

WRUW 91.1 FM- Cleveland, OH
www.wruw.org

WUSB 90.1 FM-Stony Brook,NY
www.wusb.com

KAOS 89.3 FM- Olympia, WA
http://KAOS.evergreen.edu

WDYN 100.1FM -
Rochester, NY
http://www.wdyn.net

ALSO on HD radio starting March 15th via iChannel HD:

Chicago on WTMX HD

Washington D.C. on WTOP HD

St. Louis on WMVN HD

Salt Lake City on KSL HD

Phoenix on KPKX HD

KNYO-LP 107.7 FM in Fort Bragg CA

Thanks to all of these stations for lending a hand to the indie community!

Cheers,
Misty Dawn

Just thought I'd take a minute to let folks know what stations online are rotating Western Civ's songs. Please check out their pages and enjoy!


EastVillageRadio.com - NYC

The indie Connection -NY
http://www.indiecx.com

Radio Freakout!! - NY
www.radiofreakout.com

ExposedRadio.com (podcast #11 and #18)

RadioCrystalBlue.com

Clea's Cave ( Live 365)

KFRC -Radio Free Colorado (Live 365)

IndieElectronica.com

SmallWorldPodcast.com

JPaxRadioShow.com

E-RadioBiz.com

UpBeatRadio.com

Lazlo's Den (Thursdays at 5pm PST/8pm EST) on upstageradio.com

GhostRider Radio (NY) ghostradionet.com

Aeschtunes - www.live365.com/stations/aeschtunes

Rea of Sound-
www.live365.com/stations/terryleefr

Mighty Field Of Vision-
http://mightyfieldofvision.com/

The Upper Room With Joe Kelley -
http://www.upperroomwithjoekelley.com/

Radio-Sara -
www.live365.com/stations/stuckinthe80s

iChannel -
www.ichannelmusic.com/index.php?nid=1

Elkhartradio -
www.elkhartrecording.com

Thin Pillow Music
www.live365.com/stations/thin_pillow

WRUW 91.1FM- Cleveland, OH
Listen live online at:
www.wruw.org

WUSB 90.1 FM-Stony Brook,NY
Listen to podcasts of past shows at:
www.wusb.com

KAOS 89.3 FM - Olympia, WA
Listen to the web feed at:
http://kaos.evergreen.edu

Band Radio LIVE -
http://bandradiolive.com

Amplified Podcast #20 -
http://www.amplifiedpodcast.com/

Rock Vacation -
Every Tuesday night at:
www.RF97.com
requests:
(rockvacation@hotmail.com) or 1-866-626-2604

Nexus Radio (UK) - www.nexusradio.co.uk

Buzz (Live 365)-
http://www.live365.com/stations/gatorzilla3000

Kansas City Internet Radio-
http://www.kcia1.com

Radio Fly 1-
http://www.radiofly1.com

Rock God Radio -
http://www.rockgodradio.com

Sonic 1 Radio -
http://www.sonic1radio.com

Pro Productions Radio -
http://www.proproductionsonline.com/radio.html

SubTrax Nation -
http://www.live365.com/stations/subtraxnation

Chelmsford Rocks (UK) -
http://www.chelmsfordrocks.com

i Like 2 Rock! -
http://www.iLike2Rock.net

Midnight Masquerade
www.live365.com/stations/midnightmasquerade

Radio Enigma
http://www.radioenigma.com

Highspeed Radio
www.highspeedradio.com

Curtrog Radio
http://www.live365.com/stations/curtrog

Radio Zuckervati (Canada)
http://radio.zuckervati.com/

AJ's Deep Cuts
http://www.live365.com/stations/alligatorjackson

Ikhtonia Radio
http://www.live365.com/stations/zapblackhawk

Sven's World Radio
http://www.live365.com/stations/dialupsven

Mountain Mix Radio
www.mountainmix.com

INDIE104 ~ iRADIO LA
http://www.iradiola.com

WGADNET radio - http://wgad.net

I'll be adding to this list periodically so check back again.

Cheers,
Misty Dawn

We are excited to say that we got our first FM air-play this week. It was on WRIR FM 97.3 in Richmond, VA. The show is called, "The Great American Music Hour" hosted by Jerry Jodice. We want to say thanks to him for being one of the "good guys" that tries to help indie bands get noticed. If you've got a minute, take the time to go to his web-site. You can listen to archived shows and he also does some podcasts and has told us he will be including Western Civ on one in the near future. You can go to his site at:

http://www.greatamericanmusichour.com/

You can also read the review that we posted on our site from indie-music.com. Or you can go read it and vote on it at:

http://indie-music.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4709

We are hoping that more reviews will be posted soon and we will let you know when they are.

Thanks for Everything,
Misty Dawn
Manager
mistydawn@westerncivrock.com

Just wanted to thank everyone who attended the CD release party show on Dec. 23rd...we were as delighted as we could possibly be while still retaining our air of casual indifference to the notion of 'success'...quite a few people purchased copies of Regent Kingfish Slumberpad, and we had nary a free Western Civ condom left at the end of the night...hope those were put to good use by the attendees...

The presence of such a great and vocal crowd made playing the show a pleasure on par with discovering a twenty-dollar bill in the sofa cushions while looking for a few quarters for cigarettes...and I'm not exaggerating, for once...

Our pals in Krishadi turned in their typical stellar performance-- we hope to play with those guys much more in the future...and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that it was very satisfying and downright thrilling to see many old pals who journeyed in from locations ranging from New York City to Portland, Oregon to Vero Beach, Florida (Leslie left behind 89 degree temps to come to the comparatively frozen wastelands of North Alabama!) to South Korea (Somerville rocks!)...

Thanks to everyone for their support this year as Western Civ has begun to venture outside the safety of our practice room in order to foist our odd brand of entertainment on an unsuspecting public...2006 holds great promise for live shows in and out of Florence-- don't miss the Smokehouse show on January 21-- and hopefully the release of our next EP sometime in late spring or early summer...

Gratitude is hereby extended to the crew at the Smokehouse, Russ Corey for awesome publicity in the TimesDaily, the guys in Krishadi for warming up the crowd for us, and to YOU.

Happy Holidays!
Bryan Cabler

Audio files are up for everyones listening pleasure. The "Music" link will allow everyone to hear highlights from 2 songs that are not listed on the "Buy or Listen" link...so make sure that you check that out.

We are confirmed to play all the shows listed in the "Calender" link.

The website is mostly compleate with the exception of the "Photos" Gallery. This page will stay static anyway so check it often for updates.

Thanks for checking out our page.

Over the next few days, we will be adding new pictures and audio to the site...

If you leave your E-mail address we will send you a news post when things are complete.

Don't forget to sign our Guestbook