12/27/05 Hello People - Ok, there is something odd about the fact that each time I think of adding something here, between vast stretches of silence, it is always on the 27th. But anyway, this posting is to clarify that SOPR is on hiatus, and to attempt to explain why and what exactly that means. What was once a spazz-ass group of neurotic human beings that rolled up without perhaps the proper education, getting in grills, lighting wildfires, smoking in bars, and then just as quickly falling apart at the knee-joints, leaving very few actual recorded pieces of music and not enough life support money in trade for the life-draining power of the the whole hurricane, has now coughed to a stop and passed out and said beddy-bye and all that.
But its not as though we are not here. We are. In this office sits Someoddpilot design, the life blood of this label. Ironically, it is the love of art and design that has forced me out of the record label running game, but it was the design that allowed me to do it in the first place. Ha ha. But I am here, sitting here, busily designing things all day, like a bird. Peck peck peck. Thats also how I type.
Consumers Research and Development has all but taken over the SOPR mission and what it meant for me. Check them out. They have a roster of past and presents including Signaldrift, Caural, Del Rey, String Theory, Innerstance Beatbox, Miles Tilmann, and Single Minded Pros. They are releasing the next series of Timeout Drawer records. And that Atropa EP is finally on its way from CRD (I just saw the actual 12 the other day and it was a deep pink piece of vinyl. It looked great. I salivated. Too bad it took almost 3 years. Damnit.)
As I mentioned, there are 3 Timeout Drawer new releases upcoming: a 7inch and LP/CD in October 2005 and an EP in March 2006, all on Consumers. Plus, a music video, and a US tour in October 2005 and April 2006. That band, which happens to contain my rudimentary drumming skills, is still very much on the roll. Perhaps it is the flaming little bird, zooming out of the wreckage, wings still beating like nothing happened, ready for more bird seed, loaded with new sh*t.
Meanwhile, close friends Salvo Beta are working on a new record, though its taken quite a while, and there is a new track from them on the recent Consumers comp "Hazardous Materials". K-RAD are constantly creating new music, as always, and have been making a bunch of music for Nike, Burton and Nicktoons with James Patterson of Presstube fame (recent music video).
As for the rest of the roster, its a short story of starts and stops- Molarmill never quite finished a record for us. Defender got that 12 out, but then in the midst of recording a strange and beautiful and super ambitious long player, involving orchestras and studios literally all over the world, changed their game, their name, and as yet haven't quite finished that product. What I've heard so far has sounded awesome. La Makita Soma, one of my favorite bands of all time, seems to have disbanded, fragmenting into an assortment of projects - Elvin, an altcountry pop band of which I had the honor to play drums for recently at a local hole in the wall in Chicago, and Lee Chameleon, aka LMS drummer Derek, a producer of dancable tracks for Surveillance.
In between these little musical tales, tales of fustration and occasional successes, are personal tales that would mirror most any Twentysomething chronicles - lost friends and band members, petty jealousies, heroin, alcoholism, lost girlfriends and loves and wives. And all this from a small little label with struggling bands! Ha! God forbid anyone had actually made a ton of money, then the sh*t would have gotten REALLY scary. It would make an interesting read actually, but maybe just for me and a few of my friends. I don't know.
But, suffice it to say there is such an upside: Life as strictly the designer/photographer guy of Someoddpilot is great. It is how it was meant to be. Leaving the record label running to the runners, to my good friend Geoffrey, who, anyone who has met him will back this up, is crazy but is a good man, an absolute music junkie, is in charge of the Consumers ship, nestled within the walls of SOP. I get to make the covers, he gets to worry about the distro. Allllright.
So! Please send demos to Consumers! Please continue buying our merch! These are great records. And we certainly are fulfilling orders as always.
So, also, allow me to say thanks for listening and for all that you have done. You know who you are. Thank you. And the bands who became friends and shared in the fun. And godspeed. Maybe there will be another day, its not impossible.
Chris
01/27/05 Its been a a while - but we haven't dissappeared. There are good things coming in 2005 from the SOPR family. In the meantime, man, I think there's some really good records you should be owning if you arent. Have you heard the SB remix 12"? Man that's a good record. Or try that TTD 7" with Caural on the flip. Nice. Anyway, happy new year and be good...
01/27/04 New Timeout Drawer EP and 7" - "Presents Left for the Living Dead", the first follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed 2001 release "A Difficult Future", hit stores in December on Chicago's Chocolate Industries label. The EP features a remix by Chocolate's own Caural, and three new tracks of blistering instrumental rock that follows-thru on explosive promises made from records past. Accompanying the EP is a limited edition 7" that includes a track from the EP and the Caural remix. Buy it here!
06/10/03 Salvo Beta 12" Now Available! - The first installment of our 12" series featuring alternate remixes, exclusive Salvo Beta tracks, and stunning artwork. This one's got remixes by Melt-Banana, Safety Scissors, String Theory and Atropa. Beautiful 4-color artwork by Demo Design. A stunning and collectible record. Go get yours before they hit the stores on June 25th.
06/09/03 Melt-Banana video - To celebrate the release of the "Evil Against Evil" 12inch series, this unbelievably appropriate video was produced by our friends at Astropolitan Productions. On its way to the big M.
05/20/03 Damo Suzuki + Defender /Timeout Drawer/ The Eaves tour - All dates have been added below...
03/15/03 Out now- Defender/Meterman Split 12"- Two bands from opposite sides of the globe come together on this intense split 12". In stores March 18th, or you can get it right here, right now.
03/14/03 Timeout Drawer, Salvo Beta at WMC- Yep, thanks to Grey Multimedia, TTD and SB will be sharing the stage with Q-bert, DJ Spooky, Alec Empire and others Saturday, March 22nd at the Marlin Hotel in Miami. Should be a hell of a party...
