April 11, 2010

can’t be bothered with a title

Filed under: general news,merch,recording,shows,web stuff — chuck @ 10:51 am

Sorry if anyone else has noticed problems with our online merch store. I kinda hate it, frankly. There’s a real chicken-and-egg problem with something like that: I don’t really know if the store works until someone tries ordering something, but nobody wants to try ordering something if they think the store might be broken. And broken it is, at least on the products page. I just noticed today after installing the upgrade for WP-ecommerce that now half the products don’t appear. Instead, it shows the poster, then the shirt twice, then the 7″ twice, then the Fifteen Feet cd twice. This certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in the potential customer, let alone in myself (come on developers, how hard is it to iterate a list of things?), and nothing I can figure out to do seems to fix it, so I’m taking the page down for the time being. I apologize for the trouble. Given that the store’s never had a single customer, however, makes me wonder whether it’s worth my time to even bother with the thing, let alone bother with the time and effort of registering an account at WP-ecommerce’s support forums so I can post there (I’m still waiting for a registration email with my password, and I’m sure by the time it arrives I’ll have forgotten half my question), then waiting to hear a reply. I really wish there was a simple way we could offer our stuff for sale online that didn’t (a) suck, and/or (b) require money upfront just to get something half-working when, as we’ve seen so far, nobody’s buying anything anyway. It’s so depressing. If anyone out there has a suggestion, feel free to offer it.

One thing that’s not depressing, however, is going into an awesome studio and making beautiful sounds, which is what we just did this past two days at Flat Black Studio in Iowa City. We worked on five songs, then took home some rough-mixes to obsess/compulse over for a while. Disclaimer: “compulse” is not a real word, I just invented it because “compulsive” needs a verb form (“compel” seems wrong in this usage).

Another thing that’s not depressing is playing a show with a band as good as Pharmacy Spirits who were just getting their tour started when we had a show with them at the Mews several days ago. They’re at Big V’s tonight, so I encourage you Twin Cities folks to go there. After that they’re heading towards the East coast and then will be back around the Midwest early next month.

We’ve got a couple shows coming up too, though not nearly so many as those guys.

March 5, 2010

and a kick drum for a heart

Filed under: general news,recording,shows — chuck @ 1:09 pm

Word on the street is that Ely Falls is done for. That’s sad news, we really liked them a lot. We’re still not sure who’s going to take their spot on this Sunday night’s show at Vaudeville Mews with us and this sweet Omaha band Fortnight, but you all should come. We’ve got an old classic song we’re planning on doing that you haven’t heard in a Why Make Clocks show in a while, if ever.

We’re definitely re-establishing our presence locally this month after playing it cool through this awful winter we’ve had. Look for us in Ames next week, at the Ames Progressive Office with Light Pollution Wednesday the 10th, and at the Maintenance Shop on Sunday the 14th with a delightful folky outfit that’s doing great stuff these days, Bowerbirds.

As if getting on stage at the M-Shop again weren’t exciting enough (it’s been awhile for Why make Clocks, and it’ll be the first time for me), we’re on the lineup for this year’s Gross Domestic Product festival, taking place on the 27th at All Play downtown. Two stages showcasing an awesome variety of Des Moines area bands. Personally, I’m especially looking forward to Hanwell, Druids, The Seed Of Something, Christopher The Conquered, and Superchief. I’m told that Blutiger Fluss will be taking over Ely Falls’ spot. The rest I’m not too familiar with yet so I’m expecting some pleasant new discoveries, but that list right there should give you an idea of the variety in this show: indie pop, riff-rock, sludge/doom, ambient electronics, and lots more. Incidentally, today is the birthday of both Jeff from Blutiger Fluss and Jasper from The Seed Of Something, so if you see either of them wish them a happy.

And just added, we’ll be at Vaudeville Mews again on April 1 with Gabe Cordova and another great band from just to the west of us, Pharmacy Spirits from Lincoln, NE, on the second date of an epic tour.

We’re hitting the studio early next month, ostensibly to work on our next album, or possibly on some EP or something. Anyway, we’re recording soon. It’s a bit daunting for an old lo-fi home-recorder type like me to be going into an actual studio, but I couldn’t have asked for a better band to be doing it with, and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about the studio we’re going to.

Speaking of albums, It’s True, a really neat band from Omaha that we’ve played with a couple times, have one coming out soon (their first full-length, in fact), and I’m excited to hear it. They’re heading out to SXSW, as is Light Pollution, so wish them well.

Also speaking of albums, you should think about getting yourself a copy of These Things Are Ours if you haven’t already. You can order one right here. Or just come out to one of our shows I just told you about.

Thanks! See you Sunday!

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