Our Album Release Date & The Long Lost Art...

 *NOTE: This blog entry is best viewed at Model Stranger's Official Website.*

Sooooo...Our album release date is no longer tentative...it's etched in stone and set for April 24th at the Cubby Bear in Wrigleyville! This news leaves all of us in Model Stranger Land full of sheer joy and excitement!

We set a goal back in November to release the album in April  and have stuck on schedule since, regardless of all of the speedbumps we have experienced along the way. We have spent countless hours preparing (see previous blog posts on ModelStranger.com) and still have a lot to complete before the ship can set sail.

While this may seem nerve-racking to have the date set and not be done, it's really not....Oh wait, yes it is! HOWEVER, we have a strict schedule and have stuck to it very well and will continue to do so (Example). We anticipate having the album mixed and ready to be sent off for mastering by March 1st. We cannot wait to get it back to see what the final product sounds like. In some cases mastering can make or break an album. It can take a great mix and ruin it. Some bands will send out their album and when they get it back are all,

"WTF...it didn't sound like this when we sent it. What happened?" Are you aware as to what mastering is all about? It is truly an art of the ear...an art that has long since been compromised for "louder" music. For example, take Metallica's most recent release, "Death Magnetic", which was virtually ruined by mastering. While I thoroughly enjoyed Metallica's effort to resort back to their golden thrash/speed metal days I had trouble enjoying the album due to the "distorted" sound that came along with it. Ted Jensen's (mastering engineer) colleague, Chris Athens, made a public statement to clarify that they did what was asked of them and do not like to be associated with the debate.

Guitar Hero's version of "Death Magnetic" is mastered at 10db less and sounds 40 times better than the retail release approved by Metallica. If you have not heard anything about this subject just Google: "Death Magnetic Distortion" and read away! I would talk more about it but then you'd be reading a lengthy essay.

Funny little personal story to throw in... Not too long ago my brother Chris was at the Apple Store and noticed a gentleman there that was having his brand new iPod looked at due to a "crackling noise" in the headphones. Curiosity got to Chris and he wandered over to find out what the gentleman was listening to. Sure enough he had "Death Magnetic" on his iPod. The door was wide open for Chris who then proceeded to give the Apple Store employees and that gentleman information on mastering/ruining sound waves. There was nothing wrong with his shiny new iPod.

Anyway, back to our album and mastering,. I absolutely love the way old albums were mastered. They have much more organic dimension than the majority of albums nowadays. It is extremely rare that I listen to a modern day album and think, "Wow, this is mastered wonderfully." I usually notice that it's mastered quite poorly or don't take note of it at all. Well, strangely enough, while listening to the most recent Silversun Pickups release "Swoon", I took notice to how much I enjoyed the mastering of this album. It allows the listener to hear the recording's dimension and color amazingly well. I have to turn it up slightly louder than other "crushed" records to listen to it. In fact, I was so impressed by it that I sought out the individual that mastered it, Stephen Marcussen, to inquire about having our album mastered by him. I emailed his secretary asking your typical questions (e.g. price, turnaround time, preparation requirements, etc) and shortly thereafter received a phone call from a 323 area code. Being that I lived in Huntington Beach, CA for a bit I recognized the area code as an L.A./Hollywood one.

To my surprise it was Stephen himself...the gentleman that mastered an album that ultimately got The Silversun Pickups nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist (which is a joke considering their single that put them on the mainstream map, "Lazy Eye" came out in 2006 on their record "Carnavas"). He just wanted to let me know his secretary was out and was asking for some information from me to clarify the project. Needless to say, as long as our budget calls for it we will certainly be using Stephen's services.

So to come full circle in my rambling...We're really, really, REALLY excited to release our new album and hope that each and every one of you will mark April 24th on your calendar for a date with Model Stranger. :)

Much Love,
Kevin James