Meeting and Cover Art

So as a whole band we finally got together last night. It's been a really long time since we've been together and done anything as a whole band. It's been a lot of individual time in the studio with Demitri lately. Poor D has been putting in so much time on this record. He should be paid a million dollars or at least a million hugs.

Last night we talked about a lot of things to do with the record. First we listened to everything we've got done so far and it's pretty friggen amazing to see the progress we've made in the studio. Not just that, it's awesome to see the kind of progress we've made as a band since we wrote STILL back in 2006. Writing and recording original tunes like this is so satisfying. I know other musicians who make their living playing other peoples music and they would do anything to have the chance to write and record their own music with their own band. UY is a really lucky group to be able to keep it together this long and continue to improve as a band. I can't wait for people to get this cd, put it in their ipods/cars, learn all the words, and sing along with us at a show. Nothing is more gratifying than seeing people singing along. Looking forward to that.

So, one big change is that our trumpet player Aaron will be leaving on August 16th to go back to the mainland for multiple reasons. That changes our cd release date. We're giving ourselves one more week to put final touches on it and make it as close to perfect as possible. That also means that all cd release shows that we do once the record drops will not include Aaron. That's a huge bummer. We noticed a huge difference in band chemistry once Aaron got back into the group this summer and contributed to the vibe of not only the horn section, but the band as a whole. UY is an awesome mixture of 6 unique individuals. Without any one of us it just isn't the same vibe, sound, or band.

Another really cool thing we talked about was the cover art. We've struggled to get the themes going for this. The main idea that we have is obviously a sense of urgency. But how do we convey that through an image? Well, we talked about what we feel we have a sense of urgency for. The main focus of the band right now is somewhat similar to that used by considerably nefarious organizations. We want to target the largest amount of people possible in any situation, globally, by country, by venue, or simply individual people. We want to coerce people into action,but do it through music and not violence. We want you to dance, sing, think, buy our merch and music. We don't want you to be apathetic or stationary - we want you to take action because of our music. From this idea the cover art hopefully takes a huge leap into its genesis. Can't wait to see Aaron's art skills grab this by the juevos and make it a reality.

Other than that we talked about boring stuff like cd release shows, promotion ideas, and all that stuff. We're really looking to find a publicist type person help us get the word out into as many newspapers and mediums as possible, but don't have any real leads. Could/would you help UY promote the new album? Could you get a write up in your school/local paper? Could you place our ad on your myspace or blog? There's tons of stuff that could help out. What would you like to do to help? What ideas can you think of? We'd be stoked to have your help.