Between the Glow and the Light

Part I: January 2004:  Tree Studios - Atlanta, GA

Producer: Rick Beato
Darkest Love [Between the Glow and the Light]
First to Feel Like This [Between the Glow and the Light]
Only Son [Between the Glow and the Light]
Rains in Asia [Between the Dim and the Dark / Between the Glow and the Light]

News & Notes:  These songs were recorded in January of 2004.  These were the songs the band originally wanted on Between the Dim and the Dark but decided to save, taking producer Rick Beato's advise.  Jay mixed Darkest Love, First to Feel Like This, and Only Son.

Les Hall remixed Rains in Asia using the same recording that was released on Between the Dim and the Dark.  He did it for the band, and the liked it well enough to put on this release.

 

Part II: March 2005:  Diving Bell Studios - Charleston, SC

Producer: Jay Clifford
By the Way They Dance [Between the Glow and the Light]
Where She Lies [Between the Glow and the Light]

News & Notes:  These songs were recorded at Jay's home studio in January of 2005.  Jay used an Apple G5, and recorded the band in his garage he converted into a recording studio.

March 5th, 2005 (www.jumphq.com journal entry), according to Matt: "...so what wonderful timing for us to be working on a new EP! To say that the recording of this project was "low key" would be an understatement, friends. This week every member of the band picked an evening, went over to Jay's new hand-built studio, and spent the day putting down tracks. So. Much. Fun. I lucked out last night, because I went to the studio at dinnertime, and his wife Stacey made veggie hot dogs for us. Cute, yes. But that's living, y'all. For those geeky music recording types, Jay's studio setup is pretty simple: a dual processor Apple g5, running Pro Tools LE with a Digi002, a really nice pre-amp and a couple of nice quality microphones. The most "Jay" thing about his studio is the studio itself: it's technically a garage that he had built, and then soundproofed it, including a hand-crafted-but-very-functional vocal booth. It's incredibly comfy and the "vibe" is wonderful in there. I love that guy. Truly... what can't Jay do?

I don't have any photos. But I will tell you that this EP is going to be a gem. So far there are a couple of tracks that would have fit on Between the Dim and the Dark: "First to Feel Like This", and a song called "Only Son". But then there's "Darkest Love", which has some of the creepiness of "the Singer", and "By the Way They Dance", which would have also fit on Vertigo. The EP will also include a sweet little version of "Where She Lies", and two remixes: "Education", by Michael Winger, and "Rains in Asia", by the nearly Vampiric Les Hall. The album art, again designed by our pal Ledbetter, will compliment BTDATD so nicely.

Seven songs is a pretty hefty EP, even if two of the songs are remixes. It'll be a nice addition to your (our) collection. And in an increasing attempt to promote more exercise thru music, you can actually boogie to five out of the seven tracks."

On a side note, the band omitted Michael Winger's mix of Education.  It has remained unreleased.

April 14th, 2005 (www.jumphq.com journal entry), according to Matt: "So back when they had 45's and "LPs", which stood for "Long Play", there was something called the "Extended Play", which was, I suppose, inbetween the "single" and the "album". These EPs let the artist put out more than one song but not an entire album. And it's the only moniker that has survived the biz, seeing that "45's" have become "mp3s" and "LPs" have turned into "CDs".

Our proof that the term "EP" is still with us is today's release of Between the Glow and the Light. It is the first album we've put out that we knew we were going to put out before the last one was even finished... I remember the conversation like it was yesterday. We were trying to decide what to do with the songs that we had partly recorded that just weren't fitting in, or we didn't have time to finish. Songs that could have been on Between the Dim and the Dark, but really shouldn't have, or couldn't have. So we promised ourselves that we'd put out a "b-sides" EP, a companion disc. And even then we had the name for it, found in the bridge of Jay's song the Dim and the Dark. Everything seemed to fit just right.

And it continued to fit. If the last album was a breeze to make, this one we practically sleep-walked through. It was fun to revisit these songs, and to finish them, but the people that did the most work are Jay Clifford, who produced what was left of the tracks, and mixed many of them, Mike Winger, our dear friend living in San Francisco, who ran all the songs through his top-notch computer, and put his delicate pop touch on "First to Feel Like This", and Les Hall, our very own Count Rockula, who bleeped and blipped "Rains in Asia" real good, as a remix artist should.

The rest of us went to Jay's really comfy home studio and drank wine and visited with his wife Stacey and threw down our parts, most of them in a few hours. I even did some computer work for Jay while I was at his house. We had fun coming up with the scary voice effects for "Darkest Love", ate some pasta, and installed a wireless internet hotspot.

Now that's the way to make an album. Albeit a short one.

Between the Glow and the Light is quirky, of course, mostly because on one album you have our first forray into electronica with "Rains Remix" and a true blast from the past in "Where She Lies", but we think that this is OK. Most of you will put both albums on your iPod anyway, and mix them to the way you like. That is what I do. I now have a Between the Dimming Glow and the Lightning Dark album on the 'Pod, with seventeen songs, and it sounds pretty good to me. We hope it sounds pretty good to you, too!"