So you might be asking yourself, as I am, why attend two ska fests in one month?

Tell me about Download Day.

This is the third one we’re doing. Community Records has a lot of mp3s for free download, and instead of putting albums up randomly or trying to promote each album at one time, we just put six or eight or nine albums up at one time from different bands. That way there can be a lot of promotion, we can get people to check out a lot of different music for free at the same time.

How long are the downloads available for?

They stay up on the website until we stop being a website.

How have The Flaming Tsunamis impacted you?
They’ve been highly influential.  For years they’ve worked really hard and created music that’s really weird but likeable. I’m pretty sad that they’re deciding to call it quits, but I understand. I’m happy they’re trying to put together one last record. I’m excited about that, excited that community records can be a part of that.

When’s the release going to be? What are Community’s other plans for the record?

Tentatively October. That’s the goal. We’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to do the mp3s with vinyl, since they probably aren’t going to be touring a whole lot… the advantage of giving away mp3s is reduced. For sure, there’s going to be a really cool vinyl with some sort of weird colors and patterns and packaging. The vinyl might come with the CD instead of trying to sell them separately. We haven’t figured out yet how digital distribution is going to go.

Who else besides The Flaming Tsunamis are going to have material up for free download?

A Billion Ernies, Informant from Texas, which has members who used to be from Detonate. It’s their brand new album, they kind of sound like RX Bandits-like ska but a little bit more punk. We’re also putting up albums from Arm the Poor and Infamous Jake.

Explain a little bit of the process behind Download Day.

We get the word out through messageboards and our newsletter.  Every time someone new comes- we ask people to submit as much info as they want, but we ask for their name, city, thoughts/comments on the label and e-mail address.

The only thing you really need to fill out is your e-mail to get an automatic response in your inbox that has a link to all the mp3s. We look at the e-mails and look at what people are saying for one, but we also put them on a newsletter to let them know about future stuff in case of another Download Day or a record coming out or a tour or whatever.

I know people can very easily crack the code of getting into the website, because we don’t have any firewalls or anything like that. Some people are weird about giving out their e-mail or getting on a newsletter. It’s not that we’re trying to hold it back from anybody, we’re just trying to get the music out to the people who want it. 

What are your thoughts on the downloading wave versus physical formats like vinyl and CD-Rs?

I think that there’s obviously room for both to exist. Downloading won’t eradicate the idea of having physical albums. As far as music ‘sales’ go, there needs to be less emphasis on selling albums, because it’s pretty obvious that music arrives for free in front of people.

In terms of underground music, mp3s should be either really cheap or free for the most part. There’s just way more added benefit of having someone hear your band and potentially liking it than having to sell them something and getting a small amount of money from it. I think that there are other ways to make a living off of music than having to put a stranglehold on physical albums.

If you’re trying to make a living off of it, it’s one thing. But as far as free mp3s go, I feel like it really-- in the end-- helps live shows where people can much more easily have a connection with your band. They don’t have to pay anything to be introduced to what you’re trying to do as a musician. The barriers of entry to figure out what the band is all about are diminished or nonexistent.

Donations have been a really small part of the label’s income, but we have it available. I feel that it’s better to put out physical albums and t-shirts or whatever else so when they give money to the label, they get something tangible in return.

Any last words?
If there’s anyone who’s reading this who’s familiar with us in the past, thanks for paying attention  and caring and giving us your support. We started this a little over a year ago and it’s more successful than we’d ever hoped for and it’s all because people care.

THIS POST IS LATE.

Why this Weekend Will Be Great Reason #2

It's safe to say that if you like one band on Thursday's show, you'll like the rest of them.

AEROPLANE 1929 have always been contained within a kind of time capsule. They draw from the weathered corners of Americana, adding in their own personal monograms-- piano, horns, clean production-- to achieve just the right age for their craft. They've been dusting themselves off since 2005, finding similar musical companions in town (Sidewalk Dave, Elison Jackson) and out (Deer Tick, Kevin Devine). Maybe its their antiquated sound or the members' polite tone of professionalism, but they never seemed to quite fit their time.

This could be why it feels strange that they're putting it to rest with plans to break up in August. Despite only playing two shows in Connecticut in the last 18 months, Aeroplane has always seemed like a scene staple and elder in the light indie rock scene associated with Safety Meeting and February Records. Even if you were never a fan, you should try to make it out to one of their last shows in July to pay your respects to an old friend to the New Haven scene. This Friday's release show at the Legion should be intimate and friendly-- you'll get a free copy of the new record with your admission dollars.

Scroll down for an interview with vocalist and guitarist Alex Mazzaferro, where he elaborates on the release of their last record, Attic & Cellar (out on Topshelf Records).

Listen to an unreleased track from the upcoming album, 'Soothsayer Said.'



Friends Sidewalk Dave, Elison Jackson, Luke Elliot and Lion Cub will be joining them. The night will probably feel like more of a send-off than an open-casket.

Earlier this week, Inkwell did a brief interview with frontman Alex Mazzaferro regarding the album release and its production:

Why release a record with the imminent break-up?
We decided to record an album despite our imminent breakup because we felt that we hadn't yet made the final statement we wanted to make as a band. I wrote most of the songs for "Attic & Cellar" in the spring of 2009, knowing well before then that we would be breaking up around now. And since these songs felt like Aeroplane, 1929 songs -- like the culmination of the sound we had been building together for a few years -- rather than solo songs, it was fitting to conclude the band with their release. These songs were kicking around in my head -- haunting me; they needed exorcising. They deserved a proper release, and the Topshelf Records guys were good enough to do that for us.

What qualities about the record make it worthy enough to leave behind in Aeroplane's legacy?
The album is composed of twelve narratively-linked songs, songs we spent more time crafting than we ever have in the past. By the time we finished recording them, they had become the purest collaborations in our five-year career as a band. Ironically, the penultimate sessions for the record took place simultaneously in two different cities -- I tracked guitars, keyboards, and vocals in our home studio in New Haven while Jake [Goldman] recorded woodwind and string players in his dorm at NYU -- but we were able to do that because we had developed such an innate trust in each other. When we began the final session together in May we each knew how to best bring the songs to life.

Was the production process any different knowing the future of the project?
Aeroplane, 1929 is, at its core, a collaboration between me and Jake. I write the songs and lyrics and play a variety of instruments. Jake records our albums and contributes arrangements beyond his role as multi-instrumentalist. Wil [Mulhern] and Noah [Goldman] and other folks played on the record a bunch, but it was essentially the two of us at the helm. Jake knows me very well, knows how to make what I'm trying to say translate to tape. I paint in broad strokes; he works on the level of detail. This relationship really started to solidify with our 2008 release "Original Sin," but we felt like we owed it to ourselves to make a full-length together. This is the record we were meant to make, and all the sacrifices required to make it were worth it.

We've always made our records without being hemmed in by what we could reproduce live. But with "Attic & Cellar" we were free to experiment further. Jake spends most of his time listening to and writing chamber music; I spend most of my time reading and writing about literature, so it made sense to push the songs to the level of story and to try to marry American roots music and more avant garde stuff. This record gave us the chance to do that.

What are your plans to promote the release?

The window to promote this record live is very small. We're playing dual release shows -- Thursday, July 1 at the VFW in Florence, Massachusetts w/ Ian O'Neil of Deer Tick, Lion Cub, and the Okay Win; and Friday, July 2 at the American Legion in Wallingford, Connecticut w/ Sidewalk Dave, Luke Elliot, Lion Cub, and Elison Jackson -- to celebrate. Immediately afterwards we're doing a two-week tour. There will only be one or two Connecticut shows left, including our final show ever August 21st at the Space in Hamden. The record will still be available by mailorder through the Topshelf Records Online Store, but we will be officially broken up after that. If folks are into seeing us live, don't hesitate. There won't be many opportunities. And we're working hard to make sure The End is really special.

Two acts affiliated with the Run for Cover roster-- BALANCE & COMPOSURE and MAN OVERBOARD-- are also playing, which is notable considering Tigers Jaw, another RFC band, has seemingly dropped off of every local show they've been placed on in Connecticut since their last show at the Legion. Balance & Composure just released an incredible split with Tigers Jaw, actually. Their side is really strong, carrying a lot of the same poppier elements in the rest of this show's bill, but with a darker undertone to some of their stuff that reminds me a little of Brand New.

Listen to 'Twenty Four' off the split.

[NOTE: This is a great show.]

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS is one of the livelier punk outfits out there today. Having signed to Epitaph Records earlier this year, they’re also one of the more successful ones. Ryan Young’s vocals are both gritty and rousing enough, they sound like gang vocals are built-in as he sings anthems of the sloppy, the angsty and the self-loathing. This tour is supporting their very fresh release of In Desolation on their fancy new label. Here’s a track from the record called ‘ZZYZX.’



DEAR LANDLORD tagged along on tour, too. They’ve shared a lot more with OWTH in the past, not limited to a split back in 2007, a label (No Idea) and Zack Gontard on guitar. Listen to ‘I Live in Hell.’



Two of the better bands of this genre will be joining the package on Tuesday, New Haven’s SWEAR JAR and FIRE FIRST. Click on their names to listen.

Discuss the show here. RSVP here.