Art by Kaitlynn Klug

The March edition of the 12 EP Project is up!  My dear dear friend Kaitlynn created this beautifully moody art for the three tracks of the EP.  These tracks were all culled from the 50/90 challenge, so if you were following me during that time, you might have heard them.  But I heartily suggest you take another listen, and then fill out the survey!  The survey is the most important part, and it appears that more people are downloading than are filling out surveys.  I mean, it’s great that you’re listening, of course, but the survey!  The surrrveyyy!  It’s really quick — you don’t even have to write any comments, all you have to do is choose which song you liked the best (though of course I like comments).  Super simple!

Maybe you’re scared because I have an option to sign up for my mailing list.  Well I assure you that I do not sell e-mails or any of that stuff that people are worried about but probably never really happens.  I honestly just want to create a mailing list and write stuff on it but I never can cause nobody signs up!  ”But your blog is like a mailing list!” you say, and maybe you’re right.  But maybe I will use the mailing list for super secret stuff.  Ever think about that, smartypants?

Anyway, go listen, enjoy, have fun, etc etc.

Now I just gotta pay my webhost bill … which is a bit outlandish…

Anyway, I’m busy with work and the play, Test Comic will come back as soon as I get a chance to make some more, and you should all check out the 12 EP Project if you haven’t already.  I’ve gotten some nice responses but not as many as I’d like!  Go, download, listen and respond!

Now I’m off to work!

Okay back to my fun weekend!  Bye!

The first EP features artwork by yours truly (some really crude artwork, too, I might add…).  I’m totally stoked for this project.  I even have a sweet Google Docs form all ready to go for the people who download the EP.  It won’t be any kind of weird stupid forms of bygone days — Google controls everything!

So yeah, be prepared!  2009 is gonna KICK SOME ASS.

Secondly, I thought I would pimp myself out a bit, because really, I don’t have much else going on today.  Saw the Decemberists last night — awesome as usually.  Not their greatest show but still a lot of fun.  Hopefully my Seattle friends will get a better show (and “On the Bus Mall”… stupid technical difficulties).

The Twelve EP Project is still in full effect.  I’m currently enlisting help from my artsy-fartsy friends to make cover art for the EPs (which reminds me, I need to e-mail some people…).  I also have a few tracklists already set up.  If you know me from FAWM or 50/90 then you will have seen most of these tracks before.

So remember: January 3rd, 2009 is the first of the EPs!  You will be able to stream each track from my site and help me pick a winner, or you can purchase high quality (320k) MP3s plus cover art and extra goodies (that I haven’t decided yet) for a couple of bucks.  And by the end of the year, you will have helped me make an album!  Totally bitchin’, I know.

best. shirt. ever?

Next!  I don’t know if you know this, but I have T-shirts!  Stickers!  Buttons! (oh my)  I have them through Cafepress.  They actually turned out pretty well, too.  My awesometacular friend Missy made my simple design look great.  I know that Cafepress is super expensive but if you have some extra cash lying around and you wanted to be a pal, you could buy a pack of stickers or buttons and put them up around where your friends could see them and possibly go, “Josh Belville?  Who is that?  Someone incredibly handsome, no doubt.”

I’m looking into silk-screened options around the Portland area (which I’m sure are abundant), so I can make sure I can lower the price.

If you would like to get something for free, and who doesn’t, I suggest you head over to my discography page, where I have two albums available for download, How I Remember You and Get Behind Me, Santa!  The former is always available for download, while the latter is seasonal only.  They’re good CDs, people tell me good things about them, so grab ‘em both and take a listen!

And lastly, of course, if you like what you hear and feel philanthropic, please feel free to donate a few bucks.  It’s through PayPal, totally secure, and the money goes toward me purchasing iTunes space for my albums so you can buy them all fancy-like.

Oh, speaking of that!  I submitted Songs for Autumn to iTunes/AmazonMP3/etcetc a few weeks ago.  It takes an asslong time to get processed, but it should be available in January, hopefully sooner.  I’ll let you know.  TuneCore had a half-off deal on submitting tracks and I couldn’t avoid it.  So yeah, I’m going to be totally legit soon!  haha

Okay, that’s all.  Enjoy your Sunday!  Eat some turkey leftovers!

I have, at this point, about thirty to forty songs that have been unreleased and generally not heard by anyone except FAWMers and 50/90ers (and some songs that haven’t been heard by anyone!).  So I thought that next year, 2009, I would come up with a year-long project, which I call the Twelve EP Project.  It’s not about selling EPs so much as it is coming up with a solid tracklist for a new album, which is why I need your help.

Here’s my plan.  On the third day of every month, I will release a new EP with three songs on it (three on three, if you will — a vague basketball reference perhaps?).  The EP will be free to stream, but if you would like to buy a high quality MP3 copy for yourself, it will cost about two bucks or so.  Nothing extravagant.  There will be official album art, done by myself and friends of mine, I hope, and that will all come with the album should you choose to buy it (maybe with some other goodies too, I haven’t decided).

But here’s the cool part.  I will also have a poll with each EP, which simply asks, Which song do you like the most?  You, the listener, get to choose your favorite song out of the three!  The idea being that by the end of the year, I will have twelve songs that you, the listener, really enjoy.  From that I will create a full-length album, and this one will be Official, meaning, iTunes/AmazonMP3 placement, actual physical CDs, maybe even a bit of touring.  The whole nine yards.

It effectively gives me a year to construct an album — with your help!  It’s a lot like Jonathan Coulton’s “Thing A Week” idea, really.  I guess I’m blatantly stealing it for my own good.

So!  January 3rd will be the first release.  Mark your calendars!  Tell your friends.  Construct a robot that travels the countryside!  Make a hot air balloon.  Purchase space on your local newspaper!  Throw things at people!  Do other things! ]]> http://zornog.net/blog/2008/11/the-twelve-ep-project/feed/ 7