submission letter

Salutations from the Great Empty Midwest!

I would be interested in being a part of the Hardly Art ‘family’. I am a (mainly) recording artist based in Appleton, Wisconsin, with a motley crew of guitars, keyboards, and recording equipment at my disposal. I’ve been playing in bands for the past three years, and have been playing piano for the past nine, and would love to take it up as a career, ideally under your label.

Enclosed are two discs of recordings I have made under the moniker ‘Subpar’ My influences include Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, M83, Mogwai, Slint, Radiohead, and the Clash.

Disc one:

1. Sleepyhead 3.17

2. Rank 4.41

3. Driveways 16.04

4. Cold Climate 14.56

5. Juxtaposition 7.21

6. Swimming Days 4.40

7. Eternity 11.26

8. Maybe in Another Lie 5.42

9. Succession 5.36

Disc two:

1. Cloudline 19.42

2. Omnescense 5.10

3. Cruise Control 9.16

4. Seperation 3.22

5. Nashville 5.29

6. Durance 2.14

7. Folklore 2.40

8. Metatime 10.44

Notes on a few songs:

1-1- Sleepyhead- This is the first song that I fleshed out, start to finish, and probably the most coherent song out of my original recording process.

1-2- Rank- I don’t really enjoy the idea of me singing (I was told from an early age that my singing voice is, uh, subpar…). This is probably as pop-y of a tune as I can write.

1-3/2-3- Driveways/Cruise Control- Over the past few years, I’ve really fell in love with the notion of driving around at night, when no one else is on the road, with some soft music on, just taking in the cool night breeze, embracing the concrete and watching the strips on the road, streetlights overhead blazing sodium orange.

2-7- I was briefly enchanted with the idea of meeting a hobo outside of a train, and him telling me the story of how he came to be where he was. This is what became of that.

Love, Peace and Hope,

Sam Binder

Blog note: tracks enclosed found here