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

This is the set list, version one

1- System [key: G major] (Sam- Bowed Bass) L-2.30

i- Improv (Dan- Omnichord Sam- set up for next part) L- 3.00

2- Driveway L-18.00
-starting car (Sam) - 0.00
-making noise (Sam) - 0.30
-piano/AM radio [progression: Em G] (Dan/Sam) - 2.30
-piano/piano [same progression] (Dan/Sam) - 4.00
-piano/guitar [same progression] (Dan/Sam) - 6.30
-midi noise/guitar [same progression] (Dan/Sam) - 8.00
-piano/guitar [same progression] (Dan/Sam) - 9.15
-omnichord/guitar [s.p.] (Dan/Sam) - 10.30
-guitar [s.p.] (Sam) - 12.00
-piano/guitar [s.p.] (Dan/Sam) - 12.30
-piano [s.p.] (Dan) - 13.00 -first ending
-piano/piano [s.p.] (Dan/Sam) - 14.30 - coda start
-piano [s.p.] (Sam) - 16.00

i- Piano improv (Dan) L-3.00

3- Succession [progression: Em Em G G C C G Asus2] (Sam- guitar/Dan- Piano) L-6.00
-start (guitar only) - 0.00 (Sam)
-riff starts (guitar/piano) - 0.30 (Sam/Dan)
-crescendo (guitar/piano) - 1.30 (Sam/Dan)
-forte (guitar/piano) - 4.30 (Sam/Dan)
-let down (guitar/piano) - 5.15 (Sam/Dan)
-end (guitar) - 5.45 (Sam)

i- LFO improv (Dan) L-2.45

4- Cruise Control [key: A minor] L-10.00
-start (guitar only) - 0.00 (Sam)
-crescendo (guitar/laptop) - 0.45 (Sam/Dan)
-pianissimo (screwdrive guitar) - 2.00 (Sam)
-second crescendo (guitar/laptop) - 3.30 (Sam/Dan)
-forte (guitar/laptop) - drums start- 5.00 (Sam/Dan)
-300% -increase speed- (guitar/laptop drums) - 6.15 (Sam/Dan)
-diminuendo (guitar/laptop drums) - 1st tempo- drums fade out - 7.30 (Sam/Dan)
-coda (guitar only) - 9.00 (Sam)

i- Field recording 1

5- Interval (screwdrive bass) [key D major] (Sam) L: 2.30

i- Effects/AM radio (Sam/Dan) - L:2.00

6- Juxtaposition - [key Abm +chromatics] (Sam- piano) L- 3.30

i- Field recording 2

7- Floorboards- [progression: Ab C Ab C Abm G Dm Db]- piano/synthbass/omnichord (Sam/Sam/Dan)- L:4.30

i- Field recording 3

8- Tresor [progression: E F#m G#m F#m] - guitar/piano bass (Sam/Dan) L: 5.15

i- Drunken Master L: 4.00

9- Mudpuddle [progression: G Em C Em] - pianos/vibrato midi guitar (Sam/Dan) - L:9.00
-large crescendo in this track about halfway through, followed by large letdown

i- Cty Hwy A - midisynth improv/keyboard drums (Sam/Dan) - L:4.00

10- Scarecrows - [key- E major] - piano/midi drums (Sam/Dan) - L:6.30

i- Last Breath in this Lucid World playalong - cd track/bowed guitar/midi synth (CD player/Sam/Dan) - 17.30

11- Durance - [progression: D D F#m F#m Em Em G A]- guitar- (Sam) L:2.45

i- Field Recording 4

12- Piano improv - piano/piano/strings [progression: Am G F Em7] (Dan/Sam/Sam) L- 5.00

i- reverse bass synth (Sam) L-1.45

Encore- noise battle- Sam/Dan- L- 6.00

total time w/o field recordings, encore- 116 minutes, 30 seconds ish

Things I have recorded, to date

Matter-

Matter is the first full-length I bothered recording in its entirety. I've had ideas for full-lengths bumping around in my head for a while, and this started my decent into madness. This is my thoughts on the universe as I see it now.

Tempo-
Matter's sister album, this one thinks about the correlation between time and, well, matter, and what occurs as a catalyst for change.

Freeway-
Originally slated to be a short-length, it somehow grew to be four tracks that would take up both sides of a 12". Will probably be re-recording.

GGG-
A collection of early work. Rubbish, mostly.

Black Hat Session 1-
Pure madness. Working out insecurities with an acoustic guitar and a modulation pedal.

Spectrum-
the next double project, this is the early workings of two sets, Spectrum and Grayscale. Grayscale is an old idea that I am revisiting, Spectrum, a new idea.

Will have more as I progress.
Also, maybe visual art. who knows.

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