One year after The Day After Labor Day

It's been one year since the release of The Day After Labor Day. I suppose in a technical way we're still two days away from the date, but here we are a year later on the day after labor day. A lot has happened in that year. I recorded the album myself over the preceding summer. I played all the parts, did the mixing, mastering, and created the art and layout on my own. It was a labor of love, but it was also a labor of spite. I wanted to prove to everyone that I had what it takes to put out an album on my own. I was sick of getting the reviews of "It's alright, but it's not 'X'." I still don't know if the album is great, that is something that is left up to the listener, but at the end of the day, I did it and I have something to show for it. Let it be known that if ever I should die, god forbid, that someone contacts Vinyly records in England and has my ashes pressed into an LP of The Day After Labor Day.

A few weeks before the album was to come out I was contacted to play the first Varnerstock. This gig would take place a few weeks after the release. I put together an all star band out of the best musicians I knew and began to rehearse. It probably wasn't the best gig I've ever played in my life, but it sure felt like it. Playing my music with a band is one of the best feelings I've ever had. When I'm playing with them I feel like I am part of the audience, listening to the music they're playing. As a band we've come a long way. We've a string of successful gigs behind us, and we're starting to get a following. By the way, Varnerstock II is this weekend at Varner Recital Hall on the Oakland University Campus.

The release of The Day After Labor Day also signaled the rebirth of The Communist Day Care Center. Now functioning mostly as a record label, CDCC is the label I've put on different projects since high school, be it music, video production, or qbasic programming. The title was taken from a line of dialogue in the John Waters movie "Desperate Living." I of course heard it first as a sample from the end of Marilyn Manson's Portrait Of An American Family. There is a band out of San Diego that also uses the name. You should check them out. They're good. As a label we've picked up a few acts and put out a few CD's. The long awaited full length album from Einheuser, titled Einheuser, should be out soon. Should be. The debut release from JFn'K is the first release we've put out with 100% in house production. From the recording to mixing and mastering. From the duplication to the artistic layout printing, we've done everything. It is also the first release that stands to make it's money back. We're not quite there yet, but we're close. CDCC is also part of a larger collective of local labels, the Axis Mundi Collective. This network really provides a lot of support and we are really happy to be a part of such a great organization. Long live Axis Mundi.

So, where does this leave us? Well, it is the day after labor day. It is a change in season, it is the day we come off of vacation and go back to work. It is the day that we start to get things done. What's next? Well, as a label we're going to grow. We are going to find and put out artists work so that it can be heard. What are we going to do as a band? We're going to put out another album. I am currently in the songwriting process. The approach to this one is going to be different, and I'll be collaborating with my band mates in the recording of this one. There will be no short cuts, not that there were last time, but there will be no solid deadlines to work against until it is known how long it will take to be right. Expect good things from us. Expect good things from the label.

In parting, go and do good things. You can do it. If you can't do it on your own, find people to help you. It is possible, and, after all, it is the day after labor day. It's time to get back to work.