"Strangers in My House" - Through the Eyes of an Outsider on the Inside

It’s a pleasure for any music fan to experience the evolution of an artist that they enjoy. I spent a large portion of my early teen years listening to (what I now know to be) essentially standard alternative-rock fare on Silverchair’s first three albums. But now, almost eight years later, they are still one of my favorite bands. The way they transformed their sound, on 2003's Diorama and last year’s Young Modern, into a phantasmagoria of sonically addictive, complexly arranged batch of beautifully textured psychedelic pop-rock tunes shattered any preconceived notions I may have been clinging to regarding what was possible or acceptable for the average rock band in this day and age.

Strangers in My House symbolizes a similarly pleasurable evolution for LIMERICK RECORDS artist Capitol Jay and I have my own uniquely personal perspective on their sincere accomplishment. Although Strangers in My House is their debut full-length album, I’m told the band has existed in some form or another for nearly ten years. A decade can amount to light-years in the world of indie-rock and change, whether it be positive or negative, is bound to happen to any band over that amount of time.

My trip begins just two brief years ago, on Earth Day, when my band happened to share a stage with Capitol Jay at an outdoor Ben Lee (who?) concert on the campus of Augsburg College. While I certainly enjoyed their set of what I remember as feel-good, country-tinged jam rock (due in large part to their excellently executed cover of the Gourds’ country version of Snoop Dogg’s Gin and Juice), they seemed destined, to me, to revel in the somewhat familiar territory of 12-bar blues and wicked solos that many talented local bands continue to serve their own unique version of.

So you can imagine that when I caught a pair of Capitol Jay gigs at the Nomad and 7th St. Entry last August, complete astonishment, chills, and goosebumps were not necessarily the first sensations I was expecting to encounter. The band had apparently undergone some line-up changes that had resulted in a radical refinement of their sound. They were now an epic indie-rock band on par with the likes of the Arcade Fire or Wilco. Their lush arrangements, intricate phrasing, attention-grabbing vocal harmonies, and wildly captivating lyrics all had me scratching my head in disbelief while simultaneously nodding it in acceptance. What sort of cosmic wave of inspiration and creativity had this band been riding?

Unbeknownst to me, by the time I got my hands on the Strangers in My House demos around the New Year (the point in which I officially joined the Limerick family), the band's vision quest was still in progress. In my opinion, the demos sounded like well-mixed (yet un-mastered), sonically embellished representations that were faithful to the performances I witnessed in August. I got attached to those demos. They were good and showed real potential. I assumed that it wouldn't be too long before the final details were added and the album would be released. While I noticed that two more musicians had joined the group and that a few of the arrangements had been tightened up during their highlight-of-the-evening performance at the Varsity Theater on Jan. 12, I couldn't imagine them turning their backs on those demos entirely and chalked up the changes to the familiar practice of artists having fun with their live show. Of course, those (pointless) expectations and assumptions would be proved wrong as winter faded without the release of a Capitol Jay album.

Turns out, I sat with the demos far too long. When I first heard the actual album two weeks ago, I found myself intensely comparing the two versions in my head; taking special notice when a particular vocal phrasing or overdub that I latched onto in the demo versions was missing from the album proper. "Sure the audio quality is vastly superior" I mused to myself, "and the addition of violin & keys has created new timbres that contribute to an overall more accessible, developed sound. I miss the nuances that made the demos so powerfully personal!"

Even more troubling to me at the time was the fact that some stellar songs like Misdirection and I Really Didn't Think So had been dropped in favor of the unfamiliar-to-me, two-part opus Older Now and also that O Sylvia had been transformed from a sing along acoustic ditty into a slow-moving, contemplative album closer. I was in the midst of my own petty internal indie-backlash mind-trip not unlike the mentality behind certain Eau Claire hipsters that claim to have been into Bon Iver "before he was popular".

Thankfully great albums, just like Barack Obama, only get stronger with time. Only after I soaked in all of Strangers and absorbed its own unique subtle nuances into my subconscious, did I truly appreciate the album's undeniable artistic merit, as well as Capitol Jay's seemingly intense vision and long journey, on its own terms.

I probably could dig deeper into my thoughts (much like the band obviously dug deep into their own collective will and creativity over the past two years) and give a detailed account of what my favorite guitar, vocal harmony, or string part is or I could try to read between the lines and offer my take on what I think some of the more provocative lyrics in both parts of Older Now or Deadest of the Kennedys are "tryin' to say", but I'll leave all that to the real critics.

Right now, I just feel honored to be a small part of such true professionalism and artistic accomplishment. No matter what critical or financial successes or failures lie ahead, the kind folks in Cap Jay can sleep easy knowing they literally put everything they had into the creation of this album and that is something no one can ever take away from them.

--Adam W.

"I am B!"

How To Approach A Booking Agent

If you're an artist who's finding it tough to book shows for yourself, the problem might be as simple as the approach you take. Try the following steps and see if your luck changes.

1. Approach only the venues that specialize in your type of music. If you're a solo/acoustic artist, don't be surprised when the local rock clubs don't return your emails. Start with coffee shops and work your way up to bigger rooms. You'll have much better luck.

2. Email etiquette is important! Just because email is impersonal, doesn't mean that you're not making a first impression. If your entire message consists of: "hey, my band wants to play a show" - I guarantee that nobody is going to take the time to write you back. Find out the name of the person you're writing to; introduce yourself and then your band; include as much information as possible about what you sound like, where you've played before, and what other bands would fit well on a show with you. This way you're doing a lot of the agent's work for them, and you come off as more professional.

3. You need to have a website, even if it's just a MySpace page. Most agents today wont talk to artists on the phone, and they don't want you to send them a CD in the mail. They prefer to check out your website to get a quick idea of what you're all about. The page should include 3-4 of your BEST songs, some pictures, and a detailed description of the band. If you have some positive reviews of your music or live show, include those as well. You are selling yourself to the agent, so it's important to put your best foot forward.

4. Follow-up, but don't be a pest. Once you've sent an email to a booking agent, wait at least a week before following up. Agents get tons of emails just like yours everyday, and sometimes it takes them a while to respond. If they are interested, they will get back to you. Hounding them with follow-ups is only going to hurt your chances of a show.

5. Be gracious, no matter what happens! If an agent declines to book you, there is nothing you can do to turn that around. Thank them for their consideration, ask if there is anything you should work on, and then leave them alone. Try again after a few months have gone by. If they do give you a show, NEVER complain about the details, even if they put you on a Monday at 6PM. Do the best you can, promote as much as possible, and maybe next time they'll move you to a better night and time.

Certainly this is not an exhaustive list, but the main point that I hope you take away from these tips is that IF YOU ACT LIKE A PROFESSIONAL, YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL. That will come through to everyone that you work with, and eventually it will open doors for you.