Last Friday night was supposed to be my band’s CD-release party at
the Vera Project. Well, originally it was supposed to be the Friday
before, but we pushed it out a week to ensure our albums would be
ready. Unfortunately, days before the rescheduled show, we received the
unsettling news that the CDs still wouldn’t be ready in time.
Like any band, we wanted our CD-release party to be rad. We
stayed out until three in the morning two nights in a row putting up
posters. I gained a lot of appreciation for all the rogue troopers out
there wheat-pasting and poster bombing. Mixing up the sticky, messy
gunk to put up banners for the show was a complete nightmare—we
were worried we would be arrested and fined, but we were also
determined to promote our show.
Not only was the entire process exhausting, but it was a definite
disappointment to see our hard work torn down or covered up just days
later. It’s nice to have something to remember the event by, but what’s
the point of postering if it’s so much easier to reach kids on the
e-profiles they refresh every couple of minutes?
And even if people came to the show, how were we going to throw an
album-release party for a record that didn’t exist yet? Luckily, my
bandmate Dale works well under pressure. The night before the show, we
pulled another gnarly night-owl session, burning CD copies of the
mastered tracks on two laptops, silk-screening covers, and folding the
inserts for what we would call the “limited-run CD-release” version of
the album. And of course it ended up being much better than having
nothing at all.
The show went well, the bootleg CDs looked great, but it all came
pretty close to complete catastrophe. Doing it yourself isn’t
always easy, but you know the saying about getting things done right
(or at all). The DIY approach can be a lot of stress, hard work, and
late nights—but in the end, when all that effort pays off, it
feels pretty damn good. 