So, for those of you that are not aware, there is a new Guilty Pleasures album. It's almost done and I'm getting pretty excited. We recorded it in about 5 hours, with less than 5 hours of practice on an immensely hectic weekend. Luckily we had a veritable supergroup and things went pretty smoothly. Chris tried to foil our goal by sleeping through the first couple hours of both the rehearsing and recording days, but was unsuccessful. Chris wasn't the only one trying to stop the GPs from ever having another album. Murphy's Law tried to take hold of the weekend. Recording was supposed to begin in a studio at 10am on a Sunday morning. Saturday night, around midnight, I got the call that the studio was off and we'd have to figure something else out. The only option was to set up in a garage, arrange a million amps and the drums in a semicircle around one condenser mic, and record the entire album live (aside from the lyrics). If that sounds like a challenge to you, you are correct...I was 99% sure while trying to set it up and reteaching myself how to use my old 8-track recorder that the album was either not going to happen or be a sonic disaster.

We couldn't be stopped though! Both Chris and Sterling arrived with flaming licks and whammy bars galore. They are both very strange and unique guitarists and also two of my favorites. I think that if any of you listen closely to what they did in such short time, with so little practice, you're going to be very impressed. We had Matt Bowers play drums, and he also destroyed. With absolutely no practice, Matt had every single song nailed within moments of hearing them. Larry Sheffey played bass loudly, efficiently, and with grace. He also played the only instrument on the album, save 4 or 5 overdubs, whose volume I can control individually. Harrison played some bass and piano, which is lovely, in addition to signing some pretty tight background vocals with Sam Wetterau and Matt. Colin Vacarrella played some killer and much-needed violin throughout the album. He's a very talented man. Last, but certainly not least, Annie played a very major role on the album. She sings backup on half the album and really fills it out and makes it just lovely.

So, in conclusion, it sounds like it was recorded with little practice, with one mic, and in a garage, but in the best way possible. I thoroughly love it. This is a big change for the Guilty Pleasures and, I think, a great one. We've never released an album recorded with a full band, and especially not one recorded live. I think the constraints put on everyone involved resulted in something really wonderful. Everyone involved was vocal about things they thought should happen with the songs and took charge when necessary. And no matter what, there are few things as fun as getting drunk with your best friends and playing music. I was really blown away by how great of a musician everyone has become at this point, and especially by how well 5-8 people could work together in a blazing hot garage. So thanks to everyone involved, and sorry to those who I had talked to about getting involved who I never called. I hope you understand that it was a nightmare just trying to figure out a time that that many people could be in the same place, and have that place be a place where we could record. I wish everyone could have been involved somehow, obviously.

So you guys can expect them soon. And when you guys get them in the mail, they will be accompanied by a special surprise. I won't tell you tell you what it is, but I will say that I just received a box of 100 of them and they will keep your beer cold.

So, one of the last steps is finalizing the artwork. I gave Cameron the photo for the cover and he's come up with some mock covers.

I need two things from you:

a. Which cover do you like best? Would you change the one you like best? What would that change be?

b. I'm going to mail these out to everyone once they're finished. I need addresses.

For SF people, I'm going to just mail a bunch to Danny et al. and they can give them to you. So, Morgan, Taylor etc. make sure to get them! For those in the district, I'm going to mail a bunch to someone. Who? Mike? Riley? Where should they go? And for the Annapolitans, I suppose I will mail them to the Names' house. If you don't fall into one of those categories, then I'm going to need your address - ESPECIALLY if you are in the band and recently moved to NM.

Please, EVERYONE/ANYONE that reads this blog, give me your address and I'll send you a cd/surprise. If you don't want to leave your address in the comments because of all the rapists and killers that read my blog, you can email it to me (wileylaufman@gmail.com)

Thanks, and give me your fucking address.

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