Theme song updates
11.27.09 — We have lyrics! Nothing else, though.
11.28.09 — We have music! Sort of. Doesn’t really go with the lyrics so we’re going to have to decide what we like better.
11.28.09 pt. 2 — Can’t believe I forgot to mention the most exciting news: we have submissions from professional musicians! Not many but more than we expected. If we only had to decide by group name, the frontrunner so far would be “Name To Be Determined.”
11.29.09 — We’re narrowing the bands down. This is exciting! This time tomorrow we should have a couple of solid choices and, if we keep working on it tonight, the final draft of the song. Is that correct songwriting parlance? “Draft?”
11.30.09 — We have nothing. Couldn’t get the melody, lyrics, and music all on the same page. You may think this means we have too much. Let me restate: we have nothing. Yet, the countdown continues…
11.30.09 pt. 2 — Correction, we have optimism. And a few choices for the recording group. If it seems like we’re moving fast on this, we are. We set a deadline, dammit, and we will reach it!
11.30.09 pt. 3 — Hey, we have lyrics again! And they almost go with the music…
12.01.09 — It’s a new month in more ways than one because (trumpets blare) we have a BIG announcement: we have the theme song! Well, sort of. We have the song written. Now we need to lay down a guide track to send to the two bands we’re considering for recording. I guess that should have been its own big announcement — (trumpets blare) we’ve narrowed our search of recording bands down to two! Now re-read everything above with that knowledge. If you’ve already re-read everything above with that knowledge, go about your day with my blessing. Very good.
12.01.09 pt. 2 — Working on a crude guide track to send off to the bands. This, however, has raised a new question: who is going to produce/mix this song? And, thus, just when we thought we were getting ahead, we realize how far behind we still are. But the countdown continues…
12.02.09 — Well, that took longer than expected. The guide track, that is. But, hey, we’re not the professionals! And, yet, we’re doing this FOR the professionals…anyway, we got it shipped off yesterday via electronic mail (”email” as the kids these days call it) and our potential bands should be doing what they can with it and getting back to us hopefully soon. We also might have a line on a producer. This would be good as, you know, recording and mixing this thing would be needed.
12.03.09 — Haven’t heard anything from the bands, yet, but we HAVE heard from the potential producer. He directed us to some of his material and we’re pretty impressed. This guy seems legit, but we’re waiting before making any firm commitments. Of course, we can’t wait too long…need I remind you of the countdown below?
12.04.09 — It’s official, we have a producer for the song! His name is Prism Break and he brings it for real. Click here for more info!
12.04.09 pt. 2 — Got a response from one of our bands! Set to listen to it right now. If we dig it, we’re sending it straight to Prism Break. Ahhh yeah!
12.04.09 pt. 3 — Wow. It’s, uh…crap. Seriously, hate to sound rude, but…wow! We listened to that song about fourteen times trying to convince ourselves it wasn’t as bad as it is but it is. We can only hope that our other band comes through. I think they will, they were our favorite to begin with, anyway.
12.05.09 — Still haven’t heard from our second band. Listened to the song again just to make sure of our final verdict. Yep, still sucks. Emailing band #2 as we speak.
12.05.09 pt. 2 — No response from band #2 (they’re called The Tastee Chalkz, by the way) but saw this interesting update on their Twitter — “@mikestoferchalk no seriously lol whos get arest in amstardam???? shood be clered up soon LMFAO!!!!!!!!!” Hope they’re not talking about themselves…
12.05.09 pt. 3 — Just heard back from The Tastee Chalkz manager and…they were talking about themselves. It seems as though they were playing an unlicensed show at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Apparently they were trying to dedicate a special piece they wrote for the reopening of the Museumplein, which has been undergoing extensive renovations for a while now. Noble cause, but I guess pulling down your pants and dry shaving your pubic region as a metaphorical “let us all regrow” statement is frowned upon, even in Amsterdam, when the royal family is in attendance. It’s official — we need help.
12.06.09 — Seriously, we need help!!!!! The Tastee Chalkz are still being held and, since we were listed as their last source of employment, we are now being contacted by some guy describing himself as “the big Netherlands law saver” to aid in their legal melee. I’m on the phone with my cell phone provider as we speak getting my number changed…
12.06.09 pt. 2 — Changing your phone number doesn’t help much when you have a public option to reach you via your website. What’s more, Prism Break is breathing down our back asking where his track is. I don’t think we’re going to make this deadline.
12.06.09 pt. 3 — I came clean with Prism Break and told him everything that’s been going on. Embarrassing, to say the least. However — Prism Break, or rather his rep (I’ve never actually talked to the guy), says he has it handled. When I asked him what he had handled, he said “it.” Amsterdam legal, band, vocalists…he says he’ll take care of it all. I’d say that I think he’s just trying to be nice, but he didn’t sound very nice when he said it so…maybe he will get it handled.
12.07.09 — Tons happened this weekend. First, we firmed up with Prism Break and got him on board. Things were looking up. Then BOTH bands we sent the guide track to flaked on us. Well, in all fairness, one band actually sent something back but it was unusable. And the other band managed to get arrested during a performance at the Stedelijk in Amsterdam. Seriously. How do you get arrested in Amsterdam? Amsterdam! So, as I write this, Prism Break is on the case. He says he has a line on some vocal talent and he’ll lay down the music himself. We’ll see…
12.08.09 — Big news! We received the following email from Prism Break this morning: “Track comp. IM genius. UR lucky. Eagerly awaiting payment, PB” We did not, however, receive the actual track. So, I guess this is just potentially big news. Sent PB a reply asking about the location of the track, will let you know when we hear something back…
12.08.09 pt. 2 — Okay, heard back from PB (or whoever responds on his behalf) and the song has been sent to our video director. Have I mentioned that, yet? We decided the song wasn’t a big enough headache on its own so we decided to have a video made to go with it. Nothing too big but should be cool. We’ll see what the creative team (we’ve been swamped, had to outsource to India for this one) can come up with. Shubhechchha, team!
12.09.09 — No news, yet. Haven’t heard from our video people and PB never talked much to begin with. Still, we’re not worried. Less than 2 days to the deadline but, hey, this is fun! (If we keep telling ourselves that, we’re sure to believe it. Right?) Somebody else we haven’t heard from, though, is “the big Netherlands law saver” guy and we are legitimately pleased about that. So…yeah!
12.09.09 pt. 2 — !!!NEWS ALERT!!! This just in: I have an email from Prism Break. Said simply “Click” with a web address underneath. About to do so, just waiting for Jason to get here. Could this be the song? The video and the song?? The video, the song, and the director’s commentary track??? Tune in for details!
12.09.09 pt. 3 – Jason’s here and we’re clicking the link!…okay, being redirected to a download site. Cool, must mean we can download the song (nicely deduced by me there)! Clicking…huh, looks like they want payment information, that has to be a typo…okay, I’m putting in my credit card number — we figure he’ll reimburse me once I tell him about the error — if I don’t get reimbursed the joke’s on him, this card’s getting canceled next month (heh heh)…setting our region (I keep forgetting this guy is in another country, the internet truly can be an incredible tool for collaboration)…oh, it’s a big file it is, captain! So it must be the video, too! Okay, looks like this is going to take a while…
12.09.09 pt. 4 — Okay, download was taking forever but it’s finally done. Here we go!
12.09.09 pt. 5 — Uh…
12.09.09 pt. 6 — Attempting to compose myself and a response…
12.09.09 pt. 7 – Okay, so it WAS a video. Not a video of the song, though. It was a video of Prism Break talking about the song. Kind of. It was really just a bizarre mixture of him boasting and tooling around in what looks like a home studio. I really don’t know what the hell this is…maybe he was trying to make an intro for us? That’s something, I guess.
12.09.09 pt. 8 — I think I should email Prism Break. This is…I’m emailing him.
12.09.09 pt. 9 – Just emailed PB. I was polite but firm. Like an avocado. I’ll let you know when I hear something. For those who are new, click here to get the deal on Prism Break. (Re-reading that post reminded me how excited we were just a couple of days ago…I’m still holding out hope…)
12.09.09 pt. 10 — Got a response from Prism Break. Brief recap: emailed PB, asked him what was going on, told him we didn’t understand why we had to pay him for a video intro we didn’t ask for, told him we feel like he’s giving us the runaround and that he hasn’t actually done anything with our song, told him we wanted to be either reimbursed or given immediate access to the song. His response? “Click” with a web address underneath. Clicked the link, it took us to the personal website of that charming Netherlands attorney (or whatever he is). Not sure if that constituted a threat or some form of blackmail but, either way, it worked. Our faith and patience in Prism Break has suddenly been restored. We’ll be better now, PB. Promise.
12.10.09 — One day to the big reveal! One partial day, that is. Still haven’t seen anything but…that’s okay. We decided to bide our time and calm our nerves by making a mini-vlog last night. Sent it to the creative team in India to see if they could manage to incorporate it with the Prism Break footage. Not sure if they will but, at this point, we’re not really sure if they’re doing anything anyway. They sure don’t seem to be. Yeah, I said it. I’m breaking down here. You hear me, Prism Break? I’m breaking down and I hate you! Go ahead! Tell your Netherlands thug attorney and your Norwegian death metal bands to do their worst. I’m not scared anymore! You suck, Prism Break! You suck!
12.10.09 pt. 2 — Nothing. Still. STILL NOTHING!!! This is why you shouldn’t set deadlines. Or work with somebody with as ridiculous a name as “Prism Break.” I’ve spoken with my attorney. We’re reviewing our options. You hear that, Prism Break? MY ATTORNEY!
12.10.09 pt. 3 — Literally in the 11th hour and guess what? Just received an email from Prism Break. “Click” with a web address underneath. I’m not cancelling the attorney yet.
12.10.09 pt. 4 — Clicked the link. Download site. Credit card required.
12.10.09 pt. 5 — Okay PB, I’ll play your game. Put in my credit card info (the one soon to be canceled — as in right after I download whatever this is). Big file. This will take a while. Of course.
12.10.09 pt. 6 — Download complete. Well, it certainly looks like it could be the song and video, but we’ve been down this road before. Pressing play…
12.10.09 pt. 7 — I…I’m speechless. Prism Break…CAME THROUGH!!!! The song and video are here! They’re actually here! We will meet the deadline!!!!! Prism Break, I take back almost every bad thing I said about you! It’s a Christmas miracle! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the Attack Mimes Theme Song is here!
12.10.09 pt. 8 — Huh…seems to be a problem uploading to YouTube…
Just want to hear the song without all that fancy video stuff? Well, we got you covered there, too.
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