EPIC RUINS UPDATE! (plus some Ashera news, too.)

Okay, so it's been awhile. But I've been busy doing shit--a documentary on fuzz pedals came in the mail and it wasn't going to watch itself.

Anyway, the EPIC RUINS album is recorded, mixed and awaiting mastering and pressing. It's called Void Mariner and the Mystic Boogie of the Sacred Line, recorded by Mike Garcia at Fort Worth Sound and Zaq Bell at Fusion Project Studios and mixed by Danny Kalb at Cowl Studios. I mention them because if you're recording something, you should go look them up. They're all total wizards. But wait, there's more!

Void Mariner and the Mystic Boogie of the Sacred Line will likely make its debut at the end of May or the beginning of June. We're probably going to start spreading it around before then, so if you happen upon the word WIZARDVIZION written anywhere, look for clues. You can also check out more at wizardvizion.com, epicruins.com, multivoid.com, the wizarded blog, and our Facebook page. They might not be up quite yet, but keep checking, because that's where we're putting up all the secret shit and what not. We may or may not be playing at SxSW,* but there will likely be something worth your while to check out during that time. All I can say is that if you have a secret spot where you go to get wizarded when you're out at bars in Fort Wizard, Austin and Los Angeles, keep your eyes open for anything suspicious. And cops. Keep your eyes out for those, too.

Now of course, the preceding paragraphs assumes you've been reading this blog forever and ever and know what I'm talking about, but if not, here's the thing:

EPIC RUINS originated as a project between myself and Jordan Richardson way back in like 2007, when he was recording Darth Vato's last album with us. Over the course of last year, we kicked riffs and song ideas back and forth across time and space. In August, we both had some time available to get together,** so we and a bunch of other dudes got together and had these super-haggard late night wizard jams in the Me-Thinks World headquarters in Haltom City. Videos exist, as do four-track tapes. Someday you might see/hear them. But anyway, we did that for four days, and then we holed up with the aforementioned Michael Garcia*** for another four and fleshed out/recorded what we'd made up. It was all really fast and special and you're probably rolling your eyes, but what we made up was some really spacey shit that sounded like it came right out of the '70s. We figured out after those sessions what our record and band was really about, and at the point, the core became myself on bass, Jordan Richardson on drums, guitars and keys, Sam Anderson on vocals and guitar and Jeff Dazey on baritone sax.

About two months later, we recorded another song with Zaq, which you can read about in previous entries. That song is called "Child and Cobra,"and it was recorded when all of us were in various stages of fighting or acquiring the flu. It was also recorded during the Balloon Boy Hoax, which made the whole week even weirder. We made nervous jokes and it was all very surreal, and I credit Zaq with calling bullshit on Falcon flying the fucking thing. Anyway, time went by, Danny mixed what we had finished and then during the last week of the year we finished the last three songs except for some vocals. I flew out to L.A. to finish mixing with Danny and Jordan, and now we're all anxiously awaiting the moment we can unleash it.

If you want to know what it sounds like, I'm hesitant to drop influences and that sort of thing. I don't want to color your judgment, so you'll probably just have to listen to it. Like I said before, we're going to leak it (I know, really pretentious, right?) before it's pressed, but I hear tell there will be a song streamed on Veronica Belmont's Sword and Laser blog.

Failing a listen, though, you'll probably want to know that it's a concept album about an immortal dude searching for truth. And at some point, he runs into Ashera, and they fight a being called the Kreg, at least during one song. It's only a part of the broader story. If I ever find an artist to draw what I've written, that particular song will fit into the end of the first major story arc of a multi-volume story. Anyway, since that doesn't really explain what will come out of your speakers, I'd say it's a rock album that came from the mid-70s of a parallel universe, one in which Jimi Hendrix lives into the early '90s (when he dies of prostate cancer), Reagan precipitated a nuclear war scare by sending troops to Afghanistan in 1986 and Willow was critically and commercially well-received.

And also, it's a universe where there is no Conan the Destroyer. In other words, it's totally awesome. Except for the whole nuclear scare thing.

Please keep coming back here, and check out the Facebook link at the top for more updates. Now that the record is all done, I'm going to be back on here a lot more often, with more tales to astonish and amuse. Or rather, more tales about this one time where we were all super baked and listening to Electric Wizard and so and so did that really weird thing.****

Steve

*(and isn't that a familiar refrain from anyone you've ever known who's been in a band?)

**Like I'm so busy or something.

***That's Asian Mike, to us.

****And by so-and-so, I probably mean me.