INDEPENDENT NEWS

'Letters to the Future' album release

Published: Wed 3 Oct 2012 04:58 PM
LETTERS TO THE FUTURE
We are pleased to announce the release of Danny McCrum’s new album ‘Letters To The Future’.
In 2007 Danny released ‘Awake & Restless’ followed by ‘Say What You Mean’ in 2009. For his third album he’s reinvented himself and created an inspired body of work with various levels of innovation in the writing, the recording process and the business structure.
"I thought, what if we disregard everything we know about making albums and start again, reinventing the process as we go; the way the songs are written, developed, recorded and produced. Even the business side of things. Most albums these days cost a lot to make and yet, we all know the whole record industry is in serious decline. So, what if we don’t pay $1200 a day for a named studio, what if we find interesting locations to record in instead? Rather than using digital effects for everything, we simply capture the room, the natural reverb etc… capture good performances and encourage the musicians to each have creative input. So that’s what we did. I teamed up with my live engineer Seth Suter and together we worked out ways of problem solving, ways to capture the best tones and performances and avoid too much cost in the process." - Danny McCrum ‘Letters To The Future’ was recorded over six months in multiple locations and includes thirteen musicians.
There were no rehearsals or specific instructions given to the musicians. Instead they were each given basic acoustic demos and asked to create their own parts.
Danny explains: “when we perform live, often the best parts of the show are when we’re making it up, adlibbing, using our ears and reacting in the moment. When you work with quality musicians you can do that. So I thought what if we adlibbed the album?"
Once the album was recorded, Seth Suter and Danny McCrum teamed up with Ron Ramdin, who has worked with a long list of impressive artists including Billy Ocean, R Kelly, 2Pac, Groove Armada and many more. They travelled to Whangapoua in the Coromandel to mix the album, which was then mastered at Studio 301 in Sydney.
The result is an inspired, vibrant, genre defying twelve song album called ‘Letters To The Future’ and an acoustic five track E.P simply titled ‘P.S.’ which will be released at a later date. The freedom given to the musicians, the nature of the recording process and the array of personalities involved, has resulted in a broad, deep tapestry of influences, sophisticated performances and a loose and over-all human vibe.
--
www.dannymccrum.com
Musicians in order of appearance…
Glen Child
The Red Suns, Danny McCrum Band, Jonny Love, Darcy Perry, Simen Taylor, Farmerpimp www.glenchild.com Cameron McArthur
The Goodbrew, The Callum Passells Group
Eddie Gaiger
Crescendo Mafia, NZ Idol top ten contestant Alexander Burke (L.A.) Magnolia Memoir www.magnoliamemoir.com Dan Antunovich
Jersey Boys, Autozamm
www.jerseyboysinfo.com
www.autozamm.co.nz
Chris Grant
Ddub, All My Brothers
www.ddub.co.nz
Sam Edgar
Doppler, Jesse Sheehan, Annah Mac, Annabel Fay, Phil Madsen Ben Jurisich
Lucy Lawless, The Goodbrew, Jonny Love, The WBC Jonny Love
www.jonnylovemusic.com
Luke Fitzgerald
Science Cabaret Musical Director, The Red Suns, Danny McCrum Band Award winning composer Mike Harding
Gentlemen
gentlemenproject.com
Mila Barach
Formerly known as Mila Gurney
http://www.myspace.com/milagurney
Engineered and produced by Seth Suter & Danny McCrum
Mixed by Seth Suter, Danny McCrum & Ron Ramdin
Mastered at Studio 301, Sydney
Other sounds you may here on the record: Rain on tin roof, helicopter, train, uni students partying, pentecostal church across the street, coughing, police chase, basketball, air conditioning unit, dog barking, lawnmower, seagulls, acorns, ice cream truck & cicadas.
THE MAKING OF 'LETTERS TO THE FUTURE' FILM
Watch the new short film about the making of 'Letters to the Future'. Six months, thirteen musicians, multiple locations… Watch here: http://youtu.be/oAuJsZhlEiA
DM BIO CLIP
Watch a short clip about Danny McCrum's extraordinary career: PS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGMKFWepgvc=share=UUmOCskXz92JHT7Ha72Qpg4w
FROM THE MOUTHS OF THE MUSICIANS
To celebrate the release we have compiled interviews with many of the musicians who worked on the album. The short film is called 'From The Mouths Of The Musicians'. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbMtBOAL-f0=share=UUmOCskXz92JHT7Ha72Qpg4w
'LETTERS TO THE FUTURE' RELEASE DATE
We are very pleased to announce the release of Danny McCrums exciting new album Letters To The Future. The album was released on October 1st and a release party will be held on October 14th. Letters To The Future was co-produced by Danny McCrum and Seth Suter and was recorded in various locations, including a theatre, a warehouse and a dance studio. Danny invited many of his musician friends to play on the album and gave them all freedom to write their own parts. The result is a broad, deep tapestry of influences and personalities, boldly sophisticated in the performances, while remaining inspired, loose and human in it's feel and vibe. Every song has it's own distinct personality as the album swings effortlessly between genres. Danny has also re-thought the business model behind the album. "We all know the music industry is struggling and evolving right before our eyes. The old model isn't working anymore, so Seth and I decided to experiment with a different approach. All we did was apply some basic business principles, but it's changed everything and I'm really pleased with how it's all turned out so far."
ALBUM COVER (Attached)
The image was designed by Mike Harding and includes the faces of everyone who worked on the album.
ENDS

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