Goodbye Zeros
Hello everybody.
Happy 2010 to each of you.
The zeros were quite a decade to have lived through. And quite a decade to say goodbye to in many ways.
We made our way back up to Portland yesterday. There are various tasks and duties to handle in the next week or so, but among them are getting some new stuff recorded with Joe Plummer for the next All Smiles album.
It’s our plan to have a good bit of it knocked out by the end of the month.
An album and an EP.
And then we’ll float the songs and the band out in to the ether once again.
More updates soon.
Maybe some photos of Joe, crushing…
I feel progress on the horizon.
Seems like a lot of us do.
We’ll make it all add up to something.
Happy New Year!
Jim
Other People's Places
Hello Everybody.
I made it home.
And I feel fantastic.
The solo tour was really a dream. So many rad people. So much fun with Josselin and Samuel. And goddamn, the wine, pain au chocolat and cheese still arrive in France from heaven, morningly.
Just a couple of reminders before a real long update which will come soon.
The Fall Never Fell EP is available digitally now, both here in the store section and at all digital retailers near and far-flung.
Additionally our latest full length is now being distributed by Burnside Distribution and should therefore be available in stores near you. For all you brick and mortar brothers and sisters out there. It should be in France too! If you want it here or there and don’t see it, please bug the cashier and let them know you’d like to. For all the folks who prefer shopping from the privacy of their own local coffee shop, or home, Insound has it on both CD and Vinyl.
And of course if you buy it from us you get an immediate free download, quality and type chosen by you.
Also, from now through Christmas, the album is on sale for $5 on digital, through us.
The album demos are still up there for free as well.
At the moment, while overcoming jetlag, the following tasks are occupying my time:
- My friend Eric Judy, probably the best, most creative bass player in rock and roll and my some time band mate in Modest Mouse recommended I read The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Marukami. I thank him for it here, before I can in person next week. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in years. The protagonists travels and travails remind me of the following:
- Figuring out the tracklist for the forthcoming “Biblical Sense EP” which I hope to finish recording before the end of the year. We tried one version of the song Biblical Sense in Omaha with the band and a version of it in Chicago and Los Angeles with Nik Freitas and I. Ultimately, neither worked completely, so they didn’t make Oh For The Getting and Not Letting Go or Fall Never Fell. I’m trying to get those two drastically different versions done correctly now and get a few more tunes done for a new EP to come out in the early new year, hopefully around February. Both versions of Biblical Sense will be on there, with the aforementioned “other tunes”. Whatever they may be. Ironically my good buddy and occasional co-conspirator “Danny Seim”: http://www.myspace.com/lllackthereof of Menomena and Lackthereof took a liking to the song and recorded a Lackthereof reggae version of it that is better than anything we’ve come up with so far. His stab at it is gonna wind up on a comp that Coke Machine Glow is putting up some time before the end of the year. So though this EP was already in my mind, that’s a damn good reason to get it done; when your buddy gets one of your tunes right before you do, it’s time to hone it in.
- Getting ready to go to Portland for a couple days to practice for the Modest Mouse tour. Somehow we leave for that in just two weeks. Really looking forward to closing out the year in such powerful fashion.
- Finishing up the songs for the forthcoming third All Smiles album. Which has no provisional title at all. But which could be called “Otter’s Songs”. And certainly won’t be. I hope to have it done by the end of January. I think that it’s mostly written. Someone else might be better able to answer that eternal query than me. I think I know who’s gonna play on it. Who I’ll ask anyway. Who has been talked to about it. Maybe a few surprises in store for that. And some familiar faces and fingers as well.
Oh, my alliterative wit strikes me with it’s fatal force.
Off to the broom, sweeping away the detritus of two weeks away.
Be Well.
Love Jim
Good afternoon from France
Rennes to be precise. The tour has been one joyous experience followed by another. We are encountering such generous hospitality from each of our hosts. There will be an entire recap at the end of the tour, but let’s just say that the food, crowds and company have been extraordinary. And there are very few people in the world who, upon finding out at 1 AM that a person was without lodging, would drive to their 18th century farmhouse a half hour away from the city, let you in, provide breakfast fixings and then drive back to the city to open the store in the morning. Yvon and his beautiful Wife from Dialogues Media in Brest are two such people.
Here’s the deal:
I am very pleased to announce that the Fall Never Fell EP is now for sale in the store section
We started recording it over two years ago in Texas, following an overnight drive from Phoenix. The band then was Nik Freitas, Dave Osborne, and Alance Ward. Over the course of the next two years, me and the above dudes as well as Chico Jones, Solon Bixler, Rachel Stolte, Joe Plummer, Danny Seim, and Mike Cresswell worked on the tunes as time permitted. It was made in Austin,Chicago, Los Angeles, Modesto, and Portland. In studios and bedrooms and everything in between. That part is actually funny to me. The full length found a way to finish itself while being made in only two places. And it’s twice as long with more color. But I am really so happy with how this turned out. It’s available here a week before other digital stores for $5, which includes a jpeg of the artwork, by Natasha Wheat and lyrics. By me.
I hope that you enjoy it.
Take good care.
Jim
Safe and sound in Toulouse.
Following more than eighteen hours of stop and start travel. The severely restrictive budget we’re operating on for this tour necessitated a less expensive ticket with the following routing: San Francisco to Charlotte, NC, Charlotte to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Toulouse. At the end of the journey I felt certain there would probably have been a way for me to make up the couple hundred dollars difference for the ticket more direct.
I forced myself to stay up until 11 PM the night I landed, which meant that I’d been awake for 32 hours. I felt a little like a drunk Doberman on a chihuahua carousel. Surrounded by opportunity with no wherewithal to do anything about any of it.
To bed then. Asleep for four hours, I awoke to my hosts knocking on my rooms’ door, followed by quick entry, me lying in bliss, half dead.
The only thing I could make out in my haze from their frantic message was that there were three cars on fire outside the apartment. Sirens and lights followed. Somehow I fell back to sleep amidst it all. I definitely wasn’t going to evacuate, consequences be damned. It was raining and I was, as Nik Freitas would say, zorched. That’s the way to beat jetlag: beat your body to the point where it’s gotta sleep to survive. Never anticipating you might not survive the sleep.
Evidently cars are often burned in Toulouse, whether as a matter of protest or celebration. I have not confirmed this statistically, it’s only been mentioned to me by a couple locals. I do find it slightly at odds with the experience I’m having here. Three cars being set fire to in a private, fenced lot just away from the city center. Everything seems friendly, civil and positively chocolatine.
The new photo at the top demonstrates what was left after the three cars were burned up and towed away. Very little as it turns out.
The first show at the Fairfield Cafe felt great. A good number of sweet French folks turned up, especially given that we have no releases here. But I’ve been blessed in always having had great support from the French audience, starting in 1997 when Grandaddy had just released Under The Western Freeway. I aim to respond in kind.
Now to Bordeaux. And a few more after that, leading to the early digital release of the Fall Never Fell EP next Tuesday, November 10th, right here in the store section of this very site.
Sleep well. Wake better.
Jim
Fall Never Fell EP
Hello Everybody.
Happy Autumn. And happy wedding to Genevieve and Abe.
I’ll get to that in a second.
I’d like to extend a hearty thank you to everyone who has checked out the album so far.
It’s still available for sale here and is now available from our friends at Insound as well. They’re offering 10% off the new LP and CD until November 8th. Which will come in real handy especially if you’re doing other shopping.
It is also for sale at Good Records in Dallas and Permanent Records in Chicago.
And in monumental news for our little Small Aisles label, we’re now being distributed by Burnside Distribution out of Portland, Oregon. They’re great. So it oughta be physically available in lots more places on November 17!
Prior to all that, we’ll be putting the Fall Never Fell EP up for sale here the first week in November, and selling it at shows on CD. Mike Cresswell finally mixed it, following it’s long gestation.
Speaking of shows, there’s ten of them, all solo, posted in the tour section now, mostly in France. I’ll post the forthcoming Modest Mouse shows soon as well, but they’re mostly sold out already.
And don’t forget to head to the store section and click on the pink button that says “free demos”. It will give you access to exactly that; free demos of songs from Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go that were recorded while that album was being figured out. I’ve been playing these solo shows and people sometimes ask whether there’s recordings of the songs in those versions. So five of them are there for you to grab at your leisure. They are one take, one microphone. Charming. Or something.
Okay…
If any of you have ever seen me play with Modest Mouse or Grandaddy, you may have noticed a big fella with red bushy hair and beard who checks on stuff on my side of the stage, sets it up, makes it all work perfectly, hands me guitars…generally turns chaos in to functionality. From not knowing how to tune a guitar nine years ago, he has graduated to stage manager in Modest Mouse. He takes the finest care of all of the shit that Tom Peloso, Eric Judy and I have. Check out what that means live or on YouTube some time. It’s really a darned big job. Well, his name is Abraham Davis. He is one of the kindest and funniest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, and also one of the hardest working and most talented. I love him dearly and consider him among my closest friends in the world. I’ll tell the full story of Abe Davis through my eyes here in the coming months. But for now, I would like to congratulate him and his badass new bride Genevieve Bardini, as they were married in the field behind their house in Oakdale, California this past weekend. When Natasha and I were walking away from the Outside Lands Festival a couple months ago, Natasha said “Genevieve is Abe’s perfect partner”. That fact is so apparent on first glance. May their badassery reign eternal.
Okay, I promise to write more soon. There is so much going on right now. Preparation for all these shows with both bands, the new EP coming out, packing all the CDs for Burnside and oh shit, starting work on the new album. And some stuff with Project Grow during the tour in France. It’s gonna be a good end to the year.
Thanks for being here.
Jim
Under the Radar and assorted ephemera...
Hello Again.
Merry, happy weekend to everybody.
Just wanted to say a personal thanks to each person who has listened to and especially picked up the album so far.
It is grandly appreciated by us.
Over here.
I hope that when you get the physical packages, which should be in the next couple of days, you’ll be as stoked as we are about them.
And again, we apologize for the vinyl shipping cost gnarl that existed on first glimpse.
Launching our label will prove to be a little bumpy at first, but we’re working hard to make it right. In all respects.
A deeper glimpse in to that notion exists here: www.undertheradarmag.com
The sweet folks at Under The Radar magazine were kind enough to offer me the chance to speak about, shit……. they weren’t specific, so I spoke about whatever I wanted. I couldn’t have said it better myself. So I asked the myself of a couple days ago, and he came up with the words you’ll find at the link above. Great job self.
I’m hard at work on:
1) Getting a revised and tightened-up amp rig together for the Modest Mouse tour. Which will be here soon. I have one amp that I have toured with since the Sumday tours in Grandaddy. I love that one. Abe and Brian Sours and the Seattle Gregs have rebuilt it a buncha times. And another Isaac Brock lent me, which frankly can not compete with his unique and monstrous sound. Gotta step my game up in that respect. He’s the funnest and most challenging dude in the world to play guitar with. Again, I’m tremendously fortunate to rawk with those guys when the opportunity arises. So I have to make sure I’m doing my part on the right side of that stage.
2) Trying to figure out why Bowerbirds new album is sooooooo dope. I mean there’s nothing to it. I’ve heard everything they they do a million times before and somehow this album still seems surprising. Hey Bowerbirds! Can All Smiles open for you some day please? What a cool album. Congratulations!
3) Clearing the plate for the weekend. Which will involve getting ready for r’n‘r camp for girls. The greatest program. Our niece is attending for the second consecutive year. And will be more powerful for it.
4) Starting work on the new album some how. Since the EP is finally finished, and the album got done months ago, lots of new songs have appeared. Way too early to tell what they might be like. Or what they will sound like recorded. But I guess at this point the fulcrum seems to swing between meditations and singalongs.
Please enjoy your weekend.
Word.
Jim
Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go
Hello Everybody!
Happy Tuesday.
I come to you this evening with a victorious head and a heavy heart.
Our album “Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go” is finally here.
Hence the feeling of victory,
It’s out and available on our store page in digital formats as well as CD and Vinyl. It’s for sale at a few other digital outlets as well. The usual suspects.
Head to the store to listen and purchase, if you’re so inclined. The entire album is there. To hear. For now.
We really hope that you enjoy it. We’re very proud of it.
This new album deals with a few ideas. But it speaks a lot to making sure that we make damn certain the people around us know we love them. And somehow, once again, that seems more important than ever.
Please enjoy the album. We hope you get as much out of it as we put in to it. There is a lot of joy in there. We hope that this message finds each of you well.
Very soon.
More.
XO
Jim
Pablo
Hello Friends.
Unfortunately, along with our sense of pride and accomplishment with having released the album comes a sadness…
My friend Pablo Castelaz, an extraordinarily strong and charismatic little person of just six years old passed away on Saturday, following a thirteen month battle with cancer. He fought courageously, lived with a severe grace and left the world with more light than was here when he came in to it. If you’d like to know more about his journey, please check out: getwellpablo.blogspot.com/
To his eternal and magnificent glow.
Jim
Hi Everybody and to whomever this may concern:
Welcome to the brand new All Smiles web site.
We thank you for being here.
Pleasantly and currently gorgeous in Portland, OR.
And we hope with you too.
Lately, Patrick Stanton, Joe Plummer and myself, Jim Fairchild, have been poking around Portland and surrounding environs making visual accompaniments for our toons.
Patrick carries a camera, Joe carries a drum, and I hold a guitar, while belting out tunes in my best and most ramshackle outdoor voice.
We’ve been busking for trees, waterfalls, concrete and passersby, filming a video clip for the song “Our Final Roles as Birds” off our new album, “Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go”.
We finished the album a while back. We, in this case being Solon Bixler, Mike Cresswell, Nik Freitas, Joe Plummer and I.
The video will be viewable in the coming weeks in hopefully obvious places.
And the album will be available here and at a number of fine record shops throughout the country starting on June 30th.
If you choose to buy it from us, you can select from vinyl, CD and various digital formats. The Physical editions are hand silk-screened and assembled by us and include an immediate download of the entire album on purchase.
Other bits, bonuses and celebrations will be available as well. And only here.
You’ll also be able to find it digitally at ITunes, Lala, E Music and Amazon starting then.
In the very immediate meantime, if you’d like a free…and quality…download of the song “Our Final Roles as Birds” please go check out the media page.
If you type in your e-mail, we’ll send you the song.
And keep you up to date on our goings on with the album, even more new recordings, and live dates.
No creeps will wind up with your details either, obviously. We hope that since you’ve read this far, we’d be immune to such appellations.
But still…..
Okay, much more information coming down the pike, and often.
We’ll keep you updated.
And we can all share what’s sure to be a glorious Summer. Together.
Soundtrack to be determined.
But we hope to be a part of it.
Until when…
And then…
All Smiles Jim