NEW:  Velvet Teen to play CMJ Festival in NY

I just spent a few days in Chico with Casey, mapping out landscapes for our new record. We started by setting up dual sprinkler heads in his bedroom, and after hours of waterproofing, put directional mics in front of each nozzle to record not only the sound of the water, but the water itself. We wrapped the computer in Syran wrap and submerged it in the tub between two pillows to dampen the sound further. Acoustics are as much an instrument as the instruments themselves, after all, and it is our goal to be an instrument to the instrument's instrument. We then set up Casey's four-track and SM-58's to record in the hallway, safely away from the water, so when the fuses blew, the equipment shorted, and we were killed, we got that nice, fat analog sound that the kids go crazy for these days.

My computer was dead for a while too, but has since reincarnated as a better one. I have a theory on reincarnation which has the central idea that reincarnation is non-linear. In traditional theory, the one that dies comes back as another person, place or thing, determined by either random lottery or by one's karma, faith or deeds in the previous life. My theory has more in common with the big bang theory, where all of life, time, and existence stems from one root (and that root from a vaccuum, but that's a tangent that doesn't need discussion yet). In other words, every person and thing that is alive in the world right now is already a reincarnation of itself, sculpted from the same template that every conscious being comes from, namely a cognitive first person perspective. A thought of "me". This is true even in basic Christian beliefs, although no Christian I've ever come across actually sees it for what it is when God names himself "I Am" and Jesus says, "No one gets to the father except through 'me'." The differences in appearance, personality, sexual orientation and otherwise may be determined culturally and genetically, but no one escapes being themself.

We've got over 20 new song ideas and the album is tentatively entitled Cum Laude.

xo. judah, josh, and casey of the velvet teen.