The End of the World Records

February 11th, 2007: A Message From Swami

I've been taking a lot of heat from Rolling Stone lately about my failure to produce a record of any length. More recently, they've been threatening to halt production of their magazine until I put something out. Fine by me! Their single-ply, non-absorbant, non-textured paper hurts my ass anyway. But really, they can't expect me to just pump out singles every week. I've got a very busy schedule. Between hosting award shows, cementing together my gold bullion igloo, and erecting a Catholic school in Rwanda, I've got very little time left over for petty activities like releasing yet another multi-platinum record. These things take time. "What are we gonna do with this IMAX screen-sized electric billboard we were going to put in Madison Square?", they whine. Hell, I don't know. It's your sign. You paid for it. Sell it for parts. Stop phoning me.

But seriously, people are wondering what the Hell happened to Psilence. Two words: Computer issues. My vision of Psilence is a wonderously innovative, albeit amateurish, IDM-influenced tech record. However, my computer was diagnosed with cancer shortly after beginning the writing process. Requests sent to Autechre to finish my album went unanswered. Follow-up requests to borrow their equipment also went unanswered. Being that I was severely in debt, the future was looking grim for Psilence. Figuring that I'd have this problem solved within a few months, I started promoting the largely unwritten album with a tentative release in the summer of 2005. This was done in mid-February of the same year. A series of events then took place, serving to further delay the record. At that precise time I was completing the payment for a very rare collectible cassette by Public Affection (later known as Live). This was considerably expensive, and it prevented the immediate purchase of a new computer. I was continuing to pay off debts over the next few months. During this time I rekindled my friendship with Vov Abraxas, who at the time was working on a series of Mystery Beats, many of which would become the backbeats to the seminal Whatever Forever!.

Many a night was spent riding our bikes in downtown Port Arthur and smoking pot. This was all put to an abrupt end one night when Vov's bike was stolen, ironically the day after I expressed concern about him not chaining it to something. Without this avenue of fun, Vov and I lost communication with one another.

On July 1st, 2005, I finally moved out of my parents' house and into The Bruce House, which marked the beginning of my independence. My coolness. CBC aired a 3-part special on the event. However, being cool came with a price tag of $400/month, which killed off any remaining hope of getting that new computer. I considered pushing the release of the album to sometime in Q4, but I was unlikely to make that deadline either. So the record was placed on the backburner indefinitely.

October rolls around, and wouldn't you know it, Vov Abraxas gets a job at YA where I'd been employed for the past 10 months. Our friendship kicks back into high gear, and within days Vov moves into The Bruce House. He set up his computer in the living room and I was shown a sick amount of music he had made. Vov had purchased my 2004 independent record In Retrospect, so I asked if I could buy any of his records. The answer was surprisingly 'no'. Though he had a hard drive full of his own material, he had never thought to sell it. I offered to help him sell it by promoting it on a website, citing that I eventually planned to do the same with Psilence. The idea quickly blossomed into a label under which we could release both of our records, as well as those of our musical friends. The End of the World Records was born.

Vov toiled away day and night on tracks for the label's debut. By the first few weeks of 2006, Vov had released Whatever Forever! under the alias Ace Trigonometry. The album sold reasonably well and culminated in celebration when Vov returned home one night, pockets bursting with cash. It was a stellar time. The success of the album prompted us to release 4 more of Vov's records simultaneously - (vov), Indifference, and the first two installments of Dine Peril. Somewhere around this time, Ian Monteith of Man Garden moved into The Bruce House and hopped on the roster.

We now had 5 full-length records in the catalog, but they were all the work of one man. So, in an attempt to balance out the availability of artists (and to add some colour to our black and white website), I released what little material I had written for Psilence. The "album" is called Psix Pseconds of Psilence as it contains the only 6 seconds of material I have completed for the record. It serves several purposes:

01. Gimmick promotion for my intended full-length
02. Activating the WTF receptors in our label's audience
03. Showcasing my visual artistic talent

Nonetheless, the teaser album is far from a legitimate Swami release, and will likely go down in history as the least necessary CD of all time. Being witness to the sheer brilliance of the two Dine Peril records (especially HARK THE NOISE OF ANGELS: the scissorhand sonata) helped to renew my desire to complete Psilence. However, I'd accumulated a debt to the landlord of The Bruce House, so a new computer was once again out of the question. Vov had also accumulated a debt with him, and eventually got fired from YA. Relations with the landlord soured and Vov left The Bruce House. Although this didn't kill the label, it definitely left it wounded. Vov and I had started a new project together with intent to release it, but without living together this would prove difficult. The label endured additional hardships in mid-2006 when Ian moved across town. Vov's computer died, bringing to the grave the entire third Dine Peril album, and the only tracks written for our collaborative project. Ian's machine also died, halting the writing and recording of Man Garden's debut.

My own friendship with the landlord had also been dwindling and I felt alone in the house. The result of this was my increased attention to American news, and with that a subduing of my positive spirit. This continued to get worse and I became extremely reclusive. I did what needed to be done. I left The Bruce House. It was the perfect set-up when Vov and Ian were there, but those days had passed. I boxed up my belongings and started bringing them over to my parents' house, but quickly got a call from Ian. Plans changed and I moved in with him and his girlfriend across town.

Not long after moving in, Ian got his now-functional laptop back and began recording tracks for the upcoming Man Garden LP. Hearing his material, developing a fond appreciation for folk music, and receiving an acoustic guitar for Christmas began to switch my focus away from Psilence. My ambitions to write the album were still riding high, but I'd begun to create melodies that would much better suit a grassroots, low-key acoustic record. The kind of album you criticize on the first spin, second-guess on the next, and eventually allow to become the soundtrack to your summer. The album that steers you through the fog of unrequited passion. The album you end up defining a period of your life with.

Perhaps I'm putting too much on my plate, but I intend to release two albums this year. I'll be purchasing a laptop within the first half of 2007. Psilence will see the light of day (although it will likely take on the form of a house record). My folk record will also be released in late 2007. I strongly suggest that you all doubt me. I have a sick desire to prove people wrong. I get off on it, you see.