Slowboater

I started a new band called Slowboater. I’m really excited about the new music I’m writing, and I am excited about starting a new project. I wanted to write about my experience so far releasing music and if this new project will give me what I’ve been looking for.

Let’s get started.

I got my first guitar in fourth grade. Initially, I wanted to play the saxophone. My mom played the saxophone and she had leant it to my cousin who was graduating high school, so it was going to be available again. However, another cousin wanted to join band, so my mom’s sax went to her. When I expressed my disapproval in this decision, my parents thought that I was finally old enough to learn an instrument and I chose guitar. I took some lessons and found out that I am illiterate... when it comes to music. 

I can’t read music. I play and I write by ear. I still don’t know the circle of fifths. I still don’t know the different modes or scales. If it sounds cool, then it sounds cool. One of my favorite artists (Into It. Over It.) said that he is the same way and that he’s just making up chord shapes as he goes. That’s what makes his music so rad. It’s not boxed in by convention and it’s incredibly inventive.

I spent a lot of time learning my favorite songs by ear and thus learning how to write music without knowing how to read music. I’ve been writing songs since I was twelve, so over 20 years now. I started recording music (with a rockband mic) when I was 17 and they were… something. I “recorded” an “album” of “songs” with just an acoustic guitar and the built-in microphone within the computer. It was called “OH, THE HUGE MANATEE” and it was “released” under the name Dewey Dell is Pregnant.

In high school, I learned that the first Foo Fighters album was just Dave Grohl playing everything and that became a goal for me. I wanted to record a well-rounded album where I play everything. I slowly got more gear and, in 2020, I finally had time to record an album (for some fucking reason). 

I recorded my first album with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, Ableton Live *Lite, an SM58, an AT2035, and a 2016 Dell Inspiron with 8GB of RAM. It was a slog. Everything you hear on that album is the take that didn’t crash my DAW. But, it was a ton of fun. I learned how to track, mix, bounce them out so I could listen in the car; I was making notes and trying dumb things. I made the album art (before I became a graphic designer) and sent the mixes to Atomic Disc to get mastered and put on CD’s. Atomic Disc did an amazing job and I highly recommend them to anyone that needs help whether it’s mastering, pressing, or designing album art.

 When the box of CD’s came, I thought I would feel this overwhelming sense of accomplishment that I had completed a huge goal. But, I felt almost nothing. I released the album on Bandcamp both digitally and the physical CD’s. No one bought it (obviously). I’m proud that I released it, but when I released my first album, thousands of other people released new music and it just got lost in the ether. I gave away all the CD’s to friends and family and decided that when I recorded more music, I would skip the CD’s until I made something really good and that I would learn to master myself.

In 2022, I finally had time to record another album (I was unemployed). I switched DAW’s, got a new computer based around recording music, and wrote some new songs that I was proud of. Again, I played everything on the record, learned from past mixing mistakes, made some new mixing mistakes, and learned how to master. I released my second album (Always – 2023) to Bandcamp, as well. I felt more positive feelings with this one. I had done everything from start to finish and it didn’t sound like ass. 

After years of no one listening to my music, I decided to sign up for DistroKid and put my second album on streaming services. With this migration, I chose to change the name from Rex & the Howlies to: the Howlies. I searched multiple places to see if “the Howlies” was already taken as a band name and didn’t find anything. Turns out, though, there is a band from the early 2000’s called “Howlies” and they’re pretty good. When I was telling people about my album going on streaming, they were finding “Howlies” and not me. Brutal.

After coming up with an entire list of awesome band names that already exist (i.e. moonlighter, shark shark, etc.), I landed on Slowboater. NOW, NO ONE ELSE RELEASE MUSIC UNDER THIS NAME, OKAY??

I’m writing new music that is a little different from what I’ve done in the past, but if you fucked with the Howlies, you’ll fuck with Slowboater. I’ve upgraded some gear: I got a new interface, upgraded guitars, upgraded my main microphone, I built my first pedalboard, and I am learning more about EQ’s, compressors, effects, etc. 

That being said, writing this new album (or EP, I have no idea yet), has been going slower than the first two. I have less time to write and record because I have a full-time job and am trying to freelance as a designer on the side. But also, my first two albums were songs that I compiled over ten years of writing. This project is all new. 

Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell said what no one tells you about signing a record deal is that you had ten years or whatever to write your first album because no one cares about you yet. But you only get a year, maybe two, to write every album after that. I’m not signed, so I just get to do what I want, but I’m still antsy to get my music out there. As of writing this, it’s been three years since my last album and I am nowhere close to having another album written.

Whether it’s an album, an EP, or a couple singles, will anyone listen to what I release? Maybe. What would I consider a successful release to be? How many listeners would make me happy? The Howlies peaked at FOUR monthly listeners on Spotify. Would TEN monthly listeners be a success? Or would just getting it out into the world be enough this time? I think that if I have fun making it, then maybe that’s all I did it for. Maybe that would be enough. Either way, nothing will make me stop writing and recording more music.

*Update: The new EP (Petty or Not, Here I Come) is out now and you can download it for free here.