Ear Candy - Compilation #1
12 BANDS - 12 NEW SONGS - ONE STUDIO!

Featuring the best of Austin's INDEPENDENT MUSIC SCENE, it's an ENHANCED MUSIC CD with EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS from CRUISERWEIGHT and THE ACTION IS! ONLY $9.99 plus $3.00 to ship it anywhere in the continental United States! CLICK ON THE COVER BELOW TO BUY NOW!!!! A/S Records announces release of Ear Candy
12 bands. 12 new songs. One studio.

A/S Records, an off-shoot of the Affordable Sound studios, will be releasing their first full-length CD on February 18, 2003. Called Ear Candy, the compilation features twelve new tracks from some of the great bands that are part of the indie rock scene growing right here among the great blues guitarists and singer-songwriters for which Austin has already become famous.

To showcase the release, A/S Records will host a party at The Ritz on Sixth Street on February 22, 2003. The event will feature ten of the bands from the compilation performing on two stages throughout the night.

"This is a very cool collection of bands," says Jake Perlman, studio manager and recording engineer at Affordable Sound. "There are elements of punk-pop, punk, straight up rock, emo - all kinds of 'alternative' rock music." The bands represented are Cruiserweight, Kissinger, The Action Is, Auna, The End Until Now, Failsafe, Hobble, The Murdocks, The National Pastime, Excess Lettuce, Kelvin and the Spiders. All songs were recorded specifically for the CD at Affordable Sound studios in Austin and produced and engineered by Jake Perlman.

"There really isn't much of a outlet for local bands to get their stuff out there in the marketplace," continues Perlman. "I think it's a shame that many great bands crack under the pressure of holding down their straight jobs…while still trying to be creative and interesting songwriters." Mike Marquardt, general partner at Affordable Sound, agrees, adding, "We feel that far too often great bands are passed over due to a lack of promotion. Proper marketing and distribution of a great CD is the obvious start."

To help realize this goal, A/S Records has brought on Fifth Column to do the marketing and publicity for the release. "The best thing about what the label is trying to do is that every dollar we spend on marketing goes toward helping these artists get the exposure they deserve," says Ray Flowers of Fifth Column. "These are some great bands, and anything we can do to help push them along - this music deserves to be heard." With this in mind, A/S Records has produced two music videos that will debut on Austin Music Network in January featuring the tracks from Cruiserweight and The Action Is.

Ear Candy will release on Tuesday, February 18, 2003. Suggested retail price of $9.99.

CD Release Party will begin at 8:30 pm on Saturday, February 22 at the Ritz, 320 East Sixth Street in Austin, Texas. There will be a special invitation-only listening party starting at 7:30 pm. Ten bands are scheduled to appear. There will be two stages, upstairs and downstairs. Admission will be $4.00.

Ear Candy Q & A

What inspired you to release this record?

Mike: We have been doing a tremendous amount of work for the local music community over the past five years at Affordable Sound and were ready to step up our contributions. Our main goal on the audio side is to make success increasingly more obtainable for bands. Far too often great bands are passed over due to a lack of promotion, and to us, proper marketing and distribution of a great CD featuring their music is the obvious start. There is a wealth of talent in the Austin area that music lovers will be pleased to know rock out regularly in our very own and very beautiful central Texas.

Jake: Mostly, by a gentleman in Lawrence, Kansas named James Grauerholz. He took his living room and converted it into a studio to record bands during the early 90's music scene. He had a compilation called "Cough it Up" released on TK Records that was culled from those recording sessions. His generosity and desire to document that tight knit music community was a great inspiration for me. Similarly, Ian MacKaye and his Dischord label serve to document the Washington D.C. music scene. I suggested that Affordable Sound, with our cd duplication and studio resources, could do the same thing here in Austin: take audio snapshots of the most talented songwriters, musicians & bands in town.

What do you hope to achieve with the release of this record?

Jake: To help expose some of the great bands that are in Austin right now. The songs on this record might surprise people not familiar with the "new" Austin scene. Unfortunately, there really isn't much of a outlet for local bands to get their stuff into the marketplace. I think it's a shame that many great bands crack under the pressure of holding down their straight jobs, trying to successfully run the business end of their band while still trying to be creative songwriters. We're just trying to give an extra bit of push by helping to expose them to a wider audience. Additionally, I hope that we can see enough success on our end to justify doing more compilations, branching out into different genres and at some point releasing a single artist cd. There are an awful lot of deserving bands in this town.

Mike: We want to give the bands we have handpicked for Ear Candy an opportunity to be heard by a wider audience. We are bound and determined to provide the necessary means for success to the musicians that continue to work with us. Austin is a talent bubble straining to burst - our goal is to help pop it.

Who do you think will like this record?

Mike: Anyone that hears it! Seriously! No questions asked!

Jake: This is a very cool collection of bands. Anybody who isn't afraid of some rock will like this record. There are elements of punk-pop, punk, straight up rock, emo - all kinds of "alternative" rock music. We wanted to make a compilation that was broad in scope and variety, but still held together as a whole - much like a single artist CD. I don't think that listeners will have to stretch their tastes much to get into every track. A fan of Cruiserweight or The National Pastime will likely dig the Kissinger tune or the Spiders track. With the way that "alternative rock" has grown as broad as it is deep, I believe that music fans, likewise, have a broader taste, as well.

Anything else you'd like to say about the project?

Jake: We all had a great time doing it. I think because of the combination of our relaxed atmosphere at the studio and the fact that the bands weren't seeing a meter running that we got some extra special performances. All the bands were an absolute pleasure to work with and I even made a few new friends along the way. I'm quite proud to be involved and associated with these cool and talented folks

Mike: We have been extremely grateful to work with the bands on this compilation, and appreciate the hard work that was put into the project. In addition, this project has been made possible by the efforts of Ray Flowers at Fifth Column on the marketing side, Chris Walker Design for the CD art and promotional items, the Impetua Group for continued business consulting, Amy Evans for our newly branded logo, M Media for our newly designed website, the multitude of wonderful interns we have been pleased to work with on this project, the Ritz on 6th Street for graciously hosting our release party, and the tremendous amount of hard work provided by the Affordable Sound staff.