Here's what members of Wake Up Saying Nothing have to say about this album:

Gerry Marletta:
2010/01/16 - 2020/05/03

Much like the release of this collection of songs, I’ve procrastinated putting together this little reflection piece so I’m just going to list things I remember related to its birth.

One Saturday morning when Kyle was to drive the two of us to Philly to Keith’s house, I overslept and thought my phone ringing was a debt collector and ignored it. It wasn’t. It was Kyle waiting outside, ready to go, and I was still fast asleep and nowhere near prepared. I’m sure this is a metaphor.

We had already written, recorded, and released one other EP in 2008 as Wake Up Saying Nothing, so there’s a fact for your face.

We likely wrote/arranged these songs in 2009 prior to recording drums in January of 2010. You can’t record something that hasn’t been written or arranged by someone yet.

The equipment we used to record drums for this was a hodgepodge of borrowed items, and it just barely got the job done. I had Pro Tools and an Mbox, so only 2 inputs. I believe we recorded snare and kick on that, then had two other mics hooked up to a portable 2-track field recorder for “overheads”. I remember there being an old analog mixer being involved, but I don’t remember how we used that and there’s a chance there’s a submix involved. We didn’t care, still don’t - we did this completely on our own and did the best with what we had to present these ideas to the world.

The most recent live performance the three of us had as Wake Up Saying Nothing was October 29, 2009. This was prior to these recordings. Most of these songs were played at that show. I think I speak for all of us in saying I don’t believe this will be the last show, it’s just a matter of aligning our stars and lives to do it again. One day I’ll “leak” this live recording (it’s terrible quality) because I think it’s important and has lots of moment that I find enjoyable.

When one of the merry members of our band got married, we did perform as Wedding Up Saying Nothing, and a recording of this exists somewhere.

We all ended up getting married and having children and gainful employment doing something besides music, so we didn’t revisit these recording until 2018. Kyle and I re-learned the songs, referencing live recordings and notes and recordings of rehearsals. I recorded bass at my home, and Kyle recorded guitar and vocals on his own which was a first for us. I then took on the task of starting to mix everything, and we presented some rough mixes to Keith as a surprise while in Delaware. We pricked our fingers and smeared blood across the forehead of the bandmate to our right, as is customary, and swore an oath to Pazuzu that we would finish these and release it to the world one day soon. As you can see/hear, it took another two years to get around to it.

It’s been cathartic to finish these songs. Nothing weighs heavier on my psyche than having incomplete art, and so this is a ten-year ache finally being relieved. Ten years has also allowed me to distance myself from the music that allows me to be much more objective. Objectively, I’m a huge fan of this band and the songs written. I hope you, dear listener, enjoy what you’re hearing and that it inspires you to make the art in heart, not the art in your fart.

I could wax on forever but I’m not going to. There are a lot of memories, stories, inside jokes, and other nonsense that I would love to analyze and pick apart, but it would mean nothing to anyone not involved in this band. So sit back, relax, listen to these songs, and then go play frisbee in a cemetery.


Kyle Marshall:
We came as friends...and after cleaning up we spent many hours examining every measure of these songs for opportunities to do something ridiculous and then testing every permutation of it until we discovered the possibility with the most ridiculousity. This was our general writing process which yielded a handful of songs stuffed with enough ideas for 33 alt-country songs. Revisiting and relearning these songs after 10 years of not playing them was a great reminder of why Kerrang! awarded us with the prestigious "Most Self-Indulgent And Undanceable Band Award" in 2009. Then...we left as friends.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to highlight some of our many amazingly objective accomplishments which include the following:

We developed the first form of ASL (American Sign Language) for the visually impaired by performing the modified hand gestures within a person's mouth.

We played the same song twice at one show on purpose.

We never left a single crumb of french fries or gulp of Sprite behind at any dining establishment regardless of their chandelier status.


Keith Shanklin:
Hi. You found us! Of all the things that could happen. This happened. Of course there are stories to tell. I like a good story. “The height of intelligence is to observe without evaluating” said a person. Be present. Take three deep breaths. Thank you. This is it! Now I have a bunch of things to do: make breakfast for my kids, finish the chicken run, cut some grass, budget, make pound cake, not eat for 72 hours, try and try to care and not care, act out of character, cry, watch a movie, laundry, take out the trash, be a friendly face and a frightening face, etc. I’m sure you understand.