ANTIQUASAURIA TALK with IAN O'DOUGHERTY

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JonUrban

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Please welcome Ian O'Dougherty (guitarist and producer of Ian Cooke's ANTIQUASAURIA) to the forum (although he's been here quite a while) and use this thread to discuss all the aspects of the new 5.1 release.

Since this is such a jam packed release, I am sure there is much to cover including the video, science, and audio content that in included in the presentation.

As always, please be respectful and remember that this section will be moderated as needed, which hopefully it will not need.
 

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This release has been a lot of fun, with a lot of items: videos, puppets, a font, a life-sized Quetzalcoatlus costume, collaborations with the Colorado Symphony, a coloring book, the surround mix with Neil Wilkes, the recording process, etc. Feel free to ask about anything in the process. We don't have an outside manager, booking agent, publicist, etc. so I can likely provide answers and such.

Also, feel free to ask questions for Ian Cooke, Sean Merrell (drums), or Whit Sibley (bass). They're not online very often, but I'm sure I can get an answer when I see them for rehearsals. Neil is likely to chime in on this thread as well.

Here is a stream of Antiquasauria.

Here we go!
- Ian O
 
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I'm definitely gonna wait and see what happens with this contest before purchasing this album, although I will say that it's definitely gonna be in my collection at some point as everything I have heard from it so far has been absolutely stellar!

My question is this. Is the item at this amazon link the CD/DVD-A edition?
If so, $12 is a fantastic deal on this album, and if anyone is hesitant about getting this disc, this might be your 'in' to getting it in your collection! :)
 
Hello rt - straightforward question gets an honest answer:
That's a surprise to me! Indeed that is the correct release date and record label. I wouldn't be surprised if the prices go up.
In my opinion it should be $15 for cd/dvd/book and $20 for lp/dvd book - (and that's how our label has been selling it (plus shipping):
Amazon does weird stuff certainly. There was a point when they were selling our previous album Fortitude for $1.88 or something (when we had sold out of them) and we bought a handful and then sold them at shows. Haha!
In this case, with Amazon Prime, $12 with free shipping is a crazy good deal.
My gods and idols are Fugazi, and I've grown up in the DIY punk realm where everything is done as efficiently as possible, so I worked very hard to produce a quality product with a very small budget. The 15 year-old me is very excited about that cheap price. The 36 year-old me is emailing the label to see if that is correct. ;)

All that said, all I want is for people to listen to it a few times. I obsess about format, system, digital, analog, car, couch, headphones, etc but really I'm thrilled when someone spends time just sitting and listening. That's one of the reasons I respect this forum/site. Listeners!

EDIT: this is indeed the album and it is indeed a crazy cheap price. I say go for it!
We're working on getting more accurate information on there (such as 2 discs, song titles, etc) but that is the correct link and album.
 
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Rtbluray(Ryan I think)-I can't see why you wouldn't like this release,I maybe wrong but think it would be right up your alley.
I have had it playing for a solid week in the car and have not got bored of it and have been finding more interesting thing on the album.
For me as an example off what bands got solid week long playing time in the car, these are the bands: Xtc,Yes,Pink Floyd,Rush,Anthony Phillips, in the past few months.
Not sure if this Ian Cooke will have that same kind of staying power to join those bands but if my wife's comment has anything to say about it maybe as her quick reply when hearing the album was "it sounds like another one of those ARTSY album's you listen to".

Ian O-question for you. If I understand correctly Ian Cooke joined your band a few years ago and now it is the same band all together but I see from this album that Ian Cooke has been given credit for all the songs on this album. Where the songs fairly complete by Ian Cooke before bringing to the rest of the band and or how much input do the rest of you have on the music that has been presented on this album?
The dinosaur theme is very interesting and Ian Cooke has done a good job but for me its always about the music, thats my favorite part of any band and the music is presented very well on this album. As I am giving this album more spins hearing more interesting things that have been done on each song. Great job by all of you!

peter
 
Rtbluray(Ryan I think)-I can't see why you wouldn't like this release,I maybe wrong but think it would be right up your alley.
I have had it playing for a solid week in the car and have not got bored of it and have been finding more interesting thing on the album.
For me as an example off what bands got solid week long playing time in the car, these are the bands: Xtc,Yes,Pink Floyd,Rush,Anthony Phillips, in the past few months.
Not sure if this Ian Cooke will have that same kind of staying power to join those bands but if my wife's comment has anything to say about it maybe as her quick reply when hearing the album was "it sounds like another one of those ARTSY album's you listen to".
peter

You're right about both things: my name and that I would like this album. :)
 
I'd like to thank and credit Peter for all of this happening. Years ago he was asking about a DVD-A version of The Fall I Fell and eventually he told me about Neil Wilkes, whom I contacted. We started talking, he was interested in the music, and now we have a surround disc. It took a lot of time and effort but that's the basic story. Thanks Peter!

Great question. It's a bit complicated. In general, Cooke comes up with ideas on the piano. Usually it's a left hand part, a right hand part, and a vocal melody sung with made-up or gibberish words. I'll record that demo, and then try to match it up with another recorded demo of similar tone, tempo, key, mood, etc. Most of the songs on Antiquasauria are made up of two or three of these demos that fit together with Cooke changing the gibberish to lyrics at the end of the process.

A good example is the song Quetzalcoatlus. This little ep on bandcamp shows the process pretty well. Track 2 is Cooke on piano. Originally Track 2 was two separate ideas (one at the start and one at 1:20 in) and then track 3 adds Cooke on cello. Note that a couple years passed before lyrics were written (track 4). Track 5 is a recording of a band rehearsal. In this case, the left hand piano is played on bass (Whit) and the right hand piano is played on guitar (me).
Cooke has written songs that are complete in an hour or so, but this album contains none of those. All of these were sculpted from demos, then rehearsed, then recorded and analyzed, then lyrics added, then more scrutiny, etc.
Credit where credit is due: Sean Merrell (drummer) gave some very important bits of criticism in the late stages of the album - saying that Microraptor, Polycotylus, and others were too scientific and not universally appealing - and also to credit Cooke - he went back and edited and changed lyrics. For me, this was a milestone in band communication and also in Cooke's willingness to edit and improve. I am a very critical person and it was a refreshing change of pace for everyone to have Sean chime in and demand changes.

-Prologue - actually the end of a song for Triceratops. Tri was a song that just didn't make the cut. Tri and Steg were originally a 10 minute song. Near the end of the process I found that the album would be best presented chronologically. Triceratops lived 100 million years after Stegosaurus so our musical pairing made no sense. I took the end of Tri and called it Prologue to lead into Stegosaurus. Triceratops is the most progressive and weird - and it was not capable of starting the album.
-Steg - originally a song called Hands. Lyrics were changed to Stegosaurus (which is the state fossil of Colorado). I pushed for this to start the album, which then carries out chronologically from when the species lived. I'm quite happy with the last-minute ebow solo.
-Diplodocus - originally called "Seven" (7/8 time), this song was completely arranged by Cooke. We just transferred parts to guitar/bass to fit the lumbering nature of this enormous being.
-Microraptor - this one went through the most extreme changes. If memory serves, this one had four versions of vocals, all with different lyrics. This is the one that all of us would change in some way. I love the groove but I think the chorus comes too quick.
-Polycotylus - originally a song about being lost without a map, the lyrics about an unborn plesiosaur fetus came easily for Cooke. Plesiosaurs gave live birth, just like whales! This song is the success for me. The paleontologist who discovered the specimen has heard the song, so I'm happy.
-Parasaurolophus - one of the latest to emerge, this song went through some last minute changes as we realized some lyrical similarities to another song. Parasaurolophus only rhymes with a limited number of words, and I discovered that another songwriter has used "all of us" like Cooke, so I made Cooke change it at the last minute. Luckily, he is creative and came up with "dominus sonitus" which means Lord of Sound. We reached out to any and every friend who knows Latin and are confident in the translation! :) The instrumental version on the dvd shows the difference in melody. The vocal intro (and choruses) is very fun and challenging to perform for the four of us. We still haven't done it live.
-Quetzalcoatlus - this song came from the chorus of the song "The Kingdom" from our previous album Fortitude. It describes a fantasy world in which Cooke is riding a flying Quetzalcoatlus, the largest flying being yet discovered. Cooke has long had an obsession with flight and this song was the result - and the beginning of the album process. The version on the album was recorded live in December of 2012. Cooke's harmony vocals, and nylon guitar in the bridge were the only overdubs.
-Tyrannosaurus - this one required the most work. This was the song we rehearsed for months and months and it went through many changes. The bridge originally was a different song, and came directly from Cooke's dream. The song is about a specific specimen: SUE of the Field Museum in Chicago.
-Extinction - an older song, written on Cooke's cello with a loop pedal. I thought it was a lovely song for death.
-Epilogue - This was initially a jam we called "Abba" based on the chorus of Microraptor. I recorded a rehearsal and then asked Cooke to write two verses of summary. The third verse was a fun experiment of taking lyrics and melodies from the previous songs and adapting. I love concept albums, and I felt this album needed a button. It turned out to be a nice catchy song. I adore cohesive albums and it seemed natural to cap of the album with a summary of evolution.

I'm not sure if that answered your excellent question. Generally Cooke writes song ideas on piano and the three of us take parts so that he can concentrate on singing. This album was the most collaborative of the three we have recorded, but Cooke certainly always comes up with the seed idea. On these songs we were thinking of dinosaur movement, but also of human movement - so I think the "groove" - as silly as that sounds - became paramount. We tried to make music that beings could move to.

I'm quite curious about thoughts on the album. First and foremost, I think it's an album that rewards multiple listens.

Thanks!
 
Hello! This might be a silly question, but can some people outside of the US tell me what they see at his link in terms of shipping?
http://www.amazon.com/Antiquasauria-CD-DVD-Coloring-Book/dp/B010FP0VKS
I'm not sure what they do for non-US shipping on this, and I'm quite curious.

I've been working on how to make this release available more efficiently outside of the US because the shipping costs are insane now.
 
Hi Ian:

This is what I got for it...to NZ of course...with AmazonGlobal Standard Shipping (averages 9-12 business days)

Order Summary
Items: USD 11.99
Shipping & handling: USD 8.98
Total before tax: USD 20.97
Estimated tax to be collected: USD 0.00
Order total: USD 20.97
 
It seems to work out I was absed in Europe so converted to Euros.

Im in the UK so outside te Eurozone so go figure:

Order Summary
Items: EUR 11,08
Shipping & handling: EUR 7,37
Total before tax: EUR 18,45
Estimated tax to be collected: EUR 0,00
Order total: EUR 18,45

Update
Just found the conversion button if that helps:

Items: USD 11.99
Shipping & handling: USD 7.98
Total before tax: USD 19.97
Estimated tax to be collected: USD 0.00
Order total: USD 19.97
 
This release has been a lot of fun, with a lot of items: videos, puppets, a font, a life-sized Quetzalcoatlus costume, collaborations with the Colorado Symphony, a coloring book, the surround mix with Neil Wilkes, the recording process, etc. Feel free to ask about anything in the process. We don't have an outside manager, booking agent, publicist, etc. so I can likely provide answers and such.

Also, feel free to ask questions for Ian Cooke, Sean Merrell (drums), or Whit Sibley (bass). They're not online very often, but I'm sure I can get an answer when I see them for rehearsals. Neil is likely to chime in on this thread as well.

Here is a stream of Antiquasauria.

Here we go!
- Ian O

Indeed - I am very happy to have been involved with this project & had a lot of fun with it as well.
I'll jump in as & if necessary....
 
Thanks timbre4 - what would you like to know? On the sharing topic, we opted to keep the DVD focused on audio, so much of the video content is on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJYJ_4ZV-QQ1I5o0AV2qRiSSHDOjgrHQm
Animated videos, Cooke discussing the art, the font, the animals, live performances solo and with band, making-of videos, lyrics, Cooke's pterosaur costume - there's quite a bit - around 20 videos, one more each week.
Not much on there about the audio actually. Live tracks were recorded in a nice big drum room with Logic by my friend, and other band-bandmate Chris Fogal. Overdubs and a lot of vocals were done at my studio with Nuendo. Stereo mixed in Logic and then mastered at Airshow in Boulder, Colorado. David Glasser is quite respected in these parts (Grammys and such) and we had met him and liked him, but mostly we went with them because we wanted to speed up a few songs and found that tape was the best way to do it, ala Beach Boys, Beatles et al. Our session with David was great and we ended up with a dynamic and fairly quiet master, deliberately trying to avoid loudness, etc.
Surround was handled in London by Neil. We had talked on the phone a few times before work began in earnest and then we shared notes and mixes via email and ftp and such. Neil "got it" immediately and was a great refresh on the project. He re-created everything and then we spent a while going back and forth with notes and such. The band was involved with early notes and then Neil and I continued with minutia for a bit. It was pretty thrilling hearing certain things in the surround mixes. Note that the surround mix includes a lot of extra cellos from the instrumental mixes. We replaced vocals on the instrumentals rather than muting them, so there are some differences in performance and melody in that, and the 5.1 mix. Overall, great fun.
 
It's funny but the first time I listened to this all the way through, the lyrics seemed to be the focal point of the listen with the music being secondary, but now after listening to it many times melodies from the album pop up in my head at different points during the day. And the closing tune "Epilogue" remains the tune that I keep playing in my head all the way through.

Like I said in my review, this album is terrific and you will not appreciate it until you listen to if a few times all the way through.

Oddly enough, one of the things about it that makes it so addictive is that it is not too long. As I get older, I find myself getting bored when listening to new music after about 45 minutes and I go back to Track 1 to hear what I've already heard again, sometimes missing a great song that's at the far end of an hour + album. This album is short enough that you can listen to it multiple times in the car (CD or DVD-A) on a single commute.
 
Exactly Jon! It is the perfect length to hear and share in its entirety. Many catchy moments indeed. I'm especially struck by the point where the mournful last delivery of "for evermore". It's so wistful, somber and perfect.


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It's funny but the first time I listened to this all the way through, the lyrics seemed to be the focal point of the listen with the music being secondary, but now after listening to it many times melodies from the album pop up in my head at different points during the day. And the closing tune "Epilogue" remains the tune that I keep playing in my head all the way through.
I have the same concern, the lyrics. While I like the dinosaur concept well enough, after listening to the samples, I'm not sure this is for me but if it's a grower then I'm willing to take a chance. How is the surround and sound quality, those would be the deciding factors for me.
 
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I have the same concern, the lyrics. While I like the dinosaur concept well enough, after listening to the samples, I'm not sure this is for me but if it's a grower then I'm willing to take a chance. How is the surround and sound quality, those would be the deciding factors for me.

I can't be sure you will like it, but it's very reasonably priced and the surround mix done by our own Neil Wilkes is excellent, IMHO. The CD/DVD-A/Book is around $12 on Amazon last I looked. I've spent a lot more than that on discs I've only played once.
 
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