-Kristen Dunleavy



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Back in the day, when cars were rip-roarin’ gas-guzzlers and the touch-tone phone was still considered wildly innovative, checking out the latest vinyls was the hippest form of recreation out there. In the 60's, you didn’t have to wait years for your favorite band to come out with a new album. Artists would release their latest songs on EPs and still release a few albums all within a year.



Nowadays, bands go on hiatus for years at a time (a la Pearl Jam), only to make a comeback with 12 or so over-produced songs on one lousy album. What gives?



Fortunately, times are a changin’. The Wild Colonials will be the first group on a major label to issue quarterly releases featuring 4 or 5 songs before releasing the entire album.



Labelmate Brian Ray (not to mention Paul McCartney’s main guitarist) agrees with the new format, “It kind of makes sense. People have ADD, they can’t absorb 10 or 12 songs at once.”



So what does this mean for you, dear consumer? If the EP format catches on, you will never be at a loss for stuff to listen to, and your favorite band won’t have any excuses not to release anything. Sweet deal, right?



Clubplanet caught up with Shark from the Wild Colonials to give us some more insight on the world of EPs:



CP: So what makes the quarterly release method so old school?



Brian Ray: I think the whole idea came about because I think the mp3 is the 45 of the millennium, and if anything we’re getting back to the way the industry used to be. With sheet music, 78’s, 45’s, B sides, and everything else. What’s weird is that the entire Beatles’ career was in 8 years or something. In the 60’s, Hendrix put out like 2 albums a year. If you look at the release schedules in the 50’s and 60’s, that was another reason why they thought Rock n Roll wasn’t gonna hang around.



Do you think artists will ever have crazy release schedules like that ever again?



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Brian Ray: We’ll never get back to how quick it was happening in the 60’s. I think it’s too long between records nowadays. The Beatles are so interesting because from the Ed Sullivan show to acid-drenched Sgt. Pepper, is like 3 years later. That’s amazing. In the time that Guns n Roses have not released a record is the entire Beatle’s career.



Do you think other artists will catch on?



Brian Ray: I think if it makes it easier to get to the people, then yeah. This week I’m delivering the master for the first EP, and in 30 days it’s coming out. And that’s unheard of. I think that’s exciting for an artist. You’ve literally finished something, and 4 weeks later, people are hearing it.



How is your band using this to your advantage?



Brian Ray: I think that this will actually enable us to put more music out over the course of the year. Each EP will have 4 songs on it. One is a non-album track, but we won’t say which one. And if you download them on iTunes you get an exclusive live track or remix, so there’ll be bonus tracks every time and a digital booklet. The digital booklet is interesting because I think that’s also the new artwork and people haven’t realized it yet. Basically if you download entire albums right now on iTunes you get a booklet which is basically a PDF. With this first EP we’re actually doing an 18 page booklet with lyrics and photographs and everything. So that’s another thing I think we’re on the vanguard of.



For more info and mp3's, visit: Wildcolonials.com and Brian-ray.com



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