The music industry sucks, and the Epilogues know it. They're no strangers to being let down by the business. Over the course of the band's nearly six year existence, its members have gone through the label dance enough to know what a downer it is. Waiting in limbo, the band went through some serious songwriting, improving on their signature sound. Though the road has been nothing short of bitter discouragement, the outfit has plowed through each setback with poise and determination.
See also: - The Epilogues CD release show at Summit Music Hall, 10/6/12 - The ten best concerts this weekend: October 5-7 - The Epilogues story has a happy ending
The band's do-it-yourself ethos has kept it going in times of uncertainty, and the outfit's drive and emotion shines through on the new album, Cinematics, slated for release nationally on November 6 on Greater Than, the imprint driven by Pete Turner of Illegal Pete's and Virgil Dickerson of Suburban Home Records. It's a match made in Denver-scene heaven. We recently spoke with frontman Chris Heckman about the new album.
Westword: So - why did it take so long for Cinematics to come out?
Chris Heckman: We had a few deals floating in front of us, so we kind of sat and waited for things to come through. Sony hired somebody new at the top of the ladder, and he just nixed all smaller projects. It was a pretty big waste of time, which is fine, but interesting.
The album will be coming out on Greater Than Records then?
Yeah, we turned to Pete and Virgil, and they turned to us at the same time with the same ideas. We've worked with them in the past with the South by Southwest showcases and fundraisers, so everyone was familiar with each other. It was advantageous for everyone involved. It works out nicely because they're just right down the street from us, so we really don't have to do the phone-tag thing ever.
If we can help them with the store and label branding that's awesome, because they've really helped us out. A lot. We're really excited to see where this Greater Than thing goes because they genuinely want to help out the Denver entertainment scene. We were really stuck with no money and no resources, and it was great they stepped in and gave us that final push.
I noticed you used a lot of the same people on this album as you did for "The Beautiful, The Terrifying."
We did. J.P. Manza [Colorado Sound] has been doing a lot of our stuff for a really long time. Jason Livermore of the Blasting room is also a big part of it too. Both those guys did amazing work, as always. It was never any question as to who we wanted to work with. You can say it with anything, but we're really pleased with the result. We had a lot of time to retool it and make it what we wanted to make of it. In the end, we had the right support to make it all come together.
Have you chosen which song is going to be the initial single?
Not yet. "Paradigm Shift" is one that's been tossed around by a few people, but it could be "Call Me a Mistake" or something else. Who knows?
93.3 [KTCL] has been huge supporters of yours. Will the new single be out on their surveys?
Once we get a radio campaign in place it probably will be. We're trying to get everything together for the release, like that and a tour schedule. There's still lots of work to do.
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