The Scope

This is the challenge
Record an album in 29 days, just because you can. That’s 10 songs or 35 minutes of original material recorded during the month of February.

Don’t wait for inspiration. Taking action puts you in a position to get inspired. You’ll stumble across ideas you would have never come up with otherwise, and maybe only because you were trying to meet a day’s quota of songwriting. Show up and get something done, and invest in yourself and each other.

Anyone can come up with an excuse to say “no.” So don’t! Many of you are thinking, “But, I can’t do that. I don’t have any songs/recording gear/money/blah blah blah.” But this album doesn’t have to be THE album, it’s just AN album. This is an artistic exercise. Do your best with what you have to get it done. If you have a four-track, become a four-track badass! Have an iPhone, a PC or Mac, a Walkman, a tape recorder from the ’80s? Use it! Do your best. Use the limitations of time and gear as an opportunity to explore things you might not try otherwise. If you can afford studio time in a ‘real’ studio, that’s fine, but let’s be completely free of any lingering idea that good records can only be made in a studio. Well written, honest music is compelling and undeniable, no matter what it was recorded on.

February will come and go whether you’ve taken the challenge or not. Do you really want to be left out?

The Details

• This is not a contest!

• This will be fun!

• There is no fee!

• Record 10 songs or 35 minutes material, and burn it to CD.

• When it’s finished, mail your disc to us (postmarked by March 1) at:

RPM Challenge NL
c/o The Scope
PO Box 1044
St. John’s, NL A1C 5M3

You can also drop it off in person at our drop-off box inside O’Brien’s Music, 278 Water Street, by noon on March 1.

• Recording can only be done in the month of February. No prerecorded songs.

• All material must be previously unreleased, and we encourage you to write the material during February too, but it’s not against the rules to record previously written material.

• Registered participating bands and musicians can make their own page at www.rpmchallenge.com. You also blog away to your heart’s content, or post to the discussion board where you can swap ideas, resources, and the ability to e-mail and private message other participants.

• When the month is over, there will be local listening parties where at least one track from each completed album from NL will be played.

• All the completed albums can be uploaded to the jukebox on the website. If you’d rather not share your work with the public, then no one needs to hear it but you. But what’s the fun in that?

For more information or to sign up, visit www.rpmchallenge.com. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email Elling at elling@thescope.ca. Visit www.thescope.ca/rpm for updates throughout the month.