“Breakup Music” - Humpasaur Jones

Posted by Justin Boland on Sep 03, 2013 | 0 Comments

Sure, I’m posting this to Audible Hype my own shit, but i can at least give an honest account of how this project got created. This is a six track EP that took four or five years to make, depending on your religious beliefs about the moment of conception. I have procrastinated, over-thought and second-guessed this beautiful nightmare for way too long and it feels great to have it done.

Given the time frame involved, you’re correct to assume that we gave up on this puppy for long stretches. I suspect the fact it exists in public today has a lot to do with the advantage of long-distance working relationships. At no point has the contempt of familiarity reduced us to Fuck Offery and Jabbing Fingerpointage. We just let the quiche cool down for a few months and then quietly started pushing that boulder back uphill.

This was shaped by many fortunate mistakes. It was supposed to feature a number of collaborations but wound up being tighter (and stranger) without them. In particular, Pub Crawl and Before Our Days both evolved into something way bigger and better when I had to fill in a lot of blank space in a single psychedelic weekend.

The music business lesson here goes like this: when it is time to finish, bring in a third party with fresh ears. For years, Breakup Music was a collaboration between myself & Dr. Quandary, so we got a consultant. Louis Mackey was instrumental in clarifying the direction and tracklist, motivating the team, and helping the final mixes get printed at Vault 46 in sunny Jamaica Plain. He also brought in a new beat that transformed the tone of The Nothing from bitter & hateful to…well, funky & hateful. But still! Tag in someone new to get projects finished. It really works.