Exclusive Earlybird Release for Backers!

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we-

YES!

You've all been so ridiculously patient and wonderful, and today is the big day (slightly behind schedule but making good time)! As of right now, hidden in this website, is the earlybird download page. It's hidden because I couldn't find a way to produce download codes for those of you who got the download as a perk, so I had to sneakily hide it. I'm sending all of you a link in your emails, and if you click on the link, you can download the album for FREE! Woo hoo! 

For those of you who have been waiting patiently but didn't buy the download as a perk, just sneak on over to our (still technically active) Indiegogo Page and purchase the download perk, and I'll send the link to you right away!

There are a few more final touches to be done to the packaging for the CDs, but we should be sending them off to the manufacturer this week, and roughly 10 business days after that, we will start sending out your pre-purchased CDs!

Finally, the last piece of big news is that JPJQ Team Portland has booked our CD RELEASE gig (and party)! It's going to be at the beautiful Vie De Boheme Wine Bar on Wednesday, May 4th - the show starts at 8, but be sure to get there early for their "Winesday" tastings! We can't wait!

Thank you for sticking around with us - It's been a long road and we're so glad to be here at last!

 Love, Julia

Happy February!

So, What's New With You?

I can tell you what's new with us - I Want Love is so close to being ready I can practically taste it (and it tastes like red wine and dark chocolate... and maybe some cheese)! We've started to get the photos back from the photographer - Check outJPJQ's Facebook page to view them, since I seem to be having technical difficulties getting them to show up here! 

The album has been mixed, and is being mastered (which still seems kind of like magic to me - I don't quite know what they're doing, but by all accounts, it will make everything sound amazing), the album cover is being designed, licenses for all the songs are being negotiated, and we're booked for manufacturing as soon as all that comes together!

I'm totally excited (and fairly impatient) to have the album in my hands, and to be able to put it into all of yours!

We're hopeful that everything will get done in time for our release dates, and I'll keep you posted as things progress and if anything changes. We still haven't totally confirmed the dates for CD release parties and whatnot, but I assure you, we'll let you know just as soon as we do!

Love, Julia (and Adam, Max, and Andrew)

PS - a huge shout-out of congratulations to Andrew, who came down to Portland this past month and got married to his sweetheart, Dawn-Marie! Yay! 

And Here We Are - 2016...

...And the Album's On Its Way!

A new year usually means resolutions - things we want to change about our lives and ourselves. But for me, the resolutions happened in August and September, when I realized how important it was to finish JPJQ's album in a meaningful way, and that I'd need your help to do that. It hasn't been easy. I had no idea how all-consuming it would be to run that Indiegogo campaign, to constantly be going to people, hat in hand, asking for their help to make this record. But it turns out that people are generous, loving, and supportive, and we made our goal with a little time to spare. So now we get to make "I Want Love" - to make a fun, beautiful album that really says something. I'm honoured, and humbled, and so very grateful!

As I said in the video, we've done the rest of the recording - and now it's all in the hands of the professionals: the mixing engineer, the photograper, the album art designer, the CD manufacturers, the licensing companies (although I'm thrilled that the composers I've been able to negotiate with in person have been gracious and helpful beyond belief), and finally the distributors! It feels like it's going to be a long time before I get to be a "creative" again - not until we're getting ready for the CD release parties - but I know that April is going to be here before I know it, and I can only hope I'll be ready!

For now, we wait, and write cheques, and make decisions. And I remember how lucky I am to be here, among the amazing people who are helping me make my dreams come true!

And... We're Rolling!

Thank you from all of us (especially Adam with his new 'do)!

Hello again! (and Welcome to our New Contributors!)

Thanks again to the best, most generous, and most supportive fans a band could ask for!

There's news since our last post - we've made it to almost 65% funding and we still have a month to go! This is the "hard" part of an Indiegogo campaign - the first funders (you) have come through for us and we want to keep the momentum going so it's not too hard to slide into "home" in the last week or so. But you all have put us in such a great position that we're really confident we're going to make it - probably with a little bit to spare (and fund some of our "wishlist goals")!

As of right now, we've booked the studio for January 10, 2016, Adam is feverishly working on great arrangements for our "new" songs, and we're excitedly preparing for American Thanksgiving in Portland, and Christmas in Vancouver! I'm also making a bunch more videos to release on our Facebook and YouTube pages, and welcome any comments or suggestions you may have!

And, as always, we encourage you to continue to talk about our campaign, share our news, and "drive traffic" to our website and Campaign Page. The more we spread the word, the sooner we can guarantee that the basic expenses are covered, and we can start taking care of the "fun stuff" - more musicians, photo shoots, work permits (so we can have the "real band" play in the US), all kinds of great things that, while not absolutely necessary to making the album, will make it better!

We'll keep you posted on all the news as it comes in! Thanks again for investing in music!

Julia (and JPJQ)

Thank you! And... Welcome!

You're here because you've proven what we already knew about you - YOU'RE AWESOME! Thank you so much for contributing to our Indiegogo campaign!

So let me get you up to date.

At the end of June, just before Adam and I moved to Portland, we went into Monarch Studios to record what at that point we figured was going to be a promotional EP. Basically, for those of you who don't know, an EP is longer than a demo (which is usually about 3 songs) and shorter than what used to be an LP (full length album). So a promotional EP would be about 5 songs, which we'd be able to send to club owners, booking agents and festival selection committees. We'd also be able to sell some of them online or at our gigs, and of course give them as gifts. But we weren't really thinking about making a whole, full-length album.

We thought we'd be happy getting those five songs in the can that day. We brought a few extra charts, so we might have something to choose from, if one of the songs didn't work right away... We ran through those 5, and all our extras... we have 9 songs "in the can." (Honestly, we had time left at the end of the day and probably could have recorded one or two more if we'd had more prepared - we just had no idea that the band and the engineer would be SO AMAZING).

So suddenly we were faced with either cutting four great tracks and making the EP we'd planned, or potentially releasing all of them as a slightly short full length album. I had mixed feelings about this, since I feel like every piece of art needs to tell a story, and an album is definitely a piece of art. This was a group of nine great songs, but I didn't really feel like it told a story. (Maybe that's why I haven't recorded an album of my own before now; I didn't feel like I had a story that needed telling.)

As you know, since you presumably read the Indiegogo campaign, I have a story now. Thank you for helping me tell it.

Thank you for being in "at the ground floor," and we'll be in touch soon!