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Feel free to skip down to the bottom of the page for the pot of audio gold... or indulge us for a moment if you would.

It’s simple: someone is bound to put this out there whether we like it or not, so we’re just going to take the initiative. And as to whether we like it or not... well, it’s complicated. Let’s just say this – we understand it, we are not above downloading things ourselves and so we can’t stand here and rail at the world of seeders and leechers without being hypocrites. We would, however, like to highlight some of the realities of being an indie band offering you our recordings for free.

We are a completely independent band – no label, major or indie, no wealthy parents or patrons, no lottery winnings. We fund everything we do with day jobs and scant earnings from live shows and merchandise sales (CD’s, t-shirts, action figures). Most of what you might pay here or on iTunes goes to us. ITunes or Paypal take about 35%, a distributor takes 10% (from all sales except ones directly from this site) leaving us with about 55-65 cents on each dollar from album sales – CD’s or purchased downloads. The cost on a physical CD is about 2 dollars and can vary depending on packaging types. So, regardless of the format you choose to own, our margin is admittedly pretty good on a sale. However, we’re not talking about “Thriller” type sales, so you have to balance that margin accordingly. If any of us start wearing sparkly gloves and buy Ferris wheels, then you can take us to task on that.

In the meantime, recording an album is a crap-ton of work! From writing to rehearsing, arranging and recording, making an record means long days and nights working around your day-job hours, calling in favours and doing whatever you can to keep your production costs low. We’ve had many dedicated professionals offer their time for cheap or free, knowing we’ll do the same if asked. Then there’s all the editing and mixing which, for many artists, means another person to hire. The number of people working on a record, even on an indie project, often outstrips the number of people in the band: producer, engineer, assistant engineer, guest musicians, mixing engineer, editor, mastering engineer, graphic designer… it goes on and on, everyone trying to earn a living, everyone working for the love of music. A lot of these people work out of their apartments and office studios. Many of them never get near a “big label” project.

In the end, EBH is a pretty self-sufficient machine. We have a small combined rehearsal/recording space and enough gear to keep things interesting. For “Mars…” we recorded our drums in studio on the backs of audio-engineering students and their teachers and the rest was completed at our place. We spent a long time agonizing over many details that most people will never notice but we care enough to worry about. We know that not every song will be your favourite, but never think for a minute that we treat any of them as a “throw-away” or filler.

Ultimately, we just want you to dig the music and we want as many people to hear it as possible. We’d like to make a living someday as musicians if possible – not in any grandiose, “cocaine and escorts” kind of way but maybe in a “being able to pay the rent by creative means rather than office work” kind of way. Any money we earn makes it easier for us to fund the next project. If you would like to contribute towards that effort, we’d appreciate it greatly. Uncompressed AIFF files are here for the taking; you let us know via Paypal what that's worth to you. Nuff said.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and enjoy your EBH no matter how it ends up in your ears!

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