Goodbye, Old Friend
Stack 23
Today’s the day. I’m A Star: The Remixes is out now, available on all major streaming platforms as well as Bandcamp.
It’s a bittersweet one because it also marks the end of my work on the Starr Love project. The audiobook is out most everywhere now, too, minus Audible, which should be any day now.
Let’s start with the remixes, since that’s the fun part. The release features three versions of I’m A Star. There’s a remix from Mike Castle of Red Red Groove, a fun re-interpretation that’ll make your bones move. There’s the House of Sterling remix because Sterling Vaughn always has to try to steal Stu’s spotlight. And then there’s the Tired Ass Dance Mix, which I did myself. Back in my old DJ days, I used to call what I did the Tired Ass Dance Party. So when it came time to remix this one, that name just felt right.
As for the audiobook, it’s finally out there floating around on the great big wide innerweb. Right now, you can find it on Spotify Audiobooks, a newer service that looks pretty solid so far. Audible is coming any day now. And I also put it on Bandcamp, which is not exactly a place you’d normally expect to find an audiobook. But that’s the beauty of doing things yourself. My house, my rules.
Here’s my thinking on that. I know a lot of people don’t want another subscription. Fair enough. Honestly, if I didn’t listen to a couple of books a week myself, I probably wouldn’t either, but audiobooks are my preferred way of taking in a story, so it works for me. Bandcamp gives you another option. I set it up exactly like it’s set up on the other platforms, same files and everything. The only difference is you buy it once, download it, and it’s yours. No recurring fees, no subscription. Just like buying an MP3 album.
Speaking of which, sometimes a physical disc still works better. If you’re a road tripper like me, it’s easy to lose your place on a streaming app somewhere between exits. So, I put it out on CD too (available for purchase on Bandcamp next week). If your car still has a CD player that reads MP3s, which most from the last couple of decades do, you can pop it in, and you’re set for a long drive. Or is that a long tour? A three-hour tour, if you know, you know.
Now, about Starr Love itself.
Putting Stu and his story together this past year has been a lot of fun. Genuinely a lot of fun. And finishing it feels a little like saying goodbye to an old friend. I’m going to miss Stu, Rowdy, and that whole chaotic little world of theirs. The idea for this story first hit paper in the early 1990s, which means I’ve been carrying pieces of it around for over thirty years. It might not be the greatest literary achievement of all time, and if you didn’t catch the sarcasm there, that’s on you, Charlie Brown. But it’s been a genuine labor of love, and I’m glad it finally got to see some daylight. Maybe someday some daring underground filmmaker stumbles onto it and turns it into something. I’d love to see it as a scrappy little movie one day. That’s just not something I know how to or care to make happen myself.
So, what’s next?
First, I’m going to enjoy this holiday weekend. Nothing big planned. I’ve got a scaredy dog named Apollo with an intense fear of fireworks, so it’ll be a quiet one. Beer, something on the grill, and some relaxing. That’s plenty.
Once the weekend’s over, though, it’s going to be a busy stretch heading into fall. I like it busy.
First up is some restoration work. I found a box of old masters and shipped a few off to get converted to digital, including the Trust records I mentioned last week. I’ll be remastering those and adding them to Bandcamp soon, along with the leftover vinyl copies I still have sitting around, so you’ll be able to grab both if you want. You will probably also see the VG70 stuff and Frustrated Housewives material remastered on the same site this Fall.
Beyond that, there are a few more musical projects taking shape. One is tentatively called What Could Have Been. I’ve never loved my own singing voice. I’ve done it because I had to, not because I wanted to. Now, with the right tools, I can create a voice through a synthesizer instead. To be clear, this isn’t AI. It’s the same kind of synth voice I used for Stu on I’m A Star. I’m going to take some of my favorite old tracks, clean up the music where it needs it, and rebuild the vocals just to hear what they might have sounded like if the guy singing them could actually sing.
There’s also a project I’m tentatively calling License Me. It’s kind of a retirement plan, if I’m honest. Songwriting royalties are the lifeblood of this business, and I’ve written a handful of songs over the years that sound like they belong in a commercial. So I’m cleaning a batch of them up and putting together an album meant more for licensing pitches than for streaming. It probably won’t show up on the usual platforms, but I’ll let you know when it’s out in case you’re curious.
On top of all that, digging through this archive of old masters turned up close to four hours of old demos. Most of it is rough, understandably so. But a few tracks from my early twenties held up better than I expected, and I’m planning to properly record and release a couple of them as new Jeff Elder songs this fall.
Speaking of that, I'm trying to decide how to roll releases like this one out going forward. My gut says to keep my solo work under Jeff Elder and use something like Jeff Elder Presents for these side projects with vocals. If you've got an opinion, I put together a quick one-question survey/poll, and I’d love to hear your input.
And then there’s the .5 of the 3.5 Fall music projects - I call it that because it’s part musical, part something else entirely. I’ve started developing an animated series called They Call Me Sipsey. Short, comical clips about the world according to my dog Sipsey. Naturally, it comes with its own musical side, and the character theme songs have actually been coming together really well over the past couple of weeks. The bigger challenge will be the animation software itself. I considered doing it with AI, and I don’t have any issue with AI as a tool, but I like having real control over what the animation is doing and the world it lives in. So, true to form, I’m just going to learn how to do it myself. Should be simple, right?
On the writing side, Sipsey’s world might eventually turn into a book, too- who knows? I’m not really planning on it, though. The next real book I’m working on is called The Boy Who Liked Girls. I’ve got the whole story worked out in my head, and I have managed to get a few chapters down on paper this year. Now that Starr Love is finished, I can give it my full attention. If things go the way I’m hoping, I’ll finish it by the end of the year and get it out early next year. I’ll keep the details close for now. You’ll just have to wait on that one.
So that’s where things stand. One era is closing, and a handful of new ones are opening up. It’s definitely been some joy, some fun, and some sun.
Here’s to the next season and to all of you having a great Independence Day weekend. We’ll dive back into the mayhem next week - See ya then.
Jeff