Gramophones, phonographs and the summer ahead

So if you are just a casual reader of what I post you might not have the full back-story on this one so I'll recap things a bit. I run Aux. A record label that I started in 2003 that's still going strong today. I also teach college and had a full load this semester - 4 classes of about 100 students total. It was an awesome semester of advertising so far (2 weeks left) and as it winds down I get to prep for the summer and fall. I finish up at Syracuse University in early May and get the opportunity to go back to running Aux full-time for the summer. It's always been full-time but that meant 40 hours of teaching classes/grading and another 40+ of label work. Now I get to do the label exclusively for several months, perhaps longer. We're moving to an even bigger office just about a year after we moved to our current location. We're on the verge of adding another band and have a couple stages to run at events that will touch over 1 million people. I might get to tour, hit Warped Tour, Cornerstone and finish my book while on the road. If I do, that million might just become 1.5 or 2...

That all leads up to the fall. I just had the chance to interview for a pretty amazing music business teaching position. If I get it, I finally have the opportunity to use the PhD and label experience in one setting. I'll hear about it in a few weeks either way. As part of the interview I had the opportunity to explore part of the school's audio archives. If you've never heard a gramophone, phonograph or any other early music player in person, it's one of the experiences you must have. I had heard recordings but nothing in person. Hearing this old wooden machine pump out a song via a steel needle running along the wax cylinder or record gave me a little thrill. It's a much more exciting experience than today's new players. I've had 7 ipods and this 100+ year old box was more fun than initially firing up those ipods. Sure it's not portable and can only play 2 minutes at a time but it was awesome. I think I'll need to release a record for one of the bands sometime soon. It also gave me a few ideas for production tricks in the studio if I can get my hands on one.

So this was a long post to say:
1) Look for big releases and events from Aux this summer
2) If you are in an active band that has recently recorded and are on a label, I might need you for another chapter in my book. Get in touch.
3) Tour. Even a week or so would be great. Bringing Jonas would be even better. That might be Cornerstone since he wants to meet up with Flyleaf and The Almost.
4) The records that your great grandparents heard owned.
5) New office. Come visit once the move is finished. I'll let you know.

-Ulf