RPM Challenge 2009

I got my first email from RPM HQ Monday morning of this week announcing the RPM Challenge 2009. The RPM challenge has occurred since February 2006. The challenge is to write, record, and mix an album that is minimum 35 minutes or ten songs in the month of February. Participants had it easy last year (leap year) with an additional 24 hours of time. The first year participants were sparse and not much publicity had surrounded the event other than local media and artists in New Hampshire. The following year the participation was quite intense with something like 800+ bands finishing albums in the specified time period and approximately four times that number were attempting. My brother, wife and I participated in 2007 as the band Astronaut Aardvark Attack and had a terrific time; although we were getting pretty punchy there toward the end. Four songs from our album contribution is posted here. I'll post the entire album later and provide a link to it (it's HERE now, along with a bunch of other stuff)

The nice thing about the event is that musicians from all over the world participate and they communicate with one another over the RPM website. It is a modest social networking site that allows users to upload their music tracks as they come together and provide feedback. At the end participants from all over get together and host listening parties where in they log into the RPM HQ website and listen to the radio stream from completed albums. One can also go to specific places on the the site to choose specific tracks or bands to listen to (go here for last year's jukebox). I didn't keep track of it last year, but intend to monitor the RPM airwaves this year (and may contribute again). In 2007 there were some really great tunes, but there was also a lot of noise that seemed to be just buying time (35 minutes of screaming and beating on aluminum pans will count as an album...and did apparently).

To be sure, if you are trying to make an album, it is nice to have a deadline. The best part of a deadline for the RPM challenge is that everyone else has the same deadline and is under the same self-imposed pressure and therefore provides support. Who knows, you may get ten RPM challenge songs, of which two or three are good enough for your debut, sophomore, etc album.

Check it out! It can be a lot of fun.