**UPDATE** Good news: The pallet has been located! Yesterday afternoon we received a very exciting call, telling us that our DRIVE Picture Discs were found unharmed, and were en-route to our distributor. Since then, our distributor has been working tirelessly to get these out to as many stores as possible.
Now, obviously the timing is not ideal. Record Store Day is tomorrow so we cannot guarantee that these will make it to all stores in time for doors, but they will be in some. Please contact your local record store to see if they will have these discs in time. Worst case scenario, they should be on shelves early next week. As mentioned before, they will for sure be in WATERLOO and END OF AN EAR here in Austin, as I had already hand delivered some of our personal copies in advance, prior to this announcement.
Thank you for your patience with this matter, and thank you for being so understanding when all was (theoretically) lost. I hope you like them. We are incredibly proud of them.
- Mo Shafeek – 4/25/2013
It was supposed to be so easy…
Bad News (the Short Version): Our DRIVE Picture Disc 2XLP will NOT be in stores on Record Store Day, this coming Saturday.
Bad News (the Long Version): So, a few weeks ago, we got our entire stock of DRIVE. That included the entire regular edition that we put online, plus 75 copies or so of the RSD Picture Disc for our own personal archives and comps. We shot some photos in anticipation of promoting its existence, a blog for which would’ve gone live today under more positive circumstances. You can see them below (a.k.a. Proof these things actually exist.)
The very same day, our manufacturer also shipped the remaining edition (1,000 copies) to our distributor, intended to be divvied up across the country for Record Store Day. But something went terribly wrong: they were never received. At first we waited patiently for them to arrive. A week went by, then we had to get a little more pro-active. We tried to trace them. We got the upper-management of the shipping company involved. We did nationwide sweeps of major shipping facilities, ultimately with no luck. Now, we are all freaking out asking the same question you are undoubtedly asking yourself…
How does one lose 1,000 records?
Did they get stolen? Did they “fall off the back of the truck?” Literally, or figuratively – probably not. Anyone who knows records could tell you that 1,000 records weigh quite a bit. I feel/hope like someone would notice (unless it was some sort of Fast & Furious heist-type situation, which would at least make for a good story.) It’s more likely that they are just sitting in a warehouse, or dock gathering dust. But which “warehouse/dock” is a question that our manufacturer and distributor are still asking each freight company, leaving us to deal with this P.R. nightmare.
As far as we can tell, it is no one’s fault in particular. It is a mix of miscommunication, incorrect receiving procedures and general hectic-ness surrounding this industry-specific holiday. But none of that changes how awful this situation is. As of now, no one can tell us when these copies will resurface. Without even a remote timeline, we cannot guarantee they will be in stores in time for Saturday, nor can we guarantee what we are going to do with them when we eventually find them (I have been assured that in the history of Record Stores, no one has ever lost an entire pallet of records and never found them… so at least there’s that.)
It’s totally fitting after waiting a year to put out this LP that we should all have to wait a bit longer. As someone who has seen these with his own two eyes, I can tell you that they are worth the wait. They just won’t be a part of Record Store Day 2013. And for that, we sincerely apologize.
But don’t let that discourage your Record Store Day! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE support you local record stores. It is so incredibly important that you do. I, personally, will be getting up super early and getting in line at Waterloo Records here in Austin to go pick up a few things. If you are local, I hope to see you there.
A few more things:
AUSTIN LOCALS will still have a shot. As stated above, we have a few to spare so we are going to give a few copies to END OF AN EAR and WATERLOO RECORDS to sell this Saturday. I don’t know how many just yet, but it will be very minimal. I’m sorry that we cannot do the same for other stores outside of Austin. I hope you understand.
POLTERGEIST GLOW IN THE DARK was on a separate pallet and will still be in Record Stores on Saturday. It is CRAZY how much this thing glows. You can see a few photos below.
DRIVE REGULAR EDITION will be in stores on May 28th, 2013. Those were not lost either (thank god). Please contact your local record store to make sure they carry it.
OBLIVION will be on sale on April 26th on our web store and will also be in record stores on May 28th. We will have the exclusive CLEAR version. The one that will be in stores will be BLACK.
Please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any further questions.
Photo credit: Billy Garrett
