The Format
The Bar Is Set So Low - CD
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Pickup available at Hello Merch
Usually ready in 24 hours
The Bar Is Set So Low - CD
Hello Merch
Pickup available, usually ready in 24 hours
850 W Lincoln St
Phoenix AZ 85007
United States
100% of the proceeds from "The Bar Is Set So Low" will be distributed to Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, Immigrant Defense Network, Advocates for Immigrant Rights, and Latino Memphis.
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A little over a year ago, just before Sam and I were getting ready to go into the studio and make Boycott Heaven with our producer Brendan O’Brien, the plan was to record the exact 11 songs that actually ended up making the final cut. However, towards the end of the writing process we came up with a final song that we wanted to add to the album either as the 12th song or in very 90s fashion, the hidden track.
At the time I was listening to a lot of The Proclaimers, and the general idea was to have a song kinda in the same vein as “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” but instead of a stomping love song, I wanted it to be a stomping song about how awful this country treats its immigrants (legal or “illegal”).
The song in its most basic written form (Sam on acoustic, me on vocals) turned out great to us, but for whatever reason we couldn’t get it to translate to tape the way the rest of the songs on the album had very effortlessly done (not really an uncommon thing when making a record…sometimes you just can’t get everything to work). So out of time and entirely burnt we decided to shelve the song.
Flash forward a year and there has been very little to absolutely no positive progress in this world- in fact it has only gotten worse, and sadly, while we were getting ready to celebrate the release of our first album in 20 years, in front of our hometown crowd, we were all dropped the gut wrenching bomb about the public execution of Alex Pretti.
As anyone who’s watched us play acoustic in the last 3 months can attest, it doesn’t take much for me to break down in tears. It’s something I’m not ashamed of, but it’s also something I’d just rather not do in front of hundreds or thousands of people. We all have enough stuff going on in our lives, and if you have a heart, there’s no way that all the injustice and all the outright evilness and cruelty happening here in America (as well as other places like Palestine) doesn’t make you break down in some way or another.
So despite the fact that we were in Phoenix playing to a sold out crowd specifically to help promote a whole album of new songs we’d just released a day earlier, we found it emotionally necessary to close the set with an acoustic version of the one song that ironically didn’t even make the album.
It took everything I had to get through it, and in ways I’ve never really felt as an artist until more recently, it was extremely therapeutic to be doing it among a whole group of like minded people, publicly grieving the same horrendous things.
Because of this, Sam and I felt it was necessary to close out the rest of our in store performances that week with the song- and each time felt as special as the last. Thankfully so many people who attended the in stores would come up to us after and tell us they appreciated the song and felt the same way about these atrocities as we did (we definitely heard our fair share of “fuck ice”- it will never get old), and most if not all of those people asked if we would ever consider releasing the song.
While I always assumed the song would reappear in one way or another, I was hoping it wasn’t gonna be under these type of circumstances. But since Sam and I first started floating the idea of bringing The Format back to life, we told ourselves that it was necessary for us to try and do more good with whatever platform we would be given- and while we happen to have a lot of big plans in that regard for the near future- we really want to be able to help right now. Like right at this very moment.
So today we are releasing “The Bar Is Set So Low”…on Bandcamp…on Bandcamp Friday…so that ALL (100%) of the proceeds from the song can go to organizations around the United States that have been doing so much good in the face of so much evil. Our hearts are with the people taking direct action against this insanely large group of Billionaire Pedophile Demons, and their low iq subservient boot licking henchmen.
Even if you can’t or don’t want to donate for this song, we kindly encourage you to donate whatever or however you can elsewhere.
A very special shoutout to our amazing producer Brendan O’Brien, and our engineer Kyle Stevens for taking immediate time out of their busy schedules to help us put this version of the song together in an extremely short amount of time.
Oh and lastly- please excuse my horrible Spanish!!!- there’s a reason I’m a musician…and that’s because I failed Spanish in high school and therefore didn’t have enough credits to get into a university….Just one more reason to be grateful to all our brothers and sisters from Latin America. Honestly, and especially as Phoenicians, we could never imagine our lives without your profound influence on us as artists, and most importantly as human beings. I consider this song to be a very humble tribute to that fact.
So anyways, without further ado, “The Bar Is Set So Low”, please enjoy.
<3,
The Format
A little over a year ago, just before Sam and I were getting ready to go into the studio and make Boycott Heaven with our producer Brendan O’Brien, the plan was to record the exact 11 songs that actually ended up making the final cut. However, towards the end of the writing process we came up with a final song that we wanted to add to the album either as the 12th song or in very 90s fashion, the hidden track.
At the time I was listening to a lot of The Proclaimers, and the general idea was to have a song kinda in the same vein as “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” but instead of a stomping love song, I wanted it to be a stomping song about how awful this country treats its immigrants (legal or “illegal”).
The song in its most basic written form (Sam on acoustic, me on vocals) turned out great to us, but for whatever reason we couldn’t get it to translate to tape the way the rest of the songs on the album had very effortlessly done (not really an uncommon thing when making a record…sometimes you just can’t get everything to work). So out of time and entirely burnt we decided to shelve the song.
Flash forward a year and there has been very little to absolutely no positive progress in this world- in fact it has only gotten worse, and sadly, while we were getting ready to celebrate the release of our first album in 20 years, in front of our hometown crowd, we were all dropped the gut wrenching bomb about the public execution of Alex Pretti.
As anyone who’s watched us play acoustic in the last 3 months can attest, it doesn’t take much for me to break down in tears. It’s something I’m not ashamed of, but it’s also something I’d just rather not do in front of hundreds or thousands of people. We all have enough stuff going on in our lives, and if you have a heart, there’s no way that all the injustice and all the outright evilness and cruelty happening here in America (as well as other places like Palestine) doesn’t make you break down in some way or another.
So despite the fact that we were in Phoenix playing to a sold out crowd specifically to help promote a whole album of new songs we’d just released a day earlier, we found it emotionally necessary to close the set with an acoustic version of the one song that ironically didn’t even make the album.
It took everything I had to get through it, and in ways I’ve never really felt as an artist until more recently, it was extremely therapeutic to be doing it among a whole group of like minded people, publicly grieving the same horrendous things.
Because of this, Sam and I felt it was necessary to close out the rest of our in store performances that week with the song- and each time felt as special as the last. Thankfully so many people who attended the in stores would come up to us after and tell us they appreciated the song and felt the same way about these atrocities as we did (we definitely heard our fair share of “fuck ice”- it will never get old), and most if not all of those people asked if we would ever consider releasing the song.
While I always assumed the song would reappear in one way or another, I was hoping it wasn’t gonna be under these type of circumstances. But since Sam and I first started floating the idea of bringing The Format back to life, we told ourselves that it was necessary for us to try and do more good with whatever platform we would be given- and while we happen to have a lot of big plans in that regard for the near future- we really want to be able to help right now. Like right at this very moment.
So today we are releasing “The Bar Is Set So Low”…on Bandcamp…on Bandcamp Friday…so that ALL (100%) of the proceeds from the song can go to organizations around the United States that have been doing so much good in the face of so much evil. Our hearts are with the people taking direct action against this insanely large group of Billionaire Pedophile Demons, and their low iq subservient boot licking henchmen.
Even if you can’t or don’t want to donate for this song, we kindly encourage you to donate whatever or however you can elsewhere.
A very special shoutout to our amazing producer Brendan O’Brien, and our engineer Kyle Stevens for taking immediate time out of their busy schedules to help us put this version of the song together in an extremely short amount of time.
Oh and lastly- please excuse my horrible Spanish!!!- there’s a reason I’m a musician…and that’s because I failed Spanish in high school and therefore didn’t have enough credits to get into a university….Just one more reason to be grateful to all our brothers and sisters from Latin America. Honestly, and especially as Phoenicians, we could never imagine our lives without your profound influence on us as artists, and most importantly as human beings. I consider this song to be a very humble tribute to that fact.
So anyways, without further ado, “The Bar Is Set So Low”, please enjoy.
<3,
The Format