From The Gloria Record to The Zookeeper
The Gloria Record left a lot of fans behind when they broke up in 2004, just two years after they released their first full-lenth on Arena Rock Records. Since the breakup, Chris Simpson has been writing songs as a solo artist. He hasn't just written a few, but rather 40 songs… and most of them have been recorded.
Deciding to work under the name of The Zookeeper (there's already a Chris Simpson that has national distribution), Chris is preparing to release The Zookeeper EP on October 25. This week Simpson finished a European tour, performing under his own name. He sold copies of The Zookeeper EP, along with a limited edition 7" vinyl.
The Zookeeper's five-song disc will be released on Brian Malone's (drummer for The Gloria Record) new record label, Belle City Pop. This will be the first release for both The Zookeeper and for the record label. Track-listing for the album includes: I Live In The Mess You Are, Tax Collector, Flood of Love, Two-Part Invention, and Delivery Room. The Belle City Pop website is selling pre-orders of the EP, as well as previewing the opening track.
Chris Simpson wrote on his Myspace, describing the recording process:
"We have recorded everything live in a room together in one take, with anywhere from 4 to 11 people playing, and even with a 20-person choir on a few tunes. The results are raw and at times seem barely held together. But there are truly magical moments that usually function as a pay off for whatever flaws our warts-and-all approach is yielding. I am overwhelmingly proud of the work, and feel they are all very strong compositions."
Using this release as a way to establish distribution and publicity for the record label, Belle City Pop plans to release another Zookeeper EP later this year. Over 20 additional songs are completely tracked and ready to be used. It won't be until the start of 2007 before The Zookeeper will be able to tour. They will be hard at work on Belle City Pop for the remainder of the year.
The Gloria Record – Tired and Uninspired
The Zookeeper – Trumpets
The Zookeeper – Snow in Berlin