On March 1st of 2011 Architects & Heroes had just barely launched as a label, and outside of a short run compilation CD we released, we were really more of a concept than an entity. This was the release date of The Summer of Flux record, Radio Anthems For The Newly Disenfranchised, which for all intents and purposes was the label’s first proper release. This was a very special project for me. It was a collaboration with one of my best friends, and now Godfather of my son, Aaron Mobley, Ph.D.. This is something we’d painstakingly worked on over multiple years, while living in separate states. While Aaron was pursuing his Masters at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and I was living in San Francisco working in tech industry, I did an east coast tour with my Zygote project. I made a stop off in Pittsburgh with the express purpose of recording music with Aaron, music that would go on to become the seeds of this record. This was circa 2004. As fate would have it, around 2005/2006 we both found ourselves back in Dallas, home to our alma mater Southern Methodist University. It was a tumultuous period that was equal parts fun, light, chaotic, dark and ultimately transformative. Looking back at it now, it was really the point in my life where I was being dragged, kicking and screaming, into adulthood. This was the time and place where the core of this record was made. The bulk of the recording took place at Pleasantry Lane Studio, with an amazing engineer who ended up acting more like a producer named Rip Rowan, who was basically another member of the band during the recording sessions. So, fast-forward to 2011, and the record. Here was an actually tangible artifact of something that started as a concept between friends, developed into a project during murky Texas summers and after many miles, years and crazy experiences was the actual output of that dedication. It will always be a reminder to me of that time. It will always serve to remind me that when something is important, no matter how long it takes and no matter how crazy life gets, you just find a way to will it into existence. You can stream the record in it’s entirety here. Press from LA Record The CDs when they first got shipped to A+H HQ