I released an EP yesterday. It’s called There Is No Down.

I feel like the EP is the ideal kind of musical project for me both in terms of recording and what I’m asking of listeners.

For one thing, I lack the attention span to record a full-length album. Even if I start with a concept or style or approach to recording that I think sounds great, I’m often distracted by another idea shortly thereafter. With an EP, I can record a few songs that sound pretty decent together and then move on to a new project.

As far as the listener goes — and hopefully you’re one of them — I feel like four songs is a good number. It’s more than one, so if you like what you hear, there are a few more. But it’s less than ten or twelve, so it’s not like I’m asking you to sit down and listen to a half-hour to forty-five minutes of music I’ve recorded.

I mean, I love albums, but I rarely sit down and listen to one in its entirety. At best, I’ll have one on in the background or I’ll make a playlist based on my favorite songs from a particular artist, but — and again, it’s the attention span issue — I can’t sit through a whole album. It’s probably just me, but as a “do unto others” kind of guy, I know I can’t ask you to do something I’m not able to do myself.

Which doesn’t mean that I’ll never record an album. Just that I really like the EP format.

4 thoughts on “Why I Like the EP Format”

  1. I like EPs too, as I too rarely have enough patience to listen to a full album, unless they’re filled with consistently great tracks. And I far prefer reviewing EPs over full albums. A terrific EP, by the way!

  2. Hi Marc – what a great EP – the 4 songs work well together. It’s a question I often ask myself – EP or album? So far I’ve just out out albums and am working on a new album now, but I do wonder whether doing that wastes some of the songs as listeners have such short attention spans nowadays. I also wonder whether I shouldn’t put out more singles too. I might ask the Beach Shackers whether they manage to listen to a whole album in one sitting. It will be interesting to find out

    Laini x

  3. Thanks, Laini! I’ve gone back and forth on the issue over the years. In some way, it’s also an economic question… I’ve been using CD Baby to distribute music to platforms, and they charge one flat rate for an album and a separate rate for singles. Since I’m also an inveterate cheapskate (in addition to having the attention span of a squirrel), I’m thinking that I’ll get the best deal if I release a good number of songs at once — which is to say a full-length album. My work-around at this point, though, is to release a singles and EPs throughout the year on Bandcamp and then to package the altogether in a single “album” at the end of each year.

    But, yes, it will be interesting to hear the Shackers’ take on the issue! Tell them all I said hello!

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