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Ypsitucky: How the Hell? was worth the wait
Full-length vinyl release delayed by pandemic and poor pressing
Trumbull: "I shaved my beard eight years ago. I got tired of people asking what brewery I worked for."
By 2019, local roots rockers Ypsitucky had been playing around town for about five years and were looking forward to recording and releasing an album. Now, six years later, that wish is finally coming true. Aptly titled How the Hell?, this derailed-by-Covid LP will finally deliver vocalist/guitarist Ian Trumbull his first full-length vinyl release after decades spent playing in bands.
“Covid just fucking wrecked us,” Trumbull says. “It just completely derailed things for about a year and a half. We were just getting momentum to go up in the studio. I don't know if we had enough for, like, a really strong full-length at the time, but we were at least gonna knock out some of it. And then, you know, Covid hit and it kind of had to do a little reset, you know, a year and a half down the road. It just took a while to get everything going in earnest and just get tight as a band again. Then, after Covid, we came up with a few extra songs that really, I think, rounded out the record, if not made it a lot better. So, in early 2023, we started recording it.”
Bassist Ruben Ramos added two of his songs to Trumbell’s stack of originals, and the four-piece band knocked out the album at Christopher Hoffee’s Chaos Recorders in Escondido. While the recording went fine, the actual album pressing did not. “I knew I wanted to do it on vinyl, and I did a bunch of research on companies to use that are reasonably priced,” Trumbull explains. “I went with this company out of New York and, you know, it takes a while to get a test pressing. So, I waited a couple months, got the first one, and it was just fucking awful. Out of the thousands of records I have, it was the worst sounding record that I've ever had under my roof. It killed me. They didn't seem to think the same way. They were kind of gaslighting me. I convinced them to do another pass with some EQ adjustments and, again, several more months, and it came back better, but still just really underwhelming. So, this last time, I went with this all-female vinyl company out of Austin called Goldrush. Super nice people, and they just nailed it. It was worth that extra year or so of wait, because it just sounds like a real record.”
One interesting observation Trumbull mentions is how roots music seems less-present post-Covid at venues like The Casbah and Soda Bar. “I think that kind of stomp clap stuff that happened before Covid maybe turned some people off,” he says. “The suspenders and the beards and all that. That's why I shaved my beard eight years ago. I got tired of people asking what brewery I worked for. I was like, 'Okay, I got a chin under here somewhere.'” As such, the band has been playing more often at the Black Cat and — a favorite of theirs — the Flinn Springs Grand Ole BBQ. “It feels like Texas or something there,” he says regarding the latter venue. “We get a good amount of people out there just to see us that live, just because it's such a cool destination. It's an easy excuse to go out there and have some food and drinks and not pay cover.”
The outdoor BBQ stage offers a potpourri of weather surprises as well. “We played there in 90-degree weather,” he explains. “You're just soaked before you even start playing one note. We’ve played there when it's raining. It's pretty much rain or shine.” On the plus side, the band gets a free meal, they're paid well, and they can even add to that tally via a tip jar, often raking in an extra $100 or more in gratuities.
One fun fact about Ypsitucky is that the band is where drummer Paul Brewin and fiddle player Heather Vorwreck first met. (The two are now married.) Trumbell was able to confirm the relationship via the most awkward route possible: the accidental group text. “I thought I was just texting my bassist, Ruben,” he explains. “I'm like, hey, I think Paul and Heather are dating each other. I hit send, and I fucking saw it was the whole band thread, and I just, I almost blacked out. I was like, oh, you idiot! And, you know, sure enough, a couple minutes later, they're like, ‘Yeah, we're dating, you know, don't worry about it.’ It's pretty funny.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Ypsitucky: How the Hell? was worth the wait
Full-length vinyl release delayed by pandemic and poor pressing
Ypsitucky: How the Hell? was worth the wait
Full-length vinyl release delayed by pandemic and poor pressing
Trumbull: "I shaved my beard eight years ago. I got tired of people asking what brewery I worked for."
By 2019, local roots rockers Ypsitucky had been playing around town for about five years and were looking forward to recording and releasing an album. Now, six years later, that wish is finally coming true. Aptly titled How the Hell?, this derailed-by-Covid LP will finally deliver vocalist/guitarist Ian Trumbull his first full-length vinyl release after decades spent playing in bands.
“Covid just fucking wrecked us,” Trumbull says. “It just completely derailed things for about a year and a half. We were just getting momentum to go up in the studio. I don't know if we had enough for, like, a really strong full-length at the time, but we were at least gonna knock out some of it. And then, you know, Covid hit and it kind of had to do a little reset, you know, a year and a half down the road. It just took a while to get everything going in earnest and just get tight as a band again. Then, after Covid, we came up with a few extra songs that really, I think, rounded out the record, if not made it a lot better. So, in early 2023, we started recording it.”
Bassist Ruben Ramos added two of his songs to Trumbell’s stack of originals, and the four-piece band knocked out the album at Christopher Hoffee’s Chaos Recorders in Escondido. While the recording went fine, the actual album pressing did not. “I knew I wanted to do it on vinyl, and I did a bunch of research on companies to use that are reasonably priced,” Trumbull explains. “I went with this company out of New York and, you know, it takes a while to get a test pressing. So, I waited a couple months, got the first one, and it was just fucking awful. Out of the thousands of records I have, it was the worst sounding record that I've ever had under my roof. It killed me. They didn't seem to think the same way. They were kind of gaslighting me. I convinced them to do another pass with some EQ adjustments and, again, several more months, and it came back better, but still just really underwhelming. So, this last time, I went with this all-female vinyl company out of Austin called Goldrush. Super nice people, and they just nailed it. It was worth that extra year or so of wait, because it just sounds like a real record.”
One interesting observation Trumbull mentions is how roots music seems less-present post-Covid at venues like The Casbah and Soda Bar. “I think that kind of stomp clap stuff that happened before Covid maybe turned some people off,” he says. “The suspenders and the beards and all that. That's why I shaved my beard eight years ago. I got tired of people asking what brewery I worked for. I was like, 'Okay, I got a chin under here somewhere.'” As such, the band has been playing more often at the Black Cat and — a favorite of theirs — the Flinn Springs Grand Ole BBQ. “It feels like Texas or something there,” he says regarding the latter venue. “We get a good amount of people out there just to see us that live, just because it's such a cool destination. It's an easy excuse to go out there and have some food and drinks and not pay cover.”
The outdoor BBQ stage offers a potpourri of weather surprises as well. “We played there in 90-degree weather,” he explains. “You're just soaked before you even start playing one note. We’ve played there when it's raining. It's pretty much rain or shine.” On the plus side, the band gets a free meal, they're paid well, and they can even add to that tally via a tip jar, often raking in an extra $100 or more in gratuities.
One fun fact about Ypsitucky is that the band is where drummer Paul Brewin and fiddle player Heather Vorwreck first met. (The two are now married.) Trumbell was able to confirm the relationship via the most awkward route possible: the accidental group text. “I thought I was just texting my bassist, Ruben,” he explains. “I'm like, hey, I think Paul and Heather are dating each other. I hit send, and I fucking saw it was the whole band thread, and I just, I almost blacked out. I was like, oh, you idiot! And, you know, sure enough, a couple minutes later, they're like, ‘Yeah, we're dating, you know, don't worry about it.’ It's pretty funny.”
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