How do you launch a CD when you don't actually have a CD to launch?
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That's the issue Steve Robinson had to tackle when he recorded his new album, Simple Things.
He recorded 13 songs that make up the album, but then realised he wouldn't have anything to sell at the launch.
"Once you record it, what do you do with it? Do you put it out on a CD? But who's got CD players?" he asked,
"That was the big thing when I thought about doing an album - no one had CD players. I put something out about it [online] and people said they'd buy a CD if I put it out, I asked them if they had a CD player and they said 'no'. So why would they buy it?"
So, after having previously released a number of CDs both as a solo performer and in bands, Robinson decided to put Simple Things out online.
Which left him with nothing to sell at the launch.
"That ends up being a bit of a non-event for a launch," he admitted.
"When you've launched the album all you've done is pressed a button. So I was scratching my head wondering what to do and I came up with this lyric book."
People who go to the Thursday night launch can buy a book of the lyrics for $10 and it comes with a code to download the Simple Things album online.
"My wife had been saying 'I really like the lyrics and you should have them on the CD'," he said.
"So I thought I'd do them as a book and include a link to the album."
The plan at the start wasn't so much to release an album but just have a record of these songs so he didn't forget them.
"Then you start getting into the recording process and you start recording them really well," he said.
"You have these songs so you think you should do something with them.
"You start out thinking you're just going to be mucking about with a song so you can remember it and then you end up in this whole world of streaming and online releases and looking at CD production, artwork, press releases."
While it is a solo album, it's been released under Look Mum No Bands, rather than Robinson's own name.
"I've been trying to come up with a solo name other than my own name, because if you google 'Steve Robinson' there's like 50 million of them," he said.
"I just wanted to describe it as a solo act because it's not a band. Though one radio station down in South Australia described it as another guy trying to be a band. But he played some songs, so I'm not complaining."
Look Mum, No Bands launches the Simple Things release at Verb Syndicate in Wollongong Mall from 6pm on Thursday.