All Floor sets have shipped!

Sorry for another delayed post. As of April 9th all Floor sets have been mailed to the remaining International customers and we are mailing new orders as they come in. Thank you everyone, for your patience with this massive project!

SHIPPING UPDATES

Sorry for the delayed post here, been swamped.

All of the domestic FLOOR Box Set *pre-order* shipments have gone out as of a few days ago, and we're furiously working on the international orders and NEW orders now. Still chugging along, and trying to get these all out the door ASAP.

Throwing in buttons, stickers and/or patches in as well as an added "thank you".

We hope you enjoy the box set!!!

BLUE?!

"Par for the course with this band" the FLOOR guys assure me, but much to my surprise and dismay: the boxes came out the WRONG COLOR !!! Such a frustrating turn of events right in the 11th hour... but basically when faced with a further 3-4 week delay or keeping it as is: we all opted to keep the wrong-color boxes and take it as a sign.


Originally we'd planned on having the box fabric actually be blue, but eventually chose gray to compliment the backs of all the covers better. Much to all of our surprise though, an error in the fabric's labeling at the plant resulted in this bizarre twist of events... and in the end it was such a classy looking screwup that we decided just to roll with it!

It's done. It's actually done. It's got a problem, but we can all live with it and hopefully you can too, because... ITS DONE!

All of our copies should be in-house on Friday, and same goes for the pre-order t-shirts. Then we'll bust our asses to get these all shipped out and into your hands ASAP! Almost there...!!!

DONE!!

It is with major relief that I can announce that we expect to have the completed FLOOR - Below & Beyond Box Sets in house as of Friday, March 12th! The pre-order t-shirts should be arriving the same day as well, and all of our packing supplies are here and ready to roll.

We're gonna bust our asses over that weekend & start shipping these the week of 3/15, hopefully getting everyone (at least stateside) their copies prior to FLOOR's reunion shows. It's gonna take a little while to pack & ship all of these, but this is our top priority right now and we're trying to get these out ASAP.

Thank you again for being so patient, and even thank you to those who've been impatient. This project has been a hell of an undertaking and I personally can't wait to hold this thing in person. Take care,

-Andy

Pretty hefty round of updates, photos, BAND PRACTICE video, etc!

As much as I wish I could say “we're done!”, we're not quite there yet. The booklet is still in production after a handful of more technical hangups (and last-LAST minute corrections), but that is THE last piece of the puzzle to be produced and it's FINALLY in motion after seemingly endless problems. Everything else is now done though, and we actually received samples for a bunch of the stuff a few weeks ago:


So far everything's looking great and the CDs all sound good as well (not pictured since they were mailed off to set up the digital download stuff). A few jackets & the box itself weren't done as of the samples' shipment a few weeks back (so this photo isn't quite everything), but we're finally in the home stretch now!

I almost can't believe how massive of a project this has been. I knew it would be insane, but when you really break it down it's basically like an entire year's worth of releases all crammed into one giant beast/bitch of a project. I can easily say this has been the biggest & most difficult production we've done yet and I will rest a whole lot better once this thing is finally done & in everyone's hands. Definitely gotten a grey hair or ten over this one.

But that's not to say that the excitement's waned at all, as I feel as strong as ever that this thing should be worth all the trouble, delays, patience, money and everything that everyone has put into this. I want to extend another round of appreciation from myself and the band members for everyone who pre-ordered this having leagues of patience in waiting for the final product.


It's also exciting to say that FLOOR has had their first round of practices for their upcoming live reunion shows in March & April! They ran through each of the 3 drummers different sets, and ironed out the kinks for what should be a pretty awesome series of shows. A ton of band-shot footage was taken as well, with the following clip one of the only ones to have surfaced thus far:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=321355824825&subj=1101525467

I seriously can't wait for these live shows, and we should have the box sets in your hands well beforehand as well. So everyone who plans to attend will have time to bone up on the massive amount of material the band will be playing over 3 sets each night.

Another update on the realistic/expected arrival ETA should be coming within just a week or so... but in the meantime, Anthony's first interview in probably 8+years has been posted online and is a good read:

http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2010/02/11/floorinterview

Thank you again for all of your patience, it means the world to us.

-Andy / Robotic Empire

Test pressings, current update, graphical preview, LIVE SHOWS, etc.

Hello everyone- first and foremost, thank you for your continued patience. Throughout this project I've had to remind myself several times that the mantra is "get it done right" and not just "get it done quickly". There have been a few instances throughout production where something could've been pushed into existence a bit faster, but in the end someone in the band (and/or myself) wouldn't have been happy with the results... so I am writing now to explain where things are, and where they should be soon.

First off, the biggest/best news: the vinyl test presses finally came in & are APPROVED. This process took a whole lot longer than expected due to several hurdles, but in the end it was worth taking a slower pace as the vinyl sounds exactly the way it should. This is a major relief, as if there were any additional problems the whole release would've been set back even further.

Surprisingly related however, is the nearly-completed 32-page booklet... which may've been just "completed" if the test press process had moved a little faster. Given the extra waiting time for the tests, we used it to spruce up our existing designs a bit... and unraveling that thread really lead to a total re-vamping of the booklet, which now everyone is much happier with. There're a lot of different personalities to cater to in a project such as definitive (and massive) as this, so I'm glad that everything's been re-worked with the booklet. As it stands right now it's about 90% completed, and should be fully finished within another week or so. This is THE last piece of the puzzle to enter production, as everything else is either in production currently, or already finished.

So I believe I can safely say that we are almost in the "final throws" of manufacturing this monster project. I want to personally apologize for the delays to those who pre-ordered so early, but you doing so has literally enabled this project to exist! I also sort of underestimated how encompassing the production of this would be: it's almost like a whole year's worth of releases condensed into ONE project, so a few things have taken longer than I predicted. But to reiterate the release mantra, "best to do it right", and I truly feel this beast will be exactly what we all hoped it would be.

The above photo (click for a larger version) is of 1 of the 5 sets of test presses, spread out on the original backdrop the band used for the "self titled LP" photos. We ordered 12 full sets so there'd be extra copies for additional band members, some to do contests/giveaways with, etc... but all we actually received were 5, so I imagine everyone who currently has a set will covet it for a long while.


This photo shows just a portion of the master elements used to create the final 10 LPs, 1 7" and 8 CDs that contain a decade+ of audio recordings for FLOOR. We're talking almost every type of semi-current format that exists, all being collected and compiled into a single body of work. This isn't complete, nor does it show the sea of photos, artwork and other elements that all joined forces to create the Below & Beyond box set. Even after 10+ years of running this label and releasing other comprehensive discographies as well, I can easily say that this is the biggest project I've been apart of to date and I personally CANNOT WAIT until it is finished!


This image (click for a larger version) shows a partial concept-to-completion of ONE page of the booklet, a merging of the FLOOR symbol and PINK FLOYD's Dark Side Of The Moon. This is just a single element of this beast, yet it took a few different paths and multiple revisions to finally nail down to a fully completed page that everyone could agree on. I show you this to illustrate how involved every element of this project has been, and also because I think the images are cool.

* Top left panel = Anthony's original concept drawings
* Top right panel = original Floor website artwork I tried to salvage/scavenge (artist unknown)
* Bottom left panel = Lyn's first attempt at detailing/colorizing from a printout of Anthony's original drawing
* Bottom right panel = Lyn's fully re-created painting, from scratch, post-cleanup

I wanted to include a little something to show you how much thought and time is going into every element of this release, and also simply because I'm really happy on how this concept turned out in the end.

And certainly not least, but very likely last... FLOOR is planning on reuniting for 3 live performances come March and April of this year. All credit is due to the band members for executing this, and as much as I've wanted this for years, I sorta knew better than to push for it. Regardless, I'm beyond thrilled that this is actually happening, and cannot wait to see them bring it live after so many years. A segment from the forthcoming "formal" announcement:

"Floor has confirmed that they will be getting together to play a few shows in the South East. Dates include: April 2nd in Gainesville and April 3rd in Atlanta. A Miami date is also set for March 27th. In keeping with the chronology and theme of the Below & Beyond box set, the shows will reflect the lineups of each era of the band: Betty will be playing drums for songs from the early days, followed by Jeff on drums from the Dove era, and end with Henry stomping his way through the Self-Titled album. And, of course, Steve and Anthony on vocals and guitars."

These shows should rule, and there are talks of a film crew being on hand to document the performances as well. The box set should be in your hands well beforehand so you'll have plenty of time to bone up on the material, both new and old.

Further announcements will be made when we have more info for you. Thank you again, so much, for being patient and understanding with the slow-moving nature of this enormous project. I appreciate it more than I can really say, and want to do my very best to make this thing worth the wait. Take care,

-Andy / Robotic Empire

Updates / Delays

I am sorry to report that FLOOR's "Below & Beyond" Box Set is not likely to be finished before Christmas, as we'd previously expected. Things have been moving slower with manufacturing than we anticipated, which has caused this delay.

Things are steadily moving forward, just a little slower than we predicted on this mammoth project. This is disappointing to us, and probably you as well, but in the end we'd rather do this at its necessary pace and get it done right, than rush it and have something turn out sub-par.

I sincerely apologize to anyone who was trying to get this for someone as a Christmas/holiday present, as early on it seemed very "doable" to have it done in time for the holidays. I want to express sincere gratitude for your faith and patience in us and this project, as it is shaping up amazing and I really, REALLY cannot wait to have the final thing in our hands, and then in yours.

Please keep an eye on this site for updates as there should be more information again soon on the continuing progress. Thank you again for being understanding, and take care

-Andy / Robotic Empire