Jim's Big Ego

Members of the band, Jim's Big Ego (l to r: Jesse Flack, Jim Infantino & Jesse Vena) (Photo by Liz Linder)

In this month's segment of NPR's ongoing series, The Changing Face of America, singer and songwriter Jim Infantino tells the story of how his band, the Boston-based Jim's Big Ego, records and distributes a new song in a brand new way. For All Things Considered, Jim walks us through the creation of a song from a rough idea, to a rehearsal, into the studio and onto an MP3 file with Flash animation. We'll meet the people involved in the process: his manager, the recording engineer, members of the band, and his friends.

There's a lot about the record-making machine that is the same as it's always been, but this band is taking the process a step further. The music is not experimental and it's captured in very traditional ways in the studio. But instead of using a record company, Jim's Big Ego attracts fans to its Web site where the song and the animated video are available -- for free. The band wants its fans to download the music and pictures and send it to friends.

Listen to the All Things Considered segment from Wednesday, November 29, and meet the members of Jim's Big Ego, their manager, Jason Schneider, and their engineer, Ducky Carlisle.