Noodles and Sauce *PG-13*

Recycled Hearts Records is a small project. It is mostly me, Colton, that does anything music related, while Sam is more on the art side and supportive at local markets.

I get asked different questions about the bands we choose to release music to. Honestly, there isn’t much of a process in this decision. If I have the supplies and the ability, I will attempt to release just about anyone’s music.

That being said, if I don’t have supplies, I may be honest and message, “I’d love to, but unless you pre-order some, I don’t have the funds to make them.” That said, I am proud of the content and bands we have worked with. There is only 1 that I have ever had to turn away from working with, and I felt bad doing it.

The year was 2018, and I was working on the second compilation album titled, “With Love.” The album was released the day after my grandmother passed away, and it was partly dedicated to her and to my fiance who stood by me during the horrible death process the United States allows to happen.

While we are sold out of the “With Love” album, you can find our other releases at our e-store. I did add the songs that were on Spotify from the album to our playlist.

In any case, I scouted out bands to participate on it during the month of June and July. I do feel that honestly is a good thing, I don’t believe its necessarily to call them out, but I will describe the situation. I was playing the submitted songs through the computer as my fiance cooked dinner after getting home from visiting my grandmother who was at a rehab cell. (I am not bitter about that at all, lol, no I am pissed, but that’s for a different conversation). At the time my emotions were all over the place, and stress was at an all time high. Working on this album was the only way I had to just try and relax.

With all that background, I had been messaging this person back and forth all day about them submitting their song. Since the album was going to suicide awareness, I really didn’t want to turn anyone down, and this person was no different. They had mentioned how much they cared about the cause, but were unsure about the song they were going to submit. While at work, I was messaging back, “I am sure it’s fine, if its about love, then I’m sure I can find someplace in the album.” I figured they were coming from a place of insecurity or just need reassurance. I was wrong.

So I play this song on the computer and then call my fiance to come listen to it. It’s only 32 seconds long, and is sent with the message, “I’d love to be apart, but this is the only song that remotely is about love.”

The 32 seconds starts:

Its blistering loud guitar with screaming repeatedly, “Noodles in Red Sauce.” The sound is hard to listen to even on low volume of my computer. At the very end, its just a voice that says, “A real man loves a woman anytime of the month” The two of us just looked at each other, like what did I just listen to.

I am sure the song had an audience with someone, but it didn’t fit the album. The album at that spot in time was only half finished, but it was light hearted and innocent seeming. The cover would be cooking that we baked. The song just didn’t go.

I didn’t reply to the person that sent the song. The next day they messaged something about how they told me it wouldn’t fit, and I tried to say, “I’m glad you wanted to be apart of it, we are looking for more lighthearted somewhat child-friendly songs, and if you want you could do something acoustic or even a cover.” I was blocked before that though.

So that’s my story about the only song we ever actually turned down to be in one of our products. 🙂

The ending result of “With Love” is this video. Maybe one day we will make a few more physical copies 🙂