Alkaline Trio: Agony & Irony

One of my favorite bands is Alkaline Trio. Loving them was my dirty little secret for a while, but that's a story for another day.

As you may have heard, their latest album, "Agony & Irony" is coming out on July 1st!!! As if that's not awesome enough, they're playing the House of Blues in West Hollywood on July 26th. The new album is currently available for listening on MySpace.com/AlkalineTrio

There's a new interview with the band here.

Can I get a "Hell yes"?

Over and out.

TENFOLD TRUE: Volume III

Fate squats shyly on the tip of my tongue
While the frame of your faith crumbles to dust
Lie there, take it
Smile, fake it
I am dying
Just to say it:

No matter what I do
I'm tenfold true
Drawn to you
No matter what they say
Fate will find a way
to let us be

I wear this smile out of sheer lunacy
A mask to hide all that I bleed
Breathe in, steal it
Breathe out, deal it
Are you dying
just to feel it?
Dying to feel it
Are you dying to feel it?

No matter what I do
I'm tenfold true
Drawn to you
No matter what they say
Fate will find a way
to let us be

TENFOLD TRUE: Volume II

For months on end, my brother, Dan, kept playing this crazy guitar riff that I could barely make sense of. "What the fuck am I supposed to sing over that?" I wondered. The thing was catchy, but damn near impossible for me to create a coherent melody over. Dan and I brought the riff to our producer, Dean, who made a song out of the fantastic noise by carving out wide open spaces for my voice to fill. Add to that assaulting drums (courtesy of Ken Schalk) & a heap of booming bass and I was sold: The thing suddenly made sense to me...and it reminded me of that night sitting in the parking lot of the Forum Diner. I knew my orphaned lyrics had finally found their home in this song.

The day before tracking vocals on "Tenfold True", Dean called me to let me know that Lukas Rossi, formerly of Rockstar Supernova and currently heading up Stars Down, would be stopping by the studio to sit in on my session. "Holy Fuck. What?"

Truthfully, I became suddenly self-conscious and stupid nervous.

It turned out that getting nervous was for nothing. Lukas was a cool cat, and we spent a couple hours killing Coors Lights and talking about all things sacred, namely women and music, before I headed into the tracking room. I cranked out the vocals pretty quickly, and Lukas remained quiet for most of it. Although, after my leads were done, Lukas started suggesting some harmonies (which he is exceedingly talented at writing). Next thing I knew, Lukas was asking if he could have a go at singing 'em: I certainly didn't need to give it a second thought.

Here's the truth: we could have sounded awful together. We could have gone through the motions and created a perfunctory vocal suckfest. What was happening that day was this incredible musical synergy, this brilliant exchange of energies, that created a beautiful rock n' roll masterpiece, and as it turns out: Lukas and I sound amazing together!

It took so many people's contributions to bring "Tenfold True" to life. And as I had mentioned in the previous post: that is what I love about music! I am eager for everyone to hear "Tenfold True" on BREAKER's upcoming debut release. Full lyrics in the next post...In the meantime, check out BREAKER on MySpace to get yer fix.

TENFOLD TRUE: Volume I

I received an amazing birthday present today: Mix Draft 1 of "Tenfold True", a song that holds my heart hostage like no other. 

Part of what  I love about music is the opportunity it provides to connect with other people to create something bigger than any of us could create individually. Music is a true testament to the magic and infinite possibilities of synergy. This song is the result of such synergy: 

When I was a seventeen years old my best friend, Mike (who now plays guitar in the Long Island-based rock band, Tenstrong), introduced me to Paul. While there are many things I could say about Paul, what's relevant is this: He was the spark that ignited this song. One fateful evening he picked me up from my friend's house at nearly 4 a.m. for some late-night nosh and booze-fueled conversation. I'll never forget riding in his "roller coaster" Jeep - the passenger seat wasn't secure on its track, so it would roll back and forth, slamming from front to back as we drove. We sat in the parking lot of the Forum Diner shootin' the shit as the sun rose until he finally mustered up enough courage to talk to me about what he had dragged me out of bed at 4 a.m. to talk about: the sucker had a crush on me! And that's when it happened: "Fate squats shyly on the tip of my tongue", I silently said to myself. Paul wasn't the boy I had a boner for. It was his friend Luke that I liked..."as the frame of your faith crumbles to dust".

That morning, as soon as I made it back to my notebook, I scribbled down the lines that had been repeatedly racing through my mind. And thus, the verses for "Tenfold True" came to be. It took nearly six years for those verses to see the light of day.

More to come. . .

And So it Is:

It was recently brought to my attention that life is moving pretty darn fast; that Breaker is becoming a real live band and a real live lifestyle; that I may want to take a moment to document all this craziness so in a few years when my brain cells are burned out, I can look back at this and laugh. Seemed like a good enough idea, so here I am.

Over the past several months I have been recording an album with producer, Dean Dichoso. We're finally done tracking and now my baby is in the hands of the talented mix engineers at Audio Virus X. Here's the truth: this freakin' process feels like it takes forever. For a chick who gets off on instant gratification, this is a virtual suckfest. I want it now, damn it.

Of course, what comes forth will certainly be worth the wait. I'll keep you posted as this beauty of a beast unfurls.

Now let us go in peace to love and serve the iguana.