Demo Mirror

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A few weeks ago, Tony Vecchi sat down with me, my old band Lights, and our friend Charles Murphy to talk about New Song from our forthcoming album Something in the Sky, a collection of material that we never recorded/released when we were a band from 2003-2007. 

A few weeks after we played our last show in Fall 2007, we decided to get together to record this large batch songs.  The bulk of the tracking was done live by Charles in a weekend at Andy’s grandparents’ house in Gardner, MA.  After a couple of years of additional work, mixed feelings and premature announcements, we finally have Something in the Sky.

It was fun to get together and do this interview, we had a lot of laughs.  I must apologize – my mic on this one is low in the mix and it sounds like I’m in an adjacent bathroom, which (to me at least) somehow adds to the humor of it all… I tried to fix it a bit, but my suggestion if you have trouble with the levels on this one: turn it up.  Otherwise, the interview went really well.  We discuss this song, our songwriting in general, the recording process, all that fun stuff.

There will be a second, more in-depth interview conducted by Tony available when we officially release all 33 tracks of Something in the Sky in two weeks (March 24th).  Everything will be available for free download at http://www.somethinginthesky.net/

Please feel free to leave feedback below, as this is the only forum we have right now.  Leave comments or we’ll respond to any questions.  Thanks, enjoy!

(To download this as a podcast/mp3, follow the iTunes link below, or search for “Demo Mirror” at the iTunes Store)

Matt
Demo Mirror

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I made a phone call to Eric this past Christmas Eve to talk about Song 2.  We got into how the song was written, the refreshing honesty of it’s lyrics, some of Eric’s influences (from the Beach Boys to That Dog), and how his work as a recording engineer at Honeyland, in his current hometown of Brooklyn, NY factors into his personal writing and recording.

For more from Eric, check out
http://www.myspace.com/turnofthecenturycannons
http://www.myspace.com/honeyland

Matt
Demo Mirror

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Shawn Massak is the vocalist for a band called Coalmine Canary (pictured above are members Justin Demers, left, and Shawn, right).  I sat down with Shawn in his room just the other morning to discuss this Coalmine Canary demo called Entitlement.  We talked about the circumstances in which this and other Coalmine songs have come into existence, influences both musical and otherwise, and the future of the acoustic guitar-based band with the recent addition of some new members, including a drummer.  The finished version of this song can be heard on the band’s EP, The Company We Keep.

For more from Shawn, check out

http://www.myspace.com/coalminecanarymusic

Matt
Demo Mirror

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I went to Tim & Kate’s apartment to talk about a song they gave me, which for the purposes of this episode is called Untitled Jam, and is, in fact, an untitled jam!  They created it at practice with their band Necktie Party (which has recently regrouped with a few new members as Mombi).  We discuss exactly how this song came about, it’s possible future, how their relationship factors into their music writing/band, and we share thoughts on the difficulties of naming bands.

For more from Tim & Kate, check out

http://www.myspace.com/mombimusic
http://www.myspace.com/necktiefiesta

Matt
Demo Mirror

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Andy is the father of two wonderful cats named Sushi and Nori.  He is also the father of a song called So What (I Want Your Body (of Work)).  Andy and I sat down recently to discuss this song, it’s long road into existence, his massive library of unreleased material for band/solo project Shakes, and some thoughts on the perfect album.  It is a sporadic treat to hear a new Shakes recording (not to mention with commentary), so please enjoy!

For more from Andy, check out

http://www.myspace.com/shakestheblank
http://tapedhisstory.blogspot.com/

Matt
Demo Mirror

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Tony Vecchi recently sat down with Jesse and Ross, (his roommates, also known as Thunder Asunder) to talk about a song called The Wedge.  In one of the funniest Demo Mirror episodes yet, we hear them discuss their outlook on their music/band/live shows, their history (including putting a former member on trial… in a courtroom… in the woods…), and we are even treated to an impromptu writing session for a new song Paul Cop w/ guest vocals by Tony.

For more from Jesse and Ross, check out

http://www.myspace.com/thunderasunder

By the way, Ross says ’sup.

Demo Mirror

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Jim Brennan and Mike Champ (drummer of The Bynars) invited me over to their apartment to discuss this song, which is either titled Leo Was Born To Bowl or Born to Bowl (Leo Was) – we’re not sure, as there is still some debate.  Mike & Jim have been friends for years; they now live in Boston together, but this song was created in the small town of Pomfret, Connecticut when Mike was a senior in high school and Jim had just started college.  In the interview we discuss the “happy accident” that became Leo, some of the sources for inspiration, and we also giggle a lot.

Matt
Demo Mirror

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Tony and I sat down a few weeks back and had a delightful conversation about this song he wrote called Spit.  We talked about his inspiration for this song, the story of how he became so filled with emotion that he punched his guitar as hard as he could, and we also went off on an interesting tangent about “the rules” of songwriting as seen through the prism of the work of Salvador Dali.  An episode not to be missed!

Tony lives in Dorchester, Massachusetts & plays guitar/sings in TonyBear and Close Friends.  For more from Tony, check out

http://lugubriousmoron.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/tonytonybear
http://www.myspace.com/closefriendsband

Matt
Demo Mirror

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A few weeks ago, I went over to Charles’ place and we talked for a while about this song – Slowfinger by Kenneth Noisewater, which is actually Charles on vocals, Eddie DuQuesne on guitar, Steve Foster on drums. We discussed how this song was written for a school project, the grade it received, Charles’ unique, but sometimes correlated roles as studio engineer and musician, and how that effects the music he’s involved with. Charles engineered a project for my band old Lights, which will finally be released in early 2010, so we briefly talk about that as well.

After the interview, Charles shared a piece of 5-layer chocolate cake with me that he received in the mail. It was really good.

Matt
Demo Mirror

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Jeff and I met up to discuss a song he wrote called Stagnant Rift. I’d first heard this song peformed live by Jeff’s band Close Friends, and later on their album Everyone Is The Same Person. This demo version is quite different from the way I was used to hearing the song. We discuss the differences and similarities, how Jeff wrote this song in a songwriting flurry with a magic guitar, and we also touch upon a correlation between Jeff’s work as visual artist and musician.

For more from Jeff, check out

http://www.jeffbartell.com/
http://www.myspace.com/closefriendsband

Matt
Demo Mirror