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2018 Year In Music

This past year was yet another busy year for me musically. However, most of the music that I worked on, or was a part of this year, has yet to be released. Gold Child is very close to finishing a full length album, with the songs being prepped for the mixing stage. I am also a member of a new project called Dismal Stars, and we recorded seven brand new songs this year that are being mastered as I type this. Needless to say, 2019 is going to be a busy year for me, and I look forward to sharing new music with the world.

All of that being said, here are a couple songs released last year that I did play on.



Surf Rock Is Dead, "Away Message"



This song is the first release of a new batch of songs that the boys wrote and that we have been working on for the past year. A full album is on the horizon and should be released later this year.



Ski Lodge, "It's The End Of The World Tomorrow"



This song is the last to be released that was part of a batch of songs Andrew and I had worked on a couple years ago. Most of the other songs have been released as part of various EPs, but this one sat on the shelf while Andrew was building his new recording studio in Brooklyn called Hook and Fade. I'm glad this song has finally been released to the world.

2016 Year In Music

This has been a very busy year. I would definitely say 2016 was my busiest since I graduated college and moved to New York. And that's a good thing. While I think it's safe to say that this past year was a difficult one for most, myself included, I am also grateful for many of the opportunities that came my way this year allowing me to advance my career in music. I'm grateful to the many musicians I met this year, as well as my girlfriend Emily for writing beautiful music. Living in New York is not easy, but I like to think that I have finally carved out a little piece of the pie for myself after all these years. While I complain constantly about the city, I love making music here, and I am glad that I'm doing it with my friends. Below is a quick rundown of the projects that I'm involved in.



Gold Child  https://www.facebook.com/goldchildmusic/

This is Emily's band that I play drums in and help her record and produce. We did not release any new material this past year, but we have been busy the last few months recording and working with new people to help produce her new songs. Please stay tuned for new music coming soon.



Blonder  https://www.facebook.com/blonderworld/

This is a band that I play drums in with some really great dudes. I did not play on any of the recordings, but I would recommend that you listen to them. An EP will be released soon, which means that we are about to get very busy. Stay tuned.



Surf Rock is Dead  https://www.facebook.com/surfrockisdead/

I have been playing with these guys for a couple years now, but this year was especially busy. In addition to playing locally a 2-3 times a month, we ventured out of town quite frequently. We befriended a few bands in Philadelphia, and even went on a short tour with one (Suburban Living). We also went on our first semi-national tour (supporting The Jezabels), my first tour in a few years. We also recorded some new songs, the first of which was recently released. Listen below.





Ski Lodge  https://www.facebook.com/skilodgeee/

It's true we have not played many shows this year, or released much new material. However, Ski Lodge is not dead. Andrew recently opened his own studio in Brooklyn and we have been working on new material, as well as an assortment of different projects. Emily and I have been spending a lot of time there working on her songs and we are looking forward to spending more time there this year. Ski Lodge still exists, so stay tuned for new songs in the future.



Von Sell  https://www.facebook.com/vonsell/

This is a band that I play drums in. I've actually been involved in this project for a couple years, but only recently have I become an official member as we begin to play more shows. I have not played on any of the recordings, but an EP was released recently and I would highly recommend it.



Hammer of Justice  https://www.facebook.com/hammerofjusticenyc/

Many people ask me if I still play heavy music. And it's true, I occasionally do. We have only played two shows and have only begun recording our five songs, but this band is a force. I'm definitely getting a work out after pulling my double bass drum pedal out of retirement after seven years. Music coming soon.



So that's it. Well, not really. I still had plenty of other gigs this year, but I'm not going to go through and list everything. Also, I know I used to go through and list my favorite albums of the year, but sorry, this blog is all about me.

Ski Lodge, "Crush Your Heart"

New year, new Ski Lodge song. We're finally getting around to releasing a few songs that we recorded a year and a half ago for a new EP entitled "New Life." Andrew wrote the songs and I played drums and helped to produce them. The EP will be released by Old Flame Records on February 26th, and a couple days ago, Fader premiered one of the songs. Listen below.

2015 Year In Music

This is the type of post that I have been writing for a few years now, where I present a quick rundown of what I have been listening to in the past year and listing my favorite albums. I'm not going to do that this year. While I have definitely been listening to music all year long, I wouldn't say that I would be qualified to recommend much new music from the past year. Honestly, I was so busy this year that I didn't devote as much time to discovering new music as I have in the past. I also spent a lot more time listening to older music that I admire more than anything being made at the moment.

I started this blog initially to create an archive of my creative output, and to preserve that on the internet. While I don't update very often, I still like using this space to present whatever projects I have been working on. This was a busy year for me as a musician, as well as a producer and engineer. So this year I'm going to present a quick rundown of everything that has been released this year that I had a hand in. This has been my busiest year since moving to New York, and while I'm proud of what I accomplished, I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg and that next year will be better than the past. But maybe that's just me being optimistic. I love being a musician and I've very grateful for the people whom I make music with. Here are the fruits of my labor.


Gold Child, "Tides."




This is a project that is particularly close to my heart. Emily is my girlfriend and she writes beautiful music. We were fortunate enough to put a band together this year and release our first single. I played drums, co-produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered this track.





Inner Outlaws, "Year of the Outlaw."




While the future of IO is uncertain at the moment, this has been a very important year for us. We embarked on a very ambitious project this year of writing and recording a new track each month. And we almost made it! Here are the eight tracks that we made this year. I played drums, co-produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered all of these tracks, except for 'Just Like Moonlight' and 'The Mark,' which were mixed and mastered by Matt Shane.





Ski Lodge, "Trust," "Heaven Is Now," "God Will Never Come For Us."










These three tracks represent a new direction for Ski Lodge and are the result of sessions that were started a long time ago, so I am very glad that they have been released. I helped produce these songs with Andrew, and played drums and various percussion on these tracks, mostly on 'Trust' and 'Heaven Is Now,' where the drums were tracked live to 2 inch tape before being chopped up in Pro Tools.





Surf Rock is Dead, "Never Be the Same."




What started out as an occasional gig has turned full time, with the occasional session. I started playing with these guys in March and haven't stopped since, playing close to thirty shows in NYC this year. While I'm not a major part of the creative process, I did play drums on this track.


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Those are all the tracks that I played on that have been released this year, but I have also been playing with a couple other groups. Go check out Von Sell and Gemma.

Thank you all for listening and here are some shots of me playing drums cause why not?

New Life, "God Will Never Come For Us"

While Ski Lodge is in a sort of dormant stage, Andrew has decided to release music under the moniker New Life. I helped him produce a few songs, and below you can find the first single.

Ski Lodge "Trust"

I am pleased to announce the release of Ski Lodge's newest single, "Trust."  This is many months in the making, and below you can listen to a song that I played drums on, as well as helped produce.  We are in the process of finishing up an album's worth of new songs that will hopefully be released before summer of this year.  Many of these songs we have been performing live for some time, so we are eager to release them to the world.  Until then, here is the first single.

Ski Lodge Live Video Round-up

Here are a few videos of me playing with Ski Lodge.


Wild Honey Pie Session of "Does It Bring You Down."



KEXP CMJ performance of "Boy."



Paste Magazine Aloft Hotel performance of "Anything To Hurt You."

Ski Lodge Audiotree Session

In May of this year, Ski Lodge traveled to Chicago to open a show for the band Tennis.  While we were there, we recorded a video session for Audiotree.  Video of one of the songs we performed is below.

Ski Lodge

We recently returned from a tour of the midwest and east coast with Brazos.  They are great guys and we had a fun time, minus all the driving.  Andrew wrote a photo diary of the tour for the blog A Heart Is A Spade.  We also did a Buzzsession with our friends at The Wild Honey Pie.  Videos are below.

Ski Lodge

So if you were wondering what we did during our tour with Chad Valley, there is now a video:

 

 We are also going back on the road next month.

11/13 - Boston, MA @ Church #
11/14 - Providence, RI @ Fete Lounge #
11/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo Gallery #
11/16 - New York, NY @ Pianos #
11/17 - Brooklyn, NY(11am) "Kidrockers" @ Brooklyn Bowl (w/ Au Revoir Simone)
11/17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie #
11/20 - New Haven, CT @ BAR #
11/21 - Washington DC @ Black Cat #

11/25 - Albany, NY @ Valentine's Music Hall (90.9FM WCDB Fall Show w/ Crocodiles (Band) ) 

12/5 - Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop ^
12/6 - Chicago, IL @ The Hideout ^
12/7 - Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub ^
12/8 - Nashville, TN @ The End ^
12/10 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links ^
12/11 - Austin, TX @ Holy Mountain ^
12/12 - New Orleans, LA @ The Circle Bar ^
12/13 - Atlanta, GA @ 529 ^
12/14 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 ^
12/15 - Washington D.C. @ DC9 ^
12/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Boot & Saddle ^ 
12/17 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge ^

# w/ Gringo Star
^ w/ Brazos

 Should be fun.

Ski Lodge

I've been playing with Ski Lodge since the beginning of this year and it's been pretty great. Check out the new website: !!!!!SKILODGE!!!!!! Also check out this music video I'm in: We went to SXSW, did a west coast tour with Chad Valley, played an album release show at Glasslands, and will soon be doing a small east coast tour, on top of playing a bunch of CMJ shows in October. I am looking forward to the future.

Ski Lodge

I play in this band now.  It's fun.