So we really went into the studio ill-prepared... I think it was a couple months into Dan playing with us that we started writing together. Ryan introduced me to Dan because, at that time, he was playing bass in Trash Boy. I hate “guitar players” so I thought getting a bassist to play guitar would be smart for us. My only stipulation was that they had to be Pro Palestine. Thankfully Dan is lol. I think at that point it was me going to Ryan saying I wrote some dumb bass line and he would write his insane drum parts and we would meet on the order, accents, blah blah... Dan changed that. It was great having a 3rd mind to bounce my dumb ideas off of. At times I think Dan might be dumber than me, which is nice.
Ryan and I move into Slimetime and we finally get this band off the ground! But where do we go from the EP we recorded? The ep songs were recorded with us not having played a show or us really being a band. I fucking hate being in a band... but that’s another story for another long winded post. A year(ish) goes by and BOOM! 8 songs. 8 songs we played bare bones. Your classic punk rock 8 song dumb album. But I think we all wanted more... something different.
I will start this paragraph by saying that Mike Mehalick might be one of the most patient persons I’ve ever met. I messaged him with a “yo dude. Wanna record our album?” and he stupidly said yes.. Sorry Mike. Ryan put down his drum tracks, I put down my first of 3 (maybe 4) bass takes (again, sorry Mike) and I think Dan did some guitar. TIME FOR TOUR! We go on a short little tour and our fucking van breaks down in Pittsburgh. We leave it there with our gear in it for months like morons until we can get a new engine.
Van’s fixed. HUZZAH! Ryan and I go get it and all of our gear. We get back into it a couple months later. After all of my bass takes, Dan finishing his parts and my first round of vocals it’s tracked... and then I want to redo some vocals and then it’s done! Well, tracked.
HOW DO WE MAKE THIS STAND OUT? HOW DO WE NOT CREATE ANOTHER “PUNK” ALBUM? Effects lol. Effects, panning and dumb ideas. I’ve always been a fan of dumb shit in music. Writing music allows you to do what you want and I love that... I’m glad Dan and Ryan love that too. I think we created something that is so different from things I’ve heard but also very familiar. I’m glad that it took almost 2 years to come out because it’s everything I wanted out of this band and more. It’s a fucking trip. Special thanks to Matthew Goshow for the cover art & Wyatt Farknkopf, Inez Sebastião, Garrett Vandemark & Mike Mehalick for doing gang vocals/claps... y’all rule 🥰
We were going to release this on vinyl but with the state of the world it’s not financially feasible to press an album and not tour it. Maybe one day it will be pressed but for now it’s for free on streaming services. So listen to it! Share it with your friends and your family! Show it to your racist uncle and then call them a piece of shit. It’s dedicated to your racist uncle any way... hence Ugly American!
XOXOXOXO,
Michael “Sunshine” Nardone