Oh yeah.....thanks to Darren Paltrowitz, my trusty "assistant", Lurch is now on an end cap listening station somewhere in Japan. (Tower Records and HMV I think) I gotta say....the Japan version of Lurch is really cool. They added a booklet, some bonus tracks. I've been getting loads of emails asking about Lurch on vinyl, Lurch on iTunes, new Lurch CDs.....Well, Lurch on vinyl will be available in a few weeks! I'm stoked about it. If you like the way it sounds on CD wait till you hear this. It has a 4 panel insert and a BONUS 3 song 7. Motel Mood is one of the bonus songs and will ONLY be available with this edition of Lurch. And lastly, it comes with a FREE mp3 download of all the songs. So if you don't have Lurch, this would be the best time to buy it. And if you have Lurch, this would be the best time to buy it again! One more thing before I go back into the studio, there's Lurch Merch on the horizon....and a SLEW of shows in September back East....I'm out.
lvmv
5/19 - Didn't Take Long To Grow Wings
We all made it to LA, the Girly Worm, The Strawberry Blonde, Roxxy, and this version of me anyway. So far I’ve been making more music than I can handle. Partly inspired by my new surroundings but mostly from the physical and emotional upheaval of leaving New York City, my home…..my friends. I’ve built a little studio in what used to pass for a garage, have all my gear set up to record for hours on end. Which is all I’ve been doing. About to go to Boston again to finish up the new Kelly Jones record I’m producing. We’ve written most of the songs together. Part Chiffons, part Kirsty MacCall with a splash of Petula Clarke and The Bangles …. Don’t want to give too much of it away but….it’s some fo the best music I’ve ever been involved with. Kelly is a natural, you won't be able to take your eyes and ears off her. We’re recording it at Ducky’s place in Medford Mass, where Lurch was spawned. More news to come. Japan release of Lurch and Japan tour, Joe’s Pub fall 2008 residence, Boston residence in the fall too….and tee shirts….and Lurch on vinyl of course!
From the front yard. LVMV
Vinyl VS. iPod by Shelby Lynne
3/8 - Long and Winded News Update From Mike Last Night Of The Joe’s Pub Residence: Feb 29th 2008
All photos by Billie Jo Sheehan
Lurch is Coming! Lurch is Coming…..on VINYL!
Lurch keeps a diary
Lurch finds Don Knotts hysterical
Lurch does not believe in petting on the first date
Lurch cannot whistle
Lurch has an excellent credit rating
Lurch hates the term "Butler", and prefers "Manservant"
Lurch is allergic to shellfish
Lurch prefers Beatles
Lurch's favorite cheese is Jarsberg
Lurch is double jointed in his left shoulder
Lurch loves waffles
Lurch has never seen Fiddler On the Roof
Lurch loves The Major Labels
This summer I’m going to release Lurch on vinyl at last. There are 2 extra tracks that Ducky and I recorded when we recorded the rest of the songs on the CD version of Lurch. They’ll now be on vinyl exclusively. (I’ll also include that stray extra track I put on my site for free- You’ve Got To Find Somebody To Love- on this version of Lurch too) I’m still putting together all the details, cobbling together some money, but….looks like it’ll be 180 gram virgin vinyl and also there’ll be extra artwork and maybe liner notes. And best of all it will come with a free mp3 download as well. This technology wasn’t available to me back in 2005 when I released Just Before Dark but now it is! I’m pretty sure I’m not going to print up anymore CD versions of Lurch. It will live on vinyl (a very limited run) and it will live on iTunes.
Lurch is HERE!
I put aside a box of Lurch to mail out to the press….but….because I was busy writing new songs and playing live shows and being a musician….I NEVER DID IT! So I have no reviews to share with you (but you don’t need to be told what you like right? Lurch is great! Come on!) NOW I have a bunch of Lurch on CD available for sale. Remember, this is a home operation here at Good Morning Monkey Records. The Strawberry Blonde, Girly Worm and I are back in uniform and will be shipping these ourselves before we move to California. So if you want anything autographed say the word! (there should be a comment box in the Paypal checkout…just write us a note) . Special thanks to Mark Piro who has been manning the Good Morning Monkey shipping and receiving department from his NYU dorm room while I’ve been busy.
Lurch Merch
Once we move to California we’ll start getting together some Lurch merchandise. (more room to store stuff…sub basement!!!) Tee shirts, Girly Worm onesies! Maybe even a bobble head doll of me as the Wolfman. (by the way that really IS me as the Wolfman) Anyway, look for all of that to happen
Tomorrow and Tomorrow
I poked around a little to see if I could get a little indie deal for Lurch, get it out to more people. A few solid ideas came out of it, a few solid offers, but at the end of the day I feel like the music business is shifting so rapidly…it almost feels unsafe in a way….tough to tell which way to turn, so I’m following my instincts. I figure the only way for me to reach more people is to get back on the road. So I’m gonna try and figure out how to do that, maybe this fall. Some MONO tour with a bunch of friends. Sex on the bus! Fistfights! Throwing people through windows over bad ideas! In the meantime, I urge you SHARE LURCH. Rip him, burn him, give him away, point people to mikeviola.com
2/26 - Joe's Pub Feb 22nd joined by Fountains Of Wayne all pictures by Billie Jo Sheehan
2/20 - Marshall Crenshaw joined us last week! all live Joe's Pub pictures by Billie Jo Sheehan Yup! We played Someday Someway, Walk Hard and I Don't Want To Spoil The Party. All of it a blast. a big wave of pop. Marshall and I wrote a cool new song that afternoon too. Very Simon and Garfunkel meets Simon and Garfunkel.
Kelly Jones has an incredible voice. you MUST hear her sing. In this picture she's being very patient, waiting to sing.
This band is not to be missed....but you will if you don't make it to this weeks show. this one is Jason Loughlins last one! Special Guests this week are Tracy Bonham and Adam and Chris from Fountains Of Wayne. Check it!
2/14 - You Think I'm Waving Hello, But I'm Waving Goodbye Mike Viola and Everybody Else delivered a little bit of everything last Friday. Played into the wee hours we did. This week we have a new chunk of music for you all, and Marshall Crenshaw is gonna play with us too. This is our party and you're all welcome to come. BUY TICKETS HERE
Been into my Gretsch lately...and she's into me...giving it back Brooklyn style.
Here's the gang in action. 5 people in this line up. By the end of the Joe's Pub residence there will be 100 people onstage give or take a few.
I'm happy. People are enjoying themselves and I'm happy. And I'm playing with a great band. Okay this seems like the perfect time to break the news to you if you've made it this far with the "news". Audrey, Isabel and I are moving to Los Angeles California. So...I won't be playing that much at all on the East Coast for a few years. We're going for the adventure of it, and....we lost our apartment so....seems like a great time for some drastic change. Yeah yeah yeah I'm an East Coast guy. I even spell it with capital letters but...time to poke around a little. So there you have it. We were packed at Joe's last week so if you want to come get tickets now and definitely come back stage and say....hello.
lvmv
1/19 - Joe's Pub Shows Right Around The Corner!
CLICK HERE TO BUY JOES PUB TICKETS!!!!!
Hey guys, mike here...I want to thank all you who purchased the first run of my new album Lurch. They're sold out on the site now…but there will be some available at the Joe’s Pub shows for sale along with what I have left of my catalog. The idea of printing 1,000 was to sell enough copies so I could pay for the cost of making the record…being an independent and all…. Now I think I need to find a home at a little label somewhere so I can get Lurch out to the world...if anybody has any ideas email me!! my name at mac.com okay? There is so much new music cranking in my life right now....I couldn't be happier. If you love Lurch please tell friends, rip Lurch, share Lurch, pirate Lurch…I want the music to get out there! And bring them to the shows! Come back stage and say hi. Anyway, I keep jangling along. I've put together an amazing band for the Joe's Pub shows….I can’t wait to play. People have requested songs from Falling Into Place so I'll do those (which the cover of Lurch resembles in a haphazard unintentional way) and some songs from Walk Hard, a string quartet will join us on one nigh. Each night will be different and the venue is offering a deal if you buy tickets for multiple shows. Give Joe’s Pub a call for that deal. I’ll be at Sundance next week on Jan 25th if anybody is in town come by and check out me and Dan Bern.
See you all soon lvmv.
12/11 - What I've Been Up To The Past Few Weeks Been out here on the road promoting the movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. (for what THAT is see youtube clips below). The first leg of the Cox Across America tour is ending in New York City on Dec 19th at the Knitting Factory, come check it out! lvmv
11/19 - Message From Mike #1
11/10 - Mike Produced Song In New Jimmy Carter Documentary Mike produced the main title theme for Jimmy Carter Man From Plains. The song was written by Dan Bern. The film is by Jonathan Demme. Playing in theatres NOW!
CLICK HERE TO SEE TRAILER
11/2 - Walk Hard News Walk Hard
Just back from LA. Writing MORE Dewey Cox songs with Dan Bern for…special ocassion perhaps! (Christmas….Football) news on that as it trickles in. Things are really starting to kick in with the press for the movie. Here’s a cool New York Times BLURB.Looking forward to ALL of this. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I’ve seen clips. Holy crap, it’s really funny. Will keep events posted and up to date right here. You can watch the trailer here. WALK HARD TRAILER CLICK HERE
10/4 - Mike and John C Reilly play songs from Walk Hard John C. Reilly talks with Dana Goodyear
Meet the Everyman.
John C. Reilly has appeared in more than forty films, including “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia,” “Talledega Nights,” and “The Aviator”; in 2002, he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in “Chicago.” He has performed extensively with Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre and appeared on Broadway in “The Grapes of Wrath,” “True West,” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” In his new film, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” a mock biopic to be released in December, he plays a fictional music legend living a life of excess and adversity.
Dana Goodyear is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the poetry collection “Honey and Junk.” “The Magus,” her Life and Letters piece on the Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho, appeared in the May 7th issue.
This Saturday, October 6th at 10 p.m. Cedar Lake Dance Studios ($35)
547 West 26th Street
8/28 - Candy Butchers
Their debut album recorded by David Kahne in the winter of 1995 for Blue Thumb/MCA records. This record plays as a kind of greatest hits of all Mike’s best songs written from 1990 to 1996. Those were brutal years for Mike and his family. His first wife Kim became paralyzed and eventually died from cancer. He brought all his anger and sadness to New York City and hammered it into the oblique and personal lyrics that festoon this album: Imagery that conjures up a secret darkness in these catchy and tight pop song gems. “The whole record is about Kim. I always write about the people I love. I just hid it all behind metaphor.”
Pete Donnelly was brought in to play bass. The album was recorded on a vintage 16 Track tape machine that gives the album that creamy tape compression sound. “”David has a way of recording that was new to me. He goes for one or two takes then he edits them. I don’t’ think I ever punched anything in while working with David. I’ve been working that way ever since”
After the recording was finished the album was mixed and re-mixed several times and a potential single pulled and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Lots of money was spent. Sadly, Blue Thumb went belly up (“it wasn’t our fault!”) and the Candy Butchers debut album was never released. Until NOW!
(note: the link will bring you to Mike Viola's myspace page. look for "buy tracks directly from this artist". if you buy all the tracks you'll have the entire "blue thumb" record as it was supposed to be released.)
"I wish it had all the original album art....and that it was on CD and not as a downlaod...but this is the only way I can get this music out right now. It's been over ten years, I hope you enjoy!" Mike.
8/16 - Medford Sessions Started the new Mike Viola album last week. I'm pretty sure it's called "The Strawberry Blonde & Girly Worm". I mean, how could it not be?
7/18 - The Major Labels
Mike, Bleu and Ducky started a band. We’re called the Major Labels. The band has a concept. Hang out, go to sleep, wake up, write a song, record it by bedtime (around 3am). All this is happening in the basement of Ducky's old house over looking Wright's pond in Medford Massachusetts. The album is just about done. One day, one song, left to go. If you like Wings, 10cc and a splash of Harry Nilsson....
you're
all
ours null
again…..thanks to all that showed up to the Living Room shows…they were all totally different, totally beyond my expectations across the board. They really amped me up to finish the new Mike Viola record (soon to be titled…) The last night of the rez (May 28th) more friends dropped by to regale us all.
Me, Dan Bern, Paul Kuhn (played Beautiful Ride from upcoming Walk Hard movie, a new one of Dan’s called In My Mind I’m Going Down To Texas, and…oh yeah a Kurt Weil tune, September Song.
Adam Schlesinger, Me (cranked out new FOW song I-95 along with Making Up Time and some other off the cuff stuff.
5/23 - Taking An Idea And Running With It Introducing the new ten piece band Everybody. Not just anybody: Heather Wolfe, Kelly Jones, Me, Jon Flower, Claudia Chopek Claudia, Rachel Golub, Lara Hicks, Garro Yellin Sam Bisbee, Deidre Rodman Heather, Kelly, a slice of Spence on drums, and Me again.
Mike Viola and Everybody live at the Living Room on May 21st. Nothing like the sound of Everybody playing together after a few years of somebody playing alone. strange enough the show had the feel of a solo show (this is what the general consensus was anyway)….felt like a solo show but sounded and looked like something “glorious”. Now the trick is to figure out how to get this all on vinyl so I can play it in MY living room. Thanks to Everybody involved and thanks to billie jo www.myspace.com/billiejo for the pix.
5/17 - Alright I'll take one more...
Starting to feel like I’m getting back into the swing of things on Monday nights. John Wesley Harding and I played a tight little batch of ditties from his new album that we co-wrote. Plus an unknown Colin Blunstone song (guy from the Zombies) called I Don’t Believe In Miracles that Wes got me hooked on. Crowd was out in full force. Jim Boggia was in the house to boot. He played the set at 8Pm which I caught, it was gorgeous. I joined him for our perrenial fave It’s Only NaturalWe all hung at the bar until it got to be that time: time to go home and relieve the baby sitters and for Jim to make the haul back to Philly. Next week will be Mike Viola and Everybody, my new 10 piece band with string quartet and all. Come on out! There are only 2 more Mondays left until I fall off the face of the earth again. And next week Dan Bern is joining me. Check him out now if you haven’t already.
5/11 - Candy Butchers back at the Living Room May 7th
Thanks to everyone who joined us last Monday. Todd and I always have a blast when we play. Our lives together have been one long set list. Fighting and all. Looking forward to this Monday (14th). John Wesley Harding will be joining me.
