Thanks to an external hard drive found by longtime Transcendence graphics guru Eduardo Silva, a batch of previously thought lost forever video files have surfaced, some nearly twenty years old, featuring a very young Ed Hale, aka Eddie Darling. This post includes a local Miami newscast on Channel 6 circa 1988. Featuring Ed Hale and his fellow bandmates in Broken Spectacles when they were still in college and other South Florida alumni such as Matthew Sabatella and Jim Camacho.
The Great Mistake by Transcendence
NEW! Thanks to those renegade mavericks at PureVolume.com fans can preview songs from the new Transcendence album “The Great Mistake” exclusively on purevolumeâ„¢
TRANSCENDENCE finally resurfaces from the recording studio with TWO NEW ALBUMS!!!
The band had been holed up without a break for the last five months in the recording studio finishing their newest CD, “All Your Heroes Become Villains”, an intense labor of love that took nearly two years to complete.
Not only did they finish that one, but they tracked and finished another tasty full-length as well, which is being called “The Great Mistake.” When producer Fred Freeman (Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory) who was recording the group and mixing the “All Your Heroes” CD in Studio B would leave for the night, the group would grab an assistant engineer and head into Studio A where they tracked 13 more songs into the early morning hours.
While the “All Your Heroes” CD is on the deep dark heavy moody and conceptual side, “The Great Mistake” CD is more of a sweet and catchy sweaty garage-rock and power-pop morsel that harkens back to the sound of their last CD Nothing is Cohesive. The band has never sounded more lively rocking and tasty. For a moment it seems they put their eclectic expermental agenda aside, picked up their instruments, and just rocked the house, recording most of the songs live as a five-piece band.
In fact, what you hear exclusively on purevolume.com are “all faders up, live in the studio” versions of the songs that have not been mixed yet. Zach Ziskin of Hilary McRae fame is currently mixing the songs for a spring ‘08 release date.
SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE NEW ALBUM?
While “All Your Heroes…” may be a deep dark beautifully emotional head-trip, “The Great Mistake” CD would be the soundtrack to a ‘put the top down and drive fast’ road trip.
It is a collection of 12 songs the band recorded live in the studio with a stripped down drums, bass, two guitars, electric piano and vocals format. No DJ, no producer, no orchestration, and no additional outside musicians to the band’s basic five-piece line-up.
Simply put, “The Great Mistake” is a rocking good time with some of the catchiest songs the band has ever recorded — all falling under the three-minute mark — in sharp contrast to the “All Your Heroes…” CD, the longest song clocking in over seven minutes.
Tracklist for “THE GREAT MISTAKE”
01.Manchildwoman
02.Monday
03.Baby Bop
04.Nobody’s Listening To You
05.Mongo Kitty
06.Carol’s Catastrophe
07.I remember you
08.Jet Lag
09.The Divine Miss M
10.Who Ya Gonna Fuk
11.Hot Down
12.Quand Tu Mmm (Lust In Central Park)
Listen to Transcendence songs from the IAC Music Channel
Listen to five songs from two previously released TRANSCENDENCE albums courtesy of the IACmusic channel. The songs and their respective albums are available at amazon.com, cdbaby.com, and the iTunes music store.
VeronicaÂ
Singer Ed Hale is said to have written this mournful love ballad track about his girlfriend at the time — the painter Veronica Saenz — while the band was recording the Sleep With You album in late 2002. The album cover featured much of her artwork on the inner sleeve and so did the ensuing single release cover. The song was released as the third single to radio after the band had acheived success with two other chart-toppers from the same album, Superhero Girl, and Minnie Driver. Veronica opened the door to a whole new legion of fans who were not yet familiar with the band’s softer side.
Music and lyrics by Ed Hale
Arranged by Transcendence
Produced by Fred Freeman and Ed Hale
From the Transcendence CD Sleep With You, 2002
Bored
First released on the Ed Hale solo album Acoustic in New York in the mid-nineties, glam-rockers Transcendence re-recorded the song Bored for their third album in ’04, adding a much anticipated full band sound that the song was begging for. This oft-quoted zeppelinesque guitar anthem is the first song Hale wrote in an open-tuning, something that eventually became a trademark. It features a grooving electronica dance beat behind an onslaught of richly over-layered guitars ala Queen or Wings with swirling Radiohead electronic sounds. Singer Ed Hale bemoans angst and apathy in his characteristic sexy growl while the band rages behind him to create the centerpiece of the band’s third release, Nothing is Cohesive.
Music and Lyrics by Ed Hale
Arrangement and Production by Transcendence
From the Transcendence CD Nothing is Cohesive, 2004
I wanna know ya
Tasty guitar riff indie rock with a catchy vocal hook ala White Stripes, Vines, or Hives, Transcendence’s I wanna know ya is a song that stays in your head for days and rocks your ass off.
I wanna know ya is often credited as the song that begat the album that never should have been, Transcendence’s out of the blue third release, Nothing is Cohesive. While the band was in rehearsals for their 2003 Europe Tour, guitarist Fernando Perdomo was warming up and happened upon the song’s main riff. The rest of the band joined in and Hale started shouting random lyrics into the microphone about a girl he met the night before at one of their local gigs. The band liked the new song so much that they immeditately recorded it for no real reason other than the fact that they liked it. This jumpstarted four weeks of non-stop recording in Perdomo’s garage that resulted in more than an album’s worth of new songs. No producer, no studio — the band engineered the album themselves — and they created what became the group’s best reviewed and most lauded release to date. Fans often comment on the song’s mysteriously garbled lyrics. Interestingly Hale never wrote actual lyrics to the song I wanna know ya. He quickly recorded a rough guide track for the rest of the band to use while recording their parts that first day and they thought so much of it that they decided they should use it as is and not take the risk of ‘ruining the song’s magic’ by attempting to record a real lead vocal track. So they kept the rough vocal track in, hence the absence of lyrics for the song on the CD’s liner notes. There simply were no lyrics to reprint. When asked what he sings on stage when performing the song Hale states that he just makes them up as he goes along each night.
Music, arrangement, and production by Transcendence
Lyrics by Ed Hale
From the Transcendence album Nothing is Cohesive 2004
Caetano
One of the most beautiful songs on their Nothing is Cohesive CD, Transcendence seamlessly blends Brazilian samba beats with haunting rock melody on their song bitpop classic Caetano, dedicated to the legendary Brazilian singer, Caetano Veloso, who singer Ed Hale credits as an influence.
Ed Hale wrote the song Caetano (pronounced Kaye-ton-oe) as an homage to the famous Brazilan singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso a few weeks before he was scheduled to meet him at a concert Veloso was giving in Miami for his “A Foriegn Sound” tour. Hale presented the older statesman Veloso with a recording of the song and the two posed for pictures backstage and talked about Veloso’s new album and Hale’s experiences touring Brazil during the Rise and Shine period. Putting the song on the new Transcendence album was a no brainer for the band, but they strongly objected to Hale’s lyrics “the only man I’d make love to” that appeared in the chorus of the song. The band eventually compromised and Hale changed it in the first chorus to “the only man I look up to.” After the initial rhythm tracks were down, the band left for the evening. Guitarist Fernando Perdomo who was very moved by the song stayed at the studio and continued to add tracks till well into the afternoon of the following day. He added six guitars, harmonizing many of them, piano, and even a quartet of overdubbed cellos. Hale claims that he got a speeding ticket because of Perdomo’s work, stating that when he heard a rough mix of the song he was so mesmerized by what Perdomo had created that he started driving very fast along the coastline and was not aware of how fast he was going. “Let’s put it this way. I was laughing and crying at the same time. I knew that he [Perdomo] had created something brilliant and stunning and we were all very lucky to be in the band with him,” stated Hale. Caetano with its impossibly dificult to pronounce title quickly became a favorite on the album for fans and for many the new album’s highlight. Though it was the song Somebody killed the DJ that dominated radio from the CD, Caetano was mentioned as a standout track in nearly every review of the band’s third CD. Caetano combines all of the best elements that Transcendence is capable of at their best, innovative and unexpected rhythms underneath haunting and mysterious chord structure with breathtakingly beautiful melody, insightful lyrical imagery, delicate piano and orchestral lines, and the best britrock guitar production and arragement this side of the Atlantic. It is also worth noting that for the song’s cyclic sing-a-long end-vamp Hale chose to create a tonepoem in three languages, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian, rather than in Veloso’s native language Portuguese, stating that to do so would have been too predictable and obvious.
Lyrics and Music by Ed Hale
Production and Arrangement by Transcendence
From the Transcendence CD Nothing is Cohesive
I’m not the only one
A mind-crushing heart-wrenching hard-rocking explosion of drums bass guitars and screaming about “dying on your bedroom floor” among other equally chilling ideas, I’m not the only one is one of the heaviest tracks Transcendence ever recorded. It also happened to be one of radio’s favorites and helped push the band’s second album Sleep With You up the charts.
I’m not the only one is a song that Ed Hale originally wrote in the early nineties when still a member of the jangly-pop college rock outfit Broken Spectacles. As the band splintered apart, each member gathered inspiration aplenty from writing about their constant quibbling and troubles. Though the Specs would never record the song, Hale resuscitated it for the Transcendence album Sleep With You. Producer Fred Freeman was more than pleased because he was concerned that Hale was focusing too much on songs themed toward sex or drugs and was looking for Hale to bring his characteristic world-view to the table lyrically and not just limit his ideas to what was turning into an orgiastic glorification of Hale’s recent foray into rock ‘n roll decadence. Freeman was successful and pulled several other deeper numbers out of the songwriter including Guilty and Keep moving on. The song I’m not the only one is a heartbreaking laundry list of the worst of the human condition with the only hope being that others too are just as miserable. Despite it’s bitter lyrics the song happens to be one of the most memorable songs Transcendence has ever recorded and did much to put them on the alt-rock radio map.
EVERYTHING IS COHESIVE – ED HALE AND TRANSCENDENCE – THE DOCUMENTARY
In the summer of 2004, Ashville North Carolina based filmographer Diane Doyle and her production company Journey of Dreams embarked on a quest to film a documentary about singer/songwriter Ed Hale and the rock group TRANSCENDENCE. She filmed the band in rehearsals, interviewed the members, and followed them on the road to create the one hour film entitled Everything Is Cohesive. The band had just completed recording their then-new CD Nothing is cohesive. The film was directed by Diane Doyle and edited by Ron Roman.
ROCK GROUP TRANSCENDENCE RELEASE CLOTHING LINE
Published: Buzzle.com 10/11/2004
By Keith Hannaleck
New York, NY-10/08/04-The old-school-meets-alternative rock band Transcendence (TMG Records) are making quite a buzz these days with their catchy alt-rock radio smash Superhero Girl, and the flurry of anticipation over their soon to be released CD Nothing is Cohesive. But the band has found a new slant in their rock ‘n’ roll marketing plan; a combination of something old and something new, much like their music. T-Shirts have always been part of the package for a band, only this time you can choose from an entire line of over 20 shirt designs. From their provocative What Can I Do To Sleep With You shirt, taken from the title of their current album Sleep With You, to a politically unnerving camouflage T, lets put it that way, this band knows how to get to the heart of the matter without any fluff.
The band’s flamboyant singer Ed Hale, (who has lately been spotted dressed up as an army general protesting the war in Iraq), says that the Sleep With You shirts are the most popular while the Superhero Girl (the current hit off their new album) shirts are selling faster than the band’s record label can sell them.
This is much more than good marketing by a rock band; it is people standing up for what they believe in. The popularity of the shirts is a good indicator of how the band’s audience feels about the issues that the colorful attire address. Music and politics never did get along very well because musicians have a tendency to tell it like it is rather than beat around the bush or sugar coat anything. The band’s stylish and provocative T-shirts get that point across loud and clear. Get your choice of T-Shirts from Transcendence so you can make a statement and look good doing it, let’s rock!
Buy Shirts Here
Nothing Is Cohesive is Out and More Ed Hale News
SINGER ED HALE OPENED HIS SPACE TO FTAA PROTESTERS, AND REALLY CONNECTED.
BY GREG BAKER
Street Magazine
Miami, FL
November 28, 2003
Ed Hale first showed his skill as a musician and songwriter with the Broken Spectacles and has in the new millennium reaffirmed his status as a thoughtful, progressive, top-notch musician fronting culture-blending rock outfit Transcendence. Thanks to him, some FTAA demonstrators enjoyed the use of a media center any politician would be proud to call campaign headquarters.Unbeknownst to police and media, many groups of protesters set up shop in Transcendence headquarters, a two-story building in the Design District. Phone lines were installed, cubicles erected, and laptops were ported after a local musician who knew a protester told Hale that the demonstrators needed housing space. The media liaisons for the various protest groups, whose main purpose was disseminating info to the mainstream media, had been operating out of a downtown ”convergence center,” where space was at a premium.
After seeing this pathetically bare-bones arrangement — a note on one wall listed pens as a necessity — Hale opened his doors. He met and talked with reps from some of the groups — including steelworkers, ecologists, lawyers, and publicists — who would soon be conducting secret meetings to, among other things, prepare for a Wednesday afternoon press conference at
Miami
City Hall.Hale’s biggest contribution to the preparations was probably the hammering he gave the phone company after being told it would take five days for phone lines to be installed in his building. After explaining the purpose of the phones — to create a real media center for people demonstrating — Transcendence HQ had, within a few hours, all the phone lines necessary. And a DSL to boot. (”The lady was so nice. She even gave me her cell number in case I had trouble installing the DSL,” Hale said with a touch of awe.)Their operation up-and-running, the protesters’ City Hall strategy worked. All sorts of media showed up at the event: English- and Spanish-language, print and TV, mainstream and not so. But there were no cops and no problems, even when protesters went into the City Hall building itself, demanding to see a ghost: The invisible Mayor Manny Diaz had supposedly left his office after meeting with Commissioner Angel Gonzalez. (Side note: Has anyone ever actually seen Manny Diaz?)
Transcendence just released a new CD, Sleep With You, and has been working to make it a success. ”Fourteen hour days,” Hale said, describing his recent schedule. ‘Talking to station people, sending out press kits. On Tuesday [November 18] I got an e-mail telling me that we’d [begun receiving airplay] on 100 stations. But I was so absorbed by `The Matrix’ — people putting their lives on the line for what they believe in, people taking action, the way the [demonstrators] worked together, like one person working the phones while another goes to buy food for everyone else, while someone else takes the phone — that I hardly had time to notice.”
‘Spending time with these people and listening to them really opened my eyes. The AFL-CIO guys were so cool, and they were thanking me for letting them use the space, and I’m saying, `No, no, thanks for coming and talking with me.’ Long after the demonstrations, the indie media guys were still here disseminating info. The cops try to spin the media, so it becomes necessary to defend the truth.”
If all the protest groups in the Matrix combined forces — as many did here — the organization would be too much for cops, too much for cities, too much maybe even for George W. If The Matrix were real (and who’s to say it isn’t?), America could become a nation of high moral standards and beneficent behavior.Adam Hurter, a demonstrator who traveled from Massachusetts specifically to denounce the FTAA, said, “The key thing is people coming together and working co-operatively for a world not run by corporations; people who come together with a spirit of hope that we can change the corporate system and who try to build communities to replace the corporate power structure. And we were really interested in connecting with the people of Miami. “Ed Hale made the connection. In more ways than one. And The Matrix grows.”
WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO WORK WITH ED HALE OF TRANSCENDENCE – BY GIL MAGNO
Dear Students, Friends and Readers:
I have started a series of updates to publicize those of my diligent students who are working in their art and who actually have contributed to society in the form of a CD recording or performances that bring joy and entertainment to others. I am very pleased to announce that I now working with Ed Hale of the band Transcendence. As many know, Ed Hale & Transcendence are known worldwide.
A few months ago I reveived a phone call from Ed Hale’s management requesting an appointment for vocal classes. We began on 9/18/01. He was already well known all over the world. He studied until 9/12/02 and graduated from my Courses #1, #2, #3, and half of Course #4 before he eventually moved to New York. I found him to be an unusual individual with an evolved consciousness and a desire for his music to make a difference on the life of this planet.
Even though I have had hundreds of students who will use their voice singing rock, Ed didn’t seem to fit the part. He seemed too developed a being to be a rocker. Then he gave me a copy of his CD, Rise and Shine. I listened to it very carefully and I was flabbergasted. Even though the songs are played in rock style, I could actually hear what he was singing about. It wasn’t just a confusion of noise mixed with rhythm to which the voice was an accompaniment. I fell in love with that CD.
Most rock-and-rollers have no imagination in playing rock. Since most only know three chords and play them infernally loud, the voice becomes a blur; and all this is loved by the nightclub owners, because with the people driven crazy they will buy more and more booze. Ed’s music is not that kind of confusion. You can actually sit down and listen to it with pleasure. Every song is distinct in melodic content. I call it a Concert Rock Band. The band has recorded I believe, seven CDs. You can buy them in stores or order them from CDBaby.com or Amazon.com.
Here’s what Ed Hale had to say about our classes: “Working and studying with Gil Magno is working/connecting with an aligned soul, no pretense, no compromise. He is connected to all highest ideals of man and this comes across in his teaching so you walk away from a lesson with him feeling as though you have come in contact with the highest and best in you. It is pure inspiration that lasts for many days after the lesson ends.”
[Marcus Pan, Legends Magazine]
“The musical group known as Transcendence is a tight-knit collective of some of the most notable musicians from the Miami and New York music scenes who first came together in 2000. The band is known for their reverence for melody, and an often eclectic and sometimes unnerving yet enticing tendency toward stylistic changes. “Smoothing across genres like a skater on ice, Ed Hale and company show amazing songwriting skills throughout Rise and Shine. They have just released a debut on TMG Records that is one I cannot listen to less than twice a week… Fusing such styles as brit-pop, Brazilian, rock, new wave, and classical – among others – Transcendence create a wild array of songs but somehow hold them together with left-field bite.â€http://www.transcendence.com
Magnoart Studio & Publications
Gil Magno – Vocal Coach/Author
www.GMagno.com
SHOWY, BRIGHT, AND INVENTIVE, TRANSCENDENCE STRIKES A CHEEKY POSE
| Indie-music.com CD Review Reviews: Ed Hale and the Transcendence ~ Rise and Shine Posted on Tuesday, October 08, 2002 @ 05:46:22 EST Topic: Reviews |
 Artist: Ed Hale and the TranscendenceCD: Rise and Shine (TMG REcords)Home: Miami, Florida Style: Rock Quote: “Showy, bright and inventive, and strikes a cheeky pose in the process”. |
By Heidi Drockelman
Rising up from the ashes of an almost industry-apocalyptic resurgence of bubble-gum pop, there are several artists who are putting their most confident foot forward and taking a leap into the “space oddity†air that Bowie left his footprint in years ago. In the golden age of glam it wasn’t uncommon to hear artists take risks in almost every song, pushing their own outer limits and pushing the listener to explore their own depths of tolerance and normalcy. Ed Hale and the Transcendence have taken a look back, a look forward, and incorporated this in their current musical vision.
Just the name of the band can speak volumes here, where the material coincides with a modern glam swagger to create the complete package. For so many artists, their image is all they really have – they don’t write their own songs, they barely perform live, and sure, they look good, but shiny pennies get tarnished with time. Ed Hale has taken a page from Bowie, Pulp, Iggy, and yes, U2, to reinvent the modern version of glam rock. While much of the material is showy, bright and inventive, and strikes a cheeky pose in the process.
The best material on this record reflects a sense of whimsy, sincerity and a fierce fight to remain true to the basic elements of what makes a good rock record. Songs like “Mother†(not Glenn Danzig, don’t get worked up now), “Better Luck Next Timeâ€, and “Letter to a Friendâ€. There are also several forays into the hip-hop arena, although at times this combination seems forced, the effort and approach is still notable.
The fact is, while a few of the experiments in alchemy don’t always sit well with me, I appreciate and applaud Hale’s talent, willingness to take a risk on himself, and his audience. This is a different kind of rock record, and one that will grow on the listener after many spins because of its versatility and after a few listens, some of the songs you might not have been attracted to at first will suddenly click into place.
An interesting way to get to know Ed Hale, and I look forward to future releases.
http://www.transcendence.com or http://www.tmgrecords.net
NOT A ROCK BAND – ED HALE AND THE TRANSCENDENCE TRAVEL THE WORLD RIGHT HERE IN MIAMI-DADE
By Omar Perez
Originally published in Miami New Times: July 18, 2002
For a long time, Ed Hale’s sense of geography depended on rock and roll. “I knew about England, of course, because of the Beatles and the Stones, and I knew about Ireland because of Sinead O’Connor and U2,” Hale says matter-of-factly. “That was the way I related to the rest of the world.”
Ed Hale transcends musical borders
So it makes sense that it was FM radio, not CNN, that turned Hale on to the globe. More specifically, it was the sad state of music spewing out of the mid-Nineties. Grunge had just blown its brains out, and headless, flannel-wearing chickens rode the momentum over the airwaves, waiting for an inevitable death. Hale’s interest in music almost died with it. Then he opened up to new sounds from other countries, plunging into everything from Brazilian to West African to Italian songwriters and artists. “It started to inspire me,” he says. “You can hear in their music the joy and the passion that they have for making the music, as opposed to here in America. [Here] it’s like they’re making music just to be famous.”
In Dungeon Studios in North Miami, Ed Hale and the Transcendence (drummer Ricardo Mazzi, keyboardist Jon Rose, and newest members Roger Houdaille on bass and guitarist Fernando Perdomo, who’s known for playing in seemingly every South Florida band) are making music too. When high-fives fly around the room after Perdomo lays down a guitar track — a squealing, feedback-driven intro to one of the band’s newer songs — it’s obvious that the members of the group see music notes instead of dollar signs.
One more reason for the band to celebrate is its Rise and Shine debut, which thrives on a mélange of musical influences without paying homage to any one in particular. The opening “Better Luck Next Time” draws from early Bowie elements, with Hale’s English enunciations sprinkled over classic-rock-honed guitars and frolicking pianos, which keep their momentum on tracks like “Do You Know Who You Are?” and “Mother,” where a dreamy haze of guitars gives way to a rising chorus. A rumbling funk bass line starts “The Journey (A Call to Arms),” while a more international flavor makes its mark on songs like the franglais (French/English) “Ma Petit Naomi,” where mariachi horns serenade as electric guitars toast to Americana and beer-and-chicken-wing rock. The upbeat, tribal backbone of “Trés Cool” sees Hale spit out a list of pop culture references and figures.
Considering his rhymes, Hale wonders out loud, “I love rap, but I don’t know if I can rap.”
“He raps like a white boy,” Mazzi jokes.
A military brat, Hale moved from city to city while growing up. While in Atlanta he met Murray Silver, a music critic who co-wrote Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis and taught a music class at an arts college that Hale pursued in lieu of high school. The professor took the young Hale under his wing and signed him to his small label, releasing Eddie in 1987. (The album has since been re-released by Hale’s current Miami-based TMG Records label.) Hale landed opening spots for area acts including the Georgia Satellites and the Alarm, but the musician lifestyle demanded too much of the teen. On his parents’ advice, Hale returned to South Florida, where he once lived in West Palm Beach. “I think I was too young to take care of myself very well,” he remembers. He enrolled at FAU and started taking courses in philosophy.
One day while listening to the radio, Hale heard a woman win a contest who had the same last name as an old friend of Hale’s from junior high: Sabatella. Hale got in touch with her brother, musician Matthew Sabatella, and the two formed Broken Spectacles, a band that made a name for itself in South Florida during the early Nineties. Despite modest success, the relationship among the musicians grew tense. “The only time we would talk was during rehearsal, and when rehearsal was over, we would all go our separate ways,” he remembers. Finally the Spectacles called it quits in 1994. “Years later I get a call from Matt, and we asked, ‘Why did we stop speaking?’ And we both couldn’t figure it out.” Today the two are friends once again.
Broken off from the Broken Spectacles, Hale picked up his guitar and traveled the East Coast as a solo artist for about a year, landing in New York City and releasing the appropriately titled Acoustic in New York. “I was very excited about the music I was making, and the things I had discovered that I couldn’t do in a band,” he says.
Unfortunately he also encountered financial hardship. “I was sleeping on couches and I was really, really broke, and it was becoming unbearable,” Hale says. “I remember standing in front of this McDonald’s on Broadway hoping that I’d get a dollar or two for playing just so I could go in there and get a cheeseburger. As an artist, every day you just wait for that phone call.” Finally around Christmas of 1996, Hale headed to Miami.
The post-NYC period was tough. “I was associating so much negativity with music-making,” he explains. “When I picked up a guitar to write a song, I would feel bad instead of good.” He put away his guitar for about a year and traveled the world for two, immersing himself in every type of music he could find. For a while Hale was hooked on country. “I’d set the nightstand radio to a country station and I really started falling in love with it,” he says. “I liked the way they can fit a thirty-year story in two-and-a-half minutes. And the musicianship is great.
“Who knows, maybe in ten years we’ll be doing country,” Hale quips.
Perdomo counters: “I’d like to try gangsta country: drive-by-on-a-horse kind of thing. Yo yo yo with a cowpoke.”
While Hale was shedding his bad associations, the Bolivian-born Mazzi was looking for a project. “I just wanted to play music,” Mazzi says. “It didn’t matter what it was.” Mazzi, who also was going through a period of musical experimentation, teamed up with Hale in 1998. “His songs are infections,” Mazzi says. “At first you hear them and you think, ‘Why is he doing that?’ and then you go home driving and you realize he has some catchy stuff.”
It was catchy enough for the folks at MTV, which signed a licensing agreement with the band to allow the network use of six of its songs on Road Rules and The Real World. The single “Better Luck Next Time” has been getting airplay in such far-flung burgs as Fairfax, Virginia and Indianapolis, Indiana.
“We all wanted to do something completely different than what we had done in the past with other bands,” Hale says. “We purposely tried not to be a modern-day rock band.”