Put Your Headphones On #3
I'm No Jeremy Allen White, but This is Shameless
In the spring of 2022, I was looking for a change. Frankly, I’m always kind of looking for a change. I get bored too easily, and I’m impatient, but I’m working on myself.
I was born and grew up in Brooklyn, lived on Long Island for college and some time after, then returned home in 2016. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life—a creative writing degree can only take you so far. While I hopped from one fruitless internship to the next, music remained steadfast, perennial.
I had played in many bands since I first moved back. There were several iterations of a throwback garage rock band, a smidge of dream pop in one group, a cool yet doomed fifth-wave emo band, and a blues rock trio. (I’d link all of them here, but it’s more fun for you to find them on your own!)
I enjoyed playing guitar but discovered that the bass was my instrument. I loved learning how to be a bandmate and a proficient recording musician; how to find a vocal harmony, a talent I didn’t know I possessed. Looking back now, I truly did learn so much and I am endlessly grateful for all of my experiences.
After a few months in these projects, though, I found myself unfulfilled. Maybe we weren’t exploring sounds I wanted to try, or maybe I was too immature to allow time to lead to flourishing relationships that could breed music that makes my heart sing.
Whatever the case was, I grew stagnant. This ennui led to my messaging Steve Sbiroli.
Steve had posted an ad on BandsDoBK for a bassist for his “remedial math rock” band. Having a sense of humor and not being the most theory-driven musician, I was immediately intrigued. I listened to the demos that he and Kyle Drumheller, his college buddy and former bandmate, put together and released on SoundCloud. The songs had the DNA of The 1975, Fall Out Boy, Bruce Springsteen, and Green Day. They were catchy, interesting, and told a story. What more can one want in a good song?
Like now, the world was COVID-y in 2022. Socially, everyone was still thawing from the isolation past two years. On top of the general circumspection, the last band I had been a part of had ended in hostility, bruised egos, and evaporated potential. Suffice to say, I had extremely tempered expectations and hopes when I met Steve, Kyle, and Vince Camarista of Easy Tigress fame.
Being in a band is like being in a romantic relationship. You portray a certain version of yourself at the beginning. Then you experience growing pains as each party becomes more comfortable and more themself. Ultimately you decide whether to stick it out and invest in one another, or call it quits.
When I first played with the LVP, like many first dates, it was a bit tense and awkward. We sized one another up while trying to discern if the chemistry was there. I was nervous because I had something to prove; I imagine Steve, Kyle, and Vince were anxious to find the right fit so they could start looking for shows and recording.
Fortunately it went well enough that I was invited to be in the band full-time, and we started grinding out those SoundCloud demos into an electric live set.
We spent the winter of 2023 recording “Raspberry” with Nicholas Starrantino at Deadend Studio on Long Island. Recording him with was so fun and natural that we impulsively decided to go back in the late summer/early fall to finish recording our debut EP with him, including the second single, “Deepest, Darkest” (Kyle’s favorite).
Making this album with my friends has been a shining moment in my life. I can’t imagine not writing, recording, and playing more music with these guys. Even now in our group chat (sentimentally titled “Boneless Boyz” for our collective and apparently unpopular love of boneless wings), I urge us to get back into our rehearsal space to work on the next slew of Luxurious Velveteen Psalms.
the LVP EP is streaming everywhere now. Consider supporting us on Bandcamp to receive a commemorative zine we made that documents the process!