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Streetlight Manifesto

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Streetlight Manifesto
The Streetlight logo
Background information
OriginNew Jersey, USA
Years active2002 - Present
MembersDelano Bonner
Mike Brown
Jim Conti
Tomas Kalnoky
Chris Paszik
Mike Soprano
Chris Thatcher
Past members(In order of departure)
Stuart Karmatz
Pete Sibilia
Paul Lowndes
Josh Ansley
Jamie Egan
Dan Ross

Streetlight Manifesto are a third-wave ska band from New Jersey, USA. They released their first album, Everything Goes Numb, on August 26, 2003, which was distributed by Victory Records. The band also headlined their first ever show at Rutgers University in New Brunswick on December 9, 2003. Several of Streetlight's members were already well known among the New Jersey ska community for their roles in past ska bands from that area, most notably Catch 22's Tomas Kalnoky, Jamie Egan, Mike Soprano, and Josh Ansley, as well as One Cool Guy's Stuart Karmatz, Pete Sibilia, Dan Ross, and Chris Paszik. The line-up has gone through several changes since the band's inception and currently consists of Delano Bonner (Trumpet), Mike Brown (Alto and Baritone Saxophone), Jim Conti (Alto and Tenor Saxophone), Tomas Kalnoky (Guitar and Vocals), Chris Paszik (Bass Guitar), Mike Soprano (Trombone) and Chris Thatcher (Drums).

Musical influences and style

File:DSC 0056.jpg
Streetlight performing at The Metro in Chicago, IL on June 12, 2005. From left to right: Mike Brown, Jim Conti, Mike Soprano, Delano Bonner

Since Kalnoky is responsible for writing most of the music, it is his influences that most affect the songs. He writes them on an acoustic guitar, and then fleshes them out on the computer. The rest of the band then come in and add their parts to the songs, although Kalnoky will sometimes hum the sort of hornline he wants[1]. In an interview he called the Stand by Me soundtrack his biggest musical influence, and says when writing songs that he looks to the 50s and 60s for insipration. He also mentioned that Nirvana were a big influence[2]. In an earlier interview conducted in 2002 he again mentions the 50s and 60s, in particular specifying The Drifters as one of his favourite bands, and also describes the Squirrel Nut Zippers as a big influence[3].

When listening to their first album, Everything Goes Numb the similarities between it and Keasbey Nights are obvious, as they both share the same style of songs: fast-tempo and brass-lead with walking basslines and rapid-fire singing that is characteristic of Kalnoky. There are also lyrical similarities, particularly in the case of the third track "Point/Counterpoint" with is similar to "Keasbey Nights" (also the third track of Keasbey) as they both have choruses mentioning guns and (bulletproof) vests. In fact Streetlight have performed the two songs merged together live, with "Keasbey Nights" in the middle. When played like this the end of "Keasbey" leads well into "Point" as the bridge seems to form a response:

"Keasbey Nights":

When they come for me I’ll be sitting at my desk with a gun in my hand wearing a bullet proof vest singing my my my how the time does fly when you know you’re going to die by the end of the night.

"Point/Counterpoint":

So I waited by the phone but that phone never rang

And I sang so loud so I wouldn't hear the bang

When the bang never came and I never got the call: Fuck it! Thank you! I love you all!

In an interview with Alternative Press Kalnoky remarked that their next CD will "branch out in different directions. It'll have more of a world influence running through it, namely eastern European and gypsy sounds."[4]

Critical reception

Streetlight received a largely positive welcome when they appeared on the music scene, and managed to gather a big following with little to no promotion or advertising. Instead the legacy of past bands and their reputation for putting on a solid live show[5] led to a fanbase that rapidly expanded. They now regularly sell out shows in America, and also played to packed venues when they visited the UK in early 2005. A large factor in their success was the fact that Tomas Kalnoky wrote most of Catch 22's Keasbey Nights which is generally regarded as one of the finest examples of third-wave ska. In fact after Kalnoky left many fans were disappointed with Catch 22's later offerings, not viewing them as up to the same standard as Keasbey. As such many current and past Catch 22 fans awaited Streetlight's debut with anticipation, hoping for a return to Keasbey's form. When it was released it did not dissappoint, and received many glowing reviews[6], and numerous comparisons to Keasbey. It even received some good reviews from people who otherwise throughly disliked ska[7].

Rivalry with Catch 22

Due to Tomas' history with Catch 22 and Streetlight's rapid rise to success many fans have speculated that their may be some animosity and rivalry between the two bands. In fact both bands have lyrics on their albums (Everything Goes Numb and Dinosaur Sounds that were both released in late 2003) that could be interpreted as hostile messages to one another. In Streetlight's "A Moment of Silence" one line goes "If you hate me so much then stop singing my songs", which many fans took to be a reference to Catch 22 still performing songs which Tomas wrote on Keasbey Nights. Similarly the Catch 22 song "So Cold" contains several lines, in particular

I can't believe you're still mad about that.
I can't believe you're still living in the past.

which many believe to be directed at Kalnoky in reference to his departure from the band.

While it is not known for certain whether either of these lyrics were messages, there was certainly some bad feelings between Kalnoky and Catch 22 at some point due to his departure. In an early 2002 interview Tomas' response to whether or not he kept in touch with Catch 22 was "I tried to keep in touch. then I read something on the net that surprised/hurt me, so I stopped trying. That's all I'll say, sorry."[2] However since then both Tomas and members of Catch have since stated on numerous occasions that they are on good terms, and in fact Kevin Gunther from Catch is Streetlight's booking agent[8].

History

File:Smband.jpg
Current line-up. From left to right: Jim, Tomas, Mike B., Chris T., Chris P., Mike S., Delano

Pre-Streetlight

Tomas, Josh, and Jamie first gained fame as one half of fellow New Jersey band Catch 22. Tomas in particular as he was responsible for writing most of their debut album Keasbey Nights, which is regarded as one of the top albums of the third wave of ska. After Keasbey all three left, at seperate times and for their own reasons, so that when Catch recorded their second album Alone in a Crowd it was with a considerably different line-up, and without Tomas a different sound.

Shortly prior to Streetlight Manifesto Tomas gathered a large number of musicians, including Josh and Jamie, several members of One Cool Guy, his brother Achilles, and several of Achilles' orchestra friends to perform on the Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution EP, A Call to Arms. Included on the five track, independently released CD is "Here's to Life", a song which Streetlight Manifesto reworked and included on Everything Goes Numb, and a new version of Catch 22's "Dear Sergio", which includes a new verse and a minor renaming to "Dear Sergio:". Both Streetlight and the Bandits are members of The RISC Group, a collaboration of artists to self produce and retain rights to their music.

Recording to touring

Streetlight's first recording consisted of a four-track demo EP, featuring the songs "Everything Went Numb", "Point/Counterpoint", "The Saddest Song" and "We Are the Few", all of which were re-recorded for their debut album. The line-up that recorded the demo consisted almost entirely of musicians from the project Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution: Josh Ansley (bass guitar), Jamie Egan (trombone & trumpet), Tomas Kalnoky (guitar & vocals), Stuart Karmatz (drums), Dan Ross (alto & baritone saxophone) and Pete Sibilia (tenor saxophone). It was this recording that got the band signed to Victory Records, the same label as Catch 22.

After the demo was recorded Stuart Karmatz left and was replaced by Paul Lowndes and Jim Conti took the place of Pete Sibilia. This line-up then recorded Everything Goes Numb, but changed again before the band could perform any live shows. Paul Lowndes had not intended to perform live, so Chris Thatcher joined the band as his replacement, and has been with Streetlight ever since. On the album, Jamie Egan played both trumpet and trombone, but as he would not be able to do this live Mike Soprano joined on trombone. This line-up then performed at Streetlight's first ever show: headlining at Rutgers University on December 9, 2003. They also played several other shows before the year ended, and in 2004 embarked upon the TNT (They'll Never Tour) Tour.

More line-up changes

Unfortunately Streetlight had grown more successful than they had anticipated, and in September 2004, Josh Ansley announced his departure[9] to pursue an acting career. Although a September 19, 2004 show was listed to be his last, he was not at the show. Instead Chris Paszik played at the show in his place. The show, held at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, is also notable for being the first live performance of "Dear Sergio:" by Kalnoky, who wrote the song while with Catch 22 some years before. The next departure was Jamie Egan, who left on January 22, 2005, right before Streetlight Manifesto began the Ska is Dead 2 tour, headlining alongside MU330 and the Voodoo Glow Skulls. Egan left to spend more time with his family and the students of North Brunswick High School in North Brunswick, New Jersey, to whom Egan teaches music[10]. Delano Bonner came in to play trumpet starting January 25, 2005, performing at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. Unfortunately the SID tour was bracketed by departures as Dan Ross had planned to leave afterwards to pursue a business career, and was forced to leave early just before the end of the tour due to a family crisis[11]. He has been replaced by Mike Brown, whose first live show was at the start of the European tour, and didn't play an American show until May 31 in Baltimore.

European tour

In April 2005 the band headed overseas to Europe for their first tour outside North America, however they were to be wrought with personnel difficulties. Before the tour had even started they were a man down as Delano Bonner was unable to fly out due to not being able to attain a valid Visa. He was eventually able to obtain a Visa from the British Embassy and fly out to perform the last few UK dates, however just after he got there Jim Conti had to return to America due to a family emergency. This meant that Streetlight only played one date with the complete line-up, and after they had finished the UK portion and headed over to mainland Europe had to make do with a 2-man brass section as Delano's Visa was only valid for the UK. The band also mentioned having received no label support for the tour, and that it had therefore set them back financially. Rob Thatcher said in a post on the unofficial forum that it might be due to the fact that Streetlight were doing things by themselves. Despite these setbacks the band said they had thoroughly enjoyed the tour and vowed to return later that same year.

Robbed

On the night of October 2, 2005, while the band slept in their hotel rooms, their van was broken into and emptied by robbers. The thieves then proceeded to detach the band's trailer—containing their instruments and merchandise—and drove away with it. In total around $80,000 (£45,540) worth of instruments, merchandise, and personal belongings were stolen. Following the robbery, the band were forced to cancel their following four shows. At their show in Washington DC on October 7, 2005 they announced that they were basically “starting at square one again”. On their website, they announced that they were probably going to have to get “real jobs” to work off the cost of the stolen belongings.

On the night of November 9 Streetlight Manifesto were robbed again while on tour in Paris, France. This time only their rental car was broken into and about $4,000 (£2,290) worth was stolen, including "the one expensive piece of equipment that wasn't stolen in last month's debacle, a 24 track hard drive recorder we've been using to document our live shows". This robbery had nothing to do with the riots taking place in Paris at the time.

Current projects and the future

The band are currently in the middle of recording new material, both for Streetlight and the Bandits. Both albums are due to be released simultaneously sometime in 2006, after which Streetlight will tour to promote their new record. So far Streetlight have teased a few new songs at live shows, 2 of which were recorded at the recent show at The Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale, New York. Streetlight are also releasing an album called Keasbey Nights, which is a re-recording of the original Keasbey Nights with some musical and lyrical changes. It currently has an estimated release date of March 7, 2006 according to the Victory Records website. In a news post on the Streetlight site Kalnoky has also hinted at plans for a future tour of Australia and Japan[12], although not even a rough date has been announced.

Discography

Song samples

Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end

Members

File:Smfskaisdead.jpg
Streetlight performing at the Ottobar in Baltimore on February 17, 2005. From left to right: Chris P., Tomas, Dan, Jim, Mike S.

Current

Former

(In order of departure)

  • Stuart Karmatz - Drums
  • Pete Sibilia - Tenor Saxophone
  • Paul Lowndes - Drums
  • Josh Ansley - Bass Guitar
  • Jamie Egan - Trumpet
  • Dan Ross - Alto and Baritone Saxophone

Crew

Tours

2004

They'll Never Tour Tour

2005

Ska is Dead 2 Tour

Ewerope Tour

Tour Between the Other Two Tours Tour

No One Quit Since Last Tour Tour

No Child Left Behind Tour

Please Stop Robbing Us Tour

See also

References

  1. ^ Audio interview by Tyler Rodgers for Charles Bronson Radio on 2003-12-20 mp3
  2. ^ a Interview with "The Wezzul" for a now defunct fansite. Archive of interview.
  3. ^ Interview conducted by Tom Schulte for Outsight Radio [13]
  4. ^ Volume 19 Issue #200 March 2005 Page 76
  5. ^ Punknews.org review of a 2004 show
  6. ^ Rate Your Music Reviews
  7. ^ Ink 19 Review
  8. ^ Interview with Kevin Gunther by Sinzine on July 20, 2004 [14]
  9. ^ "we made it! (kind of)" post on 2004-09-14 on news page
  10. ^ "3...2...1..." post on 2005-01-21 on news page
  11. ^ "so then that happened..." post on 2005-03-20 on news page
  12. ^ "joooon" post on 2005-05-22 on news page
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