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| Photo: Bill T. Miller |
Gigs:
Saturday March 3rd, 2012
The Magic Room
155 N Beacon St
Brighton, MA
Also performing: Cooling Towers, Brian Carpenter + the Confessions
This will be a very special event you don't want to miss!!!
Current projects/news:
January 17th, 2012 ::: The new year is off to a great start! Our Lizard Lounge show was one of our best, as put by our fans who attended and the way we truly felt onstage. HUGE NEWS ~ Our new album is now available for pre-order here!!!!
You
can buy a download only or a physical CD, which includes a download as
well. The enhanced CD features a 6-panel booklet with lyrics and
original artwork by Thom Martin, BFOO guitarist Tony Savarino, and
David Samuel Robbins, as well as our music video for "Afyonkarahisar
Battle Cry." The pre-order includes immediate download of the
song "Blind" in your choice format. A link to the complete album will
be emailed to you the moment it’s released - on March 6th, 2012.
We are really proud of this record and so happy to be able to share it
with you. It has been 4 years since our last record, and it's
definitely been a real labour of love. On this new album, we once
again worked with dear friend/engineer/5th horseman Martin Bisi, Brian
Viglione (The Dresden Dolls), and band members past and present,
incuding Joel Simches, Rich Cortese, Joe Turner, and Dave Yanolis, as
well as talented engineers Rafi Sofer and Danny Gold. Without
such a team, it would not have been possible.
Now we make room for our second child.
January
8th,
2012 :::
Happy New Year! I do still hope to post my 2011 Year in Review, so stay tuned
for that. It's pretty much back to the grind back in Cambridge,
but I feel refreshed after my trip to Texas. It was definitely
good to get away from the city life for a bit, and clear my head
some. I've have been having a lot of new song ideas, and am
feeling grateful for the inspirartion. And although the new
record is about to surface, I have to say I can't wait to get the third
record out. The new material is so strong...
Michelle McCormack of CBS Boston gave me a shout out for my voice
lessons on her Secret Boston blog - awfully cool! Michelle
is a Facebook expert and blogger at LoveTheCool.
LIKE
her Facebook page Secret
Boston and FOLLOW her Tweets at @MichelleMMM.
The last remaining copies of Black Fortress of Opium's debut album and
our matching ladies' tees are now for sale here. Your
support is very much appreciated!
December
22,
2011
::: I write to you now from my native Houston, TX, where I am
spending the Christmas holiday with my father. The upcoming
record is now at the plant and being manufactured, so that's
something. This one's been a long labour! We now have 2
shows to announce - back to the Lizard Lounge, where we played our very
first show in 2006, and the album premiere show at the Magic Room,
where we played our video release in 2009. Both rooms are
excellent in different ways, and it's an exciting prospect! The
muses have been graciously providing many new song ideas, and we will
debut some at the Lizard Lounge. I will probably post my end of
year review here shortly, so stay tuned and Happy Holidays!
November
1st,
2011
:::
We had a blast last week, with 3 events - 2 live shows,
one of which was Tony's Birthday show, and recording on the amazing
independent radio station WFMU. The set aired Halloween night,
and it's archived here!!!
Thanks
to
Julie
B, hostess of Dark Night of the Soul and Irene Trudel,
our amazing engineer! We even covered a Pink Floyd tune, from the
Syd years...
At
the
moment,
we
don't have any gigs booked until our album premiere
show, and we are wrapping up and prepping for the release of the
album. It feels good to take a little break, as we worked hard
this year!
Rocktober
4th,
2011
:::
Our
set at the Allston Village Street Fair was a
blast! Fan Michael Rowe captured a few songs on video...
Regret & Rue
From a Woman to a Man
Afyonkarahisar Battle Cry
We
are
psyched
about
some
upcoming things...such as recording a live set
for Dark Night of the Soul on the amazing 91.1FM WFMU, which will air
Halloween Night! Also, our album premiere show and party will be
in January at a new club in Boston. The new album,
"Stratospherical" will be released in mid-January, and we can't wait
for you to hear it!
August
15th,
2011
:::
We
had
a
productive
summer,
played a few awesome
shows. Thanks to all bands for asking us on these bills! I
am teaching voice lessons, and just finished 2 rounds of voice
instruction/band coaching at Girls Rock Boston, and it was a profound
experience, once again. If you know anyone with a female child
aged 8-16, it is an amazing program where the kids learn to rock out,
form a band, learn an instrument, write a song, and perform it on stage
at a real club in one week. We also have a Ladies Rock Camp
session in February, so stay tuned.
This
fall
we
have
some
shows
coming
up,
and
I am doing a solo show or 2 in
Western Mass, as well. I was crushed to hear of Amy Winehouse's
passing, but I've been working on a tribute song to her. The new
record is an egg we are sittin' on at the moment, but I predict a hatch
date sometime in December or so...
June
30th,
2011
:::
Well
well
well!
This
week
a
lot of video footage of
Black Fortress of Opium playing LIVE
has emerged thanks to some talented and awesome folks, namely Sophia Cacciola and
Dean Frankensplean.
Here
are
a
bunch
of
clips
of
our
original
songs and one cover, taken
from gigs in May and June:
The Facts of Love
Afyonkarahisar Battle Cry
Right Around Here
Cherry Blossom
PJ Harvey/John Parish's "Black
Hearted
Love"
May
31st,
2011
:::
Summer
weather
has
hit
Boston
bigtime,
and
warm
weather
activities are in full swing here. Black Fortress of Opium has
some great shows lined up for the summer, with new folks we haven't
previously played with. We just did a great show with Brian
Carpenter + The Confessions, which was so wonderfully matched we'd like
to try it again in NYC sometime soon. Speaking of which, I was in
NYC in mid-May finishing up the record. For real! It's all
mastered and good to go. Thom Martin is cranking out the artwork
as we plan our release, so stay tuned for more deets on when &
where. To present complete bodies of work is very important to
me.
While
in
NYC,
I
met
up
with
some
old
friends
from
Boston
and we had a lovely
brunch and they took me to see the Andy Warhol sculpture in Union
Square. After the mastering sesh, Martin and I celebrated the
completion of the new album with a Turkish feast and then we wandered
around Times Square and Broadway - the first time for me, despite many
years of visits to the Big Apple.
I
have
been
teaching
private
voice
lessons
since
fall
2009,
and
I
am
really enjoying it. It is rewarding beyond what I could have
imagined, not to mention fun! I have learned so much in the process,
and I desire to keep studying, learning, and growing even more so I can
lead my students in deeper knowledge, and through my own personal
experience as an active vocalist and songwriter.
March
29th,
2011
:::
In 2 weeks, I will be peforming at
the April Flowers edition of Deep Heaven Now!, a festival continuing
the bi/semi-annual tradition of the original Deep Heaven ambient/psych
festivals of the 90s in Boston, and featuring the very best of the East
Coast, Mid-West & West Coast Ambient/Experimental/Psychedel
Festival highlights include: Sharp Darts (feat. 3 former members of Lockgroove, who were an integral part of the original Deep Heavens of the 90s), Ghost Box Orchestra (soon to represent Boston at Austin Psychfest), MMOSS (listed one of the Phoenix's 12 bands to watch out for this year), The Curious Mystery (K Records, Seattle), Diamond Center (VA, also playing Austin Psychfest this year), Narcoterror (feat. Ajda, ), The Sunshine Factory (AL), the Brooklyn Raga Association, and The Sky Drops (DE, also playing Austin Psychfest).
For a free download compilation of mp3s by Deep Heaven Now bands; http://deepheavennow.bandcamp.
Also, a song we have been working on that features Paul Wallfisch on keys is getting closer to being finished! And we set a mastering date for May 2011 to seal off the second Black Fortress of Opium record! It's gonna happen...
End of February 2011::: Whew! This
month has been flying by! I was involved at the first ever Ladies Rock Camp Boston as a
vocal instructor and band coach. Truly rewarding and I'm grateful
for the oppportunity to be part of it! Did a Valentine's Day gig
with Tony where we covered The Turtles, Amy Winehouse, Twin Peaks
soundtrack, and Mark Sandman. Got back up onstage with Martin
Bisi and his lovable gang at the Middle East. Here is the video, as shot
by Tony Savarino! Felt great! Did a Black Fortress of Opium
gig and more is coming up, especially this April. We have made
headway on album artwork and the cover is looking fantastic! I'm
currently reading Keith Richards' Life
and loving every page. I can relate to a lot of it, especially
the parts about writing songs...
January 2011::: New year, new lease on
life, and been working on new material. Still saving up to put
out the new record. All that's left is mastering, pressing, &
promo! We are considering doing a kickstarter campaign to raise
funds to get it out, but in the mean if anyone wants to make a
donation, please Paypal ajdatq@gmail.com! The support is much
appreciated.
December::: Looking back on 2010, I
accomplished a lot of things, in terms of musical and personal
endeavors.
2010: In Review
Overall, much time was spent in the studio, and that’s how I like it!
Accomplishments:
-Made another solid full length Black Fortress of Opium record with Tony, Dave Y, Viggie, Bisi, Joel
-Live shows at clubs/loft parties/galleries like PA’s, TT’s (with Serena Maneesh/4AD), Gallery 119, The Distillery, HOB, Precinct, Great Scott, also in CT
-Licensed 4 new BFOO songs for an indie film soundtrack (and the movie’s actually good!)
2 solo shows (1st in nearly 2 years) The Delancey, & Gallery 119 (with Soriah)
-Played with Narcoterror (1st show in 4 years, and 1st flute appearance in a rock setting in as many years!)
-Picked my flute back up and began playing in a classical duo on a weekly basis
-Did some church gigs on flute and voice that paid well (anyone need flute on a sesh?)
-Started my own business teaching music and taught voice lessons to 16 students
-Attended the McClosky Institute of Voice’s summer seminar in Beverly, MA
-Joined up with Girls Rock Camp Boston (in their 1st year!) as a vocal instructor
-Recorded country vocals for Tony’s solo album, letting the Texas roots show a lil’
-Played Atwood’s with Tony Savarino & the Satanic Lounge Syndicate
Highly worthy of note:
-Solidified 2 new songs, one of which is mostly done being recorded (featuring Paul Wallfisch on keys)
-Improved my voice a lot through teaching
-Got to be in a band, rock out, and record with old friend Yuri Zbitnoff
-Got to be in a band, rock out, and record with dear friend Dave Yanolis
-Renewed my friendship with and got to make music regularly with Joel
-Got to be in a band and rock out with my buddy Chris Pearson
-Moved into a new rehearsal space that’s better all around (grace a Garvy J!)
Travel:
-NYC a plenty to make a new record in my favorited BC Studio, to get Paul Wallfisch’s piano tracks for a new BFOO song, Cynthia’s Halloween BDay party, recording with Baz
-Syracuse for Carl’s recital (Tony's brother)
-Houston for the Rodeo
-Went to MassMOCA for the first time to see Carolina Chocolate Drops
-Several New England beaches incl. Nantasket,
Hampton Beach,
York Beach, Nahant
-Went to Battleship Cove with Tony
-Went to CT for Cynthia’s summer weekend and played almost everything I know with Tony outside under the stars (which inspired him to rework the Battle Cry a lil’ with a belly dance-y interlude)
-Went camping in Vermont with my dearest Pan 9 friends at summer's end
Other:
-Watched 6 years of the TV show “Lost” with Tony
-Attended Tony’s mastering sesh at Sound Mirror
-Had a wonderful coaching on flute with Peter Sykes of BU Early Music dept.
-Went to hear Tom Windish speak at Berklee – informative and inspiring
-Attended the Greek Festival down the street with Tony and enjoyed the yummy food
-Attended an excellent and enjoyable performance of Coppelia thanks to my friend Karen M.
-Attended a Lenten weekly harpsichord concert series at Emmanuel Church for about 4 of 6 concerts, where I heard several excellent players from the area
-Generally attended many networking events and parties
Awesome concerts I attended:
-PIL @ Royal
-Die Antwoord @ Royal
-Grinderman @House of Blues
-Swans @ Middle East
-Billy Ruane Memorial show with Thalia Zedek, Chris Brokaw (nice 20 minute feedback solo), Peter Wolf & more @ Middle East
-Bill Laswell & Method of Defiance in NYC at Santo’s
-Wovenhand w/Serena Maneesh @ Middle East
Great books I read:
Neon Angel by Cherie Currie (so awesome, inspiring, and powerful)
The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Bargaining with the Devil by Robert Mnookin (very useful tactical advice)
November:::
Tony Savarino's new solo guitar album "Guitaring" is out this
month, and I did guest vocals on a Flying Burrito Brothers song on it,
"Devil in Disguise (a.k.a. Christine's Tune)." It was a lot of
fun to do a country tune from the 60s; I finally got to let my Texas
roots show! I am also touched and honored to be one of 2 people
Tony dedicated the album to!
I am pleased to report that 4 songs from
Black Fortress of Opium's upcoming album have been licensed for use in
a feature length independent film by Boston filmmaker Andrew
Sayre. More tba!
I recently went to NYC to do some
recording with Michael Bazini, a.k.a.
DJ Butterface.
I recorded some vocals for a few pieces. This was a great
experience for me to come up with parts on the fly, and for stuff other
than my own. Collaboration always rocks, and Baz spoiled me
completely! I know Baz from touring with Martin Bisi in 2009, and
he is very talented, as a musician, DJ, and producer. He now has
a record label called AwwYeah.
September 2010 ::: The
upcoming Black Fortress of Opium
record is now mixed. All that remains is album art and mastering!
This just in! I am so happy to
receive word that I've been selected to receive an ASCAPLUS award for
the 7th year in a row. It means a lot to be a member of ASCAP and
to be recognized by them for my efforts as a composer/author of songs
and lyrics.
Check out this stellar
review of my last solo show in NYC, by Alan Young of Lucid Culture! Thanks
Alan! 2 shows with the full band this month! Joel Simches
is playing bass with us again:)
August 2010 ::: Played The Delancey in NYC last
night, at Paul Wallfisch's Small
Beast. It was a solo show, and it rocked, IMHO. Many
NYC friends came out to support. I spent a lot of time outside my
comfort zone during the set, as I debuted a few songs. I
performed exclusively on mandolin and piano.
Thanks
so much to those who came out to see me in Lowell, MA on the bill with
Soriah. I was nervous, not having done a solo show in nearly 2
years, but debuted a new song, 'Desperate
Kiss'. Great Scott with the full band was amazing as
well. We had a couple great shows in a short amount of time, and
I feel some momentum, especially sitting here mixing 2 more songs with
Martin.
July 2010 ::: We are
currently working on the second record, mixing with Martin
Bisi, and anticipate a
fall 2010 release.
Possibly November! The artwork will likely include pictures Tony
took during our trip to Turkey last
year, and yet another fortress - Uçhisar. Basics for most tracks
were recorded in January at BC Studios in Brooklyn,
NY with Martin Bisi engineering
and Brian Viglione,
formerly of The Dresden Dolls, playing drums on it. Dave Yanolis joined us on bass
guitar, and is in the live band, too. Also, many thanks to our
original bassist Joel Simches
for helping record the vocals and some additional instrumental tracks!
This album is going to be different in many ways. It's much more
collaborative between me and Tony Savarino. We are including a
hard-hitting Turkish Queen song that S.J. Roi and I demo'd in 2005. The
personnel on this record is more varied, including numerous musicians
and engineers. Whereas, the first time around it was 5 people from
recording through mixing.
Janaka Stucky of Black Ocean will contribute some poetic appeal to the liner notes, and expect printed lyrics this time. I am very excited about that!
Our music video screened at the Boston
Underground
Film
Festival this year.
We shared the stage with Serena-Maneesh (Norway) in April. They have
an amazing new album out on 4AD, and they previously also worked with
Martin Bisi.
We recently taped a set and
interview on CCTV in Cambridge,
Massachusetts that is currently airing in the Metro Boston area. The
set includes a lot of new material. Thanks to Matt and Marissa for
making it happen! They did an awesome job integrating the interview
with the set footage!
Background:
"Given the band’s name and the fact that its front-lady
is called Ajda the Turkish Queen, you might expect full-on, flat-out
Goth. But elements of folk, country, and blues mingle with measured
psychedelia and “Model Café”— a country romp about a love affair
sparked in that famed Allston establishment — is easily the local song
of 2008." - Linda Laban
Youtube,
Myspace, Facebook
I am on Twitter , myspace, and blogger.com. Please befriend me there...That is where you cand find some pics and links, and my blog.
In 2009, I did many shows and tours with Martin Bisi, from New York City to Kansas City. I performed backing vocals for the title track of his album 'Sirens of the Apocalypse' and on several tracks on his new digital EP Son of a Gun. The EP also features Bill Laswell and Brian Viglione (ex-Dresden Dolls). Here are some pics from Martin's May 2008 CD release at the Knitting Factory, which also included Laswell, John Zorn and others.
Please take a moment to read the journals and view the pictures of my 3 tours from the past year!
Summer 2009 tour II journal (Mid-Atlantic with Martin Bisi) and pics...
Summer 2009 tour I journal (West Coast with Martin Bisi) and pics...
Winter 2009 tour blog
(Midwest with Martin Bisi) and pics ...
I performed some flute recording with Darkflow, which involves some of the family of bands that rehearse in our space V8.
In late December 2008, I recorded some flute and mandolin for my friends Abunai! on their track 'Jamaicaway'. Check it out!
Late October 2008 I performed with Bill T Miller's Orgy of Noise. It was a noisy little experimental quartet, with me on vox and skull shaker - the sort of thing I haven't done in awhile. Bill's blog and various pics can be found here. He is the multi-media documentation king! I dressed up pretty sexy for the show.
In 2007, I did the soundtrack for an independent film entitled Ana's Time, by director Alice Cox. I composed new music on piano, tenor banjo, and guitar. Black Fortress of Opium recorded a cover for this movie as well, as mentioned above. I am excited to announce the film was screened at the Atlanta Film Festival in 2008. I posted one version of the main piano theme on my solo myspace page. The soundtrack also features a recording of my version of 'Afraid' by Nico.
In 2007, I did some vocals for an anti-war song called "End War Now" written by T Max, editor/publisher of the local Boston music magazine 'The Noise'. The session was at Hi'N'Dry Studios, which was started by Mark Sandman of Morphine. The song is now complete and thusly available on the myspace page for you to download. The song, along with other anti-war tracks, is featured on Neil Young's website.
An interview I did on www.gothtronic.com...
Two pieces of my original music can be heard in the independent film Pony Trouble. The whole soundtrack rocks, also featuring Dame Darcy, Freezepop, Lorette Velvette (The Hellcats, The Kropotkins, Sonic Youth, Tav Falco's Panther Burns), and many others. Officially released in March of 2007, the film is distributed through Brain Damage Films. You can buy the Pony Trouble DVD here. The film is also available through Netflix.
My other band, Narcoterror, recorded 5 tracks for an EP, which may one day be released. One of our songs made its way to Angel Sighs - a website of some people putting together a Spiritualized tribute album. Our cover of "Electric Mainline" is on there. Check it out! Please befriend us on myspace.
My previous band
Turkish Queen has a myspace
page, with tracks as well as plenty of photos.
I am a 7-time
recipient of the ASCAPLUS Award. If you
are a musician, I highly recommend joining ASCAP as a performing
rights society. They offer monetary awards to new/developing artists,
which can be ohsohelpful until royalties start pouring in.
† RIP Dear Mother †
† RIP Scott Roy †
† RIP Michael Braga †