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Morning Kills the Dark pretty much tells the story of the last year or so of our lives. Kala's and mine, that is. It's the two of us and our best friend Richard that are the heart of Biirdie. Together and apart we pieced together the album from recording sessions from at least six different locations that include Mike Andrews' Glendale home, Travis Huff's Los Feliz backyard studio, Richard and his mom's Jacksonville, Florida, home, Kala's brother Fred's Hollywood Hills home and our West Hollywood apartment when our lousy neighbors weren't around. Half of the songs were recorded by Bob Maynard on his portable Roland VS-1824 workstation and Travis recorded the other half. This is our first full-length album and we made it for and about our friends, family and each other. It's part Florida, part California and a lot of in-between. I think it's nearly the tenth album I've been a part of in as many years and it's my proudest moment, words and music. MKTD is honest and heavy, it's raw and a testament to hard work, perseverance and love. It's a commitment to a lifestyle and to friendship. Kala and I met the day before Halloween in 2003 while I was house-sitting for Daniel Lanois in Silver Lake, California. At that time, I was working as the road manager on Daniel's Shine tour and Kala was busy working as an actress. She had recently returned from a summer in New York where she appeared on Broadway and she was guest starring on a TV show. Richard was in from Jacksonville and the three of us bonded over movies, shopping malls, Chinese food and The Velvet Underground. Richard and I met two years earlier while we were both playing in an alt-country band that recorded one album for Oakland's Hightone label. He is known around the Jacksonville record shops and art bars for his encyclopedic knowledge of music and film. His home collection is nearly 30 thousand titles deep. Daniel had an awesome amount of gear set up in his living room, including the Time Out of Mind piano and we'd jam on songs like "Pale Blue Eyes" for forty minutes at a time. Richard played drums, Kala played bass and I'd play the Dylan piano. It was effortless for us to sing well together. Kala sang the high part, I sang the low part and Richard sang the in-between. I think that those first days are where a big part of our sound evolved from and I don't think that much thought went into it. It just kind of happened that way. Soon, Kala and I wrote our first song together, and the first track on MKTD. "Open Letter To Jenny," a waltz and a tribute of sorts to Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis who Kala first met years ago when her brother and Jenny made a movie together. Kala and I wrote "The Other Side of Sunset" and "You've Got Darkness" next as she taught herself to play the piano, microKorg synthesizer and the xylophone. The songs were happening and their lyrics and melodies were indebted not only to our love of rock and roll and R&B, but also to Tin Pan Alley, Doo Wop and Brill Building Pop. Within weeks we had written nearly all of MKTD. "Hotel Piano," the album's centerpiece, was the last song written for MKTD and its two-minute plus noise experiment ties the Morning and Dark sides of the album together. In "Hotel Piano," and all of the songs on MKTD, you get the whole truth, nothing pulled and no bullshit. It's the story of our lives from Miami skies to the hills of Echo Park. - Jared Flamm Check out the artist's website: http://www.popuprecords.com Track List: 1. Open Letter To Jenny 2. You've Got Darkness 3. The Other Side Of Sunset 4. Kayla Lynne 5. Hotel Piano 6. I Got You (On My Mind) 7. To Know That You Need Me 8. Pacifica 9. I'm Going To Tell You Something 10. California Is Waiting Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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