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19 August 2010 - Copies of our new and final album, Attic & Cellar, finally arrived today, and so the absurd ordeal of pressing it is over at last. Topshelf will be shipping out the pre-orders to those of you who so faithfully paid for a copy in-advance within the next couple days. Those orders will come with an apology letter I wrote, which explains in greater detail the specifics of the difficulties we had in getting the album pressed and thanks everyone for their understanding and patience. I'll try to paraphrase here.
This record will be our last, as we are breaking up sometime this winter after a lengthy fall hiatus, so it was especially devastating to play a week and a half’s worth of tour dates while unable to sell it and, at the same time, incredibly uplifting to be able to sell them in advance to folks at home, in order to begin paying back our debt to the label. Topshelf has done something commendable in releasing the record of a band on its metaphorical deathbed. It speaks to Seth and Kevin’s ethics to put art and people above profit like that, and it speaks to yours that you’ve been good enough to make their five-year investment in us pay off. So once again, we are so sorry for the delay and inconvenience, and we are so grateful for your trust and support. Listening to the album today, almost three months after we finished tracking it, I believe I have the perspective to say that it's the most powerful piece of art I've ever had the opportunity to be a part of it. We really hope you like it. Click here or visit the “Releases” section to order it from the Topshelf Records Online Store.
We’d like to thank everyone who came out to the last show before our fall hiatus at the Common Place in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. We played in an empty indoor swimmingpool to a crowd of fans and friends. It was a really nice way to say goodbye for a while.
I’ve since moved to Highland Park, New Jersey to begin graduate school at Rutgers University. Everyone else will be similarly attending to our aspects of their lives this fall. So, while the small possibility of an impromptu performance exists, it is likely that our dual farewell shows, tentatively planned for winter break, will be our last two performances ever. Details for those shows will be available soonish – at any rate, well in advance of the dates.
Enjoy the album and keep your ear to the ground for future Aeroplane, 1929 happenings. Thanks again and take care.
Posted by Alex.
16 July 2010 - We'd like to sincerely thank everyone who made our tour this year possible. Unfortunately, we had to cut it short for monetary and personal reasons, but we had a blast together that first week, played some great rooms, met some nice folks, and got the word out about the new album even if we couldn't sell it. This was the final Aeroplane, 1929 tour, but I hope it won't be the last time I'm on the road playing shows with these dudes. Click the thumbnails below to check out some photographs. There are new photos, flyers, and other neat stuff posted throughout the site as well, so check that out too.
Be sure to come out to our last show before our long fall hiatus, Friday July 23rd at The Common Place in Wilbraham, MA with Big Kids, 1994!, Lion Cub, Feetlips, and more. Click here for the flyer.
Posted by Alex.
4 July 2010 - We'd like to thank everyone who came out to the Massachusetts and Connecticut release shows for our final album, Attic & Cellar and, in the same breath, to apologize that the records were not shipped to us in time to be available at the shows. If you came out and gave us your mailing information, you'll be receiving one in a little over a week. We really appreciate your patience and understanding. For those folks unable to make it to the shows, the album is available for mail-order (with the same timetable) now: click here to check that out. We'll also have it for sale at shows very soon.
Our first two shows back -- with new addition, Julian Veronesi -- and the two release shows were great. If you haven't already, you need to pick up Lion Cub's debut album, Seneca and check them out on tour coming up. Speaking of touring, we're doing that right now too. As I write this, we are en route to Philadelphia for a sweet holiday house show. We're touring in an SUV jam-packed with gear and beer. It's me, Jake, and JV and the shuffle just followed Glen Danzig with Taylor Swift, so yeah things are going well. We've still got some holes in the tour, so get in touch if you can help us out with a last-minute show. We've also got some tentative dates we haven't announced so check back for those.
We received four really flattering pieces of press this past week. Inkwell Press ran a promotional piece for the new album and Connecticut release show, which included an interview and a stream-able song from the new album called "Soothsayer Said," which isn't available anywhere else online. The New Haven Advocate reviewed Attic & Cellar in this week's issue, and the New Haven Register printed an article that combined interview, review, and commentary on our imminent breakup. CTIndie.com did something similar. Check those out here, here, here, and here, respectively.
Our final announcement is that we've had to reschedule our final shows ever. Several conflicts dictated that we push the shows into the fall or perhaps early winter. We want to make sure that everyone who should be there is able to and that the shows are as special as they ought to be. Details will follow, with plenty of time (predominantly hiatic months) of notice. This feels like the right way to conclude things.
See you on the road.
Posted by Alex.
7 June 2010 - I'm thrilled to make our first major announcements in almost two years. We have officially finished our final record, a twelve-song full-length entitled, Attic & Cellar. We recorded it ourselves at Home in New Haven and Topshelf Records is releasing it next month (click here to preorder it). A number of people contributed very significantly to make it a reality, and our appreciation is inexpressible. There were periods over the past year that we were genuinely unsure whether it would get made or see the light of day, so it's really exciting to be able to make a last statement as we conclude the band. We've uploaded three tracks -- "The Things My Father'd Done," "Head & Foot of the Stairs," and "Le Loup-garou (No no no...)" -- to our Myspace so you can get a feel for the album before it comes out on July 1st. Click here to head there now, and be sure to let us know what you think.
We're playing dual release shows -- one in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut -- on Thursday, July 1st and Friday, July 2nd, respectively, to celebrate the new album. In both cases, the $10 admission gets you into an awesome show and gets you a free copy of Attic & Cellar. The incredible lineups and other details are available on the "Dates" page and on our Myspace.
In other news, the handsome and talented Julian Veronesi (of A.W.F.U.L. and Sal Feathers & the Birdcage) has joined Aeroplane, 1929. He will be playing bass and guitar and, most importantly, singing with us, live this summer. We're very excited to have him onboard. Noah will not be playing with us very much during this last chapter, as he is touring frequently with The Spring Standards. Wil is similarly bound by other obligations and will not be touring with us either, although they will both be playing live with us at some local and regional shows. Dave and Alex are also engaged in other endeavors, so the touring lineup this year will be me, Jake, and Julian, playing more minimal versions of songs off our last three records. We are still booking this final tour -- it runs through the first two weeks of July -- so let us know if you can help us out with a show.
We are now able to announce officially that we will indeed be breaking up in August. As my earlier post outlines, we're all very proud of what we've accomplished together, but it's time to move on to new things. I'll be relocating to New Brunswick, New Jersey at the end of the summer to join the doctoral program in English at Rutgers University. And while I plan to perform by myself now and again in the NJ/NYC/Philadelphia area, and while future collaborations with Aeroplane members aren't out of the question, the band proper will cease to be.
The reality of that ending is really hitting us now, so we're trying to play together as much as possible this summer -- check back frequently to see when we'll be in your area and don't wait to come out to a show because this really is it. We're booking another pair of dates -- again, a Massachusetts date and a Connecticut one -- to serve as our farewell shows during winter break. Details will be available soon. You can be sure that both shows will be very special, with lots of guest appearances and surprises. Stay tuned for more info. This summer will be packed with activity and then, quite suddenly, it will all be over.
Posted by Alex.
31 March 2010 - I am very very pleased to announce that we have resumed work on our next album - our second full-length, our fourth release in five years - Attic & Cellar. Miraculously, the songs have emerged unscathed from our long, strange hiatus and are now being set to tape at the place we've come to call "home," even though none of us live there (anymore): Jake and Noah's childhood house in New Haven. There is still a great deal left to do, but we're very optimistic and have plans for an early summer release and a series of shows both local/regional and farther afield on a brief tour to support it.
There's not much else to tell at this point. But when the details do become available, they'll come quickly and in heaps, so keep your ear to the ground. We ain't dead yet, but when we do lay the band to rest at the end of the summer, it will be some spectacle.
Posted by Alex.
9 September 2009 - We're excited to announce that our most recent release, Original Sin, has been made available for free download through the Topshelf Records website. We recorded the three-song single/ep at home in June of 2008 and assembled a limited pressing of 150 for our tour that year. While we still have some physical copies in stock, we wanted to ensure that everybody who wanted to hear it would be able to. Click here to visit the download page.
Physical copies can still be purchased for just $5.00 (plus shipping). Email us to place an order. Also, please be sure to read my last news post, below. It clarifies a lot of questionmarks concerning the band's future.
Posted by Alex.
30 July 2009 - Ten months without an update is pretty unacceptable, but then, this band’s history has always been marked by concentrated bursts of activity and periodic lulls. Had we posted here over the course of the academic year, there wouldn’t have been much to tell - a handful of shows, some enthusiastic conversations, some vague plans; but mainly, we each focused on other aspects of our lives.
When I started this band four years ago, we intended to record an album, release it for free online, and play a few regional dates at most. Over time we got more serious - our lineup solidified, we wrote new songs, began touring - but our ambitions always remained modest: create music we could be proud of and perform it as a means of having fun together more than anything else. We’ve been really fortunate to have always broken even, but monetary success never really crossed my mind. Despite the band’s many personnel changes over that time, we’ve managed to put out a record of some length every year and tour every summer - all while everyone was working or going to school fulltime. I couldn’t be more pleased.
We were poised, as the 2009 school year concluded, to do precisely that again; but of course, things inevitably change. As many of our fans are friends, you may have already heard this, but for those we don’t get to talk to regularly, here it is: after this summer, we planned to go on a potentially indefinite hiatus. There are no major personal problems to speak of - hence the fact that we are not quite “breaking up.” But we’re all at weird transitional points in our lives and we each need to make something else a priority right now. This happens a lot, and there are a million different reasons for it. It’s less tragic than it sounds. All good things must end.
Our plan was to write and record a full-length album to be released last week (at our show at Café Nine on Wednesday, July 22, which was also to be the kickoff for a three-week tour) - a rather tall order. We knew that we would all be too busy to work on it much longer or tour much later, so this was sort of the moment. Over the course of a month, from mid-May to mid-June, I put together twelve songs that I’m really proud of, a coherent narrative album called Attic & Cellar. I’ve written more extensively on the penning of the songs at my personal blog, which can be found here. Suffice it to say that this record has been a long time coming - a sort of culmination of our four years as a band and my four years as an undergraduate as well as a realization of our creative evolution. Our sound (and my voice) found, we decided it was time to document. In short, this record is a big one for us - the biggest, in fact. It will be our last, and, I believe, our best.
On June 17 we began tracking the album, severely apprehensive about finishing it by our July 1 deadline, especially since most of the people performing it didn’t know the songs yet. Since we record our own albums, we’ve done a lot of writing and experimentation in the studio in the past. This was severely hampered by our timeline, however. We were killing ourselves to get things done. We worked everyday from 9am to midnight with minimal breaks for meals, etc. and after a week and a half we were nowhere near done. I had been excited by the fact that the pressing deadline would keep us from agonizing over every detail of the songs, would keep them fresh and raw and honest, but things were coming out sloppy. We were miserable and the record still wasn’t going to be finished anyway so we acknowledged the reality of the situation and made some big decisions. The tour was not as booked as we had wanted it to be and our bus was going to cost us a great deal in taxes, insurance, gas, and the cost of repairs, so we decided that, for the first summer in four years, we would not be touring in 2009, and that we would not (yet) be releasing the album.
Right now we’re all going in vastly different directions - everyone in the band is figuring out school or a career or other music projects or moving or something big. The six of us live in four different cities. Only very rarely are we all together at the same time in the same place. Jake graduated high school this June. In the fall, he’s moving to New York to begin a fantastic music composition program at NYU. I have no doubt you’ll be hearing more from him - although not necessarily in rock and roll. Noah moved to Brooklyn where he’s been selling sausages and booking, playing in, and tourmanaging bands. Wil has been working and drumming and is headed back to school in the fall. Alex Syner is in Boston, studying at Berklee and working and staying up all night and smoking cigars. Dave recently graduated from Goddard College and is now working and playing music. His band Sidewalk Dave just put out an awesome record - check it out. As for me, I graduated from Western New England College this May. I'm taking a year off to apply to PhD programs in English. I spend my days reading and writing and researching and studying for exams and filling out applications.
Ironically, deciding to slow down in the recording and release of the album has allowed us to revise our commitment to continuing to play together. We may never tour again, although I certainly hope that’s not the case. But we are going to finish this record the right way. It will come out - hopefully physically since Kelly Sullivan has already done an absolutely magnificent job on the artwork - and we will definitely play some shows to support it. We will remain a band, playing selectively over the course of the next year - existing, in some sense, as more of an idea or a myth than a material reality: one in which you will need to remain steadfastly faithful, as you already have so many times in the past.
We plan to record the album slowly but steadily through the fall and winter. We’ve no deadline or anticipated release date, nor do we have a plan for financing or supporting it as of yet. We will cross all those rickety bridges when we come to them. I’m confident in the record’s merits and can’t wait for it to blossom as it becomes an increasingly collaborative entity - as it moves from my madman’s mind through the magical fingers of so many dirty, eccentric hands and, finally, to tape. We will update when we’ve something newsworthy to announce. Until then, don’t forget about us.
Posted by Alex.