HANG ON MIKE
Official Press Release
HANG ON MIKE, the latest release from Candy Butchers, is a deeply personal record written by the band’s lead singer, Mike Viola.
A singer/songwriter known for honing his lyrics to razor-sharp precision backed by carefully arranged music, Mike took a different approach on this record. “The big departure with my writing on these songs is that I remained as close as possible to my initial creative impulse. I did not edit or overwork the lyrics. I was trying to keep the emotional center intact. I guess that's how I ended up using the real names of the people and the places that appear in each of the songs. It was not about extensive crafting, but really just putting myself, putting my life, out there for a change.” The recording process was also consistent with this approach and the entire record was done with virtually no instrument overdubs. “Normally when I make a record, each song has a very finished demo that I mail to each band member to get them acquainted with the shape of the music. With these songs, the band heard them for the first time in the recording studio. I barely sang the first week of recording. It gave the band and the engineers a lot of time to get a very stable and rich sound before we even rolled tape."
HANG ON MIKE marks both departures and reunions for Candy Butchers. Returning to sing with the band is Todd Foulsham, a childhood friend of Mike’s who has been involved with Mike's music on and off since junior high school. An original member of Candy Butchers, Todd’s antics on stage with Mike became notorious on the downtown New York scene. “Working with Todd again came out of a request from a fan who approached me about the two of us performing at a gig. I called Todd and he was into it so we played that night and had a great time, just singing all our old songs. A few weeks later I went over to Todd's house and played him the new songs I was working on and something clicked. So he came into the studio and sang harmony with me on a number of the tracks.”
HANG ON MIKE features drummer Mike “Beans” Benigno who is joined by long time Candy Butcher Pete Donnelly on bass and Mike Gent on guitar, both from the band “The Figgs,” as well as Jedediah Parish from the Boston-based band, “The Gravel Pit" who sang and played keys.
The first single, “Nice To Know You,” is what Mike calls the “silver lining” song. Featuring Todd on harmonies, the song takes a classic upbeat pop musical approach, with a darker lyrical content. “It was the last song that I wrote and it was a perfect vehicle for Todd and myself vocally, especially after getting into some pretty heavy “letting go” territory on tracks like “Hunker Down" and “Painkillers”"
Mike views this collection of songs in HANG ON MIKE as a farewell to much of the emotional lodestones that he was holding onto both in his personal and professional life. “I hope this record is not seen as self-serving. Making a record this personal without the pop polish to take off the edges was a truly cathartic experience for me. It helped me to realize that not achieving the external measures of success -- such as massive radio airplay or video rotation -- is not what kills the art that is inside you. When that art dies, it dies from the inside.”
That being said, HANG ON MIKE is a testament to the art that lives inside Mike Viola.
A singer/songwriter known for honing his lyrics to razor-sharp precision backed by carefully arranged music, Mike took a different approach on this record. “The big departure with my writing on these songs is that I remained as close as possible to my initial creative impulse. I did not edit or overwork the lyrics. I was trying to keep the emotional center intact. I guess that's how I ended up using the real names of the people and the places that appear in each of the songs. It was not about extensive crafting, but really just putting myself, putting my life, out there for a change.” The recording process was also consistent with this approach and the entire record was done with virtually no instrument overdubs. “Normally when I make a record, each song has a very finished demo that I mail to each band member to get them acquainted with the shape of the music. With these songs, the band heard them for the first time in the recording studio. I barely sang the first week of recording. It gave the band and the engineers a lot of time to get a very stable and rich sound before we even rolled tape."
HANG ON MIKE marks both departures and reunions for Candy Butchers. Returning to sing with the band is Todd Foulsham, a childhood friend of Mike’s who has been involved with Mike's music on and off since junior high school. An original member of Candy Butchers, Todd’s antics on stage with Mike became notorious on the downtown New York scene. “Working with Todd again came out of a request from a fan who approached me about the two of us performing at a gig. I called Todd and he was into it so we played that night and had a great time, just singing all our old songs. A few weeks later I went over to Todd's house and played him the new songs I was working on and something clicked. So he came into the studio and sang harmony with me on a number of the tracks.”
HANG ON MIKE features drummer Mike “Beans” Benigno who is joined by long time Candy Butcher Pete Donnelly on bass and Mike Gent on guitar, both from the band “The Figgs,” as well as Jedediah Parish from the Boston-based band, “The Gravel Pit" who sang and played keys.
The first single, “Nice To Know You,” is what Mike calls the “silver lining” song. Featuring Todd on harmonies, the song takes a classic upbeat pop musical approach, with a darker lyrical content. “It was the last song that I wrote and it was a perfect vehicle for Todd and myself vocally, especially after getting into some pretty heavy “letting go” territory on tracks like “Hunker Down" and “Painkillers”"
Mike views this collection of songs in HANG ON MIKE as a farewell to much of the emotional lodestones that he was holding onto both in his personal and professional life. “I hope this record is not seen as self-serving. Making a record this personal without the pop polish to take off the edges was a truly cathartic experience for me. It helped me to realize that not achieving the external measures of success -- such as massive radio airplay or video rotation -- is not what kills the art that is inside you. When that art dies, it dies from the inside.”
That being said, HANG ON MIKE is a testament to the art that lives inside Mike Viola.