Streetlight Manifesto
Streetlight Manifesto are a
third-wave ska band from
East Brunswick,
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, who plays the
trumpet, Mike Brown who plays the
alto and
baritone saxophone, Jim Conti, who plays the alto and
tenor saxophone, Tomas Kalnoky, who plays the
guitar and is a
singer, Chris Paszik who plays the
bass guitar, Mike Soprano who plays the
trombone, and Chris Thatcher who plays the
drums.
Though the band have enjoyed no mainstream commercial success, they have received acclaim in
alternative music circles, and their debut album is currently in Interpunk.com's top 100 items, over 2 years after its release. In addition, they regularly sell out their live shows, and their first few shows at Rutgers and The Stone Pony not only soldout, but had people coming from afar afield as
Minnesota and
Canada[Audio interview by Tyler Rodgers for Charles Bronson Radio on December 20, 2003 mp3].
Their second album, a reworking of Catch 22's
Keasbey Nights was released on
March 7 2006.
|
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 first writes them on an acoustic guitar and then fleshes out the song structure on the computer and hums basic hornlines, after which the rest of the band come in and add their parts to the songs, eg. the horn section refine their parts and add harmonies
[b]. 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
[Interview with "The Wezzul" for a now defunct fansite. Archive of interview.]. In an earlier interview conducted in 2002 he mentioned 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
[Interview conducted by Tom Schulte for Outsight Radio [1]].
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."
[Volume 19 Issue #200 March 2005 Page 76]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
[Punknews.org review of a 2004 show] led to a fanbase that rapidly expanded. They have sold out shows in America since their very first gig at Rutgers University, 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 (This is particularly true of Catch's
Dinosaur Sounds). 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 disappoint, and received many glowing reviews
[Rate Your Music Reviews], and numerous comparisons to
Keasbey. It even received some good reviews from people who otherwise thoroughly disliked ska
[Ink 19 Review].
Due to Tomas' history with Catch 22 and Streetlight's rapid rise to success many fans have speculated that there 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", Kalnoky sings "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 "Regression / 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 were 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."
[b] However, since then both Tomas and members of Catch have stated on numerous occasions that they are on good terms (in fact Kevin Gunther from Catch 22 is Streetlight's booking agent)
[Interview with Kevin Gunther by Sinzine on July 20, 2004 [2]].
|
Current line-up. From left to right: Jim, Tomas, Mike B., Chris T., Chris P., Mike S., Delano |
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 separate 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
[c].
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 left 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
["we made it! (kind of)" post on September 14, 2004 on news page] 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 the BOTAR song "Dear Sergio:". 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
["3...2...1..." post on January 21, 2005 on news page]. 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
["so then that happened..." post on March 20, 2005 on news page]. 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
["europe update" post on May 6, 2005 on news page]. 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
[October 3, 2005 post on "robbed" page]. 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,
2005 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
[November 10, 2005 upate on "robbed" page].
The band are currently in the middle of recording new material, both for Streetlight and the Bandits, as well as touring in support of other bands. So far Streetlight have teased a few new songs at live shows, 2 of which were recorded at a show at The Crazy Donkey in
Farmingdale, New York on
October 9,
2005. In a news post on the Streetlight site Kalnoky has also hinted at plans for a future tour of
Australia and
Japan["joooon" post on May 22, 2005 on news page], although not even a rough date has been announced.
Streetlight Manifesto Demo (2002)
Everything Goes Numb (
August 26,
2003)
Keasbey Nights (
March 7,
2006)
|
Streetlight performing at the Ottobar in Baltimore on February 17, 2005. From left to right: Chris P., Tomas, Dan, Jim, Mike S. |
Current
*Delano Bonner -
Trumpet*Mike Brown -
Alto and
Baritone Saxophone*Jim Conti - Alto and
Tenor Saxophone*
Tomas Kalnoky -
Guitar and
Vocals*Pete McCullaugh-
Bass Guitar*Mike Soprano -
Trombone*Chris Thatcher -
DrumsFormer
(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#Chris Paszik - Bass Guitar
Crew
*Chris Knowles -
Sound Engineer for live shows (formerly
Merchandise)
*Jeff Smith - Merchandise
*Rob Thatcher - Go-to Guy
2004
They'll Never Tour Tour*
July 7 -
August 29*Support from
Big D and the Kids Table2005
Ska is Dead 2 Tour*
January 29 -
March 17*Joint headlining with
Voodoo Glow Skulls*Support from
MU330Ewerope Tour *
April 17 -
May 13*First tour outside of
North America*First
European tour
*Support from
Phinius Gage*Shows in:
England,
Scotland,
Wales,
France,
Belgium,
Germany and
SwitzerlandTour Between the Other Two Tours Tour *
May 31 -
June 18*Support from
Gym Class Heroes and
Whole Wheat Bread (WWB US Only)
No One Quit Since Last Tour Tour *
September 12 -
October 9*Support from
Bedouin Soundclash and Whole Wheat Bread
No Child Left Behind Tour *
October 20 -
November 23*Second European tour
*English support from
Uncle Brian and
$up*Shows in: Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium,
Netherlands and England
Please Stop Robbing Us Tour *
November 26 -
December 02*Support from
The Tossers2006
The Bamboozle Festival*
May 6*
Fall Out Boy headlining
This Better Work or We Are Dead! Tour 2006*
May 8 -
May 20*
The Aquabats headlining
*Support from
No TriggerSummer Tour*
July 1 -
August 13*
Reel Big Fish and
MxPx headlining
*Support from Whole Wheat Bread and Transition
*
Gimp*
Streetlight Manifesto official website*
Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution official website*
The RISC Group official website*
RISC Group Store*
Victory Records official website*
Unofficial Live Videos*
Unofficial Forum
