The history of Steel Train by Jack Antonoff

Wednesday

Jul072010

Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 11:57 AM

Steel Train band

Jack of Steel Train recently posted an "unabridged version" of Steel Train's history, which you can find below. It was written on the release day of their new record, which came out last week. You can stream and then order their new self-titled album here.

hi. jack here. writing you from bed at a hotel in nebraska. daniel is watching "party down" next to me and laughing hysterically. so, OUR RECORD IS OUT TODAY! i'm so happy to write that. wild / crazy / outstanding / emotional / concerned about how fast time is moving / hungry. i feel like a crazy person right now. we've worked so hard to get this record into all of your hands and all of the sudden, poof, it appears. i want to tell you the story of this record. where to start. how about the beginning?

- i met evan and daniel in private jewish school. we were 10 and dreamed of being in bands. i was not well-liked in school, evan was wildly popular and daniel resided somewhere in between.

- we loved minor threat and refused, so we started punk bands and played in firehouses and legion halls in new jersey. it was magical. new jersey in the late 90s, that is. a real moment in history that we somehow stumbled into.

- at 15 we convinced our parents to let us borrow their minivans and we went on a tour that evan and i booked from his attic. you know, cold calling venues, dial up internet, we even used a book called B.Y.O.F.L. that had phone numbers of kids in every state that could hook up shows. i later found out it stood for "book your own fucking life." a concept that still excites me to the core. the result: a bunch of 15 year olds driving all the way to texas and back in a toyota siena minivan, and playing shows everywhere in between. god bless our parents. we probably played for a combined 200 people and got paid a total of $300 over the course of 20 shows. it didn't matter. we only wanted to tour and play music. we didn't care if the show was being held at an anarchist book shop in tampa called the 'stone soup collective' (this actually happened). it was the beginning, we fell in love with touring. etc.

- high school ended, daniel and evan went to college. i did not. soon after, daniel and evan dropped out of college. we started steel train. very simple. truly thrilling.

- we toured and made records. jon joined the band. we toured more and made another record (trampoline!). then justin joined the band. completion ensues. the band finds it sound. steel train becomes what we had always intended it on being.

so...... i've just summed up 5 years. this brings us to late 2008. the "trampoline" album cycle was coming to a close and we were on a headlining tour of the US. it had been an amazing year. great tours, did lollapalooza and bonnaroo, played on conan before he moved to la (and was then cancelled), finally cut my long hair, all around great feelings and a bright future as we closed out 2008 and looked towards the making of the next record. this is where time stops. this is where the story of the record we are putting out today begins. ok, stick with me, it gets complicated.

i had been writing for months. by february of 2009 we were ready to go make a new record. we were excited and amped (2nd use of this word. reference to my last essay). the band and our manager marc were thrilled about the demos and ready to go. we delivered the songs to our label and the response was upsetting. there were massive issues raging from contractual matters to simple artistic differences. we were on totally different pages. worlds apart. the band was ready to go, on the heels of an amazing record cycle and tour, we knew we had to make new music and venture forward. we tried to play ball with our label for the next few months. we eventually found ourselves in a position where we couldn't make a record without their blessing, and it became increasingly obvious as time went on that we were never going to get it. it was an awful time. such darkness. alone in record label space, floating without a purpose. its so hard to believe so deeply in the songs you are creating and at the same time having the people around you tell you its the wrong direction. the wrong sound. it was devastating. the only rational option was to wait. we tried. we couldn't. we believed in the songs and the direction of the band and knew that we'd be missing a moment if we didn't go and make this record. it was at this point that we made the decision to go into the studio and fund the record ourselves. i remember being on a conference call with our lawyer and manager right before we went into the studio. our lawyer was telling me that all of the money we were about to spend was very possibly a giant waste because the music we were going to record would be owned by the label and likely never be released. against better judgment, we pressed forward with production of the record...on our own. we moved out to LA in march of 2009 to begin work with our producer, steve mcdonald. i really believe that this intense turmoil is what created the record we ended up with. since we started this band, everything that we have done has been made with the knowledge that it will be released and heard by the world, and that has an undeniable effect on the process. recording this album and knowing that it may have never seen the light of day brought us back to being the kids we were when we started making music in new jersey. every decision and every sound on this record got printed because we liked it. it made us feel right. no outside influence, no a & r people floating around the studio. no opinions but our own. there was a subtext of aggression that had built as a result of the situation with our label. we poured it all into the recording. so many of the sounds are completely blown out and distorted. group vocals flying in and out like the gang of outcasts we had been made to feel like by everyone that had tried to stop this album from being made. i listen back to the record now and i feel that we have captured a time better than we ever have. recording an album in the level of turmoil that we did proved the be the best thing for our band. everyone was telling us we couldn't do what we were doing, and it pushed us so fucking hard that we ended up in a place that we would never have gotten to on our own. for that, i am eternally thankful for the situation we were in. sometimes you need someone to say "you are shit" before you can see your true value. sounds backwards, but its oddly true. so what happened? well, shortly after completing the record we miraculously came to an agreement with our label and parted ways. we started breathing again, and immediately made the arrangements to step into the future and release our own music. for years i've felt like there was this fantastic party happening and i was on the street with binoculars looking through the window like some kind of creep. whether it was radiohead or the format, i was always so jealous of bands that controlled their own music and delivered it in creative ways to their fans. it is such an honor to return back to where we came from as an independent band and release this record ourselves through a label we created and run (terrible thrills!). its how we were raised in music. working on this record has brought me back to why i started this in the first place. feels like im back in the attic with evan booking shows. feels like we are 15 again touring through alabama being paid in corn dogs and somehow not giving a shit. thats why this record is self-titled, it's why the artwork is my childhood room with all our old show posters and what not, and its the reason that the sound of this record is so unhinged compared to our previous releases. its a return home, and im not sure we would have been able to do it if not presented with the challenges we were. one thing is for sure, with our newfound freedom we have every intention of going completely over the top releasing music to make up for all the years that we were tied to a system that inhibited this. terrible thrills vol. 1 is the first many fantastic projects we will be working on as a result of simply having the option to. more on that soon... so... thats what happened. what i ask of you is this: check out the album. there are a million places you can hear this record for free, and we fully support you doing that. if you fall in love with it, please buy it. i know thats a lot to ask these days, but we fiercely believe in the value of recorded music and are on a crusade to keep it alive. with that said, id also like to add vinyl and independent record stores to that crusade. i grew up buying my favorite bands' vinyl and cds at my local record store on release day. it's a feeling that can never be duplicated, and as long as you guys want it we'll be spending a shit ton of money on beautiful packaging, elaborate art and of course the 8th wonder of the world - colored vinyl! just know this. if you buy this record in a store, on itunes or on amazon or anywhere ... you are supporting us and only us. i can't stress enough how much it means to us to release this record independently. we are emotionally bound to this record in a way that i've never felt before. any success or failure leads only back to us. its invigorating, and your support of it is felt on every level.

so..... i'll leave you with this...doing what we do has made me a very complicated person. i've chosen to share more of myself with all of you instead of most of my friends and family. it can be somewhat isolating. i look back at my years touring and making music and what i realize is that playing live and making records is what keeps me feeling. sharing it with all of you is the only thing in this world that makes me feel slightly less alone. playing shows and sharing our band with all of you has been the very fuel the keeps us moving. this new album is our ticket to another 2 years of life with each other and all of you. im truly excited to share it all.

...and there you have it, and overly forward/emotional release day blog!!

listen to these songs when reading this blog or before you go to bed. its the play list i listen to before i sleep if want to think of the things i love and feel greatful for before dosing off. try it if you like. let me know what you think:

1. san bernadino by the mountain goats
2. at my most beautiful by rem
3. goodnight laura by spoon
4. god loves everyone by ron sexsmith
5. have you forgotten by red house painters
6. cotton by the mountain goats
7. linger by the cranberries
8. lullabye by billie joel
9. please call me baby by tom waits
10. fake empire by the national
11. good night by the beatles

ok - talk soon.

sending love.
jack

ps. come see us on tour. we're having the best time. we love sharing that with you. dates below:

6/29 Denver, CO, Bluebird Theatre
6/30 Salt Lake City, UT, Kilby Court
7/2 San Francisco, CA, Great American Music Hall
7/6 Los Angeles, CA, El Rey Theatre
7/7 Phoenix, AZ, Rhythm Room
7/9 Austin, TX, Emo's
7/10 Dallas, TX, Cambridge Room at House of Blues
7/12 Orlando, FL, The Social
7/13 Atlanta, GA, Drunken Unicorn
7/14 Nashville, TN, Exit In
7/16 Cleveland, OH, The Grog Shop
7/17 Rochester, NY, Water Street Music Hall
7/20 Vienna, VA, Jammin' Java
7/21 Philadelphia, PA, First Unitarian Church
7/22 New York, NY, Bowery Ballroom
7/23 Cambridge, MA, Middle East (Downstairs)