Here's the Latest from the Basement...

4/28/08 - Dad is finally catching up on the news, writing for DNB, and playing with the Aquatudes, who have enjoyed a reasonably steady gig schedule since their debut in November of 2007. Dad is working on the next DNB single, likely to feature his Broken-Hearts-era tune, "Up in the Air" along with a new song, "Traces of You." We'll see how this progresses. Stay tuned.

Late 2007 - Dad has had another tune accepted to this year's SurfGuitar 101 online Compilation. "Venture This (Fates Decree)" finally gets some play outside of the basement! Also, Dad's myspace page is getting some hits and Dad has assembled a cadre of groovy "friends," including Robin Hitchcock, Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw, and the Smithereens.

August 07 - The Aquatudes are now a trio with the addition of Mr. Fred Magetteri on bass. Now, on to conquer the surf scene in CT!

7/14/07 - Dad now has a myspace page. Click HERE to visit, check out four full-length songs, and see if he's got any friends yet.

7/1/07 - Dad has met a cool drummer, Dick Bascom, who has joined forces with Dad in the Aquatudes. Now the band only needs a bass player to complete the lineup. Stay tuned!

5/9/07 - The Aquatudes now have a myspace page. Click HERE to visit, check out four full-length songs, and see if they've got any friends yet.

1/7/07 - Dad has posted an in-use photo of the Electra X-145 on the Current Gear page. Also, the Surf Guitar 101 2006 Compilation is available for free download HERE. It's quite a cool collection of 25 twangin' tunes from members (some bands and some individuals) of the SG-101 site.

11/19/06 - Some equipment and gig news this month: Dad has acquired a virtual twin of his longtime main-axe, his Electra X-140 - actually this one's an X-145, which has the same body, neck, and electronics, but with a synchronized tremolo (finally!). The body and headstock are groovy metal-flake blue. Dad got the chance to debut this guitar at a gig with See Jane Run at the Connecticut International Auto Show. Check out the SJR site for photos! Dad will be adding a photo to his Current Gear page soon.

10/20/06 - Dad has had one of his new Aquatudes tunes, Bongo Shmongo, accepted to the Surf Guitar 101 2006 Compilation. For now, you'll have to join the site to find the various tracks included in the collection, but sometime after 12/1/06, the compilation will become available for downloading. We'll keep you posted!

9/27/06 - If you've ever visited this site before, you might notice that we've just completely updated the look. There's the new DNB logotype that debuted on the Too Much (EP) release and the whole site is now based on a white background instead of black. We're working on some new snazzy artwork, like on the homepage, to perk up the rest of the pages, too. Stay tuned!

8/1/06 - Dad has completed this year's (!) 2-song "single" for his other fake band, the Aquatudes. The songs are titled "Shim Jambs (Before Cutting Bands)" and "Bongo-Shmongo." They will soon be uploaded as full-length mp3's on the also-soon-to-be-updated Aquatudes site. Dad says "Happy Birthday" to his Dad on 8/6.

3/17/06 - Boy, it's been a while since I've done an update. There's a more current photo of Dad performing with See Jane Run on the Bio page. I've also updated and corrected some of the narrative on that page. Dad has begun a new musical pursuit he calls the Aquatudes - this will be an instrumental-only branch of the DNB enterprise, and will hopefully turn into an actual band (with other actual members!). Dad is also considering recording the remainder of his Broken Hearts catalog, to be released under the DNB name. It will probably turn out to be a 6-8 song collection. Stay tuned!

8/12/05 - Dad stumbled upon the Univox Hi-Flyer of his dreams this past week at a guitar store in Westerly, Rhode Island, called Frets. Check out the photo and description on the Current Gear page, which is also updated with Dad's drum kit and digital recording rig. Dad said "Happy Birthday" to his dad on 8/6.

7/31/05 - After months of an hour here, an hour there, Dad has finally completed the next single. The songs, "She's Too Much" and "Venture This" have gone through some big changes since they were first attempted on the old 4-track cassette. "She's Too Much" now has 3-part harmony backup vocals and a much better bass part than before (trust me). "Venture This," on the other hand, now features the voice of Mrs. Dad (Cindy Lou) on a voicemail monologue in the 16-bar middle section of the song, surrounded by vintage drag-racing sound effects. The early reviews (by some close friends) are promising, so we've posted sound clips of the two songs on the Music page.

4/18/05 - Dad has taken a vacation week to finish his next single, which will include "She's Too Much" and the Ventures-inspired (though ultimately weird) instrumental "Venture This." Mark from See Jane Run thinks "She's Too Much" is very Beatle-y. Dad doesn't necessarily agree, but you can be the judge when the sample is eventually posted here (or you can buy the single!). Dad says "Happy Birthday" to his Mom on 4/16.

4/1/05 - Dad has been indulging his latest obsession: assembling a drum kit. So far, he's collected a 20" Sonor Sonic Plus bass drum (red), a nice Ludwig snare, a Tama Swingstar 12" rack-tom (red), a set of Paiste 502 cymbals, and the associated stands and hardware. He's now on the lookout for an appropriate 14" or 16" floor tom to complete the kit - either a Sonor or a Swingstar. Then he'll have to work on setting up mikes, etc. to record acoustic drums- another new frontier...

1/31/05 - Dad has found some photos online of other peoples' examples of some of his long-lost guitars. He's posted these with explanations on the Gear-of-the-Past page. He has also added more of his current instruments on the Current Gear page.

12/27/04 - Dad has acquired a reprint of an old Magnatone guitar catalog from about 1960. It shows his Magnatone single-pickup guitar and identifies it as an Artist Series Mark VII. This is a long name for a very basic guitar. Anyway, we've updated the description of this instrument on the Current Gear page.

11/6/04 - The first "single" created on the digital deck is now complete! Go to the Music page to preview 45 Number One, featuring two new tunes, "Back When I Thought it Didn't Matter" and "In a Pickle."

11/6/04 - Dad has added a new page on his Current Gear - not all of it yet, but most of his main guitars. There'll be more to come. Check back from time to time.

4/4/04 - Dad has actually begun two new songs on the Fostex deck - one of his slightly psychedelic Broken-Hearts-era tunes called "Back When I Thought it Didn't Matter" and a new (and strange) tremolo-guitar-and-organ-soaked garage-rocker called "In a Pickle." Stay tuned for more info as it arrives. Dad says "Happy Birthday" to his mom on 4/16.

1/26/04 - Dad has scored a Fostex DMT-8vl on eBay. It's an older 8-track digital deck that operates like a portastudio, with full mixer, two effects loops and external mixing. Dad now feels like he can rule the world! This changes everything about the next album. Dad will have to revisit the completed songs "She's Too Much" and "Venture This" to see if he'd like to redo them on the new rig.

11/7/03 - Dad other band, See Jane Run, has completed "Weird Reality" and is now offering the CD for sale on their site. Check out the song samples on this new piece of pure garage-pop heaven!

8/5/03 - Dad has actually completed a track for his next album. The song is called "She's Too Much" and it's brand new. We'll be adding an mp3 snippet of the tune soon. Dad thinks he'll dip into his catalog, especially his unrecorded material from the Broken Hearts days, to fill up about half of this next album. Some possibilities: Cute Girlfriend, Up In the Air, Music Please, Back When I Thought It Didn't Matter, Fool For Love, and C'mon Back to Me.

Dad also says "Happy Birthday" to HIS dad on 8/6!

4/12/03 - Dad has begun recording tunes for his follow-up to Dad's Noisy Basement. No word yet on an album title or on a final (or even preliminary) song list.

4/2/03 - See Jane Run is finished recording and mixing for their next release, tentatively titled "Weird Reality." Next steps are mastering and manufacture. We'll keep you posted on a release date.

4/1/03 - More Broken Hearts news - After 16 years, there is a NEW Broken Hearts interview on The Rooks site - in fact, there is a whole section about the Broken Hearts, complete with some cool photos that even Dad hasn't seen in years and years!

The reissue of "Want One?" has gotten some attention and some reviews. An interesting description appears on the All Music Guide site, which is, in fact, a great place to learn more about almost any musical artist you can think of.
"Want One?" has also been reviewed on the following sites:

3/31/03 - Check out the new "About The Songs" page to read about Dad's oddball creative and recording processes for each track on the "Dad's Noisy Basement" CD!

2/1/03 - It's out!
Paisley Pop has released the CD reissue of "Want One?" by the Broken Hearts (Dad's old band in the 80's). It contains the original 9 LP tracks, plus 11 bonus tracks. Included are several live rehearsal tracks of tunes which have more recently appeared on albums by The Rooks and Dad's Noisy Basement. There are even a couple of Dad's old tunes (in live rehearsal or demo form) that will be appearing on his upcoming second solo album. There are two places you can get this collectible gem: at Paisley Pop's own site and at The Rooks site. Your choice. But buy it now - it's a limited pressing and once they're gone, they're gone! Watch this site for information about the upcoming Broken Hearts web site.