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The Bus

by Skeletons

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1.
Pencilneck 07:01

about

Skeletons Big Band
"The Bus"

1. Numbers (1)
2. Tell Him Yr Name, Ann
3. We're the Boss
4. Box of Crayons
5. I'm Dying to Meet You
6. On Time
7. Pencilneck

While finishing the mix of the Skeletons' album "MONEY", Jason made the joke / non-joke that we should just scrap the entire album, transcribe and orchestrate all the parts we had just recorded, and re-record them with a 20-piece big band, live, in one room. I laughed at the time, and filled with rage. So much energy had been spent on record, the notion of throwing it away made me sick to my stomach.

About a year or so later, we found ourselves in a tiny room trying to track and overdub parts on the songs for "PEOPLE" - when an email came through asking if we might have an idea to do "something special", over the course of a week, with space and time to work through that big idea at the NYC performance space Roulette. Maybe Jason was right?

It was with great relief that we were able to pause for a moment and consider a new set of ideas. We came back to the "big band" - the almost joke, "jazz" reference, high school band, first time you ever realized you could make an instrument scream feeling - let's get those 20 people in a room and make some noise. Skeletons Big Band.

It ended up as more of a chamber orchestra: string section, woodwinds, brass, percussion. We wrote just enough on the page to constitute a song and the rest was up to the players... so we got great players - members of Extra Life, Little Women, Tune Yards, NOMO, PC Worship, The Dreebs, Starring, and more.

What formed, eventually called "The Bus" revolved around a long poem I wrote on a Greyhound bus from Columbus, OH to Chicago, IL. I had spent nearly three years riding on the Greyhound between Chicago and Elyria, OH while studying at Oberlin College in Ohio - and that trip from Columbus opened up some intense thoughts and memories. Sometimes, on the bus, there would be someone who would just talk loud. I suppose they were hoping someone would listen. Sometimes, I would write down what they said.

"The Bus", much like our album "Lucas", is a "ghost narrative". It tells a story, without telling too much. It's up to you to fill in the gaps.

After much work, hand-wringing, and delays - we're happy to give you "The Bus".

-Matt / Skeletons

credits

released September 18, 2012

Recorded at Roulette, New York City by Stephen Cooper and Brooke Gillespie. Mixed by Matthew Mehlan at the "Famous Original" Soilent Burn Recording Facilities, Orient Ave, Brooklyn, NY.

Additional recording at the Soilent Burn and at Soup Studios, London.

Mastered by Josh Bonati.

Performed by: Matthew Mehlan, Jason McMahon, Jonathan Leland, Tony Lowe, Mike Gallope, Sam Kulik, Ryan Snow, Johnny Butler, Mike Pride, Darius Jones, Travis Laplante, Elliot Bergman, Dan Peck, Jeremiah Cymerman, Justin Frye, Erica Dicker, Caley Monahan-Ward, Keith Parker, Matt Nelson.

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Skeletons

Skeletons (also known as Skeletons and the Girl-Faced Boys, Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities, Skeletons Big Band, and Skeleton$) is an American entertainment unit, formed in 2002, in Oberlin, Ohio. In its various forms, the band has toured around the world, and recorded for Ghostly International, Tomlab, Crammed Discs, Altin Village and Mine, and Shinkoyo — the imprint they co-founded. ... more

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