PHILADELPHIA, PA. (Gigohead PR/ www.cdbaby.com/dsproject) - After abandoning the grunge rock scene as members of the Philadelphia premier rock band, TaLLtrEEs, five 'disgruntled' former members re-teamed to play music by their own set of rules. Thus, The Disgruntled Sherpa Project was born.
Guitarists Joe Boylan, Dan Perry, Bassist Walt Mamaluy, Guitarist
George Wright (new member), Drummer Wayne Lee (new member) and Pianist Joe MacKale make up The Disgruntled Sherpa Project. A new band also meant straying from the 'sloppy grungy garage sound' that made the TaLLtrEEs popular on the east coast. The debut CD, Farm Living, is a collection of country-influenced songs and, according to Perry, is focused more on song structure and melody. 'The CD is full of acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos and twinkling piano and is heavily influenced by the country-based work of Led Zeppelin, The
Rolling Stones and Gram Parsons,' says Perry.
'We're basically the guys who wrote all the music and the lyrics for TaLLtrEEs so we're pretty much the same band just we're singing ourselves instead of getting a front man,' Boylan explained. 'As we went in and out of bands, we finally decided to put something together with just ourselves and a few friends helping out and it's been by far the best thing we've done yet,' he said.
The Disgruntled Sherpa Project doesn't try to keep up with the Joneses and get into whatever the "current scene" is. 'The band just plays whatever type of music we enjoy. I love bands that are able to play different styles of music, so in turn I find myself writing some things that are country/acoustic, middle eastern, hard rock, bluesy, etc,' says Perry. 'Pretty much all types that I like to listen to. On this album, my Zeppelin III influence came out in the acoustic/mandolin music I mainly focused on,' he adds.
SONG RUNDOWN
All Soul's Day- According to Boylan, 'All the soul's in Christendom" was something I heard on
The Simpsons once and I decided to write a lyric around it comprising these down and out characters'.
On a Clear Day –'It's a tune Dan wrote and I just kept playing it over and over. It sounded like a Southwestern tune, something you'd hear in a
Santa Fe bar, I just imagined someone being out of his element and missing someone back home,' says Boylan.
Burn – 'I tried to write a Neil Young-like song and it became this. I figured a nice easy theme was heartbreak and bitterness. It has a pretty universal theme. The dusty dentist refers to a dental office in Tijuana, Mexico,' says Boylan.
She Always Does it to Me – According to Boylan the song was something he and Walt Mamaluy did back with former bandmates, Wayne Lee and
George Wright in the late 90s. 'I loved Walt's voice on it. So I rewrote it and we included it on the CD because Walt sings it so well. He's the only one out of all of us that can sing, but like anything with Walt it's like pulling teeth to get him to do it.'
Monkey
Knife Fight - Boylan wrote the song based on
The Simpsons episode where they claim that in international waters anything goes, including Monkey
Knife Fights. 'I just imagined how nice it would be to allow all our cares to wash ashore and watch monkeys mutilate themselves. The music was just a shuffling sea shanty-like thing I came up with to fit the melody of the lyrics.'
'Once again, a mandolin riff I heard in my head over the guitar. I love the swaying feeling along with the lyrics. And how can you go wrong with knife wielding monkeys?' adds Perry.
Pennsylvania – 'I wrote this driving from York, PA to Philadelphia as I was listening to
George Harrison's last CD. I wrote it for my girlfriend,' says Boylan. 'This song just feels very relaxed and mellow,' adds Perry.
Jihad Blues – Composed by Perry, Boylan tried to write lyrics for this Mid-Eastern-influenced track about Jesus. 'Because you know, He lived there once,' says Boylan. 'But it seemed too pious and heavy. So then I decided to write it about a very reluctant terrorist who finally gets sick of all the nonsense that's been pounded into his head about religion and killing in the name of it, and leaves to go play soccer and cricket with his friends.'
Room – Perry comments that it's the darkest song on the album. 'I stumbled across a delayed violin effect that fit perfectly.
Sounds kind of haunting. Then Joe and I put on all kinds of percussion on top that worked well.'
Country Wedding – 'A great ho-down tune. I was going for the most "shit kicking" sound possible with slide guitar,' says Perry.
Captain Quaalude - The last track on the album. 'Dan had this riff, and I tried to write a song about childhood at the Jersey shore. Then I was at the York state fair and the clown in the dunk tank called me
Captain Quaalude, so I figured I'd write about that. Once again an easy theme, heartache but this time instead of bitterness, the character numbs all his feelings with mind-altering drugs.'
