he is also fond of tearing down the attentive senses, riddling nonsense and somehow remaining sane.
- the big lebowski
the superhero struts into the bar wearing a tight white tee shirt, fifth of vodka in one hand, guitar in the other. he swaggers to the stage, stares intently at the crowd and chugs a bunch of the vodka while swirling electronic beats start repeating in a monotony of dissonance. a halo of red light illuminates him; the crowd is hushed. the story begins slow and drawn out, the words uttered in a deep deliberate bass.
feeling like a species no one has seen...
from the moment ductape halo tumbled out of the womb, he was seized with passion and intensity. he's been plagued with the disease to feel, imagine, love, excite and entertain since he picked up a plastic guitar at age 2. he wrote his first song at 13, which his dad recorded as encouragement. along the way he mastered just about every instrument and honed his singing voice to perfection. he's partied it up on both coasts, but these days returned to the homeland, good ole New Jersey. born and raised in a little place called Budd Lake, he now lives in Rockaway, infiltrating northern NJ and New York City with his powers. he's an office guy by day, all dress shirts and neatly combed hair. unleash him onto the music scene by night though, and you'd never know this is the same dude. now he's transformed into a tattooed, loud motherfucker, chatting your ear off and aching to take the stage for as long as you'll let him. he's a rocker and rager to the core, but ask a coworker and they'll tell you he's an angel, halo intact.
under the snow, under the snow
the little plant will grow, that's the seed
Kutztown, PA: college, and the start of a long roller coaster of partying and playing music. ductape arrived at campus a reserved young man, but soon began hanging out with some rowdy artists and musicians who became family. the legend hatched from his protective shell. as he emerged, he felt he had been injected with a serum of determination that ran straight to his heart. he was a crazy man on guitar, writing hilarious songs that everyone raised their beers to salute. the 3 favorites became know as the trilogy. 'the masturbation song', 'the fat song' and 'it's so hard' were sung at the top of his lungs every drunken night. the response he got made him cocky as hell and gave him the edge that's become the backbone of ductape, the performer.
it's so hard
to deny you when i'm drunk
Philly: the next stop on the road to greatness. our hero had taken his partying too seriously as of late and was a fat and lazy drunk. he played a lot of open mic nights but was forgetting the words to his songs. this, of course was entirely blamed on the breakup with his girlfriend. forging ahead regardless, he decided to shop his woes away. he purchased a computer, software, keyboard and guitar effects processor with money he didn't have. he got into experimental stuff with roommates and friends, playing mostly electronica for a year or so. this was going well until a serious bout of depression hit. unfortunately every superhero has his undoing, and for ductape it's always been depression. he was hardly leaving his house, angry most of the time and drinking too much. things seemed pretty desperate so i said, "why not check out cali?" ductape thought living in a place with year round sun might be just the cure. he headed out with the intention to pursue music as a profession and promptly crashed on my couch for 6 months.
got this disease inside of me
don't ever let it get away
SoCal: the guys he hung around with in San Diego were into phish and the grateful dead. our man started smoking mad weed and jamming. he also played bass for a goth band, suckerface, to gain exposure and make a buck. he had a blast for a while, but there was a lackluster feeling about it all that wouldn't let him go. coming out of the fog one day, it dawned on him that he missed playing his own music. he jumped back into the game, rocking the stage at Java Joe's open mic nights. his first gig was at Dream Street in september of 2001. this is where the backdrop of his shows originated. he provided the music and entertainment as a solo act, with blood & booze as props. his inspiration for songwriting was at an all time high. the sun burning down on the city set him on fire, creating an inescapable heat that became fuel for the passion in his songs. 3 albums were recorded in San Diego. prequal was first off the chopping block; loaded and lo-fi b sides followed from live performances at Dream Street.
why can't i move
from the times that we had...
...and it tastes just like you
despite the progress he made in the city of eternal sunshine, he felt like nothing had changed in his head. he blamed friends, including me, and holed himself in his bedroom. broke and alone, he moved back to the east coast. to save money, he moved in with his mom. he was unemployed and began focusing on artwork to wile the time away. he painted with watercolor, adding bits of whatever was lying around and gave em away for christmas gifts. this unleashed his creativity anew and he began making pieces to go along with musical compilations. he showcased the results as album covers. footsteps of obsession was the first disc released in NJ, a 'best of' album plus a couple new morsels to savor. this was followed by indie, folk, blues & punk, the first album to explore ductape's production styles.
i'm a mess
don't know who to trust
eventually our hero got a job and then an apartment. fate smiled on him and he ran into some old band-mates from Kutztown who were excited about his music. they dove right in and started the band formerly known as low rhythms. they were doing ductape halo songs and success came quickly. the first show was played at Philly's Grape Street Pub for about 100 people. they put out acid test scores to sell and promote at shows. from there it was on to gigs at NYC's Continental, Alphabet Lounge, CBGB's and Tribecca Rock Club. The whirlwind continued, resulting in a 5-track demo recorded in Hackensack , NJ, relic reunion. they rode the wave of quick fame, but ductape wanted to go further and felt the band was holding him back. the trio split after about a year.
i lost myself
lost myself in you
at this point ductape realized he was just gonna have to go it alone. it's what he'd been heading for all along. he wasted no time, producing the bad things we done to ride the flow of creative energy left in low rhythms aftermath. robot heart EP was soon to follow. this brings us to present. ductape is bombarded with ideas. he's got a team working around the clock. his dad's producing, tobias stretch is doing video and i'm writing it all down for posterity. he's going multi-media and plans to release a video coinciding with his first fully produced CD, legend in my own mind; this should be big.
back to the stage: now the white tee shirt is covered with blood, the vodka drained and tossed across the stage. the crowd's been taken on an emotional journey. they've forgotten about their lives of routine. inspiration hangs in the air. this is the essence of ductape's raw passion. he knows it too, cause when he stumbles off stage people are drawn to him by the energy he's generated. he leaves them with 'hall of justice', crooning as he sways, steadying himself before collapse:
i don't want to be a superhero
why did i have to learn how to fly
don't want to be a superhero
punch the jug in the eye. punch him in the eye.
it was written long before ductape halo realized his destiny was to be a sort of superhero. how often do we deny our artistic sides and sweep our creativity under the rug? "there's no time, i'm not good enough, i wouldn't know where to begin," we whine.
ductape halo encourages us to put those thoughts aside and embrace our talents. his thought-provoking lyrics and wistful melodies inspire something deeper in us. in turn, it is our gift to share this response with others. this is the power that has made him into the superhero he never wanted to be.
