MIKE VIOLA
Electro De Perfecto
Good Morning Monkey / Hornblow Recordings
As the opening song “Columbus Day Parade” announces: Mike Viola is on a mission.
From the get-go, Viola’s new release Electro De Perfecto pulls listeners in with a decidedly hot-rodded version of his acclaimed songwriting. Songs that are gloriously dark and uplifting about being lost in the maze of middle age, hungry for life as the body decays.
Recorded entirely in Southern California, Electro’s ten tracks seem to absorb the life of their urban desert surroundings. Motel melodies wash over fast food joints and pharmacies. Beach Boy style stacked harmonies color the Bukowski-tinted lyrics. At times bright (“Soundtrack to My Summer”), while at others boulevard-dark (“Here’s the Rub”), there is undoubtedly a triumphant thread that winds its way through the album, leading toward the album’s centerpiece and pivotal track “El Mundo de Perfecto.”
Three years ago, Viola relocated to the Echo Park area of Los Angeles from New York City to get a little closer to his music work for the movie biz, and met drummer Victor Indrizzo while recording the soundtrack for “Get Him To The Greek” at Sunset Sound studios. “I started playing some songs off of McCartney’s London Town and Victor played along note for note. So, we decided we had to start a band together.” Indrizzio invited his friend Sean Hurley to play bass and the three quickly gelled. Mike adds, “I brought some new songs to rehearsal that I already had finished and planned for my next record. A few worked, but the rest didn’t live up to the noise we were making together so I wrote more specifically for the sound of this band.” The trio ended up recording at Victor’s studio in LA with some help from engineers Vincent Jones and Ryan Freeland.
Viola now realizes that Electro De Perfecto – a non-sequiter that Mike’s young daughter Izzy created while learning Spanish – does reflect the city it was recorded in. “I’m here in Los Angeles now… way out west. You get out here and that’s kind of as far as you go…the landscape is intense and unforgiving, it’s like the edge of the world. I never looked back, I looked around and whatever I saw became fodder for me while I was stuck in traffic on the way to rehearsal scribbling down lyrics.”
Mike also felt the kinship of his bandmates contributed to the Electro De Perfecto’s overall feel. “The 3 of us are married with kids and we’ve all been kicking around making a living in the music business since we were young. So we would talk shit and vent to each other and this theme developed and I’d kind of joke sing about it while we were jamming. I didn’t get specific I just let our collective subconscious ping pong around the album”.
Viola’s previous song writing and music production credits include Oscar nominated That Thing You Do!, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and last year’s Get Him To The Greek. Mike recently scored Carrie Preston’s (True Blood) indie comedy film That’s What She Said, and his work will also be heard in the upcoming film Fun Size, starring Chelsea Handler and Johnny Knoxville, and Vamps, directed by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone.
In addition to his soundtrack work, Viola is also well known as the main architect and front man of Candy Butchers. Founded in Boston before eventually taking root in New York, Candy Butchers recorded three albums for Sony, including 2003′s critically acclaimed Hang On Mike (recently re-released on vinyl with 27 bonus tracks). In 2005 Mike set out on the indie path with the creation of his own label Good Morning Monkey Records. His first release on the start up, Just Before Dark, was recorded live at the renowned Los Angeles club Largo, and showcases a seasoned performer enjoying new artistic freedom. Mike’s next album, 2007’s Lurch, transports listeners from the New England suburbs and into his East Village state of mind. A euphoric collection of classic pop, Lurch received international acclaim thanks to the uplifting single “So Much Better.”
In addition to his own records, Viola has collaborated with a host of prominent artists. In 2009 he co-wrote and produced Mandy Moore’s full length Amanda Leigh which feature the pop gem “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week.” Viola has also produced and written with Rachel Yamagata, Ned Brower of Rooney, Best Coast, Tracy Bonham, Dan Bern, Jeremy Fisher, Gin Wigmore, Will Dailey, and Dia Frampton of The Voice.
Mike has a few “supergroup” projects under his belt, including 2006’s L.E.O., an Electric Light Orchestra inspired power-pop-collective featuring Bleu, Andy Strummer of Jellyfish, Chicago’s Jason Scheff, and Hanson. Viola formed The Major Labels, a fan-favorite collaboration with Bleu and Ducky Carlisle, and released Aquavia in 2009.
Electro De Perfecto will be released via Good Morning Monkey / Hornblow Recordings on September 13th, 2011 on gatefold vinyl and CD. To the thrill of longtime fans, the albums Just Before Dark and Lurch and also slated for release in the near future.
publicity: Rob Moore at 60 Cycle Media
phone # 646-918-4360
moore@60cyclemedia.com
