Interview: Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones
The inimitable Smitt E. Smitty talks new single ‘Tall Man Dreams’, the origins of his rambunctious octet, and the upcoming October 16 party at Norwood's Magic Room
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‘Tall Man Dreams’ is the latest taste of Smitt E. Smitty’s & The Feztones’ forthcoming 2022 album
LISTEN: Listen to ‘Tall Man Dreams’ on Bandcamp
Get tickets to the Magic Room show here
NORWOOD, MA [October 16, 2021] -- Sometimes you gotta be bold and brash to capture a quick jolt of inspiration. Other times, you just gotta go to sleep and let it come to you naturally in a dream. The latter was the case for Smitt E. Smitty, the Detroit-born, Boston-based musician and leader of The Feztones, who experienced an unexpected lyrical revelation late one night that helped shape his rebooted art-rock single “Tall Man Dreams.”
It was a dream, cast in frantic madness, that eventually paid off dividends, as Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones take a full head of steam into their upcoming live performance October 16 at Norwood’s Magic Room, part of Gene Dante’s DL/UX record release party that’s hosted by BumbleBee Radio’s Kristen Eck.
To celebrate the show -- and display just a taste of Smitty’s forthcoming new album set for release sometime in 2022 -- the band has delivered “Tall Man Dreams” to the streaming circuit, giving the rousing track a new digital life to accompany the official music video that dropped in late-May.
We caught up with Smitt E. Smitty to get the scoop behind the new music, the origins of his band, The Feztones, and just what we can all expect this weekend down in Norwood.
publi*sist: Ok right off the top -- what’s “Tall Man Dreams” all about?
Smitt E. Smitty: Yes there is a “theme” behind “Tall Man Dreams”, but here’s the WHOLE truth. Sometimes the music comes first and sometimes the lyrics come first. In the case of “Tall Man Dreams”, the music definitely came first. I knew the music for the song was special, so I really wanted lyrics to equal or surpass that bar. OK, good goal, right? The only problem was no lyrics were happening.
Next thing you know, I’m two weeks away from going into the recording studio with Alec Rodriguez at New Alliance Audio in Somerville, and I still don’t have lyrics. Yeah, anxiety started to kick in. I really wanted to record this song. I went to bed, spinning with anxiety, and did my level headed best to fall asleep. Finally I fell asleep and began to dream about how I was going into the recording studio with this song and feeling crazy anxious about not having lyrics. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, in my dream, I began singing, “He got tall man dreams, the small man seems, like a junkyard dog in the dark. Don’t you mess around with him my friend, his bite is worse than his bark.”
I woke up thinking, “What the hell was that?!” I didn’t know what I was going to do with those lyrics, but I made a beeline to my computer and typed it all in, and went back to bed. After getting up the next morning, I made a fresh brewed pot of coffee and sat back down at my computer and reread what I wrote. What does it mean? The lyrics reminded me of the Dustin Hoffman character Ratso from the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. A real down and out, shady, schemer and scammer, who will do anything to make a quick buck. A small angry man with dreams of being a tall man. Once I had that image in my head, the rest of the lyrics practically wrote themselves. Operative word: Dream.
How does “Tall Man Dreams” reflect the Smitt E. Smitty creative vision in 2021?
I am an “art school” musician. Not only have I pursued the visual arts side-by-side with my musical aspirations from day one, but I continue to do so. To that end, my creative vision is always changing and growing. Explore, experiment, and create. If I feel it, do it! One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Andy Warhol. He famously said, “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” My creative vision for 2021? “Go man, go!!!”
Word on the street is that there’s a Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones album in the world for 2022. How does “Tall Man Dreams” set the tone for the album ahead?
The overall tone for the 10 songs we did for our second release is basically three things… passion, passion and passion! If we feel it, do it! No more waiting for anyone or anything. The time is nigh! There are songs that rock the house, ballads to bring you to your knees, and pop tunes you’ll be singing all day. Wait, all day? How about all year. Tone? ‘Wow’ listeners with unbridled artistry and passion.
Being in a band with three other people is hard, and any more is often impossible. Eight is crazy! How did you assemble The Feztones?
The Feztones came together in the most serendipitous fashion you can imagine. Yes, I did know most of our bandmates long before The Feztones were formed, but it took the original recording sessions to begin to bring everyone together. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to put together a band at first. I just wanted to release the music under the name Smitt E. Smitty. Once the recording was complete, nobody wanted to go home. It was like, “OK Smitty, you have to start a band to perform this music live, and we ALL want to be in the band.” Well… twist my arm. I am so grateful and blessed to be working with them all. I love this band!
How would you describe the band’s sound?
The band’s sound is the sum of the parts of living and experiencing some of the greatest music in existence over the last six decades. Going all the way back to the early Motown years, through the British Invasion years, through the following early garage rock bands that formed immediately after that, through the ‘Bang-Pow-Wow!’ era of glam rock, definitely through the beautiful assault of punk rock, and bringing us to today. The band’s sound? The sound of everything we have learned over the entire span of our lives to bring tears, joy, and exhilaration to listeners and audiences. Are we a rock band? Sure… but we’re so much more.
And finally, what can we expect from the Magic Room show coming up on October 16?
Expect a performance by eight musicians and performers that have been on hold for almost two years! We are ready to explode with passion! We will feature at least five of the songs yet to be released on the next album. We released music videos for “Tall Man Dreams”, “What’cha Doin’”, and a virtual video for “Rebel Rebel” over the past two years, so expect those three songs to be performed. There are three or four songs from our debut album we will include as well. We are currently in deep rehearsal mode. The set is still very much in flux. No matter what we decide to perform live at Magic Room in on Saturday, it’s going to be a fierce Fez full of fury! -- Hat tip to Linda Pardee for that one!
Press Inquiries: Contact michael@publisist.co for more information.
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Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones are:
Smitt E. Smitty - Ringleader
James Melanson - Guitar
Eddie Nowick - Guitar
Andrew Padua - Bass
Linda Bean Pardee - Vocals
JoEllen Saunders Yannis - Vocals
Jonathan LaMaster - Violin & Theremin
Johnny Berosh - Drums
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Recording and Sound Engineer: Alec Rodriguez
Recorded @ New Alliance Audio
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‘Tall Man Dreams’ single artwork:
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Smitt E. Smitty short bio:
Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones. Born and raised in Detroit. Moved to Boston in 1985. Smitty played in a great many Detroit bands including The Blind, Zero Ambience, L-Seven and Figures on a Beach. After moving to Boston, Figures on a Beach got signed to Sire/Warner Records and released music until the early ‘90s. FOAB disbanded 1991. Smitty then joined the Wax Trax label in Chainsuck, with lead singer songwriter Marydee Reynolds, until 1999. Smitty then played in Fireking until 2017.
Now it's Smitt E. Smitty & The Feztones time! ALL the time!
After releasing Smitt E. Smitty's debut release in 2017, titled Just A Modern Guy, Smitty went back into the recording studio with Alec Rodriguez of New Alliance Audio, in Somerville, MA. This time with a full band, aptly named The Feztones. The result is a 10 track album set for release in 2022.
Media contact and all press/radio inquiries: michael@publisist.co
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