Skidmore Fountain Live on CBX, plus our latest album Cloudless Blue is now available for purchase! 
Skidmore is up to some big stuff….see her in the background waiting for Dylan’s autograph? (Starbuck’s in Columbus Circle)
Hey all! The other day I get a text message from Ben Miller saying, “hey Randy, I just heard Skidmore Fountain on MTV!” That’s pretty freakin’ cool I was thinking. “break” comes on at around 5:45. Not bad!
Skidmore Fountain @ CMJ 2008 from Billy Corgan on Vimeo.
Big Fat Cat Showcase @ Banjo Jim’s- Skidmore Fountain
I headed deep into Alphabet City to Banjo Jim’s for the Big Fat Cat showcase to catch Skidmore Fountain. Based in Brooklyn, not only did they look incredibly dapper and keep their set wound tighter than a tick, their brand of pop, which runs the gamut from classical to funk-inspired, was highlighted by the absence of a bassist. Why? Well, when you’ve got a crack cellist like Topu Lyo, who needs one? Lyu also used his instrument for its intended melodic purpose, driving along the theme of “Asylum,” the single that lead singer Randy Bergida demanded everyone take home for free in CD form.Bergida has one of the cleanest, most earnest voices I’ve ever heard, one that neatly skirts generic pop vocals by harmonizing with guitarist Steven Cohen. Dylan Wissing is what happens when you harness a freight train to a drum kit, and the band never had the chance to step out of line once during the set. Their full-length album, Break, is available in iTunes, Rhapsody, and CD Baby from Triple R Records.
by Heidi Vanderslice
Pulling triple duty that
night were Lyo and
drummer Dylan Wissing, both of whom are in Brooklyn four
piece Skidmore Fountain. Fronted by the lovely Randy
Bergida, Skidmore Fountain played a slick set of polished,
rock-tinged dance songs. The band had a great stage presence
and an energy that was infectious. Piano’s was packed by this
time and the audience was grooving along with Wissing’s beats
and mimicking Bergida’s words.
I was just as impressed with Lyo’s cellist skills throughout the
Skidmore set, but I was equally impressed with the
musicianship from the rest of the band. Each of the four
musicians on stage shone through wonderfully without
overpowering each other or aurally dominating the room.
Skidmore Fountain no doubt has a bright future ahead. They put
on a fun and tight set that you have to see/hear for yourself.
Really.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our last show of the year is this Thursday at CMJ. We’ll be playing Banjo Jim’s (oct.23) at 10pm sharp. We would love to have you celebrate and bring in our last show as we did Piano’s on Friday for the release of the single “Asylum”.
We will be taking the next few months off stage to finish up recording our 2009 release. Stay tuned for the cd release party early 2009.
And again thanks to all that came out to piano’s. You were an amazing audience!
Actually Purple Mountain Glow is not a a New York Sunrise. On the other hand It’s a phenomena of the west coast and is the name of a brand new Skidmore Fountain Track that will be heard live for the first time at Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos) this coming Tuesday.
In fact Skidmore Fountain has been chipping away at the final tracks for their new release coming out January 2009. Three tracks that no ears have ever heard beyond the 12×12 rehearsal studio will be performed this coming Tuesday. Here is a summary of the three brand new tracks:
Track 1 = “Purple Mountain Glow” – US Presidential Candidates take their final debate to the Wild Wild West to have a shoot off ending with, “the people dance the people laugh and dream” and some ” oh oh oh’s ”
Track 2 = “Whole World Coming Down” – The title says it all…
Track 3 = “Cloudless Blue” – A love song. A good song to make babies to.
Show Details:
Skidmore Fountain
Tuesday August 19th at 10pm
Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos)
Back room $5
With our friends:
Postscript
The Eidolons
Laredo
DJ Mike Dextro
+ Shot and beer $5 drink special.
All Photos taken at Rotary Records by Haoming Chang
Topu Plays the Theremin
Randy’s hanging out with a 60 year old guitar.
Steven through the looking glass.
Topu warming up in the mixing studio
Chuck Sokol
Warren over the desk
Steven’s plays octaves in front of a 200 year old pipe organ.
Warren…the rightful owner of Rotary Records.
We arrived back at the “church” to finish our EP at 10pm on Saturday evening. We had the usual catching up to do with Warren and Chuck of Rotary Records and Offensive Tie. We had a listen to some of the rough mixes and smiles overtook our faces inspiring Steve to jump right in and finish his parts. We worked/played till about 1am when Warren and Chuck had to call it quits for the evening. 1am is like early evening for Skidmore, so left with nothing but an empy church and no Johnnie Walker, what else was there to do but play a few rounds of hide and go seek.
We were lucky to have the company of 18 year old intern Haoming Chang as she brought out the kid in us (ok…you got me…we would have played anyway, but she was a great addition to the game and added an extra sense of inspiration). Steven, wise in the way of hide and go seek, requested that we only use one floor. Topu and I were in doubt that there wouldn’t be enough places to hide, but we were schooled in this notion. Whether it was between the box spring and mattress, or under a heaping pile of dirty laundry, we found some very inventive places to hide making for a successful game of hide and go seek. At around 4am, we had to force ourselves to sleep as we had a long day of recording ahead of us.
10:30 roles around and we literally were kicking Topu to wake him up. We drove to the local eatery run by a sweet family. Even though the food was sub par, they put a lot of love into it and it fueled us for the day!
Back to the studio and into music making we went. It was a 1 take kind of day. Everything was feeling really great. The recording session culminated into Topu, Steve and I gathered in a circle singing our oldest new song “sun in the sky” in an old school kind of way. There’s a lush three part harmony throughout the song that we wanted to capture like they would in the Beatles era. So we gathered in the big open reverb room of the Church (I had been waiting for this moment) and nailed the harmonies. It was a very bonding experience. We weren’t sure that we could pull it off, but we were very happy with the results.
Again, a big thanks to Chuck Sokol and Warren Amerman who made for a truly wonderful recording experience; From our wonderful apartment on the bottom floor to the amazing studio that Warren built from the ground up (minus the 200 year old church). It’s always tough to leave a place where you feel so at home. I can’t speak enough good things about Rotary Records. I leave with a tear of happiness.
Now stay tuned for the new EP due out September!
bzzz
SF
