Hey! We're The Narrative, a three piece indie/pop/rock band from Long Island, NY. This whole band thing started in 2006 when Jesse Gabriel (guitar/vocals) posted an anal retentive Craigslist ad that I (Suzie Zeldin - vocals/keys) was crazy enough to respond to. Craigslist is notoriously full of weirdos, and Jesse claims he wanted to avoid those at all costs. The reality of the situation is that this is just one of those rare times where two weirdos wound up being pretty good for each other. As an interesting side story, we had actually gone to high school together and didn't figure that out until a week or so after we started working together. To say we live in a small world is an understatement. It was a sort of creepy fate, I suppose. Sometimes you never really get to leave where you're from!
Throughout the next year or so, we spent way too much time in my tiny apartment putting together the pieces of what would become our first release, the Just Say Yes EP. Don't get any funny ideas - no hanky panky, we were all about the music! A lot of people ask us if we date or have ever dated, and while we love each other in a very familial way, we like to clear the air on that subject every once in a while. While working as a duo, we realized we wanted to record an album that at the very least felt like a full band. We were lucky enough to be introduced by Bryan Russell, our producer, to Charles Seich (drums/percussion). Charlie is often referred to by people who see our live sets as a "drumming machine", "solid", and "fucking amazing, whoa". Needless to say, we're glad he's on board. Aside from being a totally awesome drummer, he's at least as weird as us (probably more so), and he's a key instrument in our writing process these days.
After some months of working with Charlie and his bassist friend Brandon Strothman, we released Just Say Yes in mid-late 2008. Fast forward a year: Charlie, Jesse and I begin to write and record our first full length record. With the help of our good friend Ari Sadowitz on bass, and Bryan Russell - we can't get rid of that guy - we were able to flush out thirteen new songs. The writing process was fairly simple - either Jesse or I would come into practice with a skeleton of a song and we'd work it out, rework it, and mold it into something we were proud of. When we write, we try to keep ourselves open to experimenting with any ideas that get tossed into the mix, regardless of what biases we're bringing with us into the practice room.
The same goes for recording. We try not to walk into any situation having already sold ourselves on a particular sound or idea, because you never know when someone might have a very different idea that adds an element that makes the song better. The record hits super soon - July 27th - and we couldn't be more excited. We worked super hard on it for over a year, and hope it shows. We're still at a sort of grassroots level where we do everything ourselves. A lot of people get the wrong idea and think we're doing our dream jobs being musicians for a living or something and it's just this easy wonderful thing. We don't exactly make money doing this! We all work various "real" jobs to help us get on the road or fund recording. Truthfully, though, the music side of things is so much more time consuming and so much more work than any other jobs we've ever had. The music business is a tough one to be in these days, and we know we have to work our asses off to survive. We have a bunch of amazing friends and fans who have been supportive and helpful along the way, and that has kept us constantly driven.
As of late, we've been focused on getting the word out about the release. We just got back from a two day festival out in Michigan, and we'll be playing a NYC record release show on 7/29 at The Gramercy Theatre with Relient K. We also have some east coat dates booked for the end of August. We'd be very grateful for a solid tour opportunity, and hopefully that will happen for us sometime in the future. In the meantime, we'll be doing what we always do - trying to spread the word about our music, playing in front of everyone we can, and continuing to practice our current songs and write new ones. If you can, come hang out at one of our shows. If you don't like the music, you can at least chat with a few entertainingly friendly yet strange people.
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Review Rinse Repeat says:
The Narrative has something that you don't see very often anymore, do-it-yourself hard work and passion. With Suzie's incredible, angelic vocals, and Jesse's strong, yet soft, voice, there is no doubt that this band will go far and become one of your favorites in 2010.
Photo Credit - michael dubin - mikeedge.com
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