Fame Swoll by The Michael Character
This is the ninth TMC record which is sort of nuts.
These songs were written between August of 2016 and May of 2017.
Thank you SO VERY MUCH for listening.
Get in touch if you want to chat or hang out or set up a show or whatever -- the.michael.character@gmail.com
Tracklist
Credits
released October 6, 2017
All songs written by James Ikeda
Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals, & Xylophone – James Ikeda
Drums & Bass – Laura “Larz” Brogan
Lead Guitar & Piano – John Muccino
Squad Vox – Catherine Conley, Fenn “Uber-it-to-the-recording-sess-from-work-during-lunch” Macon, Karbia Yuan
Baby Keyboard Thing in “Safe World” – Steve “Sleeve” Miller
Backup Vocals in “Fame Swoll” – Cameron LeViere
Recorded, Produced, Mixed, & Mastered by Ben Greer of Sun Brewed Records & State Forest
Recorded at Julie’s Architectural GuestSuite in Wilmington, VT (acoustic guitar and lead vocals) & at Half Sour’s practice space (drums) --thanks Zoe & Matt!-- & at Ben’s practice space (squad vox & xylophone) & at Ben’s house (bass) & at John’s house (lead guitar) & at Steve’s house (Baby Keyboard Thing) & at a studio in Pittsburgh (Cam’s vocals).
Album Art by the inimitable Louis Roe, my dearest LilBroBro who means the world to me
MAJOR thanks to Nina Corcoran and DigBoston for premiering the album!
Thanks to all of the folks who are on the record (specifically John for being a dear old homie who is consistently SO supportive of my art and for convincing me to make the record full band, Larz for making musical miracles in no time at all and for being the goddamn best at everything and also for being a long-time and enthusiastic supporter of TMC as a project, Catherine & Fenn & Karbia for showing up in Allston to record squad vox with virtually no notice, Steve for being a stalwart friend and artist of the highest caliber without whom I’d have stopped having fun years ago and who I think of often but rarely call, which is on me, and Cameron for teaching me how to live better EVERY time we talk and for providing an inspirational example in so many ways--On a side note, Steve and Cam are two of the best songwriters out there and every time they show me their new songs I am blown away and want to write more and therefore know I'm strapped into this whole diy artist game at least another year. I hope that either we never stop pushing each other or that we all stop together haha)
Further thanks...to Zoe & Matt from Half Sour for letting us use their space and for helping set up the drum mics, to Chris Comer for basically everything even though he wasn’t directly involved in the making of this record (I owe him EVERYTHING), to Carmen & Alysha in goddamn CANADA for being wicked cool and enduring the long drive from Toronto to Pittsburgh with me back in June, to Gregory McKillop for their enthusiastic support and inspiration over the years, to Anna O’Connell & Louis Roe & Conor Hennessy for touring with me last summer in support of this record (and for putting up with more of my shit than anyone else…for real…), to anyone who has booked me a show or come to a show or sang along or critiqued a song or let me sleep at their house on tour, to Rachel Silverman who I am SO lucky to have met through this project, to the San Antonio crew for taking me to Jims, to Jason Kaminski for being a solid homie who I care about dearly, to Ori Nevo just for BEING, to Christian Latham for being reliably sweet and helpful, to Charley Gibson for reliably heckling me at my shows (ostensibly from a place of love), to Christine Henderson for reliably heckling my life generally (ostensibly from a place of love), to Jenn and Paul and Elise and Arianna and Kelly and Ryan and all the other OG BV homies for being a continual light in the world and in my life, to the whole Bummer City Open Mic crew (Matt & Luna & all y'all), to the Cuttlefish & BBV crew, to the 'fellas' aka Zach & Matt, to all of my tour homies across America and a smattering of other places, AND TO BEN GREER for putting up with my shit, knowing when it’s time to stop trying to get the perfect take, being impossibly patient, and being willing to invest so much time over so many months to make this THIRD TMC record with me. There’s a million more people to mention but my back hurts and I need to get up from the computer and go outside or whatever.
Shout out to the Wheelhouse Diner in Quincy and Steve's in Allston.
Also, shout out to the Glenville Stops. Best bar in Boston.
Sup, Nora. <3 Also, shout out to Troll 2 and Sidney Gish for being the best of the best.
All songs written by James Ikeda
Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals, & Xylophone – James Ikeda
Drums & Bass – Laura “Larz” Brogan
Lead Guitar & Piano – John Muccino
Squad Vox – Catherine Conley, Fenn “Uber-it-to-the-recording-sess-from-work-during-lunch” Macon, Karbia Yuan
Baby Keyboard Thing in “Safe World” – Steve “Sleeve” Miller
Backup Vocals in “Fame Swoll” – Cameron LeViere
Recorded, Produced, Mixed, & Mastered by Ben Greer of Sun Brewed Records & State Forest
Recorded at Julie’s Architectural GuestSuite in Wilmington, VT (acoustic guitar and lead vocals) & at Half Sour’s practice space (drums) --thanks Zoe & Matt!-- & at Ben’s practice space (squad vox & xylophone) & at Ben’s house (bass) & at John’s house (lead guitar) & at Steve’s house (Baby Keyboard Thing) & at a studio in Pittsburgh (Cam’s vocals).
Album Art by the inimitable Louis Roe, my dearest LilBroBro who means the world to me
MAJOR thanks to Nina Corcoran and DigBoston for premiering the album!
Thanks to all of the folks who are on the record (specifically John for being a dear old homie who is consistently SO supportive of my art and for convincing me to make the record full band, Larz for making musical miracles in no time at all and for being the goddamn best at everything and also for being a long-time and enthusiastic supporter of TMC as a project, Catherine & Fenn & Karbia for showing up in Allston to record squad vox with virtually no notice, Steve for being a stalwart friend and artist of the highest caliber without whom I’d have stopped having fun years ago and who I think of often but rarely call, which is on me, and Cameron for teaching me how to live better EVERY time we talk and for providing an inspirational example in so many ways--On a side note, Steve and Cam are two of the best songwriters out there and every time they show me their new songs I am blown away and want to write more and therefore know I'm strapped into this whole diy artist game at least another year. I hope that either we never stop pushing each other or that we all stop together haha)
Further thanks...to Zoe & Matt from Half Sour for letting us use their space and for helping set up the drum mics, to Chris Comer for basically everything even though he wasn’t directly involved in the making of this record (I owe him EVERYTHING), to Carmen & Alysha in goddamn CANADA for being wicked cool and enduring the long drive from Toronto to Pittsburgh with me back in June, to Gregory McKillop for their enthusiastic support and inspiration over the years, to Anna O’Connell & Louis Roe & Conor Hennessy for touring with me last summer in support of this record (and for putting up with more of my shit than anyone else…for real…), to anyone who has booked me a show or come to a show or sang along or critiqued a song or let me sleep at their house on tour, to Rachel Silverman who I am SO lucky to have met through this project, to the San Antonio crew for taking me to Jims, to Jason Kaminski for being a solid homie who I care about dearly, to Ori Nevo just for BEING, to Christian Latham for being reliably sweet and helpful, to Charley Gibson for reliably heckling me at my shows (ostensibly from a place of love), to Christine Henderson for reliably heckling my life generally (ostensibly from a place of love), to Jenn and Paul and Elise and Arianna and Kelly and Ryan and all the other OG BV homies for being a continual light in the world and in my life, to the whole Bummer City Open Mic crew (Matt & Luna & all y'all), to the Cuttlefish & BBV crew, to the 'fellas' aka Zach & Matt, to all of my tour homies across America and a smattering of other places, AND TO BEN GREER for putting up with my shit, knowing when it’s time to stop trying to get the perfect take, being impossibly patient, and being willing to invest so much time over so many months to make this THIRD TMC record with me. There’s a million more people to mention but my back hurts and I need to get up from the computer and go outside or whatever.
Shout out to the Wheelhouse Diner in Quincy and Steve's in Allston.
Also, shout out to the Glenville Stops. Best bar in Boston.
Sup, Nora. <3 Also, shout out to Troll 2 and Sidney Gish for being the best of the best.
