Misadventures in Blissville

This is the second part of my wonderful, entertaining discussion with Stevie T from The Saints of 35th Street, in which we discuss music, our creative impulses, and the New York Mets.

This is from the web-site – saintsof35thstreet.com – check it out.

The Saints of 35th Street started out as four guys from Queens, NY who wanted to be professional musicians. They failed.

Originally formed in 2000 by founding members Stevie T, Ant Raneri, Bluto Fristachi, and Jimmy Doom, the band quickly gelled and hit the studio that fall to record their debut album “A Breath Away From My Last”. The album received little critical acclaim, and even less audience acclaim.

Internal tensions were exacerbated by Joe’s impending enrollment in the police academy and Tom pursuing a career teaching mentally retarded children. Despite these facts, the team decided to hit the studio in 2002 to lay down their follow up EP, “Learning to Let Go”. By the time they left the studio, the lineup had officially dissolved.

Soon divorced and destitute, Steve took up songwriting again in 2009 and looked to form another band. Calling on friends Matt Castellano and Rinaldo Morelli, as well as long-time partner Jimmy Doom, the group would assemble in the familiar confines of Astoria, Queens to rehearse. They took the name “Stevie T and the Italians” and played three unremarkable shows. With the band members understanding there wasn’t much promise in their endeavors, they just slowly stopped coming to practice.

Later that year, Steve would meet and befriend Pete Hogan, who recognized Steve from YouTube videos he saw of him playing guitar in his pajamas. The two would frequently collaborate musically together, as Steve penned an album’s worth of new material.

Reclaiming the moniker “the Saints of 35th Street”, the two soon looked to fill out the rest of the roster. Steve called on old pals Matt, Rinaldo, and Jimmy to flesh out the lineup and work on material for the release. Steve and Pete, however, found traveling 20 minutes to Queens in order to practice to be a “hassle”, and opted to strike out on their own. They would soon book time at Treehouse Sound in Jersey City, NJ to move forward with recording in the summer of 2014.

Music intro:
Song: Bad Dreams
Artist: The Saints of 35th Street

Music outro:
Song: Home
Artist: The Saints of 35th Street

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