In some strange twist of fate, Buffalo's Inquiring Mind has discovered a way to mix Pavement and Lorde into some sort of ultra-hip, "Royals"-esque hybrid. The title of their song is "The Only Way," and the instrumentals have that out-of-tune slacker vibe without the out-of-tune ramblings of a frontman like Stephen Malkmus. In fact, frontwoman Jaz Frazier is quite the talented singer. If you don't believe me, feel free to listen below, or better yet, stop by the Steak & Cake 3 Year Anniversary show on February 15 - Inquiring Mind will be performing.  

When the Gates Circle Wine & Liquor born and bred duo, Rackmastas, dropped their latest release, DESTROYED ME!, back in February, there was a curiously timed holiday tune closing the EP. Fast forward to today, that song, "A Very Special Rackmastas Christmas from Our Family to Yours," seems much more seasonally appropriate. Featuring Magnamasta, the group spits holiday rhymes back and forth, while sprinkling in some beat boxing, sleigh bells, and naturally, a sneaky sample of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time." Have a jolly Thursday.

Nearly two years ago, Steak & Cake threw it's one and only Bidwell Indie 5000 Fest down at the Elmwood Village park, and thanks to a resident curmudgeon, we won't be seeing a return of the fest anytime soon. Luckily, S&C leader Brandon Schlia had a backup plan and location: his own back yard. This afternoon, stop on down to 410 Potomac for the third installment of the Steak & Cake Backyard Showcase. This year's lineup of local singer/songwriters has to be the label's best yet as Sonny Baker, Anthony Delplato, Bryan Johnson, Alex Berkley, Andy Vaeth, and more will provide entertainment to the backyard audience all afternoon long.

Past years' installments have seen welcomed, but not required donations go towards a pretty tasty hot dog, beer, and the chance to go home with a CD or two from Brandon's own collection. This year, get ready for some pizza as Schlia and crew have deemed it to be the best compliment for acoustic tunes. This week has already seen Buffalo become hell on earth, between blacktop melting temps to the Wrath of God storm on Friday night, so isn't a pleasant and sunny 75 degree afternoon of music and friends just what you need? Music kicks off at 1:00pm and bring some beer while you are at it. 

If it's been a while since you've been to The Vault, you better remedy that situation soon. At the end of this month, Kevin is hanging it up as the man behind the curtain of one of Buffalo's most prolific upstart galleries. Tonight is a good chance to head down to Main St. to catch Steak & Cake Records having their second Tour Warriors showcase. Katie Preston & Brandon Schlia's collaborative outfit Pleistocene are playing along with Brandon's ever evolving NYBRKFST, a band that plays only one show a year, always with a different lineup. New York indie pop act The Rotaries will be joining them, along with the sunny Americana of The Rochambros. Show starts at 9pm, and it's just $5 at the door.

Chalk this one up as one that just flew under the radar. Steak and Cake Records' electro pop duo Signo Vinces dropped their 2nd EP early last week, titled Redux. Despite a bit of a lineup change, with the female vocals duties now in the hands of Pleistocene's Katie Preston, Redux continues where last year's 85/87 left off, dripping with influences from the Knife, Metric, The Bird and The Bee, and The Postal Service. The EP's lead off and standout track, "Summer," can be streamed below, while the entire EP in full is available on the label's bandcamp page. 

Steak and Cake records and buffaBLOG have that "special" sort of relationship.  We really love and respect each others' work.  Okay... maybe I shouldn't be putting words in S&C's mouth; it's just that we here at the BLOG just happen to love pretty much everything they put out.  This time around, I'm referring to a solo offering from Johnny Nobody frontman Andy Vaeth - it's called Sad Synthetic Sounds.  

What I love about EP's like Sounds is that they're often projects that seem like they would never see the light of day unless someone was like, "No dude, you're talented.  These have to get done."  Musicians often have this ridiculous back catalogue of songs that either don't match their "main band" or just never really click as a full-band song.  They unfortunately usually just end up locked up in the back of someone's mind somewhere while work/school eats up their creative energy.  Either that, or they can't afford/don't have the time to record more than 4 songs at a time.

... But that's not the case with Sad Synthetic Songs.  Here Vaeth takes approximately 20 minutes and gives himself the opportunity to spread his wings from the gritty blues/psychedelic punk of Johnny Nobody.  In fact, "Fading Photographs," the opening track on SSS, starts out with an acoustic guitar and what sounds like bottles or crystals getting tapped on rhythmically - a far cry from the beer-soaked distortion we might be accustomed to hearing from Johnny Nobody.  There's actually a deep groove to "Photographs" that's augmented by the drawl of Vaeth's vocals - but all in all, most of the instrumentation is sad synths, acoustic guitar, clinking crystals, and even a low droning guitar.

"Photographs" is followed up by the alt-country-tinged "Never Make a Sound."  I hate to be so straightforward, but this song is delightful.  It's a simple song really.  There is a pleasant acoustic guitar riff joined by some tasteful synth in the chorus and (what I think is) a synthesized drumbeat.  "Delightful, tasteful, pleasant..."  I wish I could think of a few better words to describe Vaeth's stuff, but how else can you describe something that puts you in an outright good mood?  Same goes for the Honorary Title-esque waltz of "Rest."  Somehow Vaeth has truly nailed the mixing and the instrumentation in these songs.  There is NEVER any random guitar shredding or even an out of place synth wave.  He's stumbled upon some algorithm consisting of vocal "oohs," chimes and bells, and an ever-present acoustic guitar...  and it makes for perfect indie pop all-around.

"Where You Belong" has some of the the sparsest instrumentation on SSS, and yet, it comes the closest to the bluesy-rock of Johnny Nobody territory.  It's tough to put my finger on because of all the reverb, keyboard accents, and other synthesized stuff, but Vaeth falls into a funky guitar groove accented by an almost dissonant guitar entrance to every chorus.  It's a departure from the rest of SSS, but a welcome one, adding a bit of variety to the otherwise airy indie pop that this EP has to offer.

Vaeth nails it again on the closing track to Sad Synthetic Sounds, "All the Change in My Pocket."  A piano with delay on it repeats wistfully throughout the verses, and once the drums kick in, this song sounds like it might fit perfectly on Radiohead's In Rainbows (at least to me).  I know making comparisons to Radiohead is dangerous territory, especially when I described the majority of this album as "indie pop," but I swear, it must be that magic algorithm again.  Vaeth finds a way to mix seemingly commonplace instruments in a way that encourages a sort of urgent vibe.  Even when everything is "pleasant" (like in "Never Make a Sound"), there's always some sort of longing present in Vaeth's half-mumble, half-drawl, but totally-beautiful-and-soulful voice.  

And let me just say, thanks to Steak & Cake for always giving me good records to write about.

Recorded over a weekend and released on Steak and Cake Records in December of 2012, Shredder A Side proved to be an outlandishly fun record to listen to, even as it ventured into moodier territory over its unfortunately brief fifteen minute run time. I was impressed by Preston’s ability to craft complete songs with an uncommon amount of polish. A huge amount of credit should also be given to label founder Brandon Schlia’s production, whose electronic overdubs provided the album with a level of quality usually reserved for higher profile releases. I knew immediately that I would need to go full Galactus and devour the entirety of Preston’s available work, and after a relatively short visit to the Pleistocene blog I came away satisfied but wanting more.

At last, here is Shredder B Side. As with A Side, there is a strong personal arc to these recordings, indicating that Preston is either a world-class storyteller or completely unafraid of sharing parts of herself other musicians might shy away from. That’s not to say B Side is a humdrum confessional, and despite the personal nature of the music, I can’t say I know very much about Preston at all. There is a reflective quality to the lyrics, but zero navel-gazing. It’s all left vague enough to allow you to see parts of yourself in her songs.

Where A Side was endearingly lo-fi, and itself a departure from the raw home recordings released to the Pleistocene blog, B Side emphasizes sheer musical ability led by Preston’s synth and own voice, here sounding clearer than ever. It’s all the better for it, and the end result is a tight four song package, each a unique and worthwhile creative endeavor that must have been as satisfying to make as it was to listen to.

On standout track "Debbie," we find Preston offering an optimistic take on 20-something nihilism, singing “I might be nothing but nothing can negate me, I am a nobody but nobody can break me.” It’s hard not to applaud that kind of thinking without immediately wondering what combination of circumstances led her to make such a declaration, but then the drums kick in and you’re swept out of your contemplative state. Preston herself claims to be obsessed with her childhood, and when she sings about being “eight years old and ready to live through the nineties” you start to understand what she means. Those words evoke a charming sense of familiarity, and she deftly navigates the choppy waters between nostalgic and self-obsessed.

"The Band" features a certain archaeological sensibility, with Preston mining the veins of her past experiences to create a catchy, upbeat tune. “How come I miss the things I hate? Where have they gone,” she asks the listener, but we’re too busy bobbing our heads to offer a practical answer. When she confesses to having “broken something broken from the start” you almost feel bad about feeling so good.

Like Preston’s past releases, the most striking part of B Side is its deep emotional core. It’s rare to find such a refined talent willing to share so much of herself through her music, and rarer still that it can sound this good. Taken as a whole, Shredder is a triumph, and should properly cement Preston as an important part of the local musical fabric.

Still, one wonders about the name Pleistocene. It is hard to discern a pronounced love of megafauna or repeated glaciations by surveying the content of the music itself, and there is generally very little evidence to suggest Katie Preston is a saber-toothed cat. Where we at last find a connection is in realizing the Pleistocene is the geochronological point marked by the emergence of humans as we recognize them in their present state. It is fitting, then, that the whole of Preston’s catalog is thick with emotion and personal insight, something undeniably human.

She writes on her blog: “My songs are an extension of me, which again may be average and embarrassing, but it’s all there.” She’s right, it’s all there, but average and embarrassing couldn't be further from the truth.

Every now and then, there's that one band from your hometown that pops up out of nowhere and just blows you away.  They write the kind of songs that make you jealous enough to question your own creativity...  A group of musicians with just the right chemistry that they've happened to stumble upon a unique algorithm of writing songs that just doesn't exist elsewhere.  I am of course talking about the beautiful angularity of the now defunct Arctic Death.

Needless to say, since their demise, the Arctic Death-sized hole left in Buffalo's otherwise impressive music scene had yet to be filled...  Until now of course.  Don't get me wrong, this band is NOT an Arctic Death rip off - instead, they pick up where Arctic Death left off and put their own spin on things.  

The Malones is guitarist and vocalist Steven Floyd, bassist Elliott Douglas, and drummer Brandon Schlia.  Their songs are loaded with that weird charm that made Arctic Death so appealing.  At the same time, they have a strange pop allure that is buried deep within their songs, but is also so integral to their structure.  Think Tokyo Police Club without the keyboards.  The next closest comparison I can come up with is Arctic Death - but that's not really fair to The Malones.

The demo kicks off with "Bones About It," where Floyd sings, "Please don't depend on me, I'm all fuss and feathers knowing I can't do better."  I hope he's talking about trouble with women and not his trouble with music, because for a three piece band, The Malones have great control over what they are trying to accomplish with their music.  For example, Floyd's tenor is quirky enough to be memorable, but it's never too odd to be unpalatable.  And something else I always appreciate in a band - Floyd's guitar often provides the backbone for Douglas' nimble bass lines.  "Bones About It" is only one instance of this...   The third track "Lie Straight" is probably my favorite song on the album, propelled mostly by Douglas' bass.  But in all actuality, "Lie Straight" could be the blueprint for an archetypal Malones song - self-depricating lyrics, insane bass lines, and easily digestible guitars and drums.

Another personal favorite track of mine is the iconic "Love Music."  Hardcore Floyd fans might recognize this as a Floyd & The Nicknames jam, but it's been reworked into Malones territory for good reason.  "Love Music" has my favorite line in this batch of songs - "I'm not self-centered, I'm immersed.  I know I'm bad but I'm not the worst.  Lying to you has become second nature, but lying to myself has become like first."  The Malones are like The Strokes if they weren't so stoned and mellow all of the time - they are a little bit neurotic and a little bit pompous, but it's refreshing to know that at least they're aware of it...  and that chorus is irresistible - "oooh waa, oooh waa, ooooohwaaa."

For the rest of the songs on this demo, The Malones walk the line between Arctic Death and The Strokes and somehow blend it indistinguishably.  "Information" leans more towards The Strokes side until an Arctic Death-ish guitar interlude rears its head at :55.  Same goes for "Scream and Shout," but opposite - this particular song is reminiscent of Arctic Death until The Strokes inspired chorus.  

Rounding out this demo is the shortest song, "Clenched Fist."  Floyd spits out lyrics in a frenzy, telling a story of a prototypical 20-something - "We'll make the floor into our beds, we'll wake up smelling like cigarettes...  We were fools, but I didn't mind being lost with you."  In a way, this demo by The Malones is also kind of a snapshot of a bunch of twenty-something musicians in their prime.  It just also happens to fill an Arctic Death-sized void for me.

I am an Anthony DelPlato fan.  I would like the world to know.  I called his previous offering, 8 Old Vines, 2012's best local album in my year end best-of list.  So of course, when he released We Will Still Be Here Tomorrow with Steak and Cake records, I jumped at the chance to write about it.

We Will Still Be Here Tomorrow is a continuation of DelPlato's knack for seemingly perfect 90's-tinged emo.  His music is often atmospheric and ethereal, but no matter what, there's always that element of humanity left in it.  I'm trying not to sound cheesy, but that's what I've always liked about bands like The Appleseed Cast or The Get Up Kids...  They have this raw sense of sincerity in their songs that can't just be phoned in.  That's where the emo explosion of the mid-2000's lost its way - the market became flooded with a bunch of mediocre dudes who knew they were sad, but weren't intelligent enough to express it the way DelPlato can.

We Will Still Be Here Tomorrow is a little less urgent than 8 Old Vines, but I think his past two EPs have mirrored the seasons when they were released.  Now that I have heard both releases, 8 Old Vines struck me as the summer version and Tomorrow is the more calm, beautiful winterized version.  Case in point, the album opener "Iced Over."  The song kicks off with a windy sound effect and twinkling bells, joined shortly by guitar and an electric piano.  It's reminiscent of the winter and many of the tones sound almost crystalline.

It's rare that a six-minute song can keep my attention span (admittedly, a weakness of mine), but "Blueprints for a Bird's Nest" is one hell of a song.  DelPlato really lets loose here.  There are electric drums and acoustic drums blended seamlessly.  Not to mention the section of bombastic cymbal hits that is answered immediately with a quick 16th-note hi hat beat.  Somehow, what could have turned out as a jumble of parts has been meshed together so perfectly, culminating in a huge climax.  Right about at the 3:55 mark, I got shivers.

Interestingly enough, and I'm not sure I'll ever get the chance to say this again, my two favorite songs on this album pass the six-minute mark.  "Sandra Underneath Sandra" is another DelPlato classic.  This song is just beautiful buildup after unbelievable build up.  I know I said that 8 Old Vines was a bit more urgent than Tomorrow, but Tomorrow probably takes the cake for epic-ness.

I should mention, and there's not one specific song that I can pinpoint, but DelPlato's songs are full off little riffs and little hooks that are not necessarily right in your face - they are the little flourishes in the guitar harmonies that make music like this so enjoyable.  Every song seems like there are two guitars spiraling into each other infinitely.  DelPlato's songs are great regardless, but I have a feeling it's these little minutia that DelPlato hopes people are going to notice.  To me, it's more than minutia in the grand scheme of things, and trust me, I noticed.

All in all, We Will Still Be Here Tomorrow is another amazing offering from Anthony DelPlato in what I can only hope is a long discography of near-perfect (or seriously, so perfect) 90's tinged atmospheric rock.  As of right now, he's offering Tomorrow for a "pay what you want" rate.  Don't stall.

It would appear that Duke's is the place to be for Holiday Concerts this year. Once again, Brandon Schlia's pay what you want label Steak and Cake Records will be hosting a Holiday Fundraiser Show to benefit the "Let The Band Play On" campaign, providing music instruments to local schools in need. After some Elmwood Village party poopers put the nix on Steak and Cake's Bidwell Indie 5000, it's refreshingly ironic to see that the "scummy party kids" in Bidwell Park are doing more for the community than the crotchety naysayers who shut them down. Help them fight the good fight by plopping your $5 down and treat yourself to an eclectic lineup of performers. Signo Vinces headlines the night, a delectable synth pop collaboration between Brandon and Leah Loefke of Love Scenes. Also on the bill are free form poetry outfit Bourbon & Coffee, art doin' hop hop virtuoso Jack Toft, bouncy electronic duo UVB-76, and a DJ set from Sound Shaman. It's Friday night and the mood is right, show starts at 10pm.

For more about the "Let The Band Play On" campaign, visit their website.

Editor's note: For our best of 2012 coverage, we decided to reach out to some friends of the blog to get an idea of what made the year in music so great for them.  For our first installment in the guest series, Brandon Schlia of local DIY label Steak & Cake Records submitted his best of list.  Steak & Cake will be celebrating their 2nd Annual Holiday Charity Fundraiser show this Friday at Duke's.

Why do people make these lists? I guess it's good to try and compartmentalize the year as it comes to a close so that remembering it will be easier. When Mac asked me to participate in this, I was very excited but not just for the chance to parade my musical taste. It's a great opportunity to share with you some of the more hard working yet still unknown artists I've grown to know well this year. It isn't the traditional "best of 2012" scheme. If it was, I'd definitely include the new Bat for Lashes or Father John Misty. This is more about the best of the unknowns, those are my favorites anyway.

Last week the pro-local DIY-ers Steak & Cake Records released Sonny Baker’s record Here are those freaks you’ve been asking for. The 5-track collection is the debut effort from Baker, a local storehouse of indie talent as he currently divides his time between three other projects, that being Lazlo Hollyfeld, A Hotel Nourishing, and Wooden Waves, all of which have played a prominent part in WNY music scene in the past few years. That being said, you might want to check out our interview with the musician from yesterday here. 

Here are those freaks is Baker’s indie pop record realized, and it covers a hell of a lot of ground in 5 short tracks. While many of these songs have started out as folk demos via an acoustic guitar and tape player, they have blossomed into multi-instrumental collages of textural songwriting. Front and center is Baker’s crowded, chaotic vocals. His thoughts are sporadic as they are plentifully multi-layered. Intricate splashes of guitar and percussion bubble-up in each track, but the record never loses its froth even as each track is piecemealed into various directions, shaking-up the traditional pop song mundanity of verse and chorus.
“Cripple Fantastic” is an intriguing start to the record with it’s looped guitar fade-in and teeth-chattering snare, and Baker’s voice coats it all in its gradual complexities. It’s hard not to appreciate Baker’s signature fast-paced vocal style. The songs can get a bit labyrinthian, which could result in a difficult listening experience for those with short attention spans looking for a immediately catchy song, but if you pay close attention you’ll notice Baker’s songs are more like developing photographs in a darkroom--they slowly unfurl, and you suddenly see the images coming into focus. 

Another track brimming with detail is “Up to my Chest, Covered In Lead.” With wild guitar riffs amid organ blips, Baker’s vocals sprint a hilly landscape as convoluted instrumentals pant in their attempt to keep up. “Hallucinating, it’s a Steady Moan” gives us a moment to catch our breath, even if it’s a brief two minute cool off. Baker yawns a lo-fi drawl as he sings, “I try to find a heartbeat / Who cares any more,” even as electric guitar riffs start to infiltrate the folk-rock track.
Unlike a lot of failed pop records, Baker’s never gets boring to listen to because he is constantly shifting colors and speed in an attempt at a sonic bouquet that comes very naturally to him. There are certainly comparisons to be made, Born Ruffians and My Morning Jacket to name a few, but there is something so varied about Baker’s style that makes you wonder why he’s not in two or three more bands, if not only to offer a guitar track or two. Much like a drive from Buffalo to Toronto, Sonny Baker’s music covers a vast and densely populated landscape, as it progresses from lo-fi, humble beginnings to vast and uber-developed songs, and even when you’ve arrived at the conclusion of the record, there is still so much more to discover about it. 

Q. What do Wooden Waves, A Hotel Nourishing, and Lazlo Hollyfield have in common?

That's right, they're all known for generously tossing slices of pizza to the crowd when they play out. Just kidding, though some of us might like that, the real answer to the question is that these Buffalo bands have in common a member: Sonny Baker, a multi-instrumentalist, who recently released a solo EP under Buffalo's own indie-label, Steak and Cake. Baker's solo material is different than the material in the other projects he's involved in. For one thing, because of the complete creative custody a solo project allows for, the product is a collection of songs that exhibits his song-writing preferences in its purest form. The number of layers are toned down, leaving his warm vocals and guitar compositions left to be put on full display. In this interview we talk about his experience as a musician in Buffalo and his new EP, Here are those freaks you've been asking for.

BUFFABLOG: So tell us about how you first got involved with playing music. 
Sonny Baker: I actually started playing out when I was 15.  I was in a jam and hippy, funk band, "uber-funk" we played at Broadway Joes and Nietzches. That's how I got my foot in the door a little bit I guess. When I graduated from high school, I came to Buff State and started A Hotel Nourishing and ever since then it tripled off.

BUFFABLOG: How did you pick up Wooden Waves and Lazlo Hollyfeld?
SB: I was really good friends with Bill Fulton from Wooden Waves.  We all have the same circle of friends, his brother is in the band, and we were hanging out and they needed a drummer and I had a feeling that I could play, so we played a couple times and it worked. With Lazlo, we covered Stop Making Sense, which is the live Talking Heads album.  We did that New Years eve at Pearl Street and we did that for a year or so, then their guitar player left and they asked me to join the band.

BUFFABLOG: How would you describe the difference between those bands?
SB: Wooden Waves is more song oriented I guess in terms of verse, chorus, bridge, and singing. Each approach to the song writing is drastically different, different landscapes and how the song is going to work. It's different for me playing guitar and playing drums, different view from behind the drum-kit. I feel more relaxed in Wooden Waves like, "I'm just the drummer, I'm gonna add the beat, and the rhythm section will flesh the song out." With playing guitar in Lazlo, I'm kind of doing the same thing, but I think "How can I add to the melody?"

BUFFABLOG: What about A Hotel Nourishing?
SB: That's a whole monster of it's own. We're a two-piece. I play the guitar and sing. I write the basic format of the song and then we'll try to work in more intricate parts to it, there's no bass, nothing else, so all I have to worry about is what the one melody line I play is and he worries about the drum patterns. It's much simpler.

BUFFABLOG: Why did you feel compelled to do solo stuff?
SB: I listen to so much different stuff that the core of me, loves Neil Young, singer-song writer stuff like that. So what comes out of me naturally, makes up my solo stuff.  With writing for other bands, I have to focus more. In terms of being a guitar player, I've been making solo stuff longer than anything, when I first started playing guitar I was 11, that's kind of just what I did for five years until I started a band. Write silly songs, learn Grateful Dead songs, I don't know.

BUFFABLOG: Judging by the amount of time you spend with music projects you're very serious about pursuing music. When did you decide to commit yourself to that?
SB: After the first few time I played live shows, played in front of people and had people listen. I thought, 'Oh I really like this'. The heaver and heavier I got into music, the more I discovered and the more I took in. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew it was what I wanted to do.

BUFFABLOG: And when did you start releasing solo-material, did being in a couple bands give you more confidence?
SB: Around the same time I was in my first band, I played at coffee houses by myself, solo. I think I've gotten a grasp on it within the past year, it's sort of taken me this long to develop a song-writing style. I feel like I got it down more, like I got somewhat of a grasp on it.  People always ask, 'what comes first, the words or the music." I have a ton of journals that I write in, and I used to try to be like, "alright, well I wrote this, I'm going to make this song." But now I've realized that it doesn't work all the time.

BUFFABLOG: So then, how do you piece things together for a song?
SB: I'll sit down for a while and play the guitar, and sometimes I'll find a hidden melody in whatever I'm playing and try to lock into that and develop the song that way. That's the best, to start a day not having anything, and then warping yourself into something that evolves into something and by the end of the day you have something to work with. I'm always afraid I'll jot something down and have no idea what it means, and then I'l sing it into a melody and then think 'oh that kind of works' then a few months later think, 'I think I know what that's about.' When I write I like to turn my brain off.

BUFFABLOG: Who are some of your influences?
SB: Jim James from My Morning Jacket. I've really liked Ani Difranco my whole life, Neil Young.

BUFFABLOG: So you just released an EP, how many things have you released in the past?
SB: This is the first thing I've really finished. So it's kind of a big deal for me. I've worked on four other solo albums with other people, and I've never finished them. Everything online, like on band camp,  I've almost finished, and the other two are more like bedroom recordings.

BUFFABLOG: How did the collection of songs for this album come about?
SB: I tend to write songs in groups, like I'll write four or five songs and have really bad writers block for a while. So I had songs from that, and then I bought a jazz-master, and it was a switch, I was playing it more than my acoustic, which I write all my solo stuff on. So I played them on my jazz-master, and thought I would like to record them with drums and stuff. Kevin who works at the Vault, suggested I collaborate with Brandon. We started in April.

BUFFABLOG: How would you describe the music community in Buffalo?
SB: It's great, there's so much talent. Like I'm not the only one in  4 bands, there are a lot of people who share musicians from different bands and are in different projects. It's sort of one big musical orgy. Everyone is really supportive of each other. I'm playing a WBNY radio show soon, and I had to think of local bands to play, and I was at work today trying to think of local bands that I like and I ended up coming up with a list of like, 35.

Next up, Sonny will be playing Tuesday, the 20th, at Mohawk Place alongside Dolfish and Alex Berkley.  His long term plans includes assembling together a live band to put his solo content into full live  effect. But until then, for those chilly nights at home, it is highly encouraged that you listen to it by checking out his soundcloud or better yet, downloading the entire EP on bandcamp.