The Slackwater News

Artist Information

Biography

The Slackwater News is a musical group from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We spend lots of time together crafting creative, meaningful, and tight arrangements that serve the motive of our songs. Sometimes that motive doesn't become clear until we huddle together in a windowless room and chip away at it with wooden axes and dissolve its tough outer shell with contemporary elixirs. We rehearse and record in a studio we put together in an old warehouse in the historic district of the city, where we recorded our debut EP, "All You Creatures," last winter.

Our core instrumentation is two electric guitars, electric bass, trap set, and mechanical keyboards, but when the song is hungry for something different we are not afraid to feed it trumpet, ukulele, cardboard box, desk stomp, synthesizer, or whatever else it wants.

We play electric rock music that owes to psychedelic, indie, mod, and classic rock and pop. People always say we have a unique sound, but have compared our music to the Beatles, The Kinks, and Pavement. "Psychedelic Indie Rock" might sum it up as well as three words can.

Our lyrics tend to be inspired by the magic and strangeness of things in our lives. A song about loving someone becomes an invitation to share a burial plot. A trip to the basement of the natural science museum down the street becomes a dreamy ode to the art of taxidermy. A desire to travel becomes a sea-shanty about love and longing. Throughout the songwriting process, we try to be true to ourselves and make new and fresh music.

We play regularly around South Central PA, at places like the Chameleon Club, Isaac's, and the Rock Hill Tavern in Lancaster; Dragonfly, Gullifty's, and Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg; along with gigs in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City and other NE cities. We've been working together for a since 2008, but most of the band has been performing music publically since they were schoolboys. We have been chosen to showcase at several music conferences, such as Millennium, Launch and 4+3, and our recordings receive airplay on public and commercial terrestrial radio (WXPN, WRVV) as well as several internet radio stations, including Pandora.

Right now, we are finishing up our second album, in addition to booking live shows in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in support of our EP.

Instrumentation

JJ Gammache - Electric Bass and Voice
Dan Zdilla - Electric Guitar and Voice
Matt Blank - Drums
Matt Johnson - Electric Guitar and Voice
Daniel Ramirez - Electric Piano, Organ and Voice

Discography

"All You Creatures" - EP 2009

Airplay on public and commercial terrestrial radio (WXPN, WRVV) and several inernet radio stations, including Pandora.

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• Pandora Radio

Audio

• Fish In A Bowl
  Listen  
• If The World Goes Mad
  Listen  
• Taxidermy
  Listen  
• Overseas
  Listen  
• Hard Labor
  Listen  

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Swimming through the Strange and Wonderous Fishbowl of The Slackwater News [+ Show ]
  

  Some bands spend untold hours in search of a distinctive sound, something that will set them apart a...Some bands spend untold hours in search of a distinctive sound, something that will set them apart and give their music a reason to be heard. Then there are those that don't bother and somehow end up selling a decent amount of records while sounding like a thousand other bands.
  
  And then there are the truly lucky, like the five guys in The Slackwater News, a group barely three years old who have founded their sound through on more than the band members own collective curiosity and individual weirdness.
  
  Blur the odder moments of The Band's Music from Big Pink with the "let's just splice everything in there" approach of Abbey Road, then add a little of The Move and Dr. Dog, and you have the basic aesthetic of The Slackwater News.
  
  Their sound may be a deliberate mashup of indie folk and psychedelic garage rock, but to this mix, they add snippets of parlor songs, ragtime, electro-funk and Americana. It's the sound of purely democratic songwriting. Everybody brings something to the table, and whether each addition seems appropriate or not, it somehow all makes sense in the end.
  
  In the musty world of Slackwater's North Queen Street rehearsal space, often a song doesn't become clear until they "huddle together in a windowless room and chip away at it with wooden axes and dissolve its tough outer shell with contemporary elixirs," as the band's website notes. As a result, they have wrestled themselves around a sound that, while based on well-established traditions, is still refreshing.
  
  "I think all of us have an A.D.D. effect on the songs," explains guitarist and chief songwriter, Dan Zdilla. "Sometimes I think it would be great to have a chorus that goes with the way the verse sounds. But I think we would just end up getting bored with that."
  
  Sipping cold adult beverages at Lancaster's Belvedere Inn, four of the group's five members - Zdilla, guitarist Matt Johnson, drummer Matt Blank and keyboardist Dan Ramirez (bassist Hans Wheelersburg was unavailable) - ruminate on all things Slackwater.
  
  As the drinks continue to flow, conversation turns to how baseball relates to genetic evolution, the moral vagaries of Twitter and other such important issues of the day. But mostly, they try to give a good account of their unique sound, mirthful and serious all at once.
  
  The group's All You Creatures EP from 2009 includes five songs - most of which feature unpredictable changes in rhythm, key or timbre - and gave the first glimpse of the band's process.
  
  Zdilla and Johnson chug away on plunking acoustic guitars and fuzzy electrics. Wheelersburg and Blank supply sharp, reflexive grooves behind the numerous changes. Ramirez's wheezing Hammond organ and Wurlitzer bubble underneath everything, adding carnival colors and a horror film pastiche.
  
  "If The World Goes Mad" bounces between verse and chorus sketches before adding a third, unrelated riff just for good measure at the end. "Taxidermy" contemplates the simultaneously cool and creepy basement displays at Lancaster's North Museum by alternating between funky soul and loping dirge feels.
  
  On "Fish in a Bowl" the band cribs from Steve Miller and the Beach Boys to make a dance-worthy song about how awesome it is to be a goldfish. It's a hit your 7-year-old will love. Then there's the low-fi "Dr. McGillicuddy's," a digital-only single recorded as an ode to the boutique schnapps masked as an old-time patent medicine advert. It's a nifty little number, extolling the virtues of a substance that can cure everything from scoliosis, to nipple sclerosis and premature ejaculation.
  
  While Zdilla comes up with the spine for most songs, Johnson, like the others, is used to throwing ideas into the pot, never quite sure how they'll end up. "We all kind of know what Dan's looking for when we sit down to come up with what to play," Johnson says. "
  But in the end, it becomes something very different than what he might have thought of."
  
  "There's sometimes a completely predictable trajectory to a song and we don't want that," Zdilla says. "I may have something in mind but it's always other people's ideas that make it better."
  
  Sometimes it can be a long and circuitous route, they admit. But as long as someone really believes in an idea, it usually gets through in the end, with the band molding it and remolding it until it works.
  
  "I was really proud of the fact that I wrote a song recently that has only four chords," Zdilla says with a laugh.
  
  And if listeners have finally become accustomed to the sounds of All You Creatures and all its odd angles, a sneak peak of the group's forthcoming full-length, Graveyard Mares, reveals that while Slackwater may be stepping into less of a patchwork approach to their tunes, their fascination with the strange "what ifs" of songcraft has not wavered.
  
  "The Blister," a soulful number, stays in the same key and tempo for its entire length - downright revolutionary for these guys - but it doesn't sacrifice a bit of the wit. Zdilla says it comes from something his mother used to say about him. "She said, 'You only show up when the work is done.'"
  
  Equally conventional-sounding is "Decay," an ode to entropy - the reality that all things grow old and fall away, but that is sometimes when they're at their best. "Fruit is often its sweetest just as it's starting to go bad," reasons Johnson. "That might sound kind of morbid, but when you listen to it, you'll hear a really sweet song."
  
  Similarly, the album's title track is about dying, specifically about spending eternity in the ground. "I wrote that song because my grandmother used to take me to see the burial plot where she and my grandfather were going to be buried," recalls Zdilla. "And now that they're gone and buried in that spot, it makes it much more clear how special a thing that is for two people to share that."
  
  Currently, the band is mixing the 10 tracks of Graveyard Mates for a fall release. And while the band members may seek to find slightly more traditional musical ground, Slackwater insist they'll never lose their Ritalin-averse ways of crafting tunes.
  
  "It's about being true to yourself," says Zdilla. "What may seem weird to other people doesn't seem weird to us. We feel like we're playing classic rock. It's only when you take a step back and hear someone else's perspective that you sense this whole other weird thing going on."

• The Slackwater News now on Pandora Radio!
  

  You can now find our debut ep 'All You Creatures' on Pandora Radio!

• Feature article in Feb 2010 Fine Living Lancaster Mag! [+ Show ]
  

  Download the complete issue here: http://www.finelivinglancaster.com/Magazine/ Issue 13 (Root 222...Download the complete issue here: http://www.finelivinglancaster.com/Magazine/
  
  Issue 13 (Root 222 Crew cover) > Page 22.

• XPN 88.5 Philly Now feat. The Slackwater News
  

  Songs from our Debut EP 'All You Creatures' are now in rotation on XPN in Philly!

• MyRuralRadio.com Artist of the Month Dec 2009
  

  We were selected by the staff of MyRuralRadio.com as the Artist of the Month for December 2009.

• "All You Creatures" Review - 4 Stars [+ Show ]
  

  "All You Creatures" is peculiar, chaotic and somehow infectious. The Beatles are a clear and present..."All You Creatures" is peculiar, chaotic and somehow infectious. The Beatles are a clear and present influence. Fuzzed-out, dissonant guitars noodle and sleepy vocals sometimes float through what sounds like an old rotating organ speaker. However, the melodies are memorable in the way that Lennon and McCartney perfected, clever and sweet enough to rise above the out-and-out weirdness surrounding them. By themselves, the Pavement-like circus of random timing shifts, quirky voicings and vintage organ sounds create something interesting, but not necessarily listenable. In the end, though, they make a warm analog blanket for Slackwater News' addictive melodies.

• FLLBuzzRadio.com Now Featuring The Slackwater News!
  

  Check us out on FLLBuzzRadio.com alongside some of Central PA's best bands!

• The Slackwater News Now on MyRuralRadio.com [+ Show ]
  

  Music from The Slackwater News can now be heard on the internet radio station My Rural Radio. You ca...Music from The Slackwater News can now be heard on the internet radio station My Rural Radio. You can check us and all of the other great artists out at www.myruralradio.com!

• The Slackwater News on HomeGrown Radio NJ [+ Show ]
  

  The song 'Taxidermy' from our EP "All You Creatures" is receiving airplay on HomeGrown Radio NJ duri...The song 'Taxidermy' from our EP "All You Creatures" is receiving airplay on HomeGrown Radio NJ during their Sher Delight show. DJ Sher highlights 'imports, indie and cutting edge new music' on her weekly show.
  
  You can view the playlists here:
  
  http://www.homegrownradionj.com/Playlists/index.shtml

• 'Overseas' selected for Music For Everyone Benefit CD! [+ Show ]
  

  Our song 'Overseas' was 1 of 15 selections (of over 70 entries) for the Music For Everyone Volume 2 ...Our song 'Overseas' was 1 of 15 selections (of over 70 entries) for the Music For Everyone Volume 2 Benefit CD! Their mission is to cultivate the power of music for education and community building, through fundraising and by bringing awareness to this growing problem. All profits from this CD will benefit Lancaster Music Programs.
  
  From their site:
  "Since April 2006, Music for Everyone has awarded over $75,000 in grants to schools and community groups in Lancaster County. Please come join us as we continue to cultivate the power of music in our schools and communities!"
  

• The Slackwater News on The River 97.3 FM Harrisburg [+ Show ]
  

  The song 'Taxidermy' from our EP "All You Creatures" recently received play on Open Mike Night. D...The song 'Taxidermy' from our EP "All You Creatures" recently received play on Open Mike Night.
  
  DJ Michael Anthony Smith hosts the show. From the website: "Open Mike Night is the longest running local music program in Central Pennsylvania. Every Sunday Night at 10 pm, Michael Anthony Smith brings you the best in local and regional bands and solo performers."
  
  http://www.river973.com/pages/mas.html

Setlist

Originals (list is ever-growing):
Overseas
Less In A Day
If The World Goes Mad
The Blister
Jersey Burn
I'll See You There
Pressure
Torture
Graveyard Mates
I Can't Forget
Fish In A Bowl
Taxidermy
Hard Labor
The Gringo
Rock & Roll Revival
Fireball
Get Up
The Collector
Ghosts
Decay
The Dupe
Victims of History
Wrong Hands
It's A Mystery
Home
Nothing Comes for Free

Select covers from artists such as: The Band, The Steve Miller Band, The Beatles and The Kinks.

Basic Requirements

Calendar