Darling Waste
Encyclopedia
Darling Waste is an American rock
band, sometimes considered to be an emo
, popcore, powerpop, or pop-rock
band, consisting of singer-songwriter/guitarist/pianist Lance Williams, multi-instrumentalist/producer/engineer Jason Lustig, and a rotating lineup of collaborators and studio musicians. The band has been described as an "angry Counting Crows
meets My Chemical Romance
".
.
At the age of 15, Waste joined Cleveland rock band Asbestos Twyst, who later became the first high-school rock band ever to play inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
.
According to Cleveland Scene, "Local band extravaganzas don't get much bigger than Friday, July 30's daylong show at the Agora Ballroom
. Asbestos Twyst's bassist Lance Waste organized the show, which benefits the Bellflower Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Among the performers: Boodah's Toothbrush, Mike Farley, Mr. Tibbs, Fifth Wheel, Girth, Hostile Omish, Ivet, Pepper McGowan, Qwasi Qwa, Rosavelt, Sax-o-Tromba, Second Half, Strip, Switch 56, and Uncle No."
Darling Waste started as a side project of Lance Williams's while he was the bass player for Asbestos Twyst. Asbestos Twyst had released an album prior to Williams' joining the band and was working on their follow up in 1999. Williams wrote three songs for the band but had the songs denied. "None of the other guys wanted to hear what the bass player wrote." remarked Williams.
By the time Asbestos Twyst disbanded in 2000, Williams was loitering at Cleveland State University
in Cleveland, Ohio
. He recorded the three songs by himself under the name Darling Waste in an Akron, OH recording studio. "I recorded the songs just so I would have them. I just wanted to have them down." explained Williams. Later that year the songs leaked onto the internet and began showing up on local college radio. "Once I heard that (Changing of the Seasons) on the radio I decided maybe to do this full time"
Williams quit college and formed the first version of Darling Waste with friend Nick Garba. Williams and Garba quickly hashed out some songs and began playing local clubs. During the time, the duo released a 3-song, self-titled EP
featuring the first three recorded Darling Waste tracks "I'm Not Like You", "You're Not Around" and "Begin Again".
song books to flesh out other ideas he had while in Asbestos Twyst. The end result was Darling Waste's first full-length album, 2003's The Truth About Lies....
The album was a mixture of over five years worth of writing from Williams. Some dating all the way back to his freshman year of high school. Most of the album was recorded at a terrible studio in Akron by engineers who were less than competent. One even told Williams that it was impossible to edit multiple takes of instruments and so each instrument had to be performed all the way through the song resulting in less than crisp performances. Disgusted by this process and lack of effort from the studio, Lance Williams enlisted the help of up-and-coming producer/engineer Jason Lustig who was fresh out of school at the time. Lustig came in to mix the songs recorded at the Akron studio and quickly recorded a few new songs from scratch. For all the time wasted at the previous studio, Williams had almost no budget to finish the project with Lustig and the result did not reflect what either was capable of. The album had mixed reviews that hinted at both the lack of polish and production.
A review from "Discovering Artists" said, "This collection of alt rock and piano-based tunes features some brilliant raw songwriting about emotional ties, and some great chord progressions that breathe life into the words. I will be waiting to hear more from Williams, hoping his sound grows more refined, because he definitely has talent. His band has a great tone, real alt rock diversity".
From "Cleveland Scene" "If Cleveland didn't already have its trademark emo band, it's sure got one now. Just as Kate Voegele is our official Michelle Branch dead-ringer, Darling Waste is our answer to Dashboard Confessional."
"Darling Waste is a bit more electrified and lushly arranged than Dashboard, but songwriter Lance Williams, who is Darling Waste to all intents and purposes, writes embarrassingly personal lyrics to make the listener feel his emotional pain. Which is not to say that Williams isn't a talented guy. He's got a vision, obviously, and he appears to be creating just what he wants to create. Fans of emotional post-punk could do a lot worse than The Truth About Lies. Those who give the stinkeye to such bands, consider this a warning."
From Score Music Magazine, "Learn from The Truth About Lies by Darling Waste, a.k.a. Lance Williams. While this album bubbles with promise, I have to think that its failure to reach its full potential sits in Mr. Williams' decision to keep most of the reins in his own hands. To Williams' credit, The Truth About Lies isn't all that bad. The songwriting is almost stellar in some places, like "Changing of the Seasons". There are bits and pieces of each song that jump out at the listener, but only a few songs on this CD can hold my attention from start to finish. Also, Williams does a respectable job of blending the various instruments into a solid sound. Unfortunately, that sound is diluted by the hit-and-miss singing, and the overly introspective, woe-is-me lyrics that never stray from the usual rock clichés of lost love and depression."
The review added, "Maybe not great but I'd like to let Mr. Williams polish his songwriting skills a little before dropping that superlative on his music. He has the potential, if he can figure out how to let go of a few reins and bring other talent along for the ride." - review by Scoremusicmagazine.com
"Williams is Darling Waste, a poetic and emotionally distorted loser at love. This release of acoustic driven indie rock bleeds with loneliness, and finds Williams cursing the very way he begs for attention from the woman that couldn't care less. The heartfelt overtones are all delivered in poppy melodies and tempo changes within agonizing atmospheres that deal with all that's left heavy on the heart. Guess that's what that Ohio weather will do to you." - review by http://www.impactpress.com/articles/decjan05/musicr120105.html
, and Prick drummer Andy Kubiszewski, amongst others. The end result was a much more focused and clear album than the previous that received better critical responses and has sold extremely well. This album was recorded in several studios and locations over a period of about a year and featured the first full set of production collaborations between Williams and Lustig. Williams and Lustig worked together exclusively from pre-production through recording, mixing and mastering and began to show the promise that the first album had only hinted at. It included highly redone versions of several songs off the first album that demonstrate the potential that the first album missed.
"Depression is just one word to describe Lance Williams, the owner of 10-34 Records who has put out this emotional downer of a CD called The Manifest Destiny Rebellion. Not to say the CD isn’t good…it is just something no one should sit through entirely if they want to be able to think happy thoughts after it ends . . . Track two, entitled Learn to be Happy, is really sad. It captured my heart, because of how easy it was for me to relate to the words." - review on http://www.g-pop.net
"I expect Darling Waste are good looking. I expect they all have perfect hair, sharp dress sense and toothy smiles." - review on www.pep-rock.com
founded in 1976.
Lance Williams quoted in Zimms.net: I signed to the label in November and was told I had to have a new album completely done by January. So we started working on 'Death of the Dreaming in December.' It takes me about a year to do an album exactly the way I want and we only got 3 weeks of actual recording time. So none of the songs were as finished as I wanted them to be. Plus two of the songs were written during the recording process because the label wanted more fast and upbeat songs. The label was supposed to put out 10,000 copies of the album. To my knowledge, they only made 500. Out of those we only got 100 and we had to pay for them ourselves.
Unhappy with Delphine records handling of the Death of the Dreaming EP, Williams and Darling Waste left the label prior to the release of I Am Born in 2009
All songs were written by Lance Williams. Jason Lustig and Lance Williams played most of the instruments on the album. The four song demo from 2007 was ultimately reworked for inclusion on this album. Some versions from the original demo had been available on myspace so it is possible to reconstruct and compare the original demo recordings with the final versions that appear on I Am Born. The remaining 8 songs (plus some b-sides) were recorded in several locations including Lance's and Jason's homes in PA and NY. Although the album was put together over a year long time frame, according to Producer Jason Lustig, its overall direction is more cohesive than Death of the Dreaming due to more extensive planning and revision.
The initial album release was on aimestreet.com
The UK release is on Yellow Fish Records
Lance Williams quoted on Zimms.net - After our contract expired with that label I decided to make the definitive album of my career. I knew it had been a couple years since most of our fans had heard music from us and I didn’t want to disappoint. I went into the studio with Jason, my best friend and collaborator and we put the name of every Darling Waste song on a big board. Then I demo-ed out 13 new songs as well. We pretended that none of these songs had ever been released before and just argued for a week about what 10 songs would be the best 10 song Darling Waste album ever. We settled on 12. The songs from I AM BORN are all re-recorded and re-imagined. They were chosen simply because they are our favorite songs. Some of them are from Manifest Destiny Rebellion, some are from Death of the Dreaming and some are new. I am really proud of what we did and it took us almost two years to make.
Reviews:
Musically speaking this music takes you up and down on a ride that you will not want to get off of. Darling Waste has music with the ability to hook a listener, and you can’t help but to stay tuned. - DeEttaMarie’s Music Blogspot
It’s not hard to see why they are so liked, with emotional lyrics, and gorgeous layered pianos and guitars, that millions of lighters go up with ease, the band just knows how to pluck the heartstrings just right. If you don’t believe me, take a listen to 'The Insignificants' a song that in lesser hands would be a sappy mess, but instead Darling Waste makes it grow from a gently plucked lullaby to a heavenly choir and piano crescendo, that will make you hold your loved ones, or want to search for some deeper meaning in the stars. Pick up this album and enjoy the ride. Smiling, crying and hope included. - Ventsmag review of I AM BORN
The first song "Your Secrets Safe with Me" has an excellent piano introduction and it can be described as an emotional rock ballad with really touching lyrics. Lance Williams sings from his heart and you can really feel the passion in his voice perfectly combined with melodic guitars, pianos, and other instruments. Brings together Darling Waste's style and tempo percussion that displays a catchy upbeat tone of beats and rhythms that will keep your body in dancing motion from beginning to end. Be sure to pick up your copy of the album once it's unleashed upon the world this Spring! - written by natalie for Stereop Magazine.
A cold winter's night a message mail arrived for a DARLING WASTE album review. To be honest, I didn't know the band before, so I started listening to their upcoming album immediately! The album is called "I AM BORN" and it contains thirteen really good songs. - Panariti Dora on MetalHunter.eu
at the most is to listen to it on the water off the duck back into the music box - translated from http://handshaker.blogbus.com/logs/34203733.html by google translator
The following are tweets from Lance Williams concerning final tracking at Eleventh Hour Recording (January 2011):
The album was released in the UK on March 14, 2011 on Big Buzz Records and digitally in the US on March 15, 2011.
The UK tour scheduled for March 2011 was postponed due to a misunderstanding in the UK. After returning to the US, the band turned to Kickstarter to fund the return shipping on their van, equipment, and personal effects.
From an interview for their Crunk energy drink promotion: For Darling Waste, rock and roll is literally a life and death situation. "We've broken down a total of eight times now." explains frontman Lance Williams", once in West Virginia we had no cell phone reception and we broken down in a blizzard. We were out in the elements for over four hours. We started hallucinating and almost froze to death. Another time, we broke down on the Pennsylvania turnpike and had to walk eight miles at three in the morning to the nearest town. We were picked up by some kids who ended up being drunk and they wouldn't let us out of the car. They lost control of the car doing 120 miles per hour around a turn on an off ramp." Are all these life and death situations worth it to play in a rock band? "Absolutely." says Williams. "I've broken my jaw, my foot and lost two and a half teeth so far on stage, and I wouldn't change a thing."
"Rock and roll is either the best or worst thing that's ever happened to me." jokes Williams, who left law school to pursue music; with 7,000 records sold, coast-to-coast college radio play, and songs on MTV, HBO, and Miramax movies, it seems like he made the right decision.
"It gives me a fresh perspective. I never get much sleep though." says Williams "There are so many people to meet and so many stories to hear and tell. I can't even express how much the city means to me."
And listening to Death of the Dreaming that is very apparent. Williams mentions New York City in at least three of the songs and alludes to it in almost every song. In the song "Sentences Left Incomplete (Ready, Waiting)", Williams actually gives directions from Brooklyn to Manhattan's famed East Village
, his favorite hang out.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band, sometimes considered to be an emo
Emo (music)
Emo is a style of rock music characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics. It originated in the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement of Washington, D.C., where it was known as "emotional hardcore" or "emocore" and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace...
, popcore, powerpop, or pop-rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
band, consisting of singer-songwriter/guitarist/pianist Lance Williams, multi-instrumentalist/producer/engineer Jason Lustig, and a rotating lineup of collaborators and studio musicians. The band has been described as an "angry Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
meets My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
".
Early years
Lance Waste, lead singer/songwriter of Darling Waste, had been on stage his entire life. By the age of 13, Waste had already traveled and performed all over the world as a soloist and featured singer/dancer in the Cleveland youth choir The Singing AngelsThe Singing Angels
The Singing Angels is a non-profit organization rooted in Cleveland, Ohio, dedicated to youth developing the highest level of artistic achievement in the performing arts.- History :...
.
At the age of 15, Waste joined Cleveland rock band Asbestos Twyst, who later became the first high-school rock band ever to play inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
.
According to Cleveland Scene, "Local band extravaganzas don't get much bigger than Friday, July 30's daylong show at the Agora Ballroom
Agora Theatre and Ballroom
The Agora Theatre and Ballroom is a concert club located in Cleveland, Ohio. The Agora name was previously used by two other Cleveland venues in succession, the latter of which was destroyed by fire in 1984...
. Asbestos Twyst's bassist Lance Waste organized the show, which benefits the Bellflower Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Among the performers: Boodah's Toothbrush, Mike Farley, Mr. Tibbs, Fifth Wheel, Girth, Hostile Omish, Ivet, Pepper McGowan, Qwasi Qwa, Rosavelt, Sax-o-Tromba, Second Half, Strip, Switch 56, and Uncle No."
Darling Waste started as a side project of Lance Williams's while he was the bass player for Asbestos Twyst. Asbestos Twyst had released an album prior to Williams' joining the band and was working on their follow up in 1999. Williams wrote three songs for the band but had the songs denied. "None of the other guys wanted to hear what the bass player wrote." remarked Williams.
By the time Asbestos Twyst disbanded in 2000, Williams was loitering at Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University is a public university located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of Fenn College, and it absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1969...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. He recorded the three songs by himself under the name Darling Waste in an Akron, OH recording studio. "I recorded the songs just so I would have them. I just wanted to have them down." explained Williams. Later that year the songs leaked onto the internet and began showing up on local college radio. "Once I heard that (Changing of the Seasons) on the radio I decided maybe to do this full time"
Williams quit college and formed the first version of Darling Waste with friend Nick Garba. Williams and Garba quickly hashed out some songs and began playing local clubs. During the time, the duo released a 3-song, self-titled EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
featuring the first three recorded Darling Waste tracks "I'm Not Like You", "You're Not Around" and "Begin Again".
The Truth About Lies...
The next year, Darling Waste (consisting of Williams and Garba, at this time) re-released their 3-song, eponymous EP as an 8-song EP, featuring the first version of "Changing of the Seasons" as well as a demo version of "Giving in Again" and some other non-album tracks, live tracks and a cover song. Williams spent the next two years going through old notebooks andsong books to flesh out other ideas he had while in Asbestos Twyst. The end result was Darling Waste's first full-length album, 2003's The Truth About Lies....
The album was a mixture of over five years worth of writing from Williams. Some dating all the way back to his freshman year of high school. Most of the album was recorded at a terrible studio in Akron by engineers who were less than competent. One even told Williams that it was impossible to edit multiple takes of instruments and so each instrument had to be performed all the way through the song resulting in less than crisp performances. Disgusted by this process and lack of effort from the studio, Lance Williams enlisted the help of up-and-coming producer/engineer Jason Lustig who was fresh out of school at the time. Lustig came in to mix the songs recorded at the Akron studio and quickly recorded a few new songs from scratch. For all the time wasted at the previous studio, Williams had almost no budget to finish the project with Lustig and the result did not reflect what either was capable of. The album had mixed reviews that hinted at both the lack of polish and production.
A review from "Discovering Artists" said, "This collection of alt rock and piano-based tunes features some brilliant raw songwriting about emotional ties, and some great chord progressions that breathe life into the words. I will be waiting to hear more from Williams, hoping his sound grows more refined, because he definitely has talent. His band has a great tone, real alt rock diversity".
From "Cleveland Scene" "If Cleveland didn't already have its trademark emo band, it's sure got one now. Just as Kate Voegele is our official Michelle Branch dead-ringer, Darling Waste is our answer to Dashboard Confessional."
"Darling Waste is a bit more electrified and lushly arranged than Dashboard, but songwriter Lance Williams, who is Darling Waste to all intents and purposes, writes embarrassingly personal lyrics to make the listener feel his emotional pain. Which is not to say that Williams isn't a talented guy. He's got a vision, obviously, and he appears to be creating just what he wants to create. Fans of emotional post-punk could do a lot worse than The Truth About Lies. Those who give the stinkeye to such bands, consider this a warning."
From Score Music Magazine, "Learn from The Truth About Lies by Darling Waste, a.k.a. Lance Williams. While this album bubbles with promise, I have to think that its failure to reach its full potential sits in Mr. Williams' decision to keep most of the reins in his own hands. To Williams' credit, The Truth About Lies isn't all that bad. The songwriting is almost stellar in some places, like "Changing of the Seasons". There are bits and pieces of each song that jump out at the listener, but only a few songs on this CD can hold my attention from start to finish. Also, Williams does a respectable job of blending the various instruments into a solid sound. Unfortunately, that sound is diluted by the hit-and-miss singing, and the overly introspective, woe-is-me lyrics that never stray from the usual rock clichés of lost love and depression."
The review added, "Maybe not great but I'd like to let Mr. Williams polish his songwriting skills a little before dropping that superlative on his music. He has the potential, if he can figure out how to let go of a few reins and bring other talent along for the ride." - review by Scoremusicmagazine.com
"Williams is Darling Waste, a poetic and emotionally distorted loser at love. This release of acoustic driven indie rock bleeds with loneliness, and finds Williams cursing the very way he begs for attention from the woman that couldn't care less. The heartfelt overtones are all delivered in poppy melodies and tempo changes within agonizing atmospheres that deal with all that's left heavy on the heart. Guess that's what that Ohio weather will do to you." - review by http://www.impactpress.com/articles/decjan05/musicr120105.html
The Manifest Destiny Rebellion
Williams enlisted the help of friend/producer Jason Lustig to engineer and produce and perform on (mostly uncredited performances) the record. He also got the help of Stabbing Westward, Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, and Prick drummer Andy Kubiszewski, amongst others. The end result was a much more focused and clear album than the previous that received better critical responses and has sold extremely well. This album was recorded in several studios and locations over a period of about a year and featured the first full set of production collaborations between Williams and Lustig. Williams and Lustig worked together exclusively from pre-production through recording, mixing and mastering and began to show the promise that the first album had only hinted at. It included highly redone versions of several songs off the first album that demonstrate the potential that the first album missed.
"Depression is just one word to describe Lance Williams, the owner of 10-34 Records who has put out this emotional downer of a CD called The Manifest Destiny Rebellion. Not to say the CD isn’t good…it is just something no one should sit through entirely if they want to be able to think happy thoughts after it ends . . . Track two, entitled Learn to be Happy, is really sad. It captured my heart, because of how easy it was for me to relate to the words." - review on http://www.g-pop.net
"I expect Darling Waste are good looking. I expect they all have perfect hair, sharp dress sense and toothy smiles." - review on www.pep-rock.com
10-34 Records
By that point, Williams had founded his own independent record label, "10-34 Records". The label was started by Williams and roommate/producer Jason Lustig of rock band The Margot Catcher, as a home for Darling Waste and The Margot Catcher releases. The popularity of the releases in Cleveland took off and Williams and Lustig found themselves owning and operating a full fledged independent record label with 10 bands on the roster in less than six months. Williams also opened a store in a local mall to sell independent music and a live all-ages venue in Cleveland. The label also ran a battle of the bands on myspace which attracted hundreds of applicants and thousands of page views in a multi-week contest. However contract and recording talks with the winning band broke down and that band was released by 10-34.Uncompleted Work
For most of 2006, Williams had been posting and talking about a duel album entitled Almost Heaven/Wild, Wonderful. The albums were supposed to come out at the same time and feature B-sides, rarities, and alternate versions of 24 different Darling Waste tracks. The album was later released under the name "For the Gloomy Guses and Negative Nancies: A Collection of B-Sides and Rarities."Death of the Dreaming
This EP was released at the end of 2006, beginning of 2007, to bridge the gap between The Manifest Destiny Rebellion and the eventual third full length album. Longtime producer/engineer/musician/friend/confidant Jason Lustig was reenlisted to helm the ship. The project was expected to be recorded in 2 or 3 multi-day sessions in the fall of 06. Upon the commencement of the first session the then-current Darling Waste drummer did not arrive and failed to show for the remainder of the session. A local drummer was tapped to fill in, however he proved nearly incompetent despite being highly recommended by the locals in Uniontown, PA where the band was recording. Preproduction consumed the rest of this first session and only portions of a few songs drum parts were salvageable. Lance then enlisted the help of Scott Mariner (formerly of Anchors for Reality) to fill in on drums for the second session. Scott knocked out the remaining tracks in two days and filled in the missing parts to complete the drum tracks done by the useless local drummer. The session then proceeded at a furious pace to finish by the deadline with Lance Williams and current guitarist Andrew playing much of the music. This was one of the few projects where Jason Lustig did not participate fully in the musical performances and due to time did not actually record all of Lance's vocals on the album (Lance would record on his own and send takes via email and snail male to Lustig during mixing). Lance Williams was trying to capture a more raw and indie feel for the album but due to the time constraints of losing the first session and a small budget the project just sounded a bit rushed compared to the previous album. However it did produce several stellar songs, some of which have been reworked in later demos for use on the eventual third full length album. This album was released by independent label Delphine Records. This Delphine Records is not to be confused with the French label, Delphine RecordsDelphine Records
Delphine Records or Delphine Productins is a French record label, founded in 1976 by French composer Paul de Senneville and his partner Olivier Toussaint-History:...
founded in 1976.
Lance Williams quoted in Zimms.net: I signed to the label in November and was told I had to have a new album completely done by January. So we started working on 'Death of the Dreaming in December.' It takes me about a year to do an album exactly the way I want and we only got 3 weeks of actual recording time. So none of the songs were as finished as I wanted them to be. Plus two of the songs were written during the recording process because the label wanted more fast and upbeat songs. The label was supposed to put out 10,000 copies of the album. To my knowledge, they only made 500. Out of those we only got 100 and we had to pay for them ourselves.
Unhappy with Delphine records handling of the Death of the Dreaming EP, Williams and Darling Waste left the label prior to the release of I Am Born in 2009
I Am Born (2009) - 4th album/3rd full length
Darling Waste recorded 4 songs with producer/engineer/musician/songwriter Jason Lustig in December 2007. In August 2008 the band began recording the remaining songs for their 4th album, also with producer/recording-engineer/multi-instrumentalist Jason Lustig, which is the 3rd full-length release.All songs were written by Lance Williams. Jason Lustig and Lance Williams played most of the instruments on the album. The four song demo from 2007 was ultimately reworked for inclusion on this album. Some versions from the original demo had been available on myspace so it is possible to reconstruct and compare the original demo recordings with the final versions that appear on I Am Born. The remaining 8 songs (plus some b-sides) were recorded in several locations including Lance's and Jason's homes in PA and NY. Although the album was put together over a year long time frame, according to Producer Jason Lustig, its overall direction is more cohesive than Death of the Dreaming due to more extensive planning and revision.
The initial album release was on aimestreet.com
The UK release is on Yellow Fish Records
Lance Williams quoted on Zimms.net - After our contract expired with that label I decided to make the definitive album of my career. I knew it had been a couple years since most of our fans had heard music from us and I didn’t want to disappoint. I went into the studio with Jason, my best friend and collaborator and we put the name of every Darling Waste song on a big board. Then I demo-ed out 13 new songs as well. We pretended that none of these songs had ever been released before and just argued for a week about what 10 songs would be the best 10 song Darling Waste album ever. We settled on 12. The songs from I AM BORN are all re-recorded and re-imagined. They were chosen simply because they are our favorite songs. Some of them are from Manifest Destiny Rebellion, some are from Death of the Dreaming and some are new. I am really proud of what we did and it took us almost two years to make.
Reviews:
Musically speaking this music takes you up and down on a ride that you will not want to get off of. Darling Waste has music with the ability to hook a listener, and you can’t help but to stay tuned. - DeEttaMarie’s Music Blogspot
It’s not hard to see why they are so liked, with emotional lyrics, and gorgeous layered pianos and guitars, that millions of lighters go up with ease, the band just knows how to pluck the heartstrings just right. If you don’t believe me, take a listen to 'The Insignificants' a song that in lesser hands would be a sappy mess, but instead Darling Waste makes it grow from a gently plucked lullaby to a heavenly choir and piano crescendo, that will make you hold your loved ones, or want to search for some deeper meaning in the stars. Pick up this album and enjoy the ride. Smiling, crying and hope included. - Ventsmag review of I AM BORN
The first song "Your Secrets Safe with Me" has an excellent piano introduction and it can be described as an emotional rock ballad with really touching lyrics. Lance Williams sings from his heart and you can really feel the passion in his voice perfectly combined with melodic guitars, pianos, and other instruments. Brings together Darling Waste's style and tempo percussion that displays a catchy upbeat tone of beats and rhythms that will keep your body in dancing motion from beginning to end. Be sure to pick up your copy of the album once it's unleashed upon the world this Spring! - written by natalie for Stereop Magazine.
A cold winter's night a message mail arrived for a DARLING WASTE album review. To be honest, I didn't know the band before, so I started listening to their upcoming album immediately! The album is called "I AM BORN" and it contains thirteen really good songs. - Panariti Dora on MetalHunter.eu
at the most is to listen to it on the water off the duck back into the music box - translated from http://handshaker.blogbus.com/logs/34203733.html by google translator
Good and Bad Angels (2011) - 5th release/4th full-length
Writing for Good and Bad Angels began in 2010 with Lance Williams demoing various songs with his touring ensemble. Additional tracks were written at Eleventh Hour Recording as sessions between Lance Williams and Jason Lustig. Recording for Good and Bad Angels began at Yellow Fish Studios in Brighton, England over the course of several sessions. Originally planned as an EP for European release, the album grew to a full-length at the urging of Williams. The first half of the album was recorded with basic drums and temporary scratch tracks which were sent to Lustig for bass recording in early and mid 2010. The second half of the album had basic tracks recorded in mid to late 2010. The original drum sessions were thrown out and new drums recorded for the entire album during this time by a studio drummer hired by Yellow Fish Studios. In January 2011, Williams returned to the United States and begun sessions with Lustig at Eleventh Hour Recording in Rochester, New York to complete basic tracking. Most vocals, remaining bass, most guitars, and additional keyboards and string arrangements were done at this time. Additionally, two songs were recorded from scratch during this time that had not been started at Yellow Fish.The following are tweets from Lance Williams concerning final tracking at Eleventh Hour Recording (January 2011):
- just finished vocals on "Hannah Bond" and "Inhale/Exhale". Awesome!
- rewrote first verse of "Please Lie To Me" and recut vocals on "Those Beautiful Words" today. Tomorrow? You guessed it, more vocals!
- marathon vocal recording week is over! flying from new york to myrtle beach tomorrow o[sic] visit the fam.
- all that is left to do on the album is 3 backing vocal parts, 1 bass part, 1 piano part ,1 "learn how to use a harmonizer" part. and mixing.
The album was released in the UK on March 14, 2011 on Big Buzz Records and digitally in the US on March 15, 2011.
The UK tour scheduled for March 2011 was postponed due to a misunderstanding in the UK. After returning to the US, the band turned to Kickstarter to fund the return shipping on their van, equipment, and personal effects.
Current members
- Lance Williams - songwriting, vocals, piano, programming, guitars
- Jason Lustig - guitar, bass, keys, programming, producing/recording/mixing/mastering.
- Daniel Bonner - guitar
- Mikey Lewis - keyboards
- Andrew Klomp - bass
- Randal Erno- Live Drums
Former/Touring/Studio members
- Geoff Morgan - guitars, vocals
- Micah Van Strein - bass
- Doug "dLane" Lane - live drums
- Gina Perez - drums
- Andy KubiszewskiAndy KubiszewskiAndy Kubiszewski is an American/Polish musician, songwriter, remixer and producer.Kubiszewski was born in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. His start in rock music came while attending the Cleveland Institute of Music when he and a pair of classmates formed the new wave band Exotic Birds...
- drums (studio only) - Greg Zydyk - guitar (studio only)
Discography
- Good and Bad Angels (2011) - Big Buzz Records (UK), Self-released on Reverb Nation (US)
- For the Gloomy Gusses and Negative Nancies (limited release 2010)
- Ayrshire – Live and Unplugged in Scotland (2010)
- I Am Born (2009) - Yellow Fish Records
- 4 song demo (2007 - December) - never released but shopped to labels/was reworked into the 4th album and some tracks were available for preview on Myspace
- Death of the Dreaming (2007) - Delphine Records - 8 songs
- The Manifest Destiny Rebellion (2005) - 10-34 Records - full length
- Christmas in July Compilation (2004) - Texas Tall Records (unclear if actually released)
- The Truth About Lies...(2003)- 10-34 Records - full length
- Darling Waste/Margot Catcher Split E.P. (2003) - self-released
- Superior Wang E.P. (2002) - self-released
- Darling Waste E.P. (2001) - self-released
Touring
- 1998-2002 select shows in Ohio
- In the summer of 2003 first Darling Waste tour
- First national tour in 2004
- Continuous US touring 2005-2008
- Tour of the UK in 2009 with Our Innocence Lost
- Tour of the UK in Summer/Fall 2010
- Tour of the UK and Europe scheduled for Spring/Summer 2011 - Canceled
- Tour of South, Midwest, and North Atlantic USA in Summer 2011
From an interview for their Crunk energy drink promotion: For Darling Waste, rock and roll is literally a life and death situation. "We've broken down a total of eight times now." explains frontman Lance Williams", once in West Virginia we had no cell phone reception and we broken down in a blizzard. We were out in the elements for over four hours. We started hallucinating and almost froze to death. Another time, we broke down on the Pennsylvania turnpike and had to walk eight miles at three in the morning to the nearest town. We were picked up by some kids who ended up being drunk and they wouldn't let us out of the car. They lost control of the car doing 120 miles per hour around a turn on an off ramp." Are all these life and death situations worth it to play in a rock band? "Absolutely." says Williams. "I've broken my jaw, my foot and lost two and a half teeth so far on stage, and I wouldn't change a thing."
Trivia
- Darling Waste has sold more than 9,000 albums independently
- Lance's dog is named Captain Danger
- During the mixing and mastering of The Manifest Destiny Rebellion, Lance moved to Brooklyn, New York. The final edits were done via mail & phone.
- In 2006, Alternative Addiction called the "Changing of the Seasons/Drive Away" single one of the great romantic singles.
Songs in popular culture
- At the end of the summer of 2005, an MTV executive heard the song "Changing of the Seasons" on the radio and contacted the band about using the song on MTV programming.
- In 2007, Darling Waste had two more songs on MTV and a song on Dane Cook's Tourgasim on HBO.
- In 2011, Darling Waste licensed "Changing of the Seasons" for use in an independent film.
Quotes
"The concept behind this album was to take everything I am dealing with or was dealing with and write about it like I always do", explains Williams,"but then move them all from this reality to The Dreaming. Which is a land that always exists. We can only see it in our dreams but it's always there. It's like our world but more surreal, more beautiful and sometimes even more tragic than our world.""Rock and roll is either the best or worst thing that's ever happened to me." jokes Williams, who left law school to pursue music; with 7,000 records sold, coast-to-coast college radio play, and songs on MTV, HBO, and Miramax movies, it seems like he made the right decision.
"It gives me a fresh perspective. I never get much sleep though." says Williams "There are so many people to meet and so many stories to hear and tell. I can't even express how much the city means to me."
And listening to Death of the Dreaming that is very apparent. Williams mentions New York City in at least three of the songs and alludes to it in almost every song. In the song "Sentences Left Incomplete (Ready, Waiting)", Williams actually gives directions from Brooklyn to Manhattan's famed East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
, his favorite hang out.