Tag: album

Even for the time (1997) it was an old camera/VCR setup, and the video quality in a dingy, poorly-lit club was beyond bad. You had to bring a VHS tape and $20 in cash to get the sound engineer to hit record at that start of your set. On the plus side, though, sound was straight off the board and they took that part pretty seriously. Besides, it was CBGB, and we had no idea that we would continue to play there, so we really wanted a keepsake for that first show.

Considering how unlike the other bands we were, I something think that maybe this was the most punk thing we ever did: going to CBGB and playing a straight rock set in 1997. Clearly, the ska/DMB crowd had no idea what to do with us, but they were gracious about it, regardless. We got the recording, watched it once, then didn’t think about it again for years. John A. ended up with it and brought it to Oregon when he moved, where it ended up in a box in his basement. He sent it to me around 2010 and I promised to digitize it, so of course I threw it in a closet and forgot about it myself. When I finally dug it out in early 2023, it had problems: dropouts on the tape where the sound and video just disappeared. After some painstaking editing in Reaper all the songs were whole again and we realized that this was an album that deserved to be heard.

I only noticed it as I was putting the album together in March, but the set list inadvertently tells a story with the titles:
Partners – We’re really not. Yikes, things are going bad, fast
Day Before We Met – It’s over. Remember how we felt at the beginning, though?
Huddleston Pond – Watching the people in a park on a summer day, trying to forget about it for an afternoon at least
How Does It Feel To Be a National Joke? – Everyone needs to stop talking about what happened. Except me, obviously
Time That I Forgot – For the love of Mike get up off the floor, already
Public Therapy – Please stop oversharing. Please?
Seen This Episode Before – DON’T GO BACK DON’T DO IT NOOOOO

The DJLB was a great live band and I’m so excited to be able to share a small piece of that history. Now if we could just get the video cleaned up…

Buy/listen online
iTunes Amazon Spotify YouTube

Atlantis, At Last is the collected set of recordings by D. J. Lauria Band from 1993-2000. It brings together several cassette singles, the Satellite Pictures album, a few unreleased tracks, and assorted demos. It’s not even close to containing all of the music from that time period; we closed up shop just as it became cost-effective to record your own releases. Still, it’s great to finally have it memorialized, if for no other reason than that my kids will believe I once actually had a band.

Buy/listen online
iTunes Amazon Spotify YouTube

Song info, in chronological order:
Original demos and the “Barn Owl” single
Recorded Jan-Apr 1993 at Lakewest Studios, West Greenwich, RI.
Engineered by Jack Gauthier
“Belinda”:
Drums – Mike Stamp, Jr.
Bass – Todd Stiles
All other instruments/vocals – DJL
Barn Owl”, “Top Cat”, “Town Librarian”, “House With Yellow Shutters”:
Drums – John Andrade, Jr.
All other instruments – DJL
Belinda was originally recorded with the Ted Stevens Band for their self-titled cassette release in 1992. We kept the drum and bass tracks for this demo, and re-recorded all of the rest.
More info on the “Barn Owl” single

Live to DAT and the “Time That I Forgot” single
Recorded Feb 1994 at Lakewest
“Time That I Forgot”, “Previous Engagement”, “As The Sun Fell”, “Play This, Pete”, “Actual Condition”, “All I Need”:
Bass – Todd Stiles
Drums – John Andrade, Jr.
All other instruments – DJL
More info on the “Time That I Forgot” single

“Another One Like Me”
Recorded May 1994 at Celebration Sounds, Pawtucket, RI
Engineered by a recording class, for practice (!)
Bass – John Sundström
Drums – John Andrade, Jr.
All other instruments – DJL

Satellite Pictures sessions
Recorded Sep 1996 at Lakewest
“Day Before We Met”, “Emergency Stop”, “Huddleston Pond”:
Bass/vocals – John Sundström
Drums/vocals – John Andrade, Jr.
All other instruments – DJL
More info on the “Satellite Pictures” album

Public Therapy single
Recorded Sep 1997 at The Music Grind
Engineered by J. Brien
“What Is It About You”, “Public Therapy”:
Bass/vocals – John Sundström
Drums/vocals – John Andrade, Jr.
All other instruments – DJL
More info on the “Public Therapy” single

“Christmas Morning, 5:00AM”
Home recording from Dec 1999. Remastered for this release, 2019
Bass/vocals – John Sundström
Drums/vocals – John Andrade, Jr.
All other instruments – DJL
I wrote and recorded a demo version of this for Mike Davidson’s All Star Christmas, Vol II (with Mike on drums) the year before. This was the first song I ever engineered at home, and it was a mess, so I’m particularly happy to have this remixed version ready for the twenty-year anniversary!

“Show Me An Angel”
Home recording from 2001. Remastered for this release, 2019
Bass – Sean Finnerty
Drums – John Andrade, Jr.
All other instruments – DJL