Time-Lapse John Henry Painting

In a previous post, I waxed all poetic about the silk-screened posters for The Ghost of John Henry that LA-based artist Mike Estano created. I love when art inspires other art, and having been on the receiving end of so much of that inspiration, I consider it a tremendous compliment when the band is able […]

Obsolete Technology Will Demand a Reckoning: The Ghost of John Henry

Our new album, The Ghost of John Henry, is available today. The folk tale about a railroad worker who raced a steam drill has stuck with me since I was a little kid, and so in a lot of ways it feels like I’ve been leading up to this record my whole life. That makes […]

In the Studio, Week 1 – Video Blog

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eMNjh7HDc] I took a stab at a video blog, and I’d love to hear what you think.  Here’s a three-minute peek behind the scenes at our first sessions in the studio to work on the new record. As always, for more about the band, free downloads, other videos, etc., visit www.scifiromance.net.

The Studio Awaits

Tomorrow morning we start work on our new album “The Ghost of John Henry” at JaronSound Studios.  We’ve got ten songs to tackle in order to tell the story of the album, and we might try to bang out a couple of one-offs or would-be B-sides if there’s the opportunity. My plan is to try […]

Thinking About the Album as Art Form

As we gear up to head into the studio to record the next album, naturally I’ve been thinking a lot about albums. Everybody knows that the album as we generally understand it — a coherent collection of songs by an artist — is pretty much dwindled to a niche preoccupation.  Bands like Radiohead get some […]

The New Album is Written

I finished writing the new album tonight, which will in all likelihood be called “The Ghost of John Henry.” If you are not familiar with the legend of John Henry, it goes like this, more or less:In the 1870s, as technology was rapidly advancing and railroads were linking the United States in a way that […]

Playing Live

The past six weeks have been full of live performances. I was tallying it up today, and I think I’ve played somewhere every week for the last six, from a pair of shows with the expanding band lineup, to a few solo acoustic sets, and the odd open mic here and there. It occurred to […]

New Members, New Songs

New things are afoot in the realm of Sci-Fi Romance. Kurt Bloom has come on board as our drummer, and we played our first show together last week in Hollywood at the Pig N’ Whistle. We are also rehearsing with a cellist to fill out the live sound. Upcoming shows will roll out these, and […]