Hi ya,
I just finished my handful of tour dates and will be laying low for a bit. I will be recording the Forensics track for their upcoming EP in a week or two and then hopefully I will begin writing for my collaberation record with my best friend Runhild Gammelsaeter for our project called Drekkingarhylur.
Over and out,
Tracy Ringfinger
News 4/28/09 : TOUR!
NEWS 4/4/2009
Hello,
Hello,
The first Ringfinger show was action packed. We didn't have a sound check so it took a good three songs to get things smoothed out but the real highlights included the set falling over pretty much straight away as well as a few other things around my "living room" taking a topple as well. The good news is by Awol W/ Adore order was restored, I could hear myself sing, and having Stephen Brodsky along for the experience on stage was a treat for all.
Thanks to those who came and I can't wait to play more shows so I can master the art of performing my record in my living room setting without the walls literally falling down around me, ha! And the most important lesson of the night - SOUND CHECKS BEFORE THE SHOW ARE KEY.
And for those of you who thought my old voice, the big Dahlia Seed voice in me was gone forever (since I sing more quietly on my record), you will be pleased to know that in a live setting the DS voice is still alive and well.
Can't wait to tour more in April and May,
Tracy
Two More April Shows
04/18 -- Lancaster, PA - Stomping Grounds after-party w/Boyfriends, Snowing
04/19 -- Wilmington, DE - The Spot w/Forensics, Golden City
Ringfinger Bio (written by Tracy aka Ringfinger)
Your survival mechanism is a curious thing. Mine chose to make a solo record after nearly a decade of musical nothingness in the hopes of channeling a difficult and emotional decade into something productive and positive. After the demise of Dahlia Seed in 1996 (I was the singer) I dabbled in a few home recording projects (Souvenir and Scissorettes) and briefly sang in a band (Down with the Ship) featuring drummer extraordinaire Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Burnt By the Sun, Melt Banana, Discordance Axis). I did not formally record or release any new music during that entire time period.
I am Tracy Wilson aka Ringfinger and this is my self released debut solo long player called “Decimal”.
dec·i·mal(ds-ml) n. 1. A linear array of digits that represents a real number, every decimal place indicating a multiple of a negative power of 10. For example, the decimal 0.1 = 1/10 , 0.12 = 12/100 , 0.003 = 3/1000 . Also called decimal fraction. 2. A number written using the base 10. adj. 1. Expressed or expressible as a decimal. 2. a. Based on 10. b. Numbered or ordered by groups of 10.
Following a laundry list of heartaches including divorce, moving to a new city where I knew almost no one, the loss of both my parents to two different terminal diseases, and a brother who was killed in an accident (the list goes on and on), I was a shadow of a human being. At the end of it all I was desperate for something to throw myself into that wasn’t grief or self pity. My life goal slowly transformed from trying to keep my head above water to rediscovering who I was since everything that helped to define me was obliterated in a matter of just a few years.
My sanity came in the form of 12 songs and a group of friends/musicians who probably still have no clue of the role (heroes) they played in my personal Greek tragedy. Team Ringfinger helped to rescue me just by sharing their creative gift. Sometimes we shared ideas via the mailbox (Postal Service-style if you will) and occasionally some of us were fortunate to share studio time together.
I am uncomfortable drawing too much attention to the back story of “Decimal,” as ultimately I would like the songs to stand on their own but the simple truth is the making of this record was a matter of life or death to me. Every record has a story to tell, a different reason as to why it was born, and this is mine. It is a tale of survival, perseverance, and ultimately the sound of friendship in all its complex and varied forms.
The blueprint of “Decimal” looks something this: I would first write a song on my Zoom Rhythmtrak RT-123 (old school!). I would then record it on 4-track (double old school) with rough vocals ultimately passing it along in Pro Tools to friends who either expanded or deconstructed the music from there. In all cases, once a song was close to being finished it was mailed back to me and then brought into a studio where I would record my final vocals. As Frankenstein-esquely stitched together the parts to these songs are, I believe there is a consistency to the material. All but one of the songs found on “Decimal” are written by me and all of the songs but one are sung by me. My audio mad scientist and final mixer was Oktopus of Dälek and it was with his genius and incredible patience that the hundreds of puzzle pieces were perfectly nestled together to form the final, sonic big picture.
This epic project was completed in May of this year, ten years after the idea of my solo record was hatched.
Giving up creative control was something I initially dreaded, but in the end, this became my favorite aspect of the recording project. It was thrilling to send off a skeleton outline of a song and then listen to it develop in a way that I could have never dreamed. The core of this record remains rooted in electronic (occasionally glitchy) based pop but I think listeners will be as surprised as I was to discover musicians best known for their work in heavier genres diving delicately and utterly gracefully into an unlikely pairing. Dream-doom? Tweegazer? Static-pop? Fuzztronica? Quiet and loud all at once. Who knew?
It should also be explained as to how the players of this record came to be. I’ve been obsessed with music my whole life. I have been collecting records for 27 years, worked in independent music for over 20 years, played in bands for nearly as long and in that span of time you can’t help but eventually stumble across creative talented musician types. I truly feel fortunate to have befriended so many incredibly gifted people along the way.
Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Pet Genuis) and I met in email pen pal form through a friend at Jade Tree records in 1996. From there we began mailing 4-track tapes back and forth and it was through these exchanges that many of the songs found on “Decimal” began to take shape. Stephen is my partner in crime for nearly half of the material found here and it was the success of our collaborations that inspired me to try partnering my material with other friends. “Decimal” is also the first time Stephen and his brother Matt have ever played and recorded together so “Pin Me Down”, sung entirely by Stephen with drums by his brother, is extra special for this reason alone.
Richmond, Virginia became my home in 2001 and it was here that I met the members of Denali (Cam DiNunzio + Jonathan Fuller), Engine Down (Jonathan Fuller), Delegate (Justin Bailey - whose is now a member of Eons) and Rich Stine who plays in too many projects to even begin to list them all. These locals were my recording anchors. They play on about a third of the actual songs and it was Cam using his home recording gear + stood at the helm during our stint at Sound Of Music Studio, Rich, and Justin (Black Iris Studio) who helped to record and organize the basics to every one of my songs. (What can I say-I don’t have a personal computer and this record would have never happened without their help)
The rest of Team Ringfinger comes from all over the place. Meason Wiley of Dead Waiter has been an old friend reaching back to my days of Dahlia Seed in the early to mid 90s. Aaron Turner of Isis was first introduced to me through Stephen Brodsky but we have also had a working relationship in the late 90’s when I was selling his label’s records (Hydra Head) through my distribution job at Caroline Distribution. J Robbins with whom I recorded the vocals for two of the tracks is perhaps my oldest friend in the bunch. Jawbox was the very first band to stay at my first ever home away from my parent’s home in 1991.
Rex Ritter of Sunno))), Jessamine, and Fontanelle is probably my second oldest friend on “Decimal” as we became friends while I lived in Seattle 1994-95 through the Engine Kid guys who were on C/Z the label I was a sales rep for at the time. Barry London (Jah Division, Knoxville Girls and well, my ex-husband to be more specific) and I home recorded quite a bit in late '90s / early 2000 and it was from these sessions that “Miss Me” came to be. It saddened me that none of our songs ever saw the light of day so when I had the chance to rework an old demo version of the song, I jumped at the opportunity.
It was then placed in the hands of Alap Momin (Dälek) who completely dissected and rebuilt the song from the ground up. Alap and I, both from the same post hardcore community of the '90s in NY, NY, worked together in the mid-'90s when Dahlia Seed recorded our final material at his studio. Nyles Lannon, of Film School and N. Lannon, falls into the newest friend category. I was a huge fan of his debut solo record and introduced myself to him at local show he played a few years ago. We hardly new each other at the time but I had one track that screamed for his addition. I shyly asked him if he was interested in adding his talents to the mix, and lucky for me, he said yes.
Dahlia Seed. We were an emo/ post hardcore/ indie rock band that existed from 1992 to 1996. We put out a few records (Troubleman, Vinyl Communications, Theologian) and while we didn’t do really do the barcode thing back them (don’t ask- it was a DIY thing) I can guestimate that our combined catalog sales were around 10,000. People say we influenced all sorts of bands like Pretty Girls Make Graves, Rainer Maria, and At the Drive In (Omar of ATDI/MARS Volta has a Dahlia Seed tattoo) to name a few, but I am not going to claim any of that as fact, just word on the street. I will leave you with a few quotes about the band since I feel so dopey trying to excavate something that feels like ancient history to me. Now I understand why artists don’t like to write their own bios.
“Dahlia Seed were almost all singer Tracy Wilson. Not to take anything from the rest of the band... but Wilson was the punk Ani Difranco (in terms of influence on female listeners), with a voice of pure power and rage that could also be vulnerable.” Rocket-fuel.com
“Dahlia Seed was one of the few bands who captured the personal sentiment of anger while maintaining a tranquil tone. Just when Tracy Wilson's vocals comfortably linger in a peaceful presence, however, a gruff burst of angst erupts out of nowhere. ...Featuring all of the rare, hard-to-find, and unreleased tracks that were spread throughout their four-year tenure, the Seed's moody setting of genuine emotion and poetic honesty remains. Although not as essential as their 1995 album Survived By, Please Excuse All the Blood is a pleasant ending to one of the most seminal bands ....” Allmusicguide
“Pretty Girls Make Graves are not the first band to consist of all male musicians with a female lead singer. Deborah Harry did it in Blondie, Exene Cervenka in X, and Tracy Wilson in Dahlia Seed, just to name a few; but like these bands, the male members in Pretty Girls are not an orchestra for lead singer Andrea Zollo, they operate as a band and all play equal parts.” Womanrock.com
The Magic Bullet press announcement about me / “Decimal” is here. http://www.magicbulletrecords.com/news.html
"From the tape hiss which blankets our cassette 4-track collaborations from the past 8 years to Ringfinger's full-scale webbing of musical personalities, I couldn't be more proud of Tracy Wilson. Her uncanny strength to see this monster of a project through is an inspiration unto its own. There's no mistaking the token crackling whisper of hers that I've come to love - it's just one of my favorite threads throughout this record. I even did my best to mimic it in "Mining For Diamonds", which kinda spooked her a bit. Thinking back, it was a blast being mutated together, snowed in by a mighty New England blizzard, burrowing in the warmth of sonic experimentations... now, let's all look upwards - my good friend has climbed a staggering aural mountain." – Stephen Brodsky
Artist: Ringfinger
Title: Decimal
Selection #LBC 001
Street Date: 11/13/2007
LP on Magic Bullet - first pressing was 500 / 250 black & 250 red (SOLD OUT!)
Tracklisting:
1. Typewriter Tourist (Feat. Cam DiNunzio of Denali & Jonathan Fuller of Engine Down / Denali)
2. Waving Good-Bye (Feat. Aaron Turner of Isis/ Old Man Gloom)
3. Joy Lingers (Feat. Stephen Brodsky of Cave In)
4. Viking Funeral (Feat. Meason Wiley of Dead Waiter / J. Robbins’ of Jawbox/ Burning Airlines production)
5. Landing Strip (Feat. Rex Ritter of Sunn0))), Fontanelle, Jessamine.)
6. Pin Me Down (Feat. Stephen Brodsky of Cave In and Matt Brodsky of Harder The Fight)
7. (I) Miss Me (Feat. Oktopus of Dälek and Barry London of Jah Division)
2. Waving Good-Bye (Feat. Aaron Turner of Isis/ Old Man Gloom)
3. Joy Lingers (Feat. Stephen Brodsky of Cave In)
4. Viking Funeral (Feat. Meason Wiley of Dead Waiter / J. Robbins’ of Jawbox/ Burning Airlines production)
5. Landing Strip (Feat. Rex Ritter of Sunn0))), Fontanelle, Jessamine.)
6. Pin Me Down (Feat. Stephen Brodsky of Cave In and Matt Brodsky of Harder The Fight)
7. (I) Miss Me (Feat. Oktopus of Dälek and Barry London of Jah Division)
8. Elegant Excuse (Feat Justin Bailey of Eons and Nyles Lannon of Film School/N.Lannon)
9. AWOL W/ Adore (Feat. Justin Bailey of Eons) and J. Robbins’ of Jawbox/ Burning Airlines production)
10. Mining For Diamonds (Feat. Stephen Brodsky of Cave In)
11. Four Misused letters " (Feat. Cam DiNunzio of Denali & Jonathan Fuller of Engine Down/Denali)
9. AWOL W/ Adore (Feat. Justin Bailey of Eons) and J. Robbins’ of Jawbox/ Burning Airlines production)
10. Mining For Diamonds (Feat. Stephen Brodsky of Cave In)
11. Four Misused letters " (Feat. Cam DiNunzio of Denali & Jonathan Fuller of Engine Down/Denali)
12. Death Star (Feat. Stephen Brodsky of Cave In)
