Andrew
Vladeck
rock
and roll pa-STROLL
- by Marie Helene
Andrew Vladeck’s
self-titled debut album is highly musical, soulful
result of a lot of years of playing and touring. His
eclectic family of songs pays the listener in full
and no matter how many times he falls to pieces, he’s
just fine. Hold a copy to your chest and rock back
and forth today!
Ex park ranger?
Explain.
As an Urban Park Ranger,
I was assigned to patrol parks in The Bronx and Manhattan,
which was very interesting, and often more pa-STROLL
than patrol. You’d be amazed by the amount of
wildlife. Not all drug-induced.
There are many
references to being tired, worn out, falling to pieces
on your album. Are you ok?
I fall to pieces in
an entirely good way. Laugh ‘til I cry and cry
‘til I laugh.
Do you ever
spend nights holding your self-titled debut album
to your chest and repeating, “I made this. I
made this.”
It took a billion years
to put this together, so I’m thrilled it’s
done, but I’m more thrilled when other people
hold it to their chests…
What was your
goal when recording your album? Did you succeed?
My goal was to capture
where I was at the time musically: playing different
instruments and types of songs, often with a big,
fun, 10-piece band. The problem was it took me eons
to make, so where I was musically kept changing –
though I think that turned out to be a great thing.
Did you go
to school for music?
Nope. But my parents
were record collectors and we had three vintage Seeburg
jukeboxes – the ones that looked like old chrome
Chevys – stacked with 45s – so there was
always a ton of music.
I looked it up and can’t find the definition
for Ringaleevio. What does it mean?
“Ringaleevio”
is the name of a children’s game that was popular
with my parent’s generation in NYC and they
passed it down – It’s like tag, only rougher.
You gotta catch someone and hold on long enough to
say “Ringaleevio 1,2 3” three times. I
wrote the song about when my brother had cancer (he’s
now doing great, hallelujah).
How does one
go about hot wiring a banjo?
Boredom. A soldering
iron. A dark stormy night. A stroke of lightening
and/or madness.
What else, Andrew?
Thanks to you and The
Deli for focusing on this corner of the world.
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