Singled Out: Amigos, Amigos!

10-09-2017
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Amigos, Amigos! have drawn comparisons to Chicago and Coheed and Cambria and are set to release their "Music Box EP" this Friday. To celebrate we asked Chuck Salamone to tell us about the single "Birds". Here is the story:

We are very excited to release the Music Box EPon Friday the 13th in October! "Birds" is a track that the band feels to be strong in its usage of dynamics. At face value, this is a song that takes the listener on a journey from an emotionally vulnerable and subdued place to a state of empowerment. When the band took on new members in the form of a horn section that wasn't there before, there were so many creative doors that we could unlock as a "new" group. "Birds" is a testament to the bands growth in numbers, as well as the gathering of new musical minds to embellish existing material.

"Birds" was originally an instrumental piece that lead guitarist, Nick Evans, and myself had written to play at a wedding. Our bassist, Tina Aragona (we actually call her Dr. Tina/Doctor) deserved something special on her special day, so Nick and I got to work. I had some painfully basic "pretty chords" that I brought to the table. Nick was there to add his usual ornamental playing prowess, which really took the song to a place that I was not expecting it to go. I've written quite a few one-off songs, but his additions really put meat on the bones of the tune. We played the song as an acoustic duo while people arrived and found their seats before the wedding ceremony. At this point, the song was strictly instrumental. We played it, people had very little reaction to it, and Nick and I thought, "Well, that was fun. What's next?"

A couple of months had passed and both Nick and I had been talking about an odd disconnect that was present within the mechanics of the band. We couldn't really put a finger on it, but rehearsals became more difficult to schedule, we were all working insane hours, and we hadn't had any luck with the past couple of shows at the time. We all agreed that a solution was for the band to focus on new material, so Nick and I unearthed "Birds" and began teaching it to Dr. Tina and our former drummer, Dan Silverstein. As I remember, the lyrics just kind of fell out of me. I jotted some ideas down over the course of a week and was happy with how I collected those ideas into the lyrics. I didn't think anything more of what I had written.

We only got an opportunity to play the song as a full band at ONE show before our drummer respectfully left the band in the spring of 2016 to focus his efforts on advancing his personal career. We were at a crossroads. Dr. Tina, Nick, and myself all agreed that we would look for another drummer and hopefully be back up and running within a couple of months.

Some time later, the NEW "Amigos, Amigos!" line-up entered Continental Recording Studio (Long Island City, Queens, NY) to record our sophomore publication. We found ourselves a new drummer, Jarrett Walser, and a horn section that was ready and willing to join the ranks! While recording "Birds" the trumpet players, Joe Christianson and Mario Correa, both wanted to express their feelings upon being "accepted" by the esoteric and enigmatic power mariachi community (don't scratch your head, that was a joke). They felt that their role in this piece in particular was to help the music "take flight" at the opportune moment. They accomplished this by entering the piece when it is loudest dynamically. The tune up until that point only features the band as a 4-piece, but once the trumpets enter, the new message of "Amigos, Amigos!" is heard loud and clear. The horns help to create new avenues for melody, timbre, and orchestration for a seemingly typical rock band.

"Birds" is not the only exciting track on the publication. The Music Box EPfeatures a number of musical moods and ideas that we are proud to release. There is much more to be heard beyond this track alone, so we hope that listeners are excited and inspired to check out the full EP on October 13th!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the band and EP right here!

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