The
Steve Espinola Music Slut page
updated
Oct 31, 2009.
photo by Geoff Kornfeld
An incomplete list of musicians Steve plays with (and has played with):
The Listeners. A trance-healing music group that makes their own instruments. Here's the group on John Schaefer's New Sounds on WNYC. And The Listeners on WFMU. Irene Trudel's December 10th 2001 featured Ben Hume and Simon Samaan of the Listeners. They first appear at 01:07:35 into the show.
The Sprinkle Genies. Great garage rock with garbage can percussion. Steve is the studio piano guy on their 2007, The Class Is On Fire. Steve is currently producing roughly half of the songs for their new album, and playing with them on most gigs.
The Moldy Peaches. Steve played the occasional keyboard or electric tennis racket with this hilarious and poignant folk-punk duo/band. Their Rough Trade/Sanctuary album "The Moldy Peaches" was in the "Year's Best Albums" lists of Spin, the Village Voice, and Rolling Stone Magazine in 2001. They featured strongly on the soundtrack of the 2008 sleeper hit movie Juno (not with Steve, though). Steve appears on the recording of the song "Jorge Regula", which is allegedly about him. The recording was used in a Chilean Pepsodent commercial.
<--The
Lookalikes. A duo with Alex
Wolf. Their 1996 album "Life-o-phobia"
is considered a classic in certain limited
anti-folk circles. They rarely perform together due to geographical
differences, though they did record 3 new songs in December 2001, which are now available here. The
album, once a lavishly-packaged cassette, is now available as a newly
home-pressed CD at Steve's shows, and here and
here.
Dwight Peterson (Now known as Do Peterson). As Steve and Dwight, (or was it Dwight and Steve?) they performed together for seven solid years and recorded two widely bootlegged cassette albums, "Two Guys and a Doorknob...Two Doorknobs and a Guy...Three Doorknobs" and "Stuck." Do now lives in Seattle; he has recently completed his graduate work in biostatistics. This is reflected in his new, unique, wonderful concept album, "My Dissertation," with some piano by you-know-who. His new band is "Science Groove."
Steve Wynn. Steve Wynn is the singer-songwriter behind The Dream Syndicate ("Days of Wine and Roses") and Gutterball. Steve E toured as Steve W's keyboard player on his Spring 1999 US & European tour, promoting the "My Midnight" album. Here's a nice bootleg of us playing on the radio in Holland--Check out "Medicine Show." (It's the fourth track--the third track is mislabelled.) Hi-res version Steve E has continued playing occasional shows with Steve W's various bands, including Steve W's 2009 special 25th anniversary performance of the Dream Syndicate's "Medicine Show," which can be heard here and here. Steve E also played the part of the orchestra for the new York live performance of Steve W's album with Spanish band Australian Blonde, "Momento."
The Dan Emery Mystery Band. Currently best known for the song "Other People's Tongues," which was featured recently on an episode of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim show Morel Orel. Steve was a member of this band from 1996 through 2000. Steve appears on most tracks of Dan's two excellent albums, "Love and Advertising" and "Natural Selection", playing piano, melodic shortwave radio, and making occasional shrieks. When the band broke up, Steve compiled an annotated boxed set of Dan's unreleased material that spans 17 CDs and 20 hours, and featured hundreds of songs. A novel in song form. At least 10 people claim to have listened to the whole thing. Dan founded and runs the New York City Guitar School and the Brooklyn Guitar School.
Amy X Neuberg. Amy is a delightful avant-pop/cabaret performer / composer / singer / percussionist and a longtime friend. Amy and Steve created and performed a piece for Amy's December 13, 2008 show at Roulette in New York City. It involved two consecutive song performances cut live onto 78rpm acetate discs, which were then played in sync on wind up Victrolas to reveal a hidden third lyric and arrangement.
The Teenage Prayers. Steve was pianist for this band circa 2007-8. They continue to rock. This arrangement began when Steve played as a member of Hazel Motes, a union between Steve Wynn's band and the Prayers, doing extremely loud cover versions of gospel songs and other songs about God. (The Hazel Motes link is disabled for now....there's a nasty virus on that link.)
Peter Dizozza. Steve has appeared as a "Dueling Pianist" with Peter at many of their shows. A song that they wrote in "exquisite corpse" fashion, "Forests of Neurosis," appears as a duet on Peter's new album, "Songs from the Golf Wars". You can buy it here.
Sport Murphy. Great songwriter, great guy, interesting guy! Why? Partly, because he's interested in everything that's interesting and great.
Debby Schwartz. Former chief songwriter of the Aquanettas, she has gone wonderfully folky as of late.
Wadlow. Led by myth-oriented artist Jason Bell (ukelele and dancing), featuring Debby Schwartz (songs and guitar), Kory Smith (drums), and Steve (toy piano and racket). This high-concept band is named after the tallest man who every walked the planet. Here's a video based on Debby's song about Jason's cartoon character "Caveman Robot." Jason is wearing an outfit designed by Juliann Kroboth. Steve is the one wearing the viking helmet, playing the electric tennis racket, and wearing a toga made from the skin of a sabre-toothed tiger.
Dallam
Dougou--Brooklyn's premier African-Hungarian jazz group, let by composer/cellist
Raul Rothblatt. The band used to be called "(De)Band Deblatt."
Raul co-runs world music label Jumbie Records and released a . As for the band's CD, you can buy it here.
Tom
Warnick and the World's Fair. Tom played guitar on Steve's "Bumbling Along," and his songs are excellent. Steve was Tom's pianist for a spell. Buy his recent CD "May I See Some ID?" (His previous album is excellent, too, and a new one comes out in late 2009.)
For a spell, Steve played the part of pianist Nicky Hopkins in the Mike Hunt Band. The band features a stripteasing Tammy Lang (Tammy Faye Starlite) as Mick Jagger, Jill Richmond (of the Aquanettas and Mean Reds) as Keith Richards, and performs complete Rolling Stones albums.
Bionic Finger. Steve played keyboards on "24-hour Bug" from this magical quartet's debut CD, "Inner Bimbo." Oh no! They broke up! But they can now be found, separately, in the bands Schwervon, The Domestics, The Recording Angels, and The Trouble Dolls.
cub. Defunct, great Vancouver cuddlecore trio. Steve made memorable cameos on electric tennis racket at their NYC shows at Roseland Ballroom (opening for the Magnetic Fields and They Might Be Giants), CBGB's, and Coney Island High. Members now populate The Here and Now and I Am Spoonbender. Steve has also played on Lisa Marr solo sets (she was primary songwriter & singer for cub).
The Cello Wrapped Heads. Late 1980's. Perhaps too many great ideas to fit in one band, but beautiful while it lasted. With Andrew Rohn, Erik Pearson, Peter Bresnick, Dan Alter, Billy Jonas (in an ongoing unofficial capacity), and Do Peterson. Two tracks from 2 lineups of the band appear on the Stuck cd.
[Steve Espinola's upcoming gigs] [contact Steve]