By the time I rented the little cabin studio on a hillside in East LA, I hadn’t written or recorded anything for myself in several years. I was mostly writing and recording with other artists and expressing my own creative output through painting. I had no desire to make music for myself.
One afternoon, out of the blue, after getting off a phone call with my dad, I wrote and recorded “Totaled Lexus” in the span of two hours. It shocked me that my inner voice was still this loud and accessible.
A few days later, late at night, with the Santa Ana winds crashing against the side of the cabin, I wrote “Southwest Suburbs.” That gave me the sonic direction for the album.
Over the next year, friends would come visit and we would jam. I recorded the sessions and turned some of them into songs. It’s a psychedelic journey through endless horse pastures at magic hour, exploring my complicated relationship with my father on the eve of becoming one myself.
The next Miniature Tigers album, “Summer of the Cow”will be released on June 5th.
SOUTHWEST SUBURBS
SUMMER OF THE COW
EQUESTRIAN RIDER
CENTIPEDE
VALLEY PRAYER
PEARLS FROM YOUR SWINE
DANNY
THE CRUEL WIND
TOTALED LEXUS
PRESAVE IN THE BIO 🐄
Volcano Demos + B-Sides Out Now!
🌋🌋🌋🌋
(pictured on the cover is Rick painting the cover for volcano)
Thank you for listening to these demos. Some of these recordings go as far back as 2004, years before I started the band. In this music, I hear someone taking their first baby steps as a songwriter, not thinking anyone would ever hear these songs. It’s outside my comprehension that years later there is an amazing community of people who care about this music. I’m forever grateful to every single one of you. I hope this inspires you to make art like nobody is watching.
-charlie
