With a major-label distribution deal right out of the chute, Candy Butchers seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of other smart, song-focused, melody-driven, ’90s outfits like Ben Folds Five and Fountains Of Wayne before the proverbial window of opportunity slammed shut circa 1997. Since then, seemingly unflappable leader Mike Viola has kept plugging away, fending off adversity in his personal life (his first wife died of cancer) and overall public indifference to get his music out there, whether as himself, under the Candy Butchers moniker, on film soundtracks or elsewhere. Viola’s new solo release, Electro De Perfecto (Good Morning Monkey/Hornblow), is a slickly produced celebration of a versatile songwriter in his prime, one who deserves a little more love. Viola will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Viola: Reuben Cox is a photographer, teacher, writer and a luthier (guitar builder). He’s also a Rose Bowl Swap Meet maven. One of the early bird pickers that snags all the cool old instruments before the sun comes up. From rare. sought-after Martin OOO series or Harmony acoustics to crazy cool little tube amps, mandolins, ukes, keyboards. Basically anything that generates a tone that pleases him. He’ll buy it for a song and sell it for a reasonable price. But the kicker is, he’ll fix it first. Make it beautiful, functional. And he does this other thing. He’ll take spare vintage guitar parts and make new guitars out of them. Maybe take a Fender Mustang neck and make a new body for it, put some other vibey Sears-looking pickups in it, paint it cherry red, maybe throw a Bigsby on there. They all play themselves. They all have secret songs in them waiting to be played out of them. His store is called Old Style, and the place is haunted with music. He has bands play shows in his little store as well. It’s super intimate, and it sounds amazing ’cause of the raised wooden floors. In the summer I’ve seen shows outside, and he fires up a BBQ, has a cooler of what not, and people just gather. Music fans and neighbors alike, old style.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zFfcsHjR3I
