- Here is a link to some excerpts from the music created for the opening of a photography exhibit by Craig Mains entitled, Time/Manner/Place.:
https://soundcloud.com/billy-cote/sets/excerpts-from-time-manner
- Here is a link to the Madder Rose website. On the music page there is unreleased stuff from the band's illustrious career!
http://www.madderroseband.com/
- Here's a link to my solo single, released in November 2016 by Polytechnic Youth out of London:
https://soundcloud.com/billy-cote
PARTIAL DISCOGRAPHY:
https://soundcloud.com/billy-cote/sets/excerpts-from-time-manner
- Here is a link to the Madder Rose website. On the music page there is unreleased stuff from the band's illustrious career!
http://www.madderroseband.com/
- Here's a link to my solo single, released in November 2016 by Polytechnic Youth out of London:
https://soundcloud.com/billy-cote
PARTIAL DISCOGRAPHY:
Bring It Down 1993
Mary Lorson - voc, gtr
Matt Verta-Ray - bass, voc
Rick Kubic aka Johnny Kick - drum
BC - gtr
Our first album, recorded in fits and starts at the fine Studio Red in Philadelphia. None of us were crazy about the end result, preferring the demos, as is often the case. But it did well for us in The UK and Europe, so we packed up our things and toured our asses off.
We embraced the lifestyle and the myth. We played a number of terrifying opening gigs for established and quite often famous bands and some huge festivals. We were seldom perfect (who cares) but often intense and usually interesting, with all of us being too self-indulgent to play things the same way twice. We had our own particular feel. Good times, mostly, if somewhat demented.
Matt and I did the the painting that's featured on the cover, and all the corresponding art for the campaign. The aesthetic is really down to him, though. He was/is a great visual artist-he designed a lot of the Speedball, Baby record covers, too. These Bring It Down paintings are some of my favorite artifacts of this period, and that includes the records. We left these rather large wooden constructions leaning against a dumpster near CB's because we didn't have enough room in Matt's trunk. A fitting epitaph, I suppose.
Mary Lorson - voc, gtr
Matt Verta-Ray - bass, voc
Rick Kubic aka Johnny Kick - drum
BC - gtr
Our first album, recorded in fits and starts at the fine Studio Red in Philadelphia. None of us were crazy about the end result, preferring the demos, as is often the case. But it did well for us in The UK and Europe, so we packed up our things and toured our asses off.
We embraced the lifestyle and the myth. We played a number of terrifying opening gigs for established and quite often famous bands and some huge festivals. We were seldom perfect (who cares) but often intense and usually interesting, with all of us being too self-indulgent to play things the same way twice. We had our own particular feel. Good times, mostly, if somewhat demented.
Matt and I did the the painting that's featured on the cover, and all the corresponding art for the campaign. The aesthetic is really down to him, though. He was/is a great visual artist-he designed a lot of the Speedball, Baby record covers, too. These Bring It Down paintings are some of my favorite artifacts of this period, and that includes the records. We left these rather large wooden constructions leaning against a dumpster near CB's because we didn't have enough room in Matt's trunk. A fitting epitaph, I suppose.
Swim EP 1993
Made to capitalize on the album's success in Europe and the UK, and to push it harder in the US. A remix of Swim, tracks from previous singles and a cool new tune, Liked You More (When You Were High).
Cover features a different painting by Matt and me.
Made to capitalize on the album's success in Europe and the UK, and to push it harder in the US. A remix of Swim, tracks from previous singles and a cool new tune, Liked You More (When You Were High).
Cover features a different painting by Matt and me.
Panic On1994
Our best one, in my opinion. We got home, rehearsed for a month and went in the studio. Co-produced by Mark Freegard, who had just come off of the Breeders big record. He was cool--he didn't try to inhibit us. He would even point out our exceedingly immature and petty behavior towards each other (and there was quite a bit of that). We cut it pretty much live, and it was pretty easy. We overdubbed all the things a band with a first time real budget does--B3, vibra-phone, toy piano, real piano, flute, pan pipes, crack pipes, and violin by Matt. Mark took over at the mixing stage and did a nice job.
Some of my better songs are on here, and Mary's too.
Matt Verta-Ray left after we were done recording to concentrate on Speedball, Baby. Chris Giammalvo replaced him on bass, and began touring immediately. He had no idea.
Cover features a rather crappy painting by me, done quickly after Atlantic rejected our original concept, which was probably awesome, though I can't quite remember what it was. (It was actually us on a London Street on Sunday morning, very hungover, with a big pink heart around us. It was hilarious).
Our best one, in my opinion. We got home, rehearsed for a month and went in the studio. Co-produced by Mark Freegard, who had just come off of the Breeders big record. He was cool--he didn't try to inhibit us. He would even point out our exceedingly immature and petty behavior towards each other (and there was quite a bit of that). We cut it pretty much live, and it was pretty easy. We overdubbed all the things a band with a first time real budget does--B3, vibra-phone, toy piano, real piano, flute, pan pipes, crack pipes, and violin by Matt. Mark took over at the mixing stage and did a nice job.
Some of my better songs are on here, and Mary's too.
Matt Verta-Ray left after we were done recording to concentrate on Speedball, Baby. Chris Giammalvo replaced him on bass, and began touring immediately. He had no idea.
Cover features a rather crappy painting by me, done quickly after Atlantic rejected our original concept, which was probably awesome, though I can't quite remember what it was. (It was actually us on a London Street on Sunday morning, very hungover, with a big pink heart around us. It was hilarious).
Rejected!
Still from footage by Bill Janovitz,, somewhere in SF.
The Love You Save EP 1995
A sort of dub version of the Jackson 5 classic. The J5 version is, without a doubt, my favorite song of all time, so why not do a cover? What could possibly go wrong? It actually came out pretty well, but of course pales next to the original. Hardly any guitars on here. The other three songs on the EP have a whole bunch of guitars. It's a nice EP, if you ask me. Go ahead, ask me.
The cover is from a painting I did. Everyone thought the title of the thing was Stop, but that's just the first word of the chorus.
A sort of dub version of the Jackson 5 classic. The J5 version is, without a doubt, my favorite song of all time, so why not do a cover? What could possibly go wrong? It actually came out pretty well, but of course pales next to the original. Hardly any guitars on here. The other three songs on the EP have a whole bunch of guitars. It's a nice EP, if you ask me. Go ahead, ask me.
The cover is from a painting I did. Everyone thought the title of the thing was Stop, but that's just the first word of the chorus.
Tragic Magic 1997
This is arguably where we, or more accurately, I fucked up. I had grown tired of playing "rock music" and wanted to make an album influenced by dub, having crucially forgotten that we were white. Mainly I didn't come up with good songs (although My Star is nice). Chris and Johnny proved to be a tight rhythm section, though. We spent a month in Louisiana at Dockside Studio, and it was great down there. Also hot. I believe Johnny also knocked over a street light with the van. We didn't get it, though. We received our first bad reviews, and I do mean bad.
Photo on cover by Anne Arden McDonald.
This is arguably where we, or more accurately, I fucked up. I had grown tired of playing "rock music" and wanted to make an album influenced by dub, having crucially forgotten that we were white. Mainly I didn't come up with good songs (although My Star is nice). Chris and Johnny proved to be a tight rhythm section, though. We spent a month in Louisiana at Dockside Studio, and it was great down there. Also hot. I believe Johnny also knocked over a street light with the van. We didn't get it, though. We received our first bad reviews, and I do mean bad.
Photo on cover by Anne Arden McDonald.
Hello June Fool 1999
A return to form, I'd say. We had been dropped by Atlantic and were picked up by Cooking Vinyl in the UK, our home for a bunch of projects. This record has many different sources of inspiration but sounds like us, unlike the previous one. We did a good job of mixing scratchy samples of weird shit in with the live band. Better songs, too. Made it at Electric Wilburland, right near my then newly adopted hometown of Ithaca. Rick Kubic aka Johnny Kick got really inventive with the drum parts, as I was determined to stay away from traditional backbeats for some reason. Lot of nice tom-tom patterns. Will Russell engineered and did a lovely job--everything sounds great. The mixes went on for 16 straight days, and Will never once told me to shut the fuck up. This is the most interesting guitar playing I ever did on a record. The whole band killed it. My favorites are Hotel, Feels Like Summer and Overflow.
I was sad that it didn't do better.
One of the songs from this record was featured in the last season of The
Sopranos (Mary wrote it).
A return to form, I'd say. We had been dropped by Atlantic and were picked up by Cooking Vinyl in the UK, our home for a bunch of projects. This record has many different sources of inspiration but sounds like us, unlike the previous one. We did a good job of mixing scratchy samples of weird shit in with the live band. Better songs, too. Made it at Electric Wilburland, right near my then newly adopted hometown of Ithaca. Rick Kubic aka Johnny Kick got really inventive with the drum parts, as I was determined to stay away from traditional backbeats for some reason. Lot of nice tom-tom patterns. Will Russell engineered and did a lovely job--everything sounds great. The mixes went on for 16 straight days, and Will never once told me to shut the fuck up. This is the most interesting guitar playing I ever did on a record. The whole band killed it. My favorites are Hotel, Feels Like Summer and Overflow.
I was sad that it didn't do better.
One of the songs from this record was featured in the last season of The
Sopranos (Mary wrote it).
The Jazz Cannon - Anmateur Soul Surgery 2000
Made concurrently with Hello June Fool. Jamie Kahn from SF was starting a label (Function 8), and he asked me if I wanted to put out a record. I was anxious to do another dub based thing, with fucked up samples and loops working as the rhythm and atmosphere. My long-time NYC friend Don Greene (RIP) did vocals and wrote lyrics for half of this. Some of it holds up well, but some of the instrumentals are thin. I was going for King Tubby meets the Bomb Squad (PE) and ended up eating jerk chicken on the subway (which is rude), so be cool - my intentions, as always, were excellent.
I love Daddy Ride (Don sings it),and the young Michael Jackson "inspired" Where You Are, Star (Mary sings it).
Don Greene lived a thousand lives, yet he died too soon. It's a hard thing to make sense of. He was an extraordinary man. How many people do you know who were questioned by the FBI twice, and for two separate incidences? (He maintains his innocence in both cases). He never slept and talked and talked, and sometimes we'd just walk around the city for hours. A huge wise-ass with a pocket fulla' medicine and a kind heart. I still think of him every day (he owes me 40 bucks).
Cover art by Natas Kaupas, an otherworldly skater/artist from the early days of West Coast street skating. He is one of the few people that I've met in this lifetime that actually has a perceptible aura. He did all the art for Jazz Cannon releases on Function 8, which also included two 12 inch singles, one a split single with Tommy Guerrero and Gadget.
Made concurrently with Hello June Fool. Jamie Kahn from SF was starting a label (Function 8), and he asked me if I wanted to put out a record. I was anxious to do another dub based thing, with fucked up samples and loops working as the rhythm and atmosphere. My long-time NYC friend Don Greene (RIP) did vocals and wrote lyrics for half of this. Some of it holds up well, but some of the instrumentals are thin. I was going for King Tubby meets the Bomb Squad (PE) and ended up eating jerk chicken on the subway (which is rude), so be cool - my intentions, as always, were excellent.
I love Daddy Ride (Don sings it),and the young Michael Jackson "inspired" Where You Are, Star (Mary sings it).
Don Greene lived a thousand lives, yet he died too soon. It's a hard thing to make sense of. He was an extraordinary man. How many people do you know who were questioned by the FBI twice, and for two separate incidences? (He maintains his innocence in both cases). He never slept and talked and talked, and sometimes we'd just walk around the city for hours. A huge wise-ass with a pocket fulla' medicine and a kind heart. I still think of him every day (he owes me 40 bucks).
Cover art by Natas Kaupas, an otherworldly skater/artist from the early days of West Coast street skating. He is one of the few people that I've met in this lifetime that actually has a perceptible aura. He did all the art for Jazz Cannon releases on Function 8, which also included two 12 inch singles, one a split single with Tommy Guerrero and Gadget.
Mary Lorson and Billy Cote' - Piano Creeps 2003
A mostly instrumental album put out by Cooking Vinyl and used to showcase our film scoring talents. Many of the pieces were used here and there, mostly in documentaries, student films, MTV bullshit. Contains one of our finest songs, Turtle Song, a co-write by Mary and me. Matt Saccuccimorano played drums and percussion on a lot of this, and also mastered it. Joe Myer played violin (and co-wrote a couple of tunes).
Joe also did the beautiful drawing that you see on the cover. He is, as you may have guessed, an artist extraordinaire. His landscapes are some of the vaguest paintings I've ever seen (a compliment)!
A mostly instrumental album put out by Cooking Vinyl and used to showcase our film scoring talents. Many of the pieces were used here and there, mostly in documentaries, student films, MTV bullshit. Contains one of our finest songs, Turtle Song, a co-write by Mary and me. Matt Saccuccimorano played drums and percussion on a lot of this, and also mastered it. Joe Myer played violin (and co-wrote a couple of tunes).
Joe also did the beautiful drawing that you see on the cover. He is, as you may have guessed, an artist extraordinaire. His landscapes are some of the vaguest paintings I've ever seen (a compliment)!
The Piano Creeps - Future Blues (for me and you) 2008
A collaboration between Mary, Kathy Ziegler and myself. One of my favorite records. It took forever to make, but it didn't have to - oh well. Kathy added so many great parts on so many different instruments. She also wrote a couple of fine songs. Then she left the country. I was going for songs with an acoustic guitar base, then adding ambient, electronic-y things on top. AJ Strauss played superb upright bass, and Tom Gilbert played drums. Steve Gollnick added some acoustic rhythm guitar, as I am terrible at that. Two of my better songs (Muddy Yard and There Goes My Girl) are on here.
A collaboration between Mary, Kathy Ziegler and myself. One of my favorite records. It took forever to make, but it didn't have to - oh well. Kathy added so many great parts on so many different instruments. She also wrote a couple of fine songs. Then she left the country. I was going for songs with an acoustic guitar base, then adding ambient, electronic-y things on top. AJ Strauss played superb upright bass, and Tom Gilbert played drums. Steve Gollnick added some acoustic rhythm guitar, as I am terrible at that. Two of my better songs (Muddy Yard and There Goes My Girl) are on here.
Wobbly Organ - Musique Concrete 2014
An archival release by Bang! Records, located in the Basque Country, Spain. These songs were recorded over a long weekend in Boston in 1991. The players were some kind of indie royalty at the time-I had yet to earn my wings. Crazy session, excellent players, lovely young men!
- Seth Tiven - guitar (Dumptruck)
- Jimmy Ryan - bass on pitch-shifted mandolin (Blood Oranges)
- John Williams - guitar (Volcano Suns)
- Mark Mulcahy - drums (Miracle Legion)
- Ron Ward - vocals (Speedball Baby)
- Produced by Sean Slade
An archival release by Bang! Records, located in the Basque Country, Spain. These songs were recorded over a long weekend in Boston in 1991. The players were some kind of indie royalty at the time-I had yet to earn my wings. Crazy session, excellent players, lovely young men!
- Seth Tiven - guitar (Dumptruck)
- Jimmy Ryan - bass on pitch-shifted mandolin (Blood Oranges)
- John Williams - guitar (Volcano Suns)
- Mark Mulcahy - drums (Miracle Legion)
- Ron Ward - vocals (Speedball Baby)
- Produced by Sean Slade
Billy Coté - GirlGhosts 1 & 2 (2016)
7 inch lathe cut single released by Polytechnic Youth in the UK. Side a is an excerpt from a long-form piece I did as part of a sound installation at a photography exhibit by Craig Mains. A mixture of acoustic and electronic instruments. Somewhat ambient, but with rhythmic melodies that create motion.
7 inch lathe cut single released by Polytechnic Youth in the UK. Side a is an excerpt from a long-form piece I did as part of a sound installation at a photography exhibit by Craig Mains. A mixture of acoustic and electronic instruments. Somewhat ambient, but with rhythmic melodies that create motion.
Film Scores:
Mary Lorson and I scored the following films: "Two Left Shoes" by Sam Gold: "Barrier Device" by Grace Lee; "What Remains: The Life and Art of Sally Mann" by Steven Cantor.
Mary Lorson and I scored the following films: "Two Left Shoes" by Sam Gold: "Barrier Device" by Grace Lee; "What Remains: The Life and Art of Sally Mann" by Steven Cantor.