I met PJ Bond through mutual friends sometime in the early 2000's. At the time, he was playing guitar and singing for the New Jersey emo/indie bands Outsmarting Simon and Marigold, just as I was starting out as a solo artist trying to find my niche New York City. Despite our sonic disparities, we loved each other's music and over the years our bands played many shows together throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. As a result, a great friendship formed. We spent many nights discussing our work, always with a great appreciation for one another's input and advice. He is someone whose artistic opinion truly matters to me, because I know that he is passionate and dedicated to what he does: writing and developing honest songs about his experience.
Since those early days of our friendship, I've followed PJ's career closely. I've watched him front many diverse bands. I've seen him develop as both a songwriter and as a performing artist. His lyrics are thoughtful and provocative. As a performer, he is engaging, witty and, occasionally, fragile. His debut solo album, "You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical," is a chronicle of his many years on the road (touring and traveling) and the strange characters with whom he has crossed paths. Conceptually, it is posed as a sort of dark love letter to his demons, requiring several listens before one can really grasp the intricacies of the album. PJ’s choruses are commanding and contagious, and there is always a hint of sadness in his voice, so that even the seemingly "happy" songs ring bittersweet.
Though it often changes, my current favorite song on Alphabetical is "Fucking!Viv". Here is what PJ had to say about this self-proclaimed "scathing" track:
The song "Fucking! Viv," is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek take on my distaste for certain aspects of the current state of music, and it is featured on my 2009 Black Numbers release, "You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical." In late 2008, I was staying with my parents for a few weeks and working on songs every night after work. My goal was to write 30 songs with hopes that I'd end up with 10 awesome ones to make a quality full length, but even that seemed daunting at times. The thing is, when you're in a band you have friends to constantly push you, to suggest things, to help you hone your songs; however, when you're writing alone, it's easier to settle, or not push things to their fullest. I ended up spending late nights sitting on the couch in my parents' guest room hashing out song after song, trying to force myself to write more, better, stronger. Being alone with my songs and a few bottles of scotch, I often questioned whether all of this was pointless. Would anyone hear these songs? Would anyone care? Did I care anymore? Of course I did, but it can be pretty easy to get disillusioned sometimes. During this time I heard some songs from a band comprised of people I'd known from my early 20's. They were not particularly talented, and as far as I was concerned, they'd not really invested all that much time in music or learning their instruments. But, they were attractive, hip and they moved to a cool neighborhood. Next thing we all knew, they were hot and skyrocketing. I was amazed by the farce they'd built, the metaphorical wool they'd pulled over the community's eyes. I got stupidly upset over something that not only didn't matter but didn't affect me. I felt angry at myself for being angry. I realized how stupid it all was. So, in a few simple chords I put down my displeasure with the way it seems things worked. It's equal parts self-deprecation, silliness, annoyance, hope and jealousy.
When you get down to it, none of what happens to other people changes what we are, but it's hard to remember that at times. It's easy to point fingers, to blame, to hate, to insult. The truth of the matter is that we just need to make the best we can in our own lives, we need to be happy with ourselves and our actions, and all of the other things will fall into place. "Fucking! Viv" is a constant reminder to me that I need to do well for myself, and forget whatever else is out there.
If you'd like to check out more music by me and my friends, please visit http://www.theblacknumbers.com or look for my stuff on iTunes. Thanks for checking out the music. I wish you all the best.
- pj bond
Here's another one of my favorites off of Alphabetical, called "Grow Your Smile Wide" :
To purchase a limited edition vinyl copy of "You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical," visit: the Black Numbers online store.
You can also keep track of PJ Bond on his tumblr, here: http://pjbondmusic.tumblr.com/
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