Biography
"Avi Buffalo was once just the kid named Avi (short for Avigdor
Zahner-Isenberg). Years of 12-hour days attacking the guitar (plus
lessons-to-mentoring with seriously iconoclastic local blues guys)
revealed a pretty preternatural talent for making a very special kind of
bent but lovely pop song.
He spent the mid-2000s singing quiet yet resolutely sophisticated
songs into whatever free programs he could put on his PC. And they were
about as lovely and scruffy as the songs analog guys like Pollard,
Barlow, and Fox would sing into tape decks during their own long late
nights.
A solo show at a much-loved vegan restaurant magnetized Avi Buffalo
into a full band; full-band Avi Buffalo magnetized L.A’s Eastside
musicians (plus they hit all the major press in the city before they had
ANY kind of record out at all); and engineer
Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith and Emmylou Harris sideman, among others)
invited Avi Buffalo to help him test out the new studio he’d built in
his house. This was the big leap—except for some after-class time at a
local recording school, Avi Buffalo had never existed anywhere but a
laptop or a really good house party. One of the first songs recorded
just for fun was “What’s In It For?”; it was also one of the first songs
Avi put up on MySpace (“Because that’s all it takes,” says Avi, still a
tiny bit shocked). And once Sub Pop came inquiring, What’s In It For?
became the first single from the album (which hadn’t even been thought
of as a possible album until all this). This all happened within a few
months. And then, says Avi, everything got kind of freaky!"http://www.subpop.com/bio/avi_buffalo
Zahner-Isenberg). Years of 12-hour days attacking the guitar (plus
lessons-to-mentoring with seriously iconoclastic local blues guys)
revealed a pretty preternatural talent for making a very special kind of
bent but lovely pop song.
He spent the mid-2000s singing quiet yet resolutely sophisticated
songs into whatever free programs he could put on his PC. And they were
about as lovely and scruffy as the songs analog guys like Pollard,
Barlow, and Fox would sing into tape decks during their own long late
nights.
A solo show at a much-loved vegan restaurant magnetized Avi Buffalo
into a full band; full-band Avi Buffalo magnetized L.A’s Eastside
musicians (plus they hit all the major press in the city before they had
ANY kind of record out at all); and engineer
Aaron Embry (Elliott Smith and Emmylou Harris sideman, among others)
invited Avi Buffalo to help him test out the new studio he’d built in
his house. This was the big leap—except for some after-class time at a
local recording school, Avi Buffalo had never existed anywhere but a
laptop or a really good house party. One of the first songs recorded
just for fun was “What’s In It For?”; it was also one of the first songs
Avi put up on MySpace (“Because that’s all it takes,” says Avi, still a
tiny bit shocked). And once Sub Pop came inquiring, What’s In It For?
became the first single from the album (which hadn’t even been thought
of as a possible album until all this). This all happened within a few
months. And then, says Avi, everything got kind of freaky!"http://www.subpop.com/bio/avi_buffalo