Staten Island Album

This album was written in a single sitting (as far as I remember) on October 27th, 2002, except for Hired Driver which was written at the end of 2003.

The original idea, as I sat down to it, was about the journey from my mother's house in New Jersey to my father's house in Brooklyn, which we took every other weekend as kids. Sometimes we travelled through Manhatten but Manhatten was often a destination in and of itself and so doesn't represent the journey as much as Staten Island does.

Then I thought of the various symbols along the way (Dog Rock, Leaf Palace) and listed all the songs names.

However, when I actually got to writing the lyrics, it became all about driving and "the Man" (or the polar opposite of him; that'd be Grandma and where she lives, in Connecticut).

At the time of the song writing, I was getting heavily into Pink Floyd. The influence is unmistakable.

Memory Cone resembles Pigs On the Wings, in form and feel

No Noise Here, Colored Signs (somewhat), and Leaf Palace, are like the missing tracks from Piper At the Gates of Dawn

Driver is like Dogs (from Animals)

Grandma is like Mother (from The Wall)

Dog Rock could've been on Animals

Brooklyn is just plain old Floydie

The End is totally based off Eclipse

Whatever melody wasn't worked out initially was done so on January 2, 2022, and the album was recorded at the end of that year.