gramercy arms

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Recent press

Pardon the long absence--To keep up with the latest stuff going on in Gramercyland check in with our new blog at Jim Fusilli over at the Wall Street Journal did a great feature on us. Also we got a glowing, fantastic review from the Sunday Express in the UK where we got 5/5 stars and managed to beat out Tom Petty for album of the week!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Always in Love on BBC 2

Always in Love BBC 2 DJ Alex Lester played us on his BBC 2 show last week! We're on about 48 mins in. Check it out

A lot going on in Gramercyland as we are finishing up the video for "Beautiful Disguise", getting ready for the July release of "Always in Love," as well as planning a live video recording for our upcoming August record release in Brooklyn. Here is a photo from the "Beautiful Disguise" video which features the incredible talents of Tryan George (Director) and Karen Levitt (stylist) as well as long time friends and collaborators Lloyd Cole and Joan Wasser.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Season of Love

Hello there! It's been a long time since we've posted anything. Apologies for our long silence. The good news is that we are getting closer to finishing our second record. The line-up for the record includes the same cast of characters that appeared on our first record (Kevin March, Rainy Orteca, Sean Eden, Dave Derby, Hilken Mancini, Kendall Meade) as well as guest performances by Lloyd Cole, Tanya Donnelly, Matthew Caws, Doug Gillard, Joan Wasser, Renee LoBue, Sandy Smallens, Claudia Gonson, Joe McGinty and others. Dave Derby and Ray Ketchem have co-produced the sessions. Mixing begins soon. More details to come.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Rock Show! Hello all. We will be playing a show with Hey Ice Machine at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn. We go on at 8 PM. Hey Ice Machine headlines

Friday, June 1, 2012

Dave Derby will be doing a rare solo acoustic show opening for Lloyd Cole and his son William at the Eleven's in Northampton, MA June 9th and 10th and then at the Bowery Electric in NYC on June 12. Hilken Mancini (Gramercy Arms, Fuzzy, Count Me Outs, Shepherdess) will join him one of the nights in Northampton (tbd). He will be doing acoustic versions of brand new Gramercy Arms, Dave Derby, Dambuilders and Brilliantine songs as well as some covers. Should be fun More info at Lloyd Cole's site: http://bit.ly/LPsbro

Monday, December 6, 2010

Dean Owens "Snowglobe"

Here's a song produced by Dave Derby of Gramercy Arms along with Ray Ketchem and Scottish artist Dean Owens.
Dave played bass and sang bv's along with Kendall Meade and Renee LoBue.

about gramercy arms

Gramercy Arms is an ever (r)evolving collective band project of New York-based artists.

On this record, Gramercy Arms comprises members of Guided By Voices, Luna, Joan as Police Woman, Dead Air and The Dambuilders, along with comic Sarah Silverman, Their self-titled debut album is a summery blast of gorgeous power pop, heartfelt tales of love and loss and the city they call their home.

Clocking in at a lean and mean 30 minutes, bassist/vocalist Rainy Orteca (Joan As Police Woman, Dead Air) describes it as “the hottest thirty minute love affair available.”

The album is a celebration of all that is New York in its dirty-beautiful splendor. Musically Gramercy Arms is a classic New York sound--Dave Derby’s disaffected poetic sensibilities mesh with the guitar virtuosity of Sean Eden and Hilken Mancini in the grand Gotham tradition of the Velvet Underground and Television shot through with a love of seventies pop rock.

Gramercy Arms captures the romance and feel of the city,the album’s lead Single, “Automatic”, captures the frantic energy of the city. “I was thinking of it in the sense of “automatic response”—embracing intuition and energy. That to me is what the essence of rock and roll has always been.”

The album features a wide range of guest performances including an unexpected background vocal performance by comedian Sarah Silverman who sings backups on the summery “Looking at the Sun.” “It’s about the simple and awesome joy of being able to experience things brand new the way a child sees them,” explains Derby. “The song was almost done but I felt the song needed something more. Rainy (Orteca of Joan As Police Woman and Dead Air ) and I had worked with Sarah before creating music for her television show, The Sarah Silverman Program and thought that she’d be perfect for the song. She has a beautiful voice that is surprisingly earnest and sweet. Her vocals are very straight-forward, there’s nothing comedic about the approach, but for some reason I think it’s her comedic sensibility that gives the song a kind of heightened sweetness to it.

Other guest performances include Nada Surf’s Matthew (“Nothing I Can Do”) and former bandmate Joan Wasser (Joan As Police Woman) who lends her gorgeous vocals to “Wander On.”

In addition the album features performances Lloyd Cole, Chris Brokaw as well as members of The Pernice Brothers, Mascott, Shudder to Think and others. the record was recorded in Winter of 2008, produced by Dave Derby with additional production by Nathan Larson and Thom Monahan.. Gramercy Arms will be released on Reveal Records in August 2008. The single, “Automatic” will be available in June.