THE LOOKING
Finds Love in the Abstract Places of the Heart

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NYC Based Band, Led by Versatile Singer/Songwriter Todd Carter, Blends Provocative Poetry and Thoughtful Philosophy With Colorful British New Wave And American Folk Rock Influences

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Debut CD ‘Tin Can Head' is Currently
Shipping to College Radio

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Quickly Gaining a Following on Manhattan's Club Scene,
The Looking's CD Release Party is Scheduled for September 30 at Lower East Side Club Arlene's Grocery

 

Although Todd Carter, lead singer and songwriter for the popular New York City based band The Looking , calls the eleven tracks on their irresistible, multi-layered debut CD Tin Can Head “a series of love songs,” the eclectic and provocative, ultra-poetic tunes are unlike any other love songs you've ever heard. “Lele” is about the death of a little kitten Carter found on the side of the road in Hawaii ; he was intrigued by the meaning of the feline's adopted name: Ascension. 

Drawing upon Carter's study of philosophy, “Spinoza” is about a guy falling in love with a Dutch philosopher who once said our emotions are all pre-determined. The singer, whose voice has been described as “Morrissey meets Roy Orbison,” composed “Revolt, I Do” and “I'm Your Labrynth”—a title which perhaps best gets to the heart of the abstract matter—on a silent retreat two years ago in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. 

Combine these offbeat ideas with a compelling hybrid sound that draws on Carter's equal passions for the British New Wave he grew up with (New Order, The Cure); the rich folk music he played (sometimes on mountain dulcimer) in Bloomington, Indiana while attending IU; and classic country music (The Carter Family, Johnny Cash), and The Looking starts looking like the psychedelic rock country blues band that's taking over Manhattan with a fury.

Carter and his exotic brood of bandmates, Juan Cruz Masotta from Buenos Aires , guitarist TJ Curtis-Verderosa (who was musical director with Chubby Checker in the 90s), bassist Nick Martucci and Italian born drummer Paolo Orlando, are making an amazing splash for a group that's only been playing as a unit for a few months. They've played The Baggot Inn, The Slipper Room, and the CD release party is scheduled for September 30 at Arlene's Grocery—now a regular haunt, which was also where the group The Bravery was discovered.

Tin Can Head, which was produced by Carter with well-known NYC producer Ken Rich, who also plays bass and does programming, is being released on Astraea Records, an indie label run by Carter and two partners. The album is currently shipping to college radio, where Carter hopes students will be moved, inspired, even a bit perplexed. If a first listen or reading of his lyrics invokes a gleefully puzzled response, St. Sophia, the angel of wisdom who graces the album cover, will be happy to help out.

“These songs were written over the course of two years, some as blatant love songs about specific people, others about more universal romantic situations, and still others about different things that moved me during that time,” he says. “It's probably not hard to tell that I've always written poetry and I studied philosophy in grad school. There are many intentionally oblique lines, which are my way of communicating that we don't always know what our lives directly mean. When I'm composing, I'm touched the most when I find those places where words are ambiguous and are subject to many different interpretations. I like to engage the listener that way, making them think about things as they're enjoying the cool mix of musical styles behind the words. They challenge the listener to imagine, without being cute.”

Lyrics like “Cracked ice in sunshine/An oar out of season/Incantations singing stillness/Elation colors the moon” (from “I'm Your Labyrinth”) are as strangely fascinating as the album title and the CD insert artwork, an 18th century drawing of a serpent containing all the phases of the moon as it passes through the astrological signs. “I want to leave people intrigued, and with a sense that things aren't as solid as one might think,” Carter says.

Even from his early years growing up in Carmel , Indiana , Carter's life has always been a study in contrasts that somehow gel into artistic logic. As a teenager, he was drawn to the sounds of the Smiths, the Replacements and the Circle Jerks.  While attending Indiana University , he exposed himself to Bloomington 's fertile jazz and classical scene and the city's many local folk musicians.  He played and sang in a number of bands, produced music and picked up the drums.  Later, he attended the University of Chicago 's Divinity School , and music—from folk to improv, noise to punk--offered something sensuous and immediate, outside of semesters spent delving into philosophers and theologians.

Moving to Manhattan , Carter enrolled in the Mannes School of Music and also studied with the Metropolitan Opera's Edna Lind.  He specializes in German opera, and has put on many recitals, including his recent appearance singing the role of Siegmund in the Wagner's The Walkyrie at the prestigious CAMI Hall. Carter has also worked with non-verbal autistic adults in a French psychiatric hospital and recently produced a world music album for Vanessa Katz on his Astraea label.

Adding to his artistic palette, he's also an accomplished electronic musician. under the moniker Parmidian One; his music is featured on the compilation Chill Room, on the Austin , Texas based label We Records.  This month Astraea Records is releasing the new album by Parmidian One, Can I Read You?.

Typically understating the matter, Carter says, “I want to leave people with a little melody and a good song.  I recorded Tin Can Head with a group of friends and strangers, but I knew logistically, it would be hard to get them together to perform the music live. Playing these songs with the great guys in the band I have now is exciting, and the music is moving in unexpected creative directions. After hearing songs solely in my head, it's an amazing thing to be able to write a new tune and have them translate it into a viable song immediately. I can't wait to get started on The Looking's next record!”