Sleepy Hollow: News

Matt Schwarz has completed the recording, mixes and masters for The Lost Way and has submitted the tracks to A to Z music for pressing along with the art work. We caught up with Mole and asked him his thoughts on both projects.

Mole, "Hey Jim, yes, I am very excited about my album. I have had several hundred pre-orders for it and feel confident. I know I wont gather the masses, but, those who appreciate that style of music will embrace it."

and what about Goin' Over?

Mole, "Well, that is something completely different. Joseph finally has the digi tracks and a studio with two well trained and experienced engineers. He actually told me that I am going to have to come down and lay some new guitar tracks down. Down tuned and such. He also is laying some new vocal tracks and a new bass track using his sampler for Bad Reflection. Joe also wrote alternative lyrics for Too Late after our friend Charlie Gallo passed last year and we are going to record the track there as well."

would you say that Joe has been under a lot of stress?

"Oh yeah! and he wrote a great song called I'm Insane. Joseph writes his best stuff when he's pissed off."

Joe Dell is finally set to re-mix Goin' Over, we were curious what the hold up was and we got to speak with Joe about the situation.

Joe, the songs were recorded in their entirety back in the fall of 2001, and you stated you weren't happy about the way they came out and you were going in the studio to remix the album. Can you let us and the fans know exactly what happened?

Joe, "Yeah, one of the engineers had a situation...I guess...it was fucked up. I advanced the money and the owner of the studio stole the tapes and refused to give them back until Rick (engineer) paid him the money he was owed. This was Jim Duffy's boys. They're fucked up. Finally, the situation was settled and now we are going to a different studio. This shit is driving me crazy. I just wrote a song called 'I'm Insane' because that's what I'm feelin'...hey...you got a light?"

Matt "Mole" Schwarz will be entering the recording studio to work on his first solo album titled "The Lost Way". We caught up with Mole to ask him about the endeavour.

Mole, "Oh, hi Jim, Yes, I have entered the studio and will produce a masterpiece, hopefully. It will be a new experience without the rest of the lads, but, I am willing to give it a shot. It is titled the Lost Way after a song I had been working on with Sleepy Hollow, don't quite remember if we performed it, but, a good piece none the less. After playing the Ren Faire, I had gotten a wonderful response to my acoustic music, so I will be playing it on my new solo album. I will have a guest singer as well."

Will Joe Dell or any of the other band members appear on it?

Mole, "No Jim, they will only ruin it. No, seriously, Joe is busy working on getting Goin' Over mixed, and the rest of the lads are off on their own adventures."

Mole will be dawning his nappy tights and lute as he joins the summer Ren Faire as a traveling musician. See him there in New Jersey!

Yes, you heard correctly, Dan Castiel has left the ranks of Sleepy Hollow, leaving the band bassless. We caught up with Dan to get his words.

Dan,"Well, Joe and Mole are taking the band in a direction that I am not interested in going. I wanted a mix of Kiss and the Doors. That and of course, all the other influences. But, now, they seem to want to go in a heavier and slightly more progressive direction."

But, wasn't the Goin' Over suite and the second side of the EP progressive?

Dan, "Yeah, but, they still had a more commercial sound to them. Mole is working on this song Aristotle's Lantern which is ridiculous and another called Soldier's Lament and Joe wrote a song called Come with Me Melina which I feel will bore the audience. I like more mainstream arrangements. I wish them all the best. Sincerely."

Sleepy Hollow, opened up for the Doors tribute band the Soft Parade Saturday and brought twice as many people, packing the venue. Sleepy Hollow sounded tighter than ever and put on their best performance to date! Joe had his old man mask that he debuted for Mare Crastinum and also his dragon mask with smoking nostrils was used during the Collapse section of Goin' Over. The audience was treated to a rather large joint that was thrown into the crowd at the beginning of Seedy Sales. Though the vocals f Frank Melick were missed, the boys seemed to compensate rather well. The end of the show brought out the Headless Horseman as always. There was no keyboard smashing or anything being lit on fire due to the fact the manager of the establishment threatened to ban Sleepy Hollow if any such acts occurred. After the band left the stage, the 1/8 joint was lit and passed around as the members and their fans enjoyed a flawless performance from the Soft Parade.

There will be some delay in the remix of Goin' Over due to reel damages. The original recording were done on 1 inch reels which now need to be heated and restored and then transferred to digital to be mixed.

The band has stated that there will be new mixes for Goin' Over. We caught of with Joe and asked him about the news.

Joe,"Well, yeah, we are happy with the band's performance and the actor's as well. Yeah, actors. There will be a second disc and it is called a Musie, which is a balance between acted out sections and musical sections. That will be the 2nd disc. Anyway, we are very unhappy with the studio and its owner. We were put in the hands of a novice who was completely unprofessional. He kept calling me Bin Laden when I pointed out something was wrong in the mix and insulted me when I would have a creative idea for an effect. He is pretty much into Hard Core punk, which is dying out around here because of us...and has no clue what good production is about. So, now, we are off to an underground studio in Saddle Brook to remix the album."

Sleepy Hollow has now informed the press that their replacement for Frank Melick will be Gary "C" Rinaldi.

Dan," Yeah, well, C was supposed to join a year ago when Frank was having second thoughts about the band, but, decided to stay. Now, we have fully recruited him and we are very pleased with his playing abilities and he's a cool guy too."

Despite our nation's tragedy, Sleepy Hollow announced they will still be playing the Baggot Inn on Sept 15th and all proceeds will be donated to the local NYFD.

Frank Melick has officially resigned from Sleepy Hollow, He says that he will commit himself to the future shows that have been booked, but, he will be leaving to persue a solo career.

Frank, "Yeah, well, ya know, I love the guys and this is why I will stay for the shows, but, I feel held back in the band and the constant fighting is starting to get to me. I love the band, the crew and most of all the fans. God bless"

Matt and Joe have mixed down the track and are set to meet with Dave Steele who is famous for his work at Polydor, mixing such artists as Kiss Rush Bon Jovi & Deep Purple.

The band is quite happy with the outcome of the track. Erol "The Director" Marz has been filming the recording process along with his 2 assistants. We caught up with Joe Dell who we hear is at the forefront of this project.

Joe, "Yeah, things are going good, I mean, We rehearsed our asses of for this fuckin' project. Things are tough and the band has a bad announcement to make real soon, but, other than that, now it will be time to mix down the tracks next weekend and then master them at DBS."

The band has laid down the backing tracks and tomorrow they will lay down leads and vocals.

Sleepy Hollow have entered the recording studio to lay down 6 tracks. The 1st with be an 8 piece epic which with be the title track, featuring Broken Water, Seedy Sales, Acid Whore, Bad Reflection, Blast Off, Collapse, Farewell to a Friend & Broken Wings. Then the 5 individual tracks Pay the Price, Mare Crastinum, Rock Hard, Under the Ground and 90's Child.

Sleepy Hollow play a short set for a crowd of young fans who got to see their heroes, seeing they play venues for adults usually. The kids rushed the stage afterwards where the band happily signed cds, along with shirts, hats and some odd items.

Sleepy Hollow celebrate the 2 year anniversary since Joe Dell and Dan Castiel put together Sleepy Hollow, which were fully formed by Sept. of 1999. Since then the have released their EP in late 2000 and headlined festivals and venues in the tri-state area. The band is working on their second release that will be titled Goin' Over, which will be a double CD.

Mole and Joe have been working on a new piece of music titled Goin' Over that is planned to be a rock opera of sorts, more as it developes

Sleepy Hollow headlined New York City's famous Limelight. They hit the stage around 10 pm, and blasted out a number of their classics after entering to the Clockwork Orange Theme. They roared into Destiny where Dan sung lead and Joe Dell performed his best Hammond lead he ever played in the song, along with Mole tearin up the strings in the end lead section. Dan and Frank's harmonies were powerful as always. Then the quartet went into Unity where Frank took the lead vocals after a smooth transition from one song into the other.

Joe Dell then took the helm by performing Bach's Toccata in D Minor on the pipe organ bringing a dark overtone to the show. People cheered him on as he created an atmosphere long forgotten on that land.

From Above was presented in all it's glory with inflatable Aliens and all. People were called closer to the stage to join in with the stage show. As always, people keep their distance due to the time Joe Smashed his first keyboard at the infamous Connection's show in Clifton back in the spring of 2000. Frank spit out the almost rap like style of vocals before the band took the crowd into outer space with Joe's organ lead.

Then, it was Frank Michael Melick's time to shine! Frank performed his animated and emotional drum solo, beating out the drums until it was time for what the crowd was waiting for, his Flaming Drum Stick Solo! Joe held the powerchords for Frank to bring the kit to life!

Then the new song written by Frank and Joe titled Under the Ground was revealed for the first time. Unfortunately the sound man didn't realize it was Joe's time to sing and never adjusted the microphone's accordingly. So, all was hear was Frank's backing vocals...but. The heavy gothic song still got the crowd excited!

Due to the time restraint, the band was made to play their final song, and their name sake Sleepy Hollow, where Mole's acoustic and Joe's Sampler set the mood along with Frank's mysterious ahs and percussion. After the spoken interlude, the band went to the fast gallop where Mole's belted out the lyrics that define the band and the historic Washington Irving tale! The crowd enjoyed the headless horseman who threw out balloon wrapped gifts to the fans. The unpredicted ending was Joe Dell dragging out his organ and then chopping it to pieces with a woodsman's axe while foaming at the mouth.

The show ended with the afterparty where many patrons drank and danced to the techno that blared from the speakers

Happy New Year from Sleepy Hollow and to all the fans! The band would like to thank all the people who bought the 1st pressing of the cd! The new pressing will be available March 3rd. Side note, Erol "The Director" Marz will be filming a documentary on Joe Dell revolving around the band!