Friend Factory was started by Brooklyn musician Michael Dillenberger in 2005. 2011 saw the release of You'll Get Nothing And Like It, an album of dense, layered pop gems in the tradition of The Flaming Lips, Built To Spill and Neutral Milk Hotel.
To bring these songs to the stage, Friend Factory added Daniel Gonzalez on drums, Anthony Ripoli on bass and Paul Kropfl on keyboards. They are currently playing shows in NYC.
A music video for "The Industry" was released in late January 2012.
“The Industry” is done! Here it is!
It was a long process. How long did it take? Here is a still from the music video and a picture taken today.
Needless to say, I’m happy to be done!
Say, here’s a press release about the video:
Rock ‘N Roll Replicants Rage Against the Routine
Indie rock artist Friend Factory releases their debut music video, “The Industry.”
“The Industry,” from Friend Factory’s latest album You’ll Get Nothing And Like It, conveys the frustration of working a job that is slowly killing you, the regret of not doing what you really want, and the anxiety of actually leaving. Syncopated guitars, fuzzy keyboards and hooks galore help the medicine go down smooth.
“The Industry,” like much of You’ll Get Nothing And Like It, was performed and recorded entirely by Michael Dillenberger. The video quite literally represents the creation of the song, with Dillenberger, dressed in a shirt and tie, playing every instrument. The clones fill the screen, conveying the feeling of being just a cog in a machine, just a pawn in “the industry.” As the song reaches its rousing conclusion, more and more Michaels appear, echoing the chorus: “All I see is the industry, closing in on me, telling me what to be.”
We are happy to announce a new member to our ever-shifting lineup! Paul Kropfl is joining us on keyboards! He and bassist Anthony Ripoli will be making their debut at the Mindgasm Festival on Wednesday January 18th. Click here for details.
We are sorry to announce the departure of guitarist Dan Platt and bassist Eric Mendelson from the Friend Factory lineup. It was a good run. They left amicably to pursue other interests.
On a more positive note, we are ecstatic to be welcoming Anthony Ripoli as our new bass player! You may know him from my old band Teddy Roosevelt & The Rough Riders. He also played bass on about half of Friend Factory’s latest album, You’ll Get Nothing And Like It.
In the midst of this lineup shuffle, Daniel and I played a stripped down 2-man show at Connolly’s Klub 45 on December 10th. We rocked some drunken Santas. Check out some video…
It’s been a long hard process, pushing my computer to its limits to complete the music video for “The Industry,” a standout track off my latest full length You’ll Get Nothing And Like It. But there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Expect to see the video online this January. Epic.
Listen to the track:
We had a great time playing the Taste Festival yesterday. The best part was that after all that rockin’, we were able to re-fuel with food and drink from all the local restaurants. Banana cream pie, rye & rosemary cocktails, brooklyn oktoberfest, lamb sliders, caramel-bourbon ice cream… don’t mind if we do!
Here’s a video from our performance:
Oh yes, the CDs have arrived. Physical plastic copies that you can hold in your hand. A track list you can reference as the laser in your compact disc player reads 1s and 0s and turns them into sound… like magic! That’s me holding one, at my June 19 show at the Northside Festival. If you were lucky enough to attend, you were lucky enough to have the opportunity to buy one. If not, you’ll just have to come to the next show. Or wait until I get around to making them available online. Until then, you can always rock a digital download, for the low-low price of pay-what-you-like, HERE.
Speaking of the Northside Festival show- it was the first performance by my new expanded line-up, featuring Dan Platt on bass Daniel Gonzalez on the skins. A band of Dans. It was a lot of fun, and the general consensus from the audience was “keep the band!”
We’re trying out a new bass player this week, and Dan will switch over to guitar. The sonic possibilities are expanding exponentially. Or, by 1. In any case, the next show will be even better than the last, and closer still to the sound of the album. Faces will melt, socks will be rocked off of feet, and couples will fall in love all over again. And hopefully I won’t break another guitar string.
This new version of the Dylan classic is from Friend Factory’s upcoming release You’ll Get Nothing And Like It, out June 7.
While the original Dylan version is bare-bones acoustic guitar, vocals and harmonica, Michael Dillenberger (Friend Factory) creates a cinematic arrangement that adds musical structure to enhance the lyrics. The song tells the true story of a murder and its unjust trial. It begins with a simple arrangement, builds to a haunting waltz with backing “ahhhs” and glockenspiel, then explodes into an assault of distorted guitars and shouted vocals before ending with a slow build over harmonium and toy piano.
THE LAST FRIEND FACTORY SHOW WITH THIS LINEUP IN NYC!!
SATURDAY MAY 19 - 6:00pm sharp!
FONTANA'S (Downstairs)
105 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002
$5 admission - 21+ w/ID
Afterwards we'll be partying upstairs until the wee hours.
THE LAST FRIEND FACTORY SHOW WITH THIS LINEUP IN NYC!!
SATURDAY MAY 19 - 6:15pm!
FONTANA’S (Downstairs)
105 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002
$5 admission - 21+ w/ID
Afterwards we’ll be partying upstairs until the wee hours.
Rock ‘N Roll Replicants Rage Against the Routine: Friend Factory’s Music Video For “The Industry”
http://www.facebook.com/events/339516979399643/
FRIEND FACTORY
THE MINDGASM FESTIVAL
WEDNESDAY JAN 18 7:30PM
THE LOCAL 269
NYC
Heavy dude with glasses pissed in the urinal betwixt the two of us as he cried. He lost his lunch; he lost his pride. Staring at those bathroom walls; crying in his bathroom stall. I’ll crush your skull! I’m scary and so’s my friend barbarian. Look at my eyes! I’m crazy and so’s my friend barbarian. Another round, another drink- at least one more than I think we would have had if we could choose, but with him we can’t refuse. He’ll talk some shit in this bar hall and then throw down with all of y’all. I’ll take your money now. That’s not enough.
This murder ballad sort of killed the drunk Santas’ buzz. If our version of Dylan’s classic “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll” wasn’t peppy enough for Times Square revelers, perhaps it’ll make more sense here on the internet (at least until the government takes all cover songs off of YouTube).
“the industry” live at connolly’s klub 45 in times square, dec 10, 2011. it was a stripped down 2-man show. we rocked some drunk santas.
I don’t care if they’re bragging about being rich. The 2nd half of this song is amazing. If I had a punching bag, I would crank this shit and punch it a whole bunch of times.
The 2 minute mark is when it really starts getting awesome. At 3 minutes it’s the best shit ever. I love it when Jay is like-
no lies in my verses, (hey), please pardon all the curses, (hey)
shit gotta come some way, (fuck), when you’re growing up worthless, (uh)
The placement of the word “fuck” gets me every time. Brilliant. As I recall, he did that part acapella at the MSG show, but the beat on this is fucking great. Gets me AMPED.
Unfortunately this youtube clip doesn’t have the best audio, but it’ll have to do.
It’s crazy how much R.E.M. has changed throughout the years. According to YouTube, this is their fist TV performance, in which they play one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” from 1984’s Reckoning.
Here are three reasons why I love the song:
1. The verse has one of the most infectious chord progressions ever.
2. That melodic bassline that feels like more of a lead instrument than the guitar.
3. Mike Mills’ backing “ahhhs” in the 3rd verse.
Greatness.
For more R.E.M. nostalgia, check out the latest episode of my podcast in your browser or in itunes.
Hey, since we’re talkin’ Dylan, here’s Friend Factory covering “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll.” (from You’ll Get Nothing And Like It)
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll by Friend Factory
I was first exposed to Dylan through a tape my uncle made of all the songs that peaked at #2 on the Billboard Charts in 1966. The song was “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” a very strange introduction indeed.
I found it frightening- It sounded like a carnival, where “everyone must get stoned,” which I thought meant getting stones thrown at you. The same tape had “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs,
“Bang Bang” by Sonny & Cher,
and “Snoopy Vs The Red Baron” by The Royal Guardsman,
all songs involving some form of violence. He even threw on the most terrifying song of all time: “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Hahaaa” by Napoleon XIV, even though it only peaked at #3.
,
To me Bob Dylan was just one of the crazy creepy characters on this strange cassette that I both loved and feared.
Over the next two decades I learned all about Dylan, but I think I “appreciated” Dylan more than I “enjoyed” him. Music was so much more important to me than lyrics, his career was long and scattered, etc, etc. Then I finally got around to watching Don’t Look Back, which I found totally fascinating. My favorite part is when Donovan comes in and plays Dylan a song, and it’s ok, and then Dylan casually says he’s going to play a new song, and it’s “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue,” and it’s totally amazing, and you can’t help but feel a little sorry for Donovan, because Dylan just took him to town.
The film inspired me to give Dylan another go, starting with an album from that time period, Bringing It All Back Home. It begins with “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, a fantastic song, a classic, everyone knows it, ok, ok, whatever. But then comes “She Belongs To Me,” which blew me away. This is a magical period for Dylan: he had moved on from protest songs to personal ones, but hadn’t started affecting his voice (which really started on Blonde On Blonde.) It’s downright pleasant to listen to, and has some great lines like ”She is a hypnotist collector- you are a walking antique.”
Just a few weeks after discovering this song, I was making omelets with my dad and a Dylan song came on the radio. We started talking, and with no prompting from me, he said “You know what Dylan song is really neat? She Belongs To Me.”
Speaking of Dylan, check out Friend Factory’s cover of “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” here.
