Aleka's Attic
| Aleka's Attic | |
|---|---|
 Rain Phoenix, Josh Greenbaum, River Phoenix, Josh McKay, Tim Hankins |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Gainesville , Florida , United States |
| Genre (s) | Rock music |
| founding | 1987 |
| resolution | 1993 |
| Founding members | |
| River Phoenix (1987-1993) | |
| Josh Greenbaum (1987-1993) | |
| Last occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
River Phoenix (1987-1993) |
singing |
Rain Phoenix (1988-1993) |
| Josh Greenbaum (1987-1993) | |
| Josh McKay (1987-1992) | |
electric viola
|
Tim Hankins (1987-1993) |
| former members | |
Electric bass |
Michael "Flea" Balzary (only for recording the single Note to a friend ) |
Electric bass |
Sasa Hasid Raphael (1993, only for recording the album) |
Aleka's Attic was an alternative folk / rock band from Gainesville, Florida formed in 1987 by River Phoenix and Josh Greenbaum. Phoenix's sister Rain attended rehearsals regularly, but didn't officially join the band until about a year later.
history
Aleka's Attic was founded by River Phoenix and friend Josh Greenbaum. They first met in 1986 or 1987 when they were both 16 years old. At their first meeting, Phoenix Greenbaum played his self-written song Heart to Get . A few months later, Phoenix met Chris Blackwell , the founder of Island Records , backstage at a U2 concert. This offered Phoenix to conclude a development contract for the release of an album. Shortly thereafter, Phoenix called Greenbaum and asked him to move to Gainesville to start a band together. In April 1988 Greenbaum moved to Gainesville.
River Phoenix sang and played guitar while Josh Greenbaum sat on drums. They were joined by Josh McKay as bassist and Tim Hankins, who played the viola. River Phoenix's sister Rain also regularly attended the band's rehearsals. She not only sang, but also created various percussive effects , for example with the tambourine . She joined the band a year after it was founded. Michael "Flea" Balzary supported the band with the recording of the song Note to a Friend as a bass player.
According to the band members, the band name comes from a fictional poet and philosopher named Aleka. In the attic (English: Attic) he meets with his friends to read and discuss his works. When Aleka dies, the friends form a band to share his ideas with others in the form of music.
The band toured the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They toured different states. A particularly large number of shows took place in the state of Alabama . In 1991 they played in the Tip Top Café in Huntsville . In addition to Aleka's Attic, bands like Widespread Panic , Better Than Ezra and the Goo Goo Dolls also performed there. Further concerts took place at the Ivory Tusk in Tuscaloosa , the War Eagle Supper Club in Auburn and in Birmingham . In addition, the band was on their southeast tour in Tennessee , including, for example, in Knoxville . The band also played in New York and Northampton . In Miami they performed together with Sonic Youth in 1990 .
On their tour, the band sold tapes of some of their songs, including Goldmine , Too Many Colors , Across The Way and Blue Period . An official Aleka's Attic T-shirt was also created and offered for sale on the tour. This t-shirt is also worn by the character played by Dan Aykroyd in a scene from the film Sneakers - The Silent .
In 1989 the band released the song Across the way on the PETA benefit album Tame Yourself .
In 1991, Aleka's Attics song Too Many Colors was played in the film My Private Idaho by Gus Van Sant .
After two years, Island Records asked Phoenix to record two new demo tapes. Based on this, they wanted to decide whether they should continue to support the project. After Phoenix submitted the new demos, the label didn't think the music was marketable. A record deal didn't come off. Some time later, McKay split from the band for a while. So Phoenix formed another band called Blacksmith Configuration , with the Greenbaum and some new musicians, including bassist Sasa Raphael and singer Ane Diaz. For the recording of a planned Aleka's Attic album, Phoenix hired bassist Sasa Raphael again, with whom many of the songs were recorded. The album, which was to be called Never Odd or Even , was recorded at his Phoenixs studio in Micanopy, Florida, and at Pro Media Studios in Gainesville, Florida. However, the planned release of the album had to be postponed due to River Phoenix 'untimely death. Phoenix was wearing his Aleka's Attic t-shirt when he was buried.
After River Phoenix's death, his sister Rain began searching the band's archives. In 1996 the song Note to a Friend was released on the album In Defense of Animals . Here plays Michael "Flea" Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers bass. In 1996 and 1997, Rain Phoenix mixed all of her brother's unmixed songs. It was an enormous healing process for her after his death. She could listen to her brother for a long time. When she finished, she didn't feel the need to publish the music. She had finished with that.
In 1997, River Phoenix's friend Michael Stipe of REM bought the rights to all of Aleka's Attic's material from Island Records.
In 2010 the song Senile Felines appeared on the album Tiny Idols Volume III by Snowglobe Records.
In December 2018, Rain Phoenix announced on Instagram that some of Aleka's Attic singles would be released in 2019 and that she is aiming for the album to be released in the future. It was followed by the release of the songs Where I'd Gone and Scales & Fishnails on the album Time Gone . In addition to these songs, the track Time is the Killer by Rain Phoenix and Michael Stipe was also released on the album. The song In The Corner Dunce was released in January 2019 by the LaunchLeft label.
In October 2019, Rain Phoenix released an album called River . The song Lost in Motion is based on a song of the same name by River Phoenix, which the latter wrote for Aleka's Attic. Rain Phoenix added a little of his own lyrics to the lyrics and sang them to a slightly different melody. In the song she processes the loss of her brother, her father and her dog.
In 2020, Joaquin Phoenix quoted the lines of text Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow from a song written by River Phoenix in his acceptance speech for best leading actor at the Academy Awards . The song entitled Halo was written by River Phoenix for Aleka's Attic . He sang this with his friends while filming My Private Idaho .
On August 23, 2020, the single Alone U Elope with the two songs Alone U Elope and 2x4 was released on the Launch Left label .
Songs
- Across the Way 4:58
- Alone we Elope 3:14
- Below Beloved 3:56
- Bliss is ... 3:38
- Blue Period 5:15
- Dog God 3:28
- Get Anything 3:52
- Gold Mine 5:26
- In The Corner Dunce 3:41
- Note to a Friend 1:11
- Popular Thinks 2:13
- Safety Pins and Army Boots 1:49
- Scales and Fish-nails 0:41
- Senile Felines 4:40
- Too Many Colors 5:24
- Where I'd Gone 3:17
- You're so Ostentatious 2:42
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Matt Wake: Movie star River Phoenix left musical mark in Alabama .
- ↑ Aleka's Attic at last.fm .
- ↑ Biography of River Phoenix .
- ^ Phoenix Music .
- ↑ Jessie Harbin: Anybody Remember Tip Top Cafe? .
- ↑ a b c Phoenix's fan site . Archived from the original on April 4, 2008.
- ↑ Bands I've seen live, and some stories that go with 'em .
- ↑ Aleka's Attic .
- ↑ Michael Roffman: Rain Phoenix and Michael Stipe reunite for double A-side single, featuring unreleased River Phoenix songs .
- ↑ Sky Phoenix: Dan wears Aleka's Attic T-Shirt . Alekas Attic / SPinc. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ↑ Kaja Sajovic: Upornik s preveč razlogi .
- ^ Julian Ruiz: River Phoenix: La Carrera Musical del Hermano de Joaquin «Joker» .
- ↑ Maxim W. Furek: The Death Proclamation of Generation X: A Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Goth, Grunge and Heroin , ISBN 978-0-595-46319-0 , iUniverse, 2008 limited preview in the Google book search
- ↑ a b HadleyFreeman: Rain Phoenix on her new album River: 'My brother has been my guiding light' .
- ↑ Laura Mecozzi: Ritratto di un attore: River Phoenix .
- ↑ Tiny Idols Volume III .
- ↑ Rain Phoenix: Rain Phoenix on Instagram .
- ^ Scott McDonald: 25 years after his death, two tracks from River Phoenix set for release. .
- ↑ In The Corner Dunce. .
- ↑ James Patrick Herman: Rain Phoenix Welcomes Brother Joaquin to Her 'LaunchLeft' Podcast (Watch) .
- ↑ Brenna Ehrlich: Which River Phoenix Song Did Joaquin Quote at the Oscars? .
- ↑ Alone U Elope. .
