Before Superet started I’d written most of Bone Bag. It was 2016 and new New Years Eve was around the corner. I had no plans, so I called my friend Gabe Wax in New York. He worked at a recording studio in Brooklyn as an engineer. The studio was closed for the Holiday. I had a couple of half written songs and Gabe had the keys.
I remember thinking that flying to New York City on New Years Eve would be romantic as hell. I pictured myself arriving at JFK, suitcase and guitar in hand. I’d hail a yellow cab and the driver would ask me “you a musician kid?”, and I’d say something pretentious like “No… artist, hey pull over here, I need to buy some smokes.”
I gave up smoking a few years ago. I also gave up thinking I was the star of everyones favorite movie: “My Life”. But my delusions and I bought a ticket to meet Gabe on New Years Eve to record a totally forgettable song I’d written called “Frightened Temptation”. When I landed at JFK, I waited in a ridiculously long line for a cab that wasn’t even yellow. The driver didn’t say a word to me, and we sat in gridlock traffic for hours. I met Gabe at a bar and we watched the ball drop on TV.
The next morning we walked a few freezing blocks to the studio. With a cigarette trembling in my fingers, I tried to hang on to some romantic idea of myself and my very high expectations. The recording went poorly, the song just wasn’t very good. That New Years Day magic I’d planned on wasn’t happening, and our energy fizzled out fast. We decided to head back to Gabe’s apartment.
We needed an energy shift, so we called our friend and artist Max Nalevansky. Max and I grew up together. He’s got a big heart, and an endless amount of energy, he’s total force of nature. Quick side story: Max got his first tattoo in the 8th grade, and all through his teens he wore a v-neck shirt to show off the giant steamship planted on his prepubescent chest. He would sometimes jokingly liken himself to an Ibex, a rare and majestic mountain goat with enormous horns.
“Matt I love you, you’re like a brother to me, but I’m just not sure you’re an Ibex”.
Max showed up in all his Ibex glory, cracking jokes and telling stories. Gabe and I immediately forgot about our disappointing recording session.
At the center of Gabe’s apartment was a piano. Not just any piano, but an 11 ft Steinway Grand. The Ibex of pianos. I wandered over and started tinkering with some chords I had for an unfinished song called “Bone Bag”. I couldn’t help but start to mumble-sing a few of the lyrics.
Max walked up to the piano,
“That’s pretty good, did you just make that up?”
“Yeah sort of.” I lied.
Gabe grabbed a 4 track tape recorder from his bedroom.
“Let’s record it dawg!”
So I didn’t manifest the romantic New York New Years recording session of my dreams, and “Frightened Temptation” was abandoned after Superet performed it only once live. But I did end up in a room with an Ibex, a Steinway, and Gabe’s 4 track tape machine. We recorded this demo of “Bone Bag” right there in the living room, and nothing went according to plan.
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