ARKADE PROJECTS & A FURNISHED SOUL are pleased to bring to Aberdeen....
CHRIS LEO / VAGUE ANGELS..indie/singer-songwriter from New York - also a
member of
Pro Forma, formerly of
The Lapse, The Van Pelt and Native Nod 
Chris Leo first introduced his trademark spoken word vocals and meandering
guitar tunes in the early 1990s when fronting Native Nod, one of the seminal
emotional hardcore bands from the days when 'emo' was still associated with
bands/labels like Rites of Spring, Hoover, Gravity Records or Ebullition
Records. His next band, The Van Pelt, featuring former/future members of
Blonde Redhead, Greyhouse, Jets to Brazil and Resurrection, at first took a
more 'rocking' approach on their debut 'Stealing from our favourite
thieves', recalling a more melodic side of Sonic Youth. It was one of the
best-selling albums in the early Gern Blandsten Records catalogue
(Rorschach, Chisel, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Holy Childhood, the Yah Mos,
Native Nod, Radio 4, Dälek, 1.6 Band a.o.). The band's second effort
'Sultans of Sentiment' was a very minimalistic masterpiece of fragile beauty
which consolidated the band's growing critical acclaim. After a live-split
with the band of Chris' brother Ted (Chisel) and a self-titled EP, The Van
Pelt disbanded in 1997, and Chris and bassist Toko Yasuda (ex-Blonde
Redhead, now in Enon) decided to form The Lapse. Touring and recording with
a number of different drummers including former members of Shudder To Think
and Jawbox, The Lapse fused together noisy riffs, powerful guitar-driven
postrock moments, non-conventional and hypnotic song structures and
electronic elements, releasing two albums on Gern Blandsten and Southern
Records. When Toko left The Lapse in 2000 to join Enon, Chris started
working on new material which eventually turned into his first novel 'White
Pigeons', of which the 7th chapter is an album by Chris Leo / Vague Angels,
performing the album 'Truth Loved' by The Breaks, the fictitious band from
the book. Got it?
When, earlier this year, Chris got asked if he wanted to play guitar with a
few Glaswegian friends of his, Chris simply said 'Sure!' and left New York
to record and tour with Pro Forma. As if Pro Forma weren't keeping him busy
enough already, Chris spent the entire last month touring the European
continent, performing Vague Angels songs as well as the occasionnal tune by
one of his former bands and reading from his novel, and is now preparing for
a number of UK dates in early December. At this point we don't know yet
whether Chris will be accompanied by a band or whether he'll play accoustic
with a stand-up bass player as he did on the continent. Anyway, this should
be a really amazing gig, so see you there!!
Listen to 'Let The Formula Forge Itself Fantastic' off 'Truth
Loved' Listen to 'The Whole Note
Has Neither A Flag Nor A Body' off the forthcoming 2006 album 'Let's Duke It
Out At Kilkenny Katz'' Pretty Activity Records Fifth Planet Press Official Vague Angels Website Interview with
Chris by Only Angels Mp3 Interview with Chris
by Rockwellrock.com (26 MB) Another
interview with Chris by FSUNews
"It's hard to listen when you're being yelled at. Subtlety always works
better. So when they threw Chris Leo into prison in Atoka, Oklahoma his band
still played the show without him that night in Denton, Texas. When his van
crashed en route to the Reading Festival on the M-1 outside of Manchester,
sending most of his newly formed Glaswegian rhythm section to the hospital,
he rented another bus, picked up fresh lads in Leeds and didn't miss a bill.
When label upon label, ten drummers, and eight bass players picked him up
and subsequently dropped him, it never occurred to Chris to wonder "maybe
it's me." Neither angry INS officials on Rainbow Bridge threatening to
refuse him entry into his own country nor Basque thugs who stole his tour
van and held it ransom in San Sebastian could drive the point through his
stubborn skull that his calling laid elsewhere. In the end, it took but a
gentle kiss of a front fender against a rear bumber outside the Holland
Tunnel one Fall morning on his way to band practice with his Philadelphian
rhythm section that whispered a crack just loud enough to pique the Transit
Authority cop's interest: an accident on a suspended license is bad bad
news. Fortunately, it swept Chris' sea legs out from under him for long
enough to do what any of us would have done if mired in a similar situation.
He quit his bartending job, closed himself off from the world, holed up in a
basement flat in Jackson Heights Queens, played and played and played, wrote
and wrote and wrote, until eventually he emerged with White Pigeons, a novel
and an album. In this seriously solid vision, no note, preposition, article,
or flub is unaccounted for. Chris is as meticulous with his placement of
profanities as he is anacreontic with his lofty ideals." (Fifth Planet
Press)
Downloadable songs by Chris Leo's former bands:
The
Lapse - Basilico Basilica The Lapse -
Consent The
Lapse - The Threat The
Van Pelt - My Bouts With Pouncing The Van
Pelt - Yamato (Where People Really Die) The
Van Pelt - His Saxophone is my Guitar Native Nod -
Tangled The
Lapse Live at Fireside, Chicago (11/01/00) - Click WATCH to see
RealVideo