"Of Moths & Men" is the second single from our forthcoming album: YOU DOUBLE-CROSSED MY MIND, which will be released on BandCamp on September 1st, 2023, and the official album-release show will be in the Blue Room in CitySpace, Easthampton, MA. Each song on this EP references, directly or obliquely, visionary director, actor, and writer Orson Welles. This song, and the EP, are dedicated to the memory of the writer, film-maker, and noir aficionado Brion Dulac. Here’s more context, excerpted from the forthcoming album’s liner notes:
“Of Moths and Men” only makes a passing reference to “Welles and Cotten,” but the murky atmosphere of the song is also intended to evoke classic film noirs like The Third Man, Journey Into Fear, The Stranger, and Touch of Evil, as well as radio dramas like The Adventures of Harry Lime and The Shadow.
This song, and the EP, are dedicated to my friend Brion Dulac, who died in October 2022. Brion was one of the funniest, wittiest people I’ve ever known. He was also a very sensitive and kind guy; he felt things deeply. The lyrics of this song are full of references to his interests and endeavors. Cinema was one of his greatest loves, and his job as a projectionist for several years at Pleasant Street Theater (RIP) in Northampton only deepened his appreciation and already vast knowledge of films. He was especially an aficionado of film noir.
Jack Shadoian was one of our favorite professors when Brion and I were creative writing grad students at UMass. In addition to turning us on to great literature in his Modern and Contemporary Novels classes, Jack was an authority on film noir, and is the author of Dreams And Dead Ends: The American Gangster Film (1979, MIT Press; 2nd edition, 2003, Oxford University Press).
“Reversaphors” are reverse metaphors: a humorous device that Brion came up with and riffed on with his friends James Heflin and Jack Brown during a shift at the theater. The oft-cited example of a reversaphor is: “See that loose cannon rolling down the street? It kinda reminds me of how you’ll say just about anything.”
Brion was also a filmmaker. He often had the camera rolling even when hanging out with friends. Of Moths and Men is a short absurdist film noir Brion and I began filming in 1996. He screened a 50-minute rough cut of it once in 2001 at a multimedia event I organized with a Northampton Arts Council grant. We both considered it unfinished and always intended to get back to it. Since Brion’s death, I have resumed editing it. I consider it a way to continue collaborating with Brion. Until I’m able to complete the film, this song is intended to serve as a placeholder.
The first 20-minute half of the film, Of Moths And Men, will be screened at the Divine Theater on Saturday, June 17th as part of the Meat For Tea’s Gala event: Le Cirque du Bambou Givré
fb.me/e/12IGmOPy7 We'll also play a set and perform this song live for the first time.
The music video can be viewed here:
youtu.be/bw5M-1RCOVw
You can also pre-order the album on CD, which will come with a booklet containing detailed liner notes, lyrics, and exquisite graphic design by James Lowe. If you'd like to buy a copy, please send your mailing address and $8 via Venmo: @Daniel-Hales-13 and we'll send you a copy as soon as it's ready... which will be by (or likely well before) August 4th.
released June 8, 2023
Daniel Hales: guitars, uke, percussion, vocals
James Lowe: bass, piano, percussion
by Daniel Hales © 2023
Recorded @ Algorhythm Studio, Greenfield, MA
& Lowe End Studio, Florence, MA
Produced, recorded, and mixed by Daniel Hales and James Lowe
Mastered by Mark Alan Miller @ Radio Valkyrie, Holyoke, MA
