afternoon naps!

a bit too early but....

2008-01-27T23:25:00.000-08:00

spring training starts in 33 days..

phewy phew

2008-01-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

i know i know this blog gets neglected mostly but i swear i swear i try to keep it uppity up at times...we have a few realllllyyy awesome things in the works that i can discuss at length when more becomes "official"....new recordings will also start sooooonnn ...

laters

-tom

afternoon naps are cold

2007-12-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

hey everyone-

it's very cold outside.

please remember your hats, scarves, and mittens.

one of these days, tom and I are going to build a snowman on the beach.

it will be glorious.

much love,
leia

long time no post eh?

2007-12-05T21:50:00.000-08:00

phew i've neglected ye olde blog a bit lately so here go's......
november was a busy and fun month...played with the Pipettes....played a fun show w/ Bears and Southeast Engine...finished the new miini-record Snowday which includes 3 songs that will be on our forthcoming Cloudberry Records release...etc etc..
winter appears to be in full swing, also...burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

the the

2007-10-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

fyi.... there is no "the" in front of our name....people keep puttin' it there....i'm jus' saying ....

anyhow, anyone see that indians game.....wa-hoo!

we lurve dave p!

2007-10-05T11:34:00.001-07:00

ben gmetro or kenny loggins?

2007-10-03T17:06:00.001-07:00

trekkie antics and cheap spectacles

2007-10-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hello blog-readers!

I had the distinct pleasure of "going to the orchestra" last week. The Cleveland orchestra performed a narrated version of Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite... and guess who was narrating? That's right- "Q" from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yep- this guy:

He was narrating and playing some of the parts..... what a gas. I looked around the audience and I was probably the youngest person there. I didn't , however, see any obvious "trekkies"

bummer!

ALSO- on a spectacle-related note: I've been doing research on the high cost of wearing glasses and for those of you who are vision-impaired, you'll be excited to learn that- you can purchase your own frames through ebay or vintage frames websites..... discount stores and THEN bring your frames to a place like eyemasters and it's only around $45 to get plastic lenses put in!

So, soon you'll see me on stage with some vintage 80's frames clad with lenses I can actually see through. yay!

on a band related note:
we are proud to announce our debut performance with the one, the only- The Helper T-Cells!!!!!! Check us out @ the Beachland tomorrow- IT'S FREE!! :)

tra la la, leia

thank you friends

2007-09-24T22:21:00.001-07:00

we'd like to personally thank everyone who came out to our party saturday afternoon...especially the Black Canary and Kiddo who drove great distances to be there...we had a great time and we hope you did too...
now i guess we're gonna be shifting into "fall" mode..(summer is gone officially)...we're gonna begin work on an E.P. and on a single that will be released on Cloudberry records, a fantastic indiepop label from miami...

more later

tom

extra! extra! read all about it!

2007-09-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

- here you go:

http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/20/children-of-the-sunbeamed

Volume 15, Issue 20
Published September 19th, 2007
Locals Only

Children Of The Sunbeamed
Afternoon Naps Are Cute Without Being Cutesy
By Emily Anderson

Afternoon Naps, Black Canary, Kiddo
Sat, Sep 22nd - 1:00 pm
Tickets: $2
Beachland Ballroom and Tavern
15711 Waterloo Road , Cleveland, OH,
44110
216-383-1124

Naps time - Local band celebrates summer's end.
If staring at that pile of sweaters in the back of your closet makes you feel sort of sad and itchy, you can find solace in the music of Afternoon Naps. Born out of singer-guitarist Tom Dechristafaro's obsession with obscure '60s sunshine pop, they have a sound that feels light-hearted and fresh even when the subject matter is as somber as summer's end.

"I kind of had this little bedroom project - I didn't know what to do with it, it was kind of electronic-y," says Dechristafaro. "I lived with the Dreadful Yawns, and they were saying you should meet this girl who plays piano and stuff."

That girl is Leia Hohenfeld, the Naps bespectacled singer, keyboardist/organist and general glee-giver, who adds, "At the time I was in the Volta Sound. Ben [of the Dreadful Yawns] had told me that Tom was looking for a girl singer for an electronic pop band. It was the two of us for almost a year."

The music that Dechristafaro and Hohenfeld produced together was not electronic-y. It was earnest indie pop that celebrated the cute without being cutesy, and paid homage to the '60s sound without simply mimicking it. During this period, Dechristafaro and Hohenfeld wrote half the songs that appear on the Naps' new album, Sunbeamed. "Bun-bun" is a darling tale about the rabbit-in-residence of a notorious underground Cleveland venue. Hohenfeld sighs and fondly recalls their late furry rock-loving comrade. "Bun-bun is...was a rock 'n' roll bunny who lived at the Tower. She was a loose bunny who ran around but was house-trained, and litter box-trained."

"She probably died of smoke inhalation or something," Dechristafaro adds.

Dechristafaro and Hohenfeld didn't take things to the next level until a push from a friend in October 2006.

"Dave P of the Very Knees booked us a show before we even had a band and was like "You're playing,' so we threw a band together overnight," says Dechristafaro.

Drawn from a cast of friends and bandmates, the Afternoon Naps grew to include drummer Ben Gmetro (The Dreadful Yawns, The Volta Sound), bassist Mike Allan (The Dreadful Yawns, The Volta Sound), trumpeter Steph (Expecting Rain) and NYC talent Gus Payne on organ, percussion and beach balls.

The Afternoon Naps morphed from a duo into a mini-orchestra overnight, and its sound evolved with it. After a few months of playing out at venues like the Happy Dog and the Beachland Tavern, the Naps were studio-bound. "We started recording on Super Bowl Sunday - Tim Gehrak of Six Parts Seven started recording it and then found he was going on tour with Richard Buckner, so we sat on it until May. It was literally done on the coldest day of the year."

Since then, the band has performed with many of its musical mentors - Voxtrot, Of Montreal and Ladybug Transistor, and at the Toledo Indie Pop Fest with Cleveland bands like Bears and the Helper

T-Cells.

September 21 is the official end of summer, and to commemorate it, the Beachland Tavern is hosting "An Afternoon with the Afternoon Naps," a launch party for Sunbeamed. The album is full of breezy harmonies. Topics of the songs range from shoeboxes full of postcards to stray cats, and the occasional dose of something less than optimistic. From "Winter Olympics" to "Argyle Spring," the Naps carry you from season to season. But how do the summer-centric Naps fare in colder climes? Dechristafaro slumps his shoulders.

"I don't know how I'm gonna feel about winter," he says.

"I know how you're gonna feel about winter," Hohenfeld chuckles to herself and replies. "You're gonna wear argyle ascots and turtleneck sweaters."
------

we -heart- emily.

photo shoot!

2007-09-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some of our favorites from our photo shoot today :)

labor day zzzzzzz

2007-09-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

go tribe! and welcome back Pedro! (f.y.i. at least 2.5 of the 6 Afternoon Naps members are baseball enthusiasts)

message from leia

2007-08-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

hello bloggers!

you will all be happy to hear that our cds have FINALLY arrived!!!

all 1000 of them showed up in eight 21 lb. boxes. they are residing in toms apartment, currently.

I will post a picture of the cover once I figure out how to do it...

Our official CD release party is going to be September 22nd at 1:00 in the AFTERNOON. get it?

An AFTERNOON with the NAPS :)
Beachland Ballroom
1:00pm
with guests:
Kiddo!
and The Black Canary

(we have t-shirts in new, brighter colors, too!)

well, this has been my first post.

goodnight ladies and gentlemen,
leia

and when i see the sign that points one way...

2007-08-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Left Banke's "Walk away Renee" is my all time favourite song...i dont think a more perfect song exists....fo realz...too bad the video quality here is lackluster...
tom

hello blog hello

2007-08-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

not much to add yet....just set this thingy up....this is my test run post i guess...anyhow we are finally releasing our debut lp on Aug 25-ish...there will be an endless summer release party in late Sept...
more details later right now i'm burning up in a very humid fan-conditioned apartment...