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As Tall as Lions is a band from Long Island, New York.
HistoryHigh school friends Dan Nigro (vocals, guitar, piano), Saen Fitzgerald (guitar, drums), Brian Fortune (guitar) and Cliff Sarcona (drums) founded the band in December 2001 as they were looking to continue the momentum of a previous project. Saen said, "We felt we were onto something good and despite member lineup changes, we felt we had something worth pursuing." The band was already at work on the songs "Dancing in the Rearview," "A Fighting Word," and "And The Wick Burnt Black" and decided to put together an EP, utilizing these songs, but re-recorded vocals and guitar.
Blood and Aphorisms"Blood and Aphorisms" was released in July 2002 at local venue Backstreet Blues. Upon its release, vocalist Dan Nigro sent the EP to some websites, which caught the attention of then-influential "thescout.net". The EP garnered the band local radio airplay and the attention of the local music scene. Without a permanent live bassist however, the band used studio engineer Rich Leigey, who had worked on the EP, and friend Julio Tavarez, before Dan Nigro began auditioning and recruiting bassists. It wasn't until October 2002 that the band brought on board bassist Brian Caesar. A few months later the band signed a joint development deal with Island Records and Triple Crown Records.
LafcadioIn May 2003 the band relocated to Chicago, Illinois, to record their debut album, Lafcadio with Sean O'Keefe
. Asked to re-release the EP by the label, the band settled on handpicking songs from "Blood and Aphorisms" as well as adding new ones. Given a tight budget, they holed up in a single bed hotel in Chicago, the band and manager struggled to find their place in the studio. Nigro explains, "I believed the songs would come to me. I was naive. In the past all the songs I wrote had just come to me naturally. I didn't think Chicago would be that much of a struggle." Fitzgerald explains it this way, "In hindsight, I had a blast in Chicago but problem was, we were all just floating by. We were experimenting to the fullest. Pulling out all the stops so to speak. The best analogy I can come up with is a teacher going away on lunch and leaving the kids in the classroom to do whatever they want." Adds Nigro, "I hadn't done my homework. I hadn't finished lyrics, I was struggling with confidence issues, I was even afraid to hit notes. I began suffering panic attacks and the whole process became incredibly stressful to both me and my bandmates."[
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