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TRY HARD [2023]
Recorded at Sun Drop Sound / Florence, Alabama
SECONDHAND SMOKE
SUMMER OF MR. BRIGHTSIDE
LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE
OVERCOMPENSATED (TRYING HARD'S OUTDATED)
FOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY
KOOL-AID
GO ON, LET ME DOWN
KARAOKE
Fridays I Wear Silk [2020]
Recorded at Portside Sound / Muscle Shoals
PUSH PULL
DISARMED
AGAIN
CASUAL
WHY?
DOWN
EVERYTHING'S EMBARRASSING
OVERTHINKING
GUARDED
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Semi Athletic's (Mark Falk's) specialty comes in the form of impressionistic songwriting paired with tasteful production and guitar riffs, otherwise known as "the tone zone". As a Canadian who grew up in Prague that calls Alabama a third home, his output is a synthesis of time spent digging through record crates around the world and working in Muscle Shoals recording studios.
His most recent release "Smoke Alarms (Trampoline Dunk Contests)" began as a short-film concept set in a little mountain town called Hope and a voice memo that said, "I want to play drums in the kitchen again." The song's lyrics are nostalgic for middle-school garage bands with amps turned to 10 and deny the existential angst of being twenty-something. Made in collaboration with Matthew Koropatwa and Antonia Ramirez, the music video features disarming moments of intimacy alongside a group of kids with a comforting level of mischievousness.
The debut album "Fridays I Wear Silk” features cornerstones of the Shoals' music community and was recorded with Jamie Sego at Portside Sound (the historic Muscle Shoals Sound Studio B). The album has been aptly described as "interesting easy-listening non-flashy guitar songs."
The follow-up album “Try Hard” (May 2023) was self-recorded and produced at Sun Drop Sound. With a refined artistic voice and vision, the album features introspective acoustic songs with twinkling keyboards next to full-out rock songs with playful, tongue-in-cheek lyrics.
Live performance highlights include opening for John Paul White at The Wise Hall (Vancouver) and a TV appearance on Music Room by Televize Seznam.