TAS In Session: Hurricane Bells

Longwave's frontman Steve Schiltz recently released a solo album called Tonight Is The Ghost under the name Hurricane Bells. Self-conscious, Schiltz kept the project a secret in case the record turned out to be terrible. Luckily, it turned out great.

In fact, it is an accomplishment that Schiltz can be very proud of since he made the entire album on his own. He wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on it. He also recorded, mixed and produced the whole album himself in his basement with just his laptop and some cheap software. Before the album was finished, his manager was able to get one of the songs, a b-side called "Monsters," onto The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack. Once that high-profile placement happened, things started moving pretty fast. Hurricane Bells' Tonight Is The Ghost came out digitally in November on Vagrant Records with a physical release date set for early 2010.

Schiltz, who was touring with Longwave most of this year, has already done a few videos for the Tonight Is The Ghost, including "This Year," and was even on the "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" mall tour - all thanks to a project which he wasn't even sure would ever see the light of day.

When he dropped by for an interview and a live performance in The Alternate Side's Studio A, he played "The Cold Has Killed Us" and "Winters in New York" from the new album. As you'd expect, he also happens to have a pretty rad music collection of his own and agreed to play guest DJ on my show. So, I'll be turning over the reins to Steve Schiltz on The Alternate Side on Monday, December 28 at 11 am EST as he plays some of his favorite songs.