Bobby Rodriguez - Keys, synth bass, vocals.
Joey Valdepena - Vocals, guitar, bass.
And a cast of thousands (Dan Horne).
Influences
Dexter Morgan.
Elvis .
Grandaddy .
Willie Nelson .
Blur .
Amy Poehler.
The Beatles .
Elliot Smith .
Clinic .
Lou Reed .
Kraftwerk .
The Unicorns .
Can .
Gang of Four.
Air .
Simon and Garfunkel .
Belle and Sebastian .
Dolly Parton .
Pavement .
Super Furry Animals .
Johnny Cash .
Daft Punk .
The Mama's and the Papa's .
Sting. Sting would be another person who's a hero. The music he's created over the years; I don't really listen to it, but the fact that he's making it, I respect that. And Jesus. Not Christ, but a guy I got to hang some drywall for me in Pomona.
Sounds Like
MRG RECORDINGS
FICTION COMPANY/Maps & Measures: A pair of LA cats that have enough wide ranging interests that they can be flexible enough to be in the cleffers to "Blood & Chocolate" as well as "Napoleon Dynamite". Issuing forth with a very personal album, this is freak folk at it's heart but it veers off in many other directions with ease and style. Something different well made for people looking for something different.
72956
Volume 30/Number 196
May 15, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
2007 Midwest Record
Bobby Rodriguez and Joey Valdepena first met, briefly, in New York in the late ‘90s and they reconnected in LA in 2001 and thus their band, Fiction Company, was born. On their debut EP, Maps and Measures, Valdepena provides vocals and plays guitar, while Bobby plays keyboards and contributes back-up vocals.
Their work has previously appeared on the soundtrack to Blood and Chocolate (a cover of Billy Idol’s “Flesh for Fantasy”) and the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack (“Design”), Grammy-nominated as Best Compilation Soundtrack Album in 2006.
Rodriguez and Valdepena wrote all the songs on Maps and Measures, though they recruited a wide range of LA-based musicians to contribute music to the album. These include guitarist/bassist Dan Horne, who co-wrote “Crystal Ship”; guitarist/producer Scott Ford, who worked with them on “Dark of the Day”; Boogie Jones, a long-time inspiration for the band, helping them to mold their sound over the years, here offering back-up vocals; Gregory Butler, who produced “In Your Head”; and Tom Radon, who plays drums on “Crystal Ship,” as well as having co-written that track.
Rodriguez says of the album’s title, “It’s where you are and where you’ve been. It’s a point of measurement with which you can gauge your progress. Or in this case, our progress.” They’ve both come a long way, personally and professionally, to produce this work. The album’s emotional high point is “Dark of the Day,” in which Valdepena’s lyrics reveal a poignant, personal back story: “I wrote the concept for ‘Dark of the Day’ very soon after my brother drowned last year. I remember feeling so empty, but thoughts of being with him made me happy. It was like I was ashamed to be happy because someone I loved was just gone all of a sudden. It was in June and it was sunny. The birds were singing and the flowers blooming. It was just dark at the same time.”
The band’s arresting and genuine lyrics are backed by an interesting, multi-textured sound—a result of their extensive, varied influences. While Rodriguez’s points of reference are The Mamas and the Papas, The Beatles, NWA and Elton John, Valdepena cites “Weird Al” Yankovic, Damon Albarn, Paul Simon and Belle and Sebastian. Fiction Company is its own unique creation, a true collaboration between two artistic soul mates.
Hello Fiction Company!!! remember SnoCap??? because now you can use TunesPlus software to sell your songs here at MySpace. See my profile for details!!!
My musician friend, with Plus when you sell your music you don't pay any percentage and receive directly from your fans at your PayPal account.
My Best Wishes are for you today, tomorrow and forever!
Let the light shine your way and the stars guide your steps.Whenever you have a dream inside your heart, never let it go, cause the dreams are the tiny seeds, which are forms of beautiful tomorrow!Thanks for being my new myspace friend.All the best and stay in touch.xoxo
I've decided that if a movie about my life is ever made, I want your cover of 'Go Your Own Way' to be the end credits...or the opening credits. I can't decide.
your an idiot i would have dropped that in a second after the first time you fucked up your gout. lol but you keep playing basketball you fucking southern piece of shit! lol j/k man
Yeah I want to check out Dexter, because I love the lead guy. I'm a big Six Feet Under fan! Hey did you ever get the commercial I sent you? Oh yeah and if you guys don't do an elaborate tour, would you consider New York? I saw in your profile information that you met up with your band mates in NY and then in LA again.
I know my friend Rachel, who said she has already contacted you LOVES your music, my boyfriend and sister love it too!!! I am pretty sure ALL of my listeners do too, they just don't call that much....but I don't call radio stations either and plus after I play your music, they don't have to call and ask "who is that" because I ALWAYS promote ya'll when I play your tunes!!! can't wait for the new album!!!! Is Arizona going to be on it!!!??!! Oh my goodness....do ya'll watch True Blood??? It is fantastico!!! It may just be a chick show though..not sure, but Howard Stern likes it.
I have a friend who drives me to school once a day four times a week, and as a bit of a pay-him-back I burned him a CD, and since I gave it to him, the CD has been living in his car. One of the songs was 'Design' and today he claimed that it is his favorite song on it. Spreading the love, one person at a time.
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