SEVER THE HANDS

In the Spring of 2004, Jim Heffernan, Jon Burns, and Damian Vallelonga began playing music together in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. While they all hailed from the same sunny land locked enclave of Onondaga County, Jim grew up in Manlius, Jon and Damian went to Nottingham. On a side note, go hornets. Guess who'se writing this bio.

While it took a practice or two to lock into who was playing what instrument (there was a rotating period where any one of them could've ended up the drummer, bass player or guitarist) they figured it out, and got writing. This was the first band, for all of them, that held extremely high importance on democratic creation. Song structure, arrangement, vocals, even lyrics were shared and worked on almost entirely in equal thirds. Their first release, under the name "Awake" also marked the second release from the newly founded and organized Banger Studios (the first recording project beng Us vs. Them). While the quality of the actual recording was raw, the songs themselves excited them, and pushed them on to embark on several North East tours. They changed their name to Sever the Hands for their second EP, and their last recording was completed just in time for their final shows in the winter of 2006.

Technically driven, Sever the Hands was a push for these musicians. A push to see where they could take their composition, their musicianship, and their work ethic. It was also a new challenge to combine influences, everything from Cap-N-Jazz, Bread and Circuits, Memento Mori, and His Heros Gone.

MP3s
Love You Alive  (The Brown EP 2006)

VIDEO