Lilys are an American indie rock band. They formed in Washington, D.C in 1988 led by then 17 year old Kurt Heasley sometimes known as “the Wally”.[1] A Floridian by birth, Kurt spent his early years in Hopatcong, NJ and in Virginia Beach. At 6 feet tall and 10 years old he later made his home in Northern Virginia and DC.
Recording in DC at Inner Ear Studio, Lilys first seven inch single February 14th was released on Slumberland Records in 1991.
Two and a half albums, one International television advertising campaign and three years later Kurt found himself in Denver writing Better Can’t Make Your Life Better. In August of 1995 Lilys recorded Better Can’t Make Your Life Better to be released on Che’. It was with this album that Kurt was able to show his admiration of stream of consciousness lyricism.
Stylistically their music has evolved from their shoegazing debut album In The Presence of Nothing. That owed a great deal to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless) through The Kinks style 1960s pop to a more soulful sound on their recent releases. Lilys' most famous song, A Nanny In Manhattan became a hit in the UK Singles Chart after being used in a 1998 advertisement campaign for Levi's.
By 1995 Kurt had migrated to Boston to form his most well known version of Lilys. It was there that Beachwood Sparks Drummer, Aaron Sperske and artisan and social protagonist, Torben Pastore entered the Lilys entity.[2]
Along with Apples In Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal and other bands, Lilys set much of the tone for the East Coast rock scene in the 1990s.
Lilys spent the next five years recording and traveling globally to perform live. This included the first fully live performance on Top of The Pops since Aerosmith in 1978.
In winter of 2000 Kurt began recording Precollection in Philadelphia. Three producers and three years later the Guru of Soul, Michael Musmanno arrived to realize and deliver the full potential of this and all subsequent Lilys recordings.
Now based in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Kurt continues to lead various incarnations of Lilys while beginning to work on future endeavors for K. Heasley and Social Architect Music.
Discography
Albums
In The Presence of Nothing (1992)
Guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; guitar, bass on "Claire Hates Me": Archie Moore; drums: Harold "Bear" Evans; bass, guitar on "Claire Hates Me": Mike Hammel; backup vocals: Ken Heitmueller, Beth Sorrentino and Jay Sorrentino (all three of Suddenly, Tammy!). Engineered/produced by Jay Sorrentino and Ken Heitmueller.
A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns (1994) - 10" mini album
Produced by Adam Lasus (Space Needle, Versus, Helium, Madder Rose, Clem Snide, Yo La Tengo) at Studio Red in Philadelphia. The players: guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; drums: Harold "Bear" Evans; bass: Paul "Pablo" Naomi (of various Lancaster bands)
Eccsame The Photon Band (1995)
Guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; drums, percussion, bass, vibraphone: Harold "Bear" Evans; organ, vibraphone, bass, tone cluster: Michael Deming (producer/arranger: Beachwood Sparks, Aspera, Apples in Stereo, Silver Jews, Flowchart); loops, synthesizer: Rich Costey (producer/mixer/engineer: Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, Franz Ferdinand, Mars Volta); french horn, flugle horn, cello, slide guitar: Robert Andreano (Sunny Murray, SOLO); drums: Dave Frank.
Better Can't Make Your Life Better (1996)
Guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; bass: Michael Deming; bass, vocals: Thom Monahan (Pernice Brothers, Monsterland, producer of The Bigger Lovers); drums, percussion: Aaron Sperske (Miracle Workers). Featuring David Shuman (Rolla) playing bass on the reissue. Recorded by Michael Deming.
The 3 Way (1999)
Guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; bass: Michael Deming; drums, percussion: Aaron Sperske; guitar: Torben Pastore (Ill Ease); banjo, guitar: James "Fuzzy" Sangiovani (Deep Banana Blackout, Rolla); strings: Anhared Stowe, Diane Frederickson, Katrina Smith, Kathleen Schiano; additional percussion: Marc Balling (Rolla); saxophone: Marianne Nielsen, Lisa LaDone (New England Jazz Ensemble).
Zero Population Growth (1999)
Kurt Heasley. Trevor Kampmann (hollAnd), and Archie Moore.
The Lilys / Aspera Ad Astra Split (2000)
Guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; bass: Paul "Pablo" Naomi. The original sleeve note on this release stating “Recorded by Art DiFuria” is entirely erroneous. All tracks on this release were recorded and mixed by Keith Thompson (later to engineer BR549) at 816 South Street Philadelphia, PA during the winter of 1993-1994.[citation needed]
Precollection (2003)
Producer, mixer, engineer and arranger: Mike Musmanno. The players: guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; drums, percussion: Steven Keller (HiSoft); bass, vocals: Mickey Walker; guitar: Torben Pastore (Ill Ease) guitar, percussion: Gerhardt Koerner (The Numbers, HiSoft); guitar: Don Devore; keyboards: Mike Musmanno.
Everything Wrong Is Imaginary (2006)
Guitar, vocals: Kurt Heasley; bass, keyboards, Oberheim programming, electric guitar: Michael Musmanno; drums, percussion, electric and acoustic guitars, lap steel, vocals: Don Piper (A Don Piper Situation); guitars, vocals: Michael Johnson (Holopaw, solo artist); drums: Matt Horn (A Don Piper Situation); drums: Tommy Joyner; drums: Steven Keller; bass: Chris McAllen(asspussy); piano: Mario "Pel" Lopez (Human Television); Artwork(UK version): Xiaofei Zhang.
Singles/EPs
- "February Fourteenth" (1991)
- "Tone Bender" (1993)
- "Tone Bender EP" (1994) - first 2 singles re-released as EP
- "Returns Every Morning" (1996)
- "Which Studies The Past?" (1996)
- "A Nanny in Manhattan" (1996) - #16 in UK charts
- "Services (For The Soon To Be Departed) EP" (1997)
- "Selected EP" (2000)
References
External links
