BREAKING LACES’ WILLEM HARTONGDEPICTS LIFE ON THE ROAD IN HIS IN-PROGRESS BOOK‘ROAD MAP’

DT: APRIL 23, 2009

FR: ALEXANDRA GREENBERG/LIBBY HENRY

WILLEM HARTONG of the Brooklyn-based alt-acoustic rock trio BREAKING LACES—now recording their third album in NYC–is trying his hand at writing a book: Road Map, in which the frontman offers valuable inside tips and wisdom about how to survive the road as a working musician.

WILLEM, the band’s lead vocalist/guitarist/main songwriter, has been posting such chapters as “Van Survival,” “Time To Tour” and “Making The Most of The Show” from the eventual book online. The latter chapter recently appeared on INDUSTRYSOUNDSNY blog which can be viewed here:
http://indiesoundsny.typepad.com/indie_sounds_ny/2009/03/making-the-most-of-the-show.html

As someone who’s logged over 350 shows during years of touring with his band mates ROB CHOJNACKI (bass, keys and backing vocals) and SETH MASARSKY (drums), WILLEM engagingly gets inside the nuts and bolts of life on the road.

In “Van Survival,” Willem writes: “Even with a great band, great tour and great guys (and girls), the van can become a tricky place to be. Fatigue, loneliness, dehydration, hung-overness and the question that rises to all at some point on the road, `What the hell am I doing with my life?’ can wear you down both individually and as a group turning the van into a potential pressure cooker. The key is to keep your eyes on the prize. And the only prize is to get to the gig on time and in one piece. If you can enter the van, drive and exit it stronger or as strong as you went in, you are ahead of the game. But it ain’t easy.”

Says Willem: “This was just a fun project for me to do on break from trying to put chords and words together. Plus if I can keep someone from crashing in their van while slowly crying themselves to sleep, why wouldn’t I? No one needs a seat belt riding up their butt all night wondering how they are going to get through the next day. It’s hard, but it’s not that hard.”

About BREAKING LACES:

Having earned praise for their 2003 debut album Sohcahtoa from Rolling Stone (“[Breaking Laces] provide more substance than any toss-off singer-songwriter”) and Paste (“Exactly what Indie Rock needs now”), BREAKING LACES kept the momentum going with their second album Lemonade (2005) and 2006 EP Astronomy Is My Life But I Love You. They were declared the 2006 Best Band in NYC by Indie Sounds NY, scored the honor of being the XM Radio Artist in Residence for June 2007, and flat out won the 2007 National Starbucks Music Makers Competition. BREAKING LACES began with a grassroots vision and big time goals, and after years of fever touring—logging over 350 shows—they’ve built a loyal following. The music of BREAKING LACES–honest and free, earnest and pop-infused, different, yet familiar–takes flight onstage, with infectious band chemistry and a dynamic mastery of sound that resonates on trademark songs like “Geek In Love, “Garbanzo Beans” and “Plain Jane” and new tunes like “Before You Drown” and “When It Starts To Break,” not to mention the random cover of the unusual such as Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host. “