Bitter bitter weeks -- Biography 2007

Noted producer and engineer Brian McTear started Bitter bitter weeks some time around 2002. Though he ultimately aspired for it to be a band, he released two full length albums more or less as solo efforts in 2003 and 2004. The third album, Peace is burning like a river, finally sees that band vision come to life.

Peace is burning like a river is a rock record. While past albums were thought to be dark and simple, this new record is vast, honest, assured and dare we say “triumphant”: With Eno-esque beds of organ and tape echo, McTear taps into the American jangle of early to mid-80s college underground. And yet, the songs uniquely pick up on arrangement qualities heard in the music he has done with Philadelphia luminaries, Mazarin. There are songs about life and death, midair daydreams, cold war apocalyptic fantasy, ghost dreams, hyper-awareness in the last seconds of life, friendship gone sour, as well as apologies to future generations, and much more...

As a record producer and recording engineer McTear has worked with many great bands over the last ten years (Matt Pond PA, Mazarin, Espers, BC Camplight, Danielson, The A-sides, Hail Social, Spinto Band....). At 34 years old, he and long time partner Amy Morrissey make their living at their studio, Miner Street Recordings in Fishtown, Philadelphia.

“It is tempting to listen to the music of a record producer with different ears”, says McTear. “though Bitter bitter weeks albums have never fallen prey to that, and I can only suppose that it’s because the songwriting and the style of delivery are so much more important to us when we are making our own, or anyone’s records for that matter. It might be a surprise to some, but “production” is our least concern when making these records.”

McTear began in the early 1990s with a band called Mariner Nine. That lasted for nearly eight years, taking him from late high school, into and beyond his college years. When they split up he focused on producing records, finding the likes of Matt Pond PA and Mazarin. It was a welcome change up, spending more time in the studio than in smoky clubs (McTear lives with Cystic Fibrosis, a respiratory condition, which is not always conducive to the details of being in a band). All the while, he never stopped writing songs.

His aspirations to sing and perform reignited sometime in  2002. It also became apparent that he was more than just any old frontman in an indy rock band; he was great singer, a unique songwriter, and with the release of the first Self Titled album, Bitter bitter weeks, in 2003 (My Pal God Records), fans and critics agreed that his oft’ understated songwriting finally found a worthy partner in this stalwart, yet subconsciously trembled voice. Said Philadelphia Inquirer’s Dan DeLuca,

“The songs are simple, melodic, hypnotic. The openhearted music never surrenders to moping, but there´s always a disquieting undercurrent of sadness. If McTear keeps writing songs this good, though, even better days will lie ahead.”

Brian Howard of the Philadelphia CityPaper wrote,

“His trebly voice and guitar strings pop and creak over some of the most inconspicuously brilliant lyrics you'll hear 'round these parts.”

Bitter bitter weeks evolved to become a full band in 2005. As a group effort, Peace is Burning features the great work of:

Amy Morrissey is the singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitar player for The Novenas. She is the primary engineer and co-owner of Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia. She produced and engineered both Revenge (2004) and Peace is burning... with McTear. Recently she has been playing keyboards on stage with Bitter Bitter weeks. Morrissey is also an artist whose work is truly exceptional and unique. It is her work that graces all three of the Bitter Bitter weeks albums..

Mike Fleming played bass guitar on Peace is burning..  He joined the band briefly while on hiatus from Philadelphia’s new rising stars, The A-sides (Vagrant Records).

Ric Menck played drums on Peace is burning....  He and McTear met when Menck was in the studio for the Novenas record in 2005. Ric also plays with his band The Velvet Crush, as well as Matthew Sweet, The Tyde, and many others.

Jesse Gallagher, of the Boston band, Apollo Sunshine,  played most of the organ parts on Peace is burning...  In five hours he learned and performed the eerily abstract parts that are a hallmark of the album.  

Brian Christinzio played piano and some organ, as well. Brian is the main force behind BC Camplight (One Little Indian records).

Brian McTear: Producer

Usually associated with the independent rock scene in Philadelphia from1997 to the present (Mazarin, Matt Pond PA, Espers, Danielson), Brian McTear was born and raised in West Chester, PA in 1972. His musical endeavors began in high school performing and writing songs with his band The Marinernine (AKA Mariner 9).

During the Mariner nine years Brian and band mate Jason Knight began operating a small recording studio in their college apartment living room. There they recorded The Lucys, The Diane Linkletter Experience and many others. By 1996 Miner Street Recordings moved to Manayunk in Philadelphia, hoping to be near bands like Bardo Pond and the Lilys, and where they began to record local artists such as Eltro and many others .

In 1999, after Knight moved to California, McTear partnered with Live Sound Engineer Gary Ferenchak (GWAR, Good Charlotte), who ran a studio, Cycle Sound in a larger space across the street from Miner Street.

From 1999 to 2005, they built the studio into an impressive vintage analog/digital hybrid. There McTear produced Matt Pond PA’s Measure, The Green Fury, and The Nature of Maps, Mazarin’s Watch it Happen, Tall Tale Story Line, and We’re Already There, The Bigger Lovers Honey in the Hive (with Producer Thom Monahan) and This Affair Never Happened,  The Capitol Years Jewelry Store EP (also with Thom Monahan), BC Camplight’s Hide, Run Away, Hail Social’s Hail Social, and The A-sides Hello Hello. Also in that time, McTear engineered and/or mixed Espers Espers, and The Weed Tree, and Danielson’s Ships.

In 2002, McTear was named Best Producer by the Philadelphia CityPaper. In that same year, he began his own musical project, Bitter bitter weeks. In late 2002, self titled debut Bitter bitter weeks was awarded 2003’s Best Record Already, by the Citypaper’s A.D. Amorosi, and in December 2002, McTear was featured on the Citypaper cover.

In 2004, with new partner and Co-Producer Amy Morrissey, Bitter bitter weeks’ Revenge was released.

In the Spring of 2005, McTear and Morrissey, wrote and recorded the film score for Pennsylvania director Lance Weiler's second movie, Head Trauma. Weiler's love for the avant-gard, and admiration for McTear's old band The Marinernine brought them together for the project.

In late 2005, McTear and Morrissey designed and built a new home for Miner Street Recordings in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown. There they have produced BC Camplight’s In the blink of a Nihilist, Hail Social’s Modern Love and Death, and The A-sides Silver Storms as well as the third Bitter bitter weeks album, Peace is burning like a river, and Morrissey’s debut band project, The Novenas The Novenas, all due out in 2007.