Trick and the Heartstrings

Music U Want 2 Dance 2 (2003)

Alexander Gedeon, Leif Young Huckman, and Peter Hale first met at the Experimental Theater Wing at NYU.  There, they chain smoked cigarettes, talked endlessly about their favorite albums by the Police and the Talking Heads, and occasionally jammed.  After graduation, they agreed to form a band.

Gedeon, the band's singer and guitarist recalls, "I was envisioning a name, something silly and explosive and vulnerable. The first thing I said was "Bitch Ass Trick and the Heartstrings". Which would have been a complete joke. But I do have a penchant for long-winded and verbose titles and names, and the somewhat shorter 'Trick and the Heartstrings' stuck."

The trio began playing out in New York, building up a devoted following for their tight playing, choreographed dance moves and an irresistible groove that owed a sizable debt to Prince.  They started out by releasing a 6 song EP on their own label which they sold at shows.  They followed this two years later with "& I Feel" on North Street Records which featured the popular live staple "Joga," a funked cover of the Bjork classic.

In 2006, the band was riding high and played a series of shows in England. NME gushed, calling them a "perfect" band. 679 Records showed interest, but a deal never materialized. According to Gedeon, "The big brass didn't feel like any of our songs would make strong radio singles, so they kept throwing money our way, hoping that we would develop more. But there was too much tension in the band at that point anyway.  We had other options for label support, but it didn't matter by that point. We were over it."

Although they went their separate ways, the old theater buddies remained friends after it was all over and are still on good terms.