Singled Out and Premiere: TAFKAVince Band's Expiration Date

09-15-2023

We are pleased to premiere TAFKAVince Band's new track "Expiration Date" with this special Singled Out where we asked band leader Vince SanFilippo to tell us about the song. Here is the story:

Like most songs that I bring to the band, "Expiration Date" was written quickly in one sitting. I then spent a couple of days playing it repeatedly to refine the lyrics, rhythm, and melody. I felt good about it and brought it to the band right away. That is where it took off toward its final form.

The band took to the song quickly and it gained shape. It had more of a post-punk feel than many of my other songs that appear on 'A Problematic Opera'. It worked well for what we do, yet it was a little different. The arrangement was many happy accidents. We had it almost together and we went to play through it. We all said we were ready (but really we weren't) and Brian, our drummer, counted it off, then for some reason only Chris(bass) started. Brian jumped in late and, finally, Vee and I came in on guitars as Lauren and I started to sing, but I stopped everyone. I liked the build-up; this was the new intro. We settled on the bass guitar, then the lone bass drum, like a heartbeat, coming in underneath and, finally, the guitars and vocals come crashing in. We added the song to our live set right away.

Soon after, we entered the studio to make our current album, 'A Problematic Opera'. "Expiration Date" now was solid but still had room for some studio fun. Once we got the basics, we talked of adding piano and synth. Vee came up with the piano part and took advantage of the Moog in the studio to add some fun sounds to the bridge. He also had the idea to recite the bridge lyrics in the background in Spanish like a radio transmission. I then later recorded a couple of my foreign language teacher friends doing the same in French and Japanese and we worked them into the mix. The voices and synth added a great atmosphere to the song. It was now complete. As we got done with the album it became obvious that this should be the first song.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the band here