The Telephone Numbers call upon pop and introspection

"Our first album, The Ballad Of Doug, was more of a solo project. They started recording the songs with the full band; then the Covid shutdown happened. I recorded most of it at home, during lockdown. I'd been laid off of my day job and had some money from unemployment. I had guitars and some mics at home, and sent ideas to Charlie."

"We all loved Alicia's band, the Aislers Set, so recording with her and having our music become part of the lineage of San Francisco's pop-music history was an honor. It was all done live in the studio, with no click track. After we had the basic tracks down, we spent a couple months at Speakeasy doing overdubs."

The Telephone Numbers, a San Francisco indie-rock quartet consisting of Thomas Rubenstein and Morgan Stanley on guitar and vocals, Charlie Ertola on bass, and Phil Lantz on drums and percussion, formed just before the pandemic. Their first album, The Ballad Of Doug, was largely a solo project recorded by Rubenstein at home during lockdown using unemployment funds and basic home recording equipment, with band members contributing remotely. After clubs reopened, the band developed their live lineup and decided to create a proper band record. They recorded Scarecrow II at Speakeasy Studios with owner Alicia Vanden Heuvel, recording live without click tracks and spending months on overdubs. The band members juggle multiple musical projects simultaneously.

Read at East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda