Son of Salami

Joey Pizza Slice. The man. The myth. The legend. You may have seen Joey roaming around the North end – short hair (half-dreaded, half-slept-on), smoking a cigarette outside of Junktiques, wearing a hoodless sweatshirt that's far too tight for its own good. He's quite the legend around these parts, known for his reflective lyrics (see tracks 'Pretty Girls is a Mother Fucker' or 'Corporate Sluts') and catchy pop beats. What's particularly unique about Joey's sound, is that he uses an eraser-head-less tape recorder that he bought at a thrift store in New Jersey. This magical recorder actually keeps the sound when you rewind it (cause there's no eraser!) – in other words, he's able to record something, rewind it, and record over it with the original sound still in tact. The only caveat is that once it's recorded, you can't go back and change anything. 

Pizza Slice spent many of his days looking at old music equipment in Junktiques, experimenting with sound and different techniques for mixing vocals and beats together. In 2007, he and his band Nose Bleed Island released More Tales From the Blood Island. This album was all recorded on a digital four-track. While working on the next Nose Bleed album, Pizza Slice made the commitment to recording music on eraser-head-less tape recorders – like the one he happened upon in that old smelly thrift store in the dirty Jerz. Something great was happening. Something that smelled like pizza, the best food in the whole wide world.

I've seen Joey Pizza Slice perform countless times all over Burlington. He sits in an old wheelchair on 'stage,' or wherever he may be playing, and rocks back and fourth while singing songs in a sort of karaoke-style. His fans are diehard. They know all the words to his songs and sing along with him at all his shows – they're sort of Pizza-Heads. What's so great about his shows is that you get to see the process unfold right before your eyes. He plays a beat, records it, rewinds, sings some lyrics, records it, plays it back, adds piano, adds a bass line, records it again, plays it all back, and the song is finito. These songs are rather poppy, and I must admit, I'm not really a pop-music fan, but boy are they catchy. I sing 'Pretty Girls is a Mother Fucker' on a regular basis. I'll find the song dancing around in my head while walking to and from classes on campus. It's so addicting. He speaks the truth. "Pretty girls is a waste of time, cause they're boring and they don't have to try." Have a listen to some of his more popular tracks on this cool-ass widget thing below.

Some Son Of Salami Songs..