The Giraffes

Sanford Arms is:

Actually, everything, instruments and vocals, are by Chris himself

Here's the official info on them:
The Pitch
IMAGINE THE SOUND!!! THE LUSCIOUS SOUND OF SONGS!!! SONGS SUNG BY SMALL PUPPETS WAY BACK IN THE 1970'S!!! THIS IS THE ESSENTIAL MAGIC COMBINATION!! THIS IS THE GIRAFFES!!!

IMAGINE A LITTLE GIRAFFE AND AN EARLESS RABBIT WITH THE ASTONISHING ABILITY TO IMPROVISE SONGS OUT OF THIN AIR INSTANTLY WITH ONLY SECONDS TO PREPARE!!! IMAGINE A FOURSOME OF HOTEL LOBBY JAZZ PUPPETS LED BY A FATHER AND SON TEAM OF WILD MONKEYS ON GUITAR AND HORNS BACKED UP BY A SHY BEAR ON THE TWO STRING BASITAR AND A SMALL DUCK ON WHEELS TICKLING THE IVORY KEYS LIKE SHE HAS A DARK SECRET!!! NOW IF YOU WILL IMAGINE THESE TWO MUSICAL PATHS COLLIDING AND CREATING A SOUND LIKE NONE YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE!!!

BACK IN THE EARLY 1970'S THIS STORY ACTUALY CAME TRUE AND THE GIRAFFES BEGAN A NINE YEAR RELATIONSHIP THAT WOULD PRODUCE SOME OF THE MOST ENTERTAINING MUSIC YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD!!!! NOT SINCE DORIS AND THE DOORKNOBS HAVE A BAND SO SUCCEFULLY CAPTURED THE INNER RAMBLINGS OF AN IMPROVISING PUPPET!!!!!!!! BETWEEN 1974 AND 1979 THESE INERT GENIUSES EXPERIMENTED IN THE BASEMENT OF A SOUTHERN KENTUCKY HOME UNTIL A FREAK ACCIDENT DROVE THEM TO SEATTLE AND INTO COMPLETE OBSCURITY......FOREVER!!!! THANKS TO ARCHIVIST CHRIS BALLEW AND THE FOLKS OVER AT MY OWN PLANET RECORDINGS IN SEATTLE THE ALBUM, "13 OTHER DIMENSIONS" , WILL BE THE FIRST OF MANY REISSUES OF THE ORIGINAL RECORDINGS BY THE GIRAFFES THAT WILL COME OUT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS!!! YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF AND YOUR EARS TO TAKE THIS SONIC GEM HOME AND ENJOY IT OVER AND AGAIN!!!

- CASPAR BABYPANTS (SEATTLE 1979)

The Truth
These recordings were actually done over the course of the current decade by Chris Ballew, former lead singer/songwriter of The Presidents of the United States of America, on his 8-track cassette machine in a basement studio.

Chris wrote the songs, played all the instruments and produced The Giraffes Record. The people at Columbia Records were kind enough to license the material to My Own Planet Recordings because Chris and Michele thought it would be fun to put it out.

The Rant
Well, here I am having finished being a "rock star". It feels good to have been lucky enough to have it happen the way it did and to back off when the gettin was good. I always fantisized that if I ever did become famous that it would happen because people wanted to hear the music and see the band before the record companies took notice and that I would quit at the top of my game.

So I get to wipe my brow and say "PHEW!"

Now I get to go back to making music the way I was before the freak accident of being in a national and worlwide touring rock band happened. I used to make up songs and record them at home and make little cassette tapes that I would give to friends or sell for five bucks out of a bag. Those tapes were wierd and diverse and had all kinds of combinations of instruments and song types on them and that made making music challenging and fun for me. Then as I gave out more and more tapes I would start meeting musicians who liked the tapes and we would maybe form a band. But talk of going professional was always frowned upon and the person who brought it up was usally laughed at or told to sit down. No band ever lasted more than a year of two and that was healthy.

Obviously the oportunity to experience the whirlwind of attention and activity that the Presidents experienced doesnt come around every day and you can't plan that sort of thing. So even though deep in my gut I thought it was the craziest thing I had ever heard of' we took the plunge. I have no regrets about that decision and it was fun. But the repetitive hard sell business like nature of that experience didnt agree with my own creative style in the end.

And now ladies and gentlemen I give you the Giraffes!

My hope is that I can go back to opperating in the way that I want to, making diverse and interesting albums without the brain numbing boredom of touring and repeating the same songs over and over again. I hope I can make a living making recordings in the same way an artist makes a living making a painting or sculpture. They have a style but unless they chose to they dont have to repeat themselves. I don't even know how to play alot of the Giraffes songs because they come together on tape as I record them or the instruments are all in wierd tunings and I dont remember what I was playing. And I like that alot. I don't know the material so well that I hate it and I can sit back sometimes and enjoy a Giraffes record like a fan.

Actually, a big reason why I started making tapes in the first place because I wasn't hearing the music I wanted to hear on the radio so I just decided to try to make it up myself. So it is important that I can improvise and enjoy my own recordings as if I didn't even make them.

It feels so good to finally be addressing the sound I have in my head with out making comprimises. Being in a band is a thrilling experience when you are playing live and getting the good love from the audience. There is nothing like it. And it also involves democracy and I found I got less and less interested in the sonic comprimises I was making. But it is no good being a dictator and so after four years of letting the real sound I wanted to hear sit on the back burner I am super excited to try to get it out of my head and onto tape and into your ear and see if it is as good as I think it is.

The Giraffes is my vehicle for this and it feels good to be the puppetier insted of the puppet!

I would love to make alot more Giraffes records and little super 8 films of them performing and have people continue to enjoy them and to continue to enjoy making them for a long time until I am old and crusty. Who knows this may turn into a live band in the future but right now it feels best just to hang back and experiment and see where it goes.

STAY TUNED!!!