Ears Wide Open: D.A. Stern

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D.A. Stern (photo by Danny "Kokomo" Gonzalez)

David Aaron Stern recorded his debut solo album, “Aloha Hola,” in his mom’s New Jersey basement. Perhaps because it was as close as he could get to the womb, a safe, warm, incubator for creation to take place, where you don’t have to pay rent and lunch is served through a tube. That last part might not be true, but it is a fact that the Los Angeles resident’s album came out in January of this year on Two Syllable Records. Another fact is that he held a job as engineer and assistant for MCA at the Beastie Boy’s recording studio and fronted New York City band The Sanctuaries before relocating to the west coast. “Aloha Hola” couches forlorn lyrics about girls, drinking, modern society, and the darkness of city life in catchy, mostly lighthearted guitar-driven pop melodies. “Am I Ever On Your Mind?” is a broken-love song.

||| Stream: “Am I Ever On Your Mind?”

||| Also: Watch “Miami” (video inspired by Albert Brooks’ 1979 film “Real Life”)

||| Live: D.A. Stern plays every Tuesday in April at Little Joy.