Brett Staggs balances band and solo act

Brett Staggs took a setback and made it a solo album. Nemesis Party

Brett Staggs (CD Release), Stephen Tribou, Pete Bush, Grand Vision Channel

Club Café

Saturday at 10 p.m.

Tickets $6

Brett Staggs took a setback and made it a solo album.

When faced with the possibility of show cancellations, the local artist created an acoustic set. While exploring that sound he planted the seeds for his solo album.

It comes on the heels of an early 2010 album released by his band, The Long Time Darlings. Staggs’ solo album comes out Saturday, and Staggs gave The Pitt News an opportunity to speak with him via e-mail.

TPN: What made you decide to produce a solo album? Had you done it before The Long Time Darlings existed, or is this your first venture into working alone?

BS: I had originally been a solo performer before starting The Long Time Darlings and had released a demo called Electric Heart in 2003. Since starting the band and moving to Austin and back again, I had been recording solo material somewhat randomly over the last seven years.

The band had some injuries over the summer/fall of 2010 and, to avoid canceling shows, we threw together a more acoustic set to play.

From that I began to draw from my acoustic songs to make the shows work and discovered all these demos and recordings that I’d never done anything with. Now the band is in the studio working on a full-length album, and I saw this as a good opportunity to release these forgotten songs and get out there playing solo/acoustic again.

TPN: How did the process of working alone compare to working in a band?

BS: It’s the difference between a bicycle and a motorcycle considering volume, speed and what rules you have to follow. Playing solo is this self-powered, quiet vehicle that can wander off in any direction, whereas the band has many moving parts and needs solid ground to ride on.

So working alone is tricky in the sense that you only have yourself to rely on, but it also comes with the freedom to improvise on stage. Exchanging ideas and building songs with the band is an amazing experience and the live shows are just like a motorcycle, fast and loud.

TPN: How would you describe your new album?

BS: My new album is a seven-year retrospective of demos and studio work done in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Austin, Texas. It’s 20 tracks, which I recognize is pretty out there, but I figured I might as well throw it all together for a bird’s eye view of this period of time in my life.

TPN: How does your solo work differ from The Long Time Darlings, besides the obvious of working alone?

BS: The biggest difference for me is the lyrical content. With the band I tend to write lyrics with an edge to them, with a little bit of danger and taboo thrown in, not hardly any mention of love or tenderness, whereas solo I will unleash tenderness all over the place, but not just for the hell of it, I think it makes sense for the music.

TPN: Are you going to continue solo work?

BS: I’m fairly certain I’ll be doing that until they put me in the ground.