This session could be considered the “lost” Daytrotter session, though we always knew where the mother was. It was recorded way back in December of aught six – the first week of that year’s final month, to be exact. It was a cold, cold day, with grey temperatures and a biting attitude. The day marked Daytrotter’s first photo shoot for a national publication. Wired magazine flew a photographer in from New York to meet and shoot us for the really killer piece that Eric Steuer wrote about us earlier this spring. It was a real honor to be featured so lovingly in our favorite glossy. So, we were there for three hours taking many, many rolls – actual rolls so Baerbel Schmidt was a kindred spirit. Miguel, Ryan, George and Mike were in the live room posing and pretending they were tearing into a juicy number. Schmidt asked both them and us to show more energy and action. She wanted liveliness so we did our best, but the Haven guys were hungover and tired and I was just sitting in front of a mixing board with my hands out, something I never do. There’s only so much action and energy that was going to flow from us. As we were getting closer to the point where the guys needed to embark for that night’s show in Iowa City, they still had done nothing but look pretty. The instruments were in the room, but they weren’t plugged in and there were no microphones set up. We informed Schmidt that we had a session to do and she looked down on us shockingly and said that she didn’t know anything about a session. She thought the band had come in specially for the shoot. They were a special choice for the photo as this was a monumental day for the site and these men were the first to come in and give us the time of day. They were the very first session we recorded and they were the first to come back and do another one. We’ve shared beers with them in many places since then. We are bonded. With 25 minutes (no, this is not an exaggeration) before they needed to blast out of here, we rolled with it and the four-song set that is below is signature Catfish Haven at its best. There is delicious dirtiness and sweaty energy all over these tracks and, as far as we know, this is Tight Phantomz’ Mike Lust’s first recorded performance as a touring member of the group. Enjoy the Rolling Stones and Bee Gees covers as they won’t last long. Long live Catfish Haven. – Sean Moeller

First song
Tell Me (Catfish Haven) [3.08MB] [1586 downloads]


– original version appears on Tell Me
Classic bad boy nice girl tale. Opposites attract.

Second song
Another Late Night (Catfish Haven) [2.29MB] [1525 downloads]


– original version appears on Tell Me
The straw that broke the camel’s back in a relationship.