LaMarca Explores Memories on New Album

The songs on Anthony LaMarca’s new album, “Aspiration,” are both a remembrance of his late father and an exploration of the relationship they shared.

The Boardman rocker wrote the 10 songs in the aftermath of his father’s death in 2022. “My father died somewhat suddenly,” LaMarca said. “[The songs are] about me processing that grief and trying to deal with how I was feeling about his life.”

LaMarca, who is also a guitarist for the Grammy Award-winning rock band The War on Drugs, releases his solo albums under the moniker The Building.

He said his father has silently been an influence on every record he has made. “In some way, they’re all records about my relationship with him,” he said.

While his father was never a serious musician, he was “a great music appreciator,” LaMarca said.

“He gave me a stack of records of his favorite bands when I was a kid,” LaMarca recalled. “He loved everything from Grand Funk Railroad to jazz. He had a wide musical taste, which influenced me. He was always a main influence on me.”

LaMarca’s songwriting skills are on display on the release. While his melodies are understated and gently paced, one can hear the grandiosity in them.

The subject matter actually goes beyond the father-son relationship. It expands into LaMarca’s memories and grows outward from there.

One song, “Father Madden,” is about a Roman Catholic monk who lived in Youngstown’s Idora neighborhood when LaMarca was in high school. Madden, a devout man of God, was dismissed by the Carmelite Order for disobedience but continued his ministry, holding services in his backyard and earning a national reputation in the process. He was known for delivering powerful sermons, which LaMarca often heard.

“I would go to services at his house on Sundays,” he said. “He was a local legend, a uniquely Youngstown thing. He was not part of the church anymore but had his own Catholic church services out of his house.”

Madden died in 2012, and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation gained control of his house. But through the help of a friend who was involved in the transaction, LaMarca gained possession of the tabernacle at Madden’s house.

“The YNDC got that house, but a friend of mine got his old tabernacle and gave it to me,” he said. “A photo of it is on the back cover of the album, filled with pizzelles and easter bread.”

The ode to Madden grew from LaMarca’s ruminations on relics and how they become powerful symbols of those who have passed on.

“The whole album talks about the idea of relics,” he said. “When my dad died, I looked at the otherwise meaningless things he had. Toenail clippers. You think, ‘He touched this; he had this.’ But you forget the fact that I am a part of him, the ultimate relic.”

LaMarca recently came off a monthlong, 19-city North American tour with The War on Drugs and co-headliner The National. The tour wrapped up Oct. 10 in Mexico City.

Other members of the critically acclaimed band also release solo records, and LaMarca has contributed to some of them. His guitar can be heard on albums by bassist Dave Hartley as well as multi-instrumentalist Eliza Hardy Jones.

Drummer Charlie Hall and keyboardist Robbie Bennett have also released solo albums.

“Most musicians, as they get older, realize that songwriting is the most important thing,” LaMarca explained. “We are at a point where we appreciate songwriters the most.”

The new album is available HERE, and a vinyl version is also available. Because of its length, the vinyl album also includes an additional 7-inch disc with the first and last songs. It was necessary because all of the songs simply wouldn’t fit on one album.

“The first and last songs are like an intro and an ending,” LaMarca said, explaining how he separated them. “Songs two through nine live on their own.”

LaMarca plans to give a record-release show in Youngstown in the not-too-distant future, but no date is on the books yet.

“It hasn’t been a super-organized album rollout,” he admits. “It’s been more organic.”

His next show will be a Summit Radio members-only performance at Peppermint Records in Youngstown.

Pictured at top: A press photo of LaMarca for the “Aspiration” album release.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.