DT: OCTOBER 14, 2021
FM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/ANDREA FAULK/SRO PR
LORNE BEHRMAN
ASKS FOR SALVATION IN “OH LORD, GIVE ME TIME,”
THE THIRD SINGLE + VIDEO
FROM THE NYC ROCKER’S
DEBUT SOLO EP
‘WHEN I HIT THE FLOOR’
OUT THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 ON SPAGHETTY TOWN RECORDS
WATCH THE “OH LORD, GIVE ME TIME” VIDEO HERE
AND READ THE Q&A BELOW
SET FOR EP RELEASE SHOW OCTOBER 17 IN NYC AT EAST BERLIN
“Oh Lord, Give Me Time” single artwork (Download)
“Real blood and guts rock and roll that bleeds with soul and redemption.”
– Jesse Malin, 2021
NYC rocker LORNE BEHRMAN asks for salvation in “Oh Lord, Give Me Time,” the newly released third single + video from his debut solo EP WHEN I HIT THE FLOOR that’s due this Friday, October 15 on Spaghetty Town Records. “Oh Lord, Give Me Time” is a guitar-driven mid-tempo rocker with a big emotional heart from the singer-songwriter-guitarist who previously played in The Dimestore Haloes, L.E.S. Stitches, The Dead Tricks and most recently The Sweet Things. The “Oh Lord, Give Me Time” video was premiered yesterday (October 13) by antiMusic which noted: “Musically, ‘Oh Lord, Give Me Time’ ventures into semi-punk rock ballad territory, but with credibility. Think Mike Ness meets Bob Dylan.” Watch the video here.
The lead character in the “Oh Lord, Give Me Time” video–directed by David J Barron and filmed at Coney Island in NYC–is Denis Maguire, a Brooklyn-based film maker and playwright originally from Galway Ireland. The young girl casted on the spot is Jada Lopez, a young New York-based singer and dancer who previously attended Harlem School for the Arts along with Barbizon. She attends an arts and performance school now. According to director, the actor is man who is contemplating suicide and is all alone in the crowd while everyone is having fun and being part of society. He snaps out of it when the little girl gives him the prize and he then blends back into the crowd. *Read a Q&A below with LORNE about the song and video.*
The WHEN I HIT THE FLOOR EP was launched this past August with the rocking-but-reflective title cut “When I Hit The Floor”–a song about “substance abuse and hitting bottom,” says LORNE—the video for which was premiered by Glide. The outlet praised LORNE’s “power chord ethos, cryptic electricity, and gritty voice,” adding: “The incisive songwriting stance Behrman takes on this unapologetic rocker holds nothing back with its blunt account of a hard-living past.” “When I Hit The Floor” was followed by the September release of “Sandcastles” and its video was premiered by New Noise. “Sandcastles” a tense and urgent rocker marked by an ominous guitar riff, spooky Farfisa organ and chilling lyrics about the lingering effects of childhood sexual abuse (“What was done to me was done to you, I know/You’re just the messenger, I know”).
The four-song EP was produced by Matt Chiaravalle (Warren Zevon, Joe Bonamassa, Spacehog) at NYC’s Mercy Sound Studios and mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Lambert. LORNE played all the guitars, wrote all the songs, and sang all the leads. Joining him are drummer Hector Lopez (Alejandro Escovedo/The Sweet Things), keyboardist Rob Clores (Jesse Malin, Black Crowes, Alejandro Escovedo), and singer Dana Athens (Jane Lee Hooker). Look for him to celebrate the EP’s release of with a NYC show at East Berlin (169 Avenue A) on October 17 at 7:30 PM
Below are quotes from LORNE about “Oh Lord, Give Me Time,” the song’s lyrics and more info about the EP.
Q&A ABOUT “OH LORD, GIVE ME TIME” WITH LORNE BEHRMAN
—What inspired you to write this song?
It was a Friday afternoon, and I was going to go pick my daughter up at her mom’s house. I was sitting in my daughter’s room, and I had this feeling of joy. Prior to that, I had spent so long feeling down, and, basically, wanting to die. This song was saying: I feel good, please give me time to live; I’m not ready to die. I guess it is kind of my take on a gospel song.
Parallel to me getting sober, I sensed my daughter was going through her own things. In her bedroom at her mom’s house there was a strange waterscape mural on the wall. I imagined her looking at that from her bed, and processing her life and what private thoughts and struggles she was working through. I wrote this song as a message to us both to find reasons to be strong, healthy, and happy. It is that “always darkest before dawn sentiment.” I saw a little light in that moment, and I wanted to share it.
—How do you feel this song sits alongside the others on the EP?
I’ve never played music in front of my parents before all by myself with just a guitar and my voice. They’ve seen me play in a lot of bands over the years, and I’ve always played them my recordings. When I wrote this EP, I asked them if I could play these songs for them. I was so scared! I performed with an unplugged electric and just my voice. When I played this one, my mom started crying. She said to me, “that song could be for anyone at any age because we all want time.” I know that sounds kind of corny, “my mom liked it!,” haha, so it must be great, but the truth is that was the first time in my life that I felt like my music mattered; that it reached someone.
I confessed a lot on this EP, and I shared a lot of painful truths. I wanted the final song to be hopeful and as sincere and simple as can be. I wanted a listener to go through the EP, and, at the end, feel some sense of positivity. Like that feeling after a good cry; when you let it all out, and you feel some serenity. Stylistically, I know it’s different, it’s an acoustic song, but I felt like if I was being vulnerable, this would be as honest as I can be. It’s a song I can sing with just a guitar and voice, and that is huge for me, as I’ve relied on anger and volume for most of my career—in the past, I was too scared to be soft and gentle.
—For the scenes shot in Coney Island, were you present and if so what thoughts were running through your head as you saw the actor embodying the song’s lyrics? Even if you were not present, let us know what it’s like for you to watch the actor?
When I was first divorced, I lived about 20 minutes from Coney Island and my daughter and I would go there a lot. It was a desperate time. I was so scared to be alone. Totally ill-equipped to be a parent, let alone a single dad when she was with me. I felt like I had no life skills—I didn’t know how to cook a hot dog—and I also was constantly scared I would be homeless because I couldn’t pay my rent.
Those times at Coney Island my daughter and I really found something. I am scared of heights, and she wanted to go on those swings. I thought when I took her on it, it would be the kid swings—she was 6—but it was the adult ones, and I was terrified. She thought it was hilarious. We got into a rhythm of going to the magic show, eating Nathan’s hot dogs, and also going to the variety show with snake charmers and firebreathers. They even used a picture of us for advertising for the variety show! We cobbled together some semblance of relationship there, and there were a lot of stuffed animals involved.
I actually don’t think I shared this with director David J Barron, especially the bit about the swings which appear in the video! He had a distinct vision for this video, and I just trusted him. I never met the actor, and I wasn’t there for the shooting. We shot my performances on the boardwalk separately.
I first saw the video while in a cab with my fiancée, Danielle, going to a restaurant. I came up in the punk world, and for me, things were always stylized and there was some type of weird twist to the visuals and the songs, so I was shocked by the video. The sentiment in the song was so out front it was hard for me. I remember Danielle said: “It looks so professional, like a video you would see on MTV!” That horrified me, haha. She advised me to think it over, and respond to David after dinner.
I thought it over: this song is for my daughter, and for me and all the things we’ve been through both separately and together. I realized this video captured that feeling, and I was running away from being sincere and for sharing my feelings. I never want to do that. David really captured something unspoken and magical.
“Oh Lord, Give Me Time,” the song credits:
Written by Lorne Behrman (ASCAP)
Produced by Matt Chiaravalle at Mercy Sound Studios, NYC
Mastered by Joe Lambert
Lorne Behrman: Vocals and All Guitars
Matt Chiaravalle: Bass
Hector Lopez: Drums
“Oh Lord, Give Me Time,” the lyrics
Look out/on the ocean
To the ocean/take me
Drown my demons/ in the water
Hope to lay/ these burdens free
So tired/my hands are shaking
Peace/ finally
Heartbroken but ready
Lost at sea
Chorus: Give me time, give me time, Oh Lord, give me time
It’s not my time, it’s not my time, Oh Lord, give me time
I know/ I don’t know you
But I hold you/ dearly
Lost faith in/understanding
Understanding/who I’m supposed to be
I’m praying on/ a bent knee
O heaven/hear my plea
Look up/an eagle is soaring
Man, I wish it was me
Chorus: Give me time, give me time, Oh Lord, give me time
It’s not my time, it’s not my time, Oh Lord, give me time
The ‘When I Hit The Floor’ EP, track listing:
“When I Hit The Floor”
“I Won’t Fade Away”
“Sandcastles”
“Oh Lord, Give Me Time”
The ‘When I Hit The Floor’ EP, production credits:
The album’s raw but polished production aesthetic is courtesy of producer Matt Chiaravalle (Warren Zevon, Joe Bonamassa, Spacehog). “Matt played in the East Village rock n’ roll scene as a respected musician, and he produced my old band, L.E.S. Stitches, as well as other punk-influenced artists around town. He then went on to produce songwriter artists,” Lorne says. “I see myself living between these worlds, so he felt like the perfect pick to capture the attitude of my music and the sentiment of my songs. Matt also has a great sense of humor, and that made me feel at ease when singing about some painful things from my past.”
The ‘When I Hit The Floor’ EP artwork:
Wyldlife bassist Spencer Alexander designed the EP artwork, and it is a subtly playful homage to the cover of Don Henley’s first solo album, I Can’t Stand Still.
‘When I Hit The Floor’ EP album artwork (Download)
Photo Credit: Alex Bershaw (Download)
For more info about LORNE BEHRMAN, contact SRO PR:
Mitch Schneider // mschneider@sropr.com
Andrea Faulk // afaulk@sropr.com
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