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www.BittersAndDistractions.com
BITTERS AND DISTRACTIONS IS A PUNK BAND FROM LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK CONSISTING OF JEREMY QUITKO AND TRAVIS JOHNIDES.
THE LYRICS OF THEIR SONGS ARE WRITTEN BY JEREMY. IT REFERENCES A TIME WHEN HE WAS TRAVELING ACROSS COUNTRY AND EVENTUALLY SETTLED IN ARVADA, COLORADO. WHILE WORKING IN ARVADA, HE MET ANOTHER MUSICIAN NAMED CHARLES JEFFREY FIELDS. HE AND CHARLIE FORMED THE BAND WE GLEW. WE GLEW WROTE AND RECORDED MUSIC EMBRACING THE IDEA OF LIVING LIKE A NOMAD, THAT THEY LOOSELY CATEGORIZED AS "HOBO ROCK". WE GLEW EXISTED AS AN ART PROJECT AS MUCH JUST A ROCK BAND, PRODUCING GRAPHICS, STICKERS AND T-SHIRT DESIGNS. HE AND CHARLIE EVENTUALLY MOVED AWAY FROM EACH OTHER BUT CONTINUED TO RECORD MUSIC AND MAKE ART LONG DISTANCE. IN 2005, JEREMY DECIDED TO FOCUS ON A CAREER AS A TEACHER AND SLOWLY HE AND CHARLIE LOST TOUCH BESIDES RANDOM SNAIL-MAIL COMMUNICATION BACK AND FORTH THAT WAS MORE ABSTRACT THEN INFORMATIVE. IN 2017, JEREMY TRIED ALL LINES OF COMMUNICATION TO GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH CHARLIE, WHO WAS LAST LIVING IN CHICAGO, TO NO AVAIL. THE EMAIL ACCOUNT HE HAD CAME BACK "NO LONGER IN SERVICE" AND THE PHONE MESSAGE HE LEFT FOR CHARLIE ON CHARLIE’S TWIN BROTHER'S CELL PHONE WAS RETURNED TO JEREMY BY SOMEONE NEW WHO HAD THAT PHONE NUMBER NOW. THE ABSENCE OF A DEAR FRIEND INSPIRED JEREMY TO REVISIT LYRICS HE HAD WRITTEN YEARS AGO AND COMPOSE NEW ONES ABOUT HIS MISSING FRIEND.
WHEN JEREMY SENT THE LYRICS TO TRAVIS, TRAVIS WAS INSPIRED BY THE STORIES AND QUICKLY INTERPRETED THEM INTO SONGS ON THE GUITAR. AFTER YEARS OF TOURING THE COUNTRY WITH HIS FORMER BAND, THE GOODWILL, WHICH CONSISTED OF RELEASING ALBUMS NATIONWIDE AND TOURING WITH AND OPENING FOR BANDS SUCH AS MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, FALLOUT BOY, AFI, THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS, FELLOW LONG ISLANDERS TAKING BACK SUNDAY AND BRAND NEW, AND MORE, TRAVIS STARTED A BAND WITH HIS SISTER CALLED WE’RE ALL JUST PASSING THROUGH. AFTER 6,000+ ALBUM DOWNLOADS FOR THIS COMPLETELY DIY BROTHER/SISTER DUO, COVERAGE ON TELEVISION AND IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, AND MORE, HE’S THRILLED TO BE COMPOSING AND MAKING MUSIC WITH HIS FRIEND, JEREMY, UNDER THE BAND NAME BITTERS AND DISTRACTIONS.
