Last Man Standing

Built out of the ashes of a life of fiery celebration, addiction and various forms of affliction, Last Man Standing, which started as a once a week music club between messed-up friends, performed its first gig at the Spitz in London in 2005. Its been wreckless array of ups and downs ever since.
The Guardian called LMS, ''London's Best Unsigned band''. Mojo Magazine and UNCUT both raved about the band's debut record ''False Starts & Broken Promises'' giving it 4stars, calling it ''Extraordinary'', ''the colorful ingenuity of Bowie and the wild spirit of Tom Waits.''
The band toured with and has supported with Polyphonic Spree, Sparks, Violent Femmes , Bobby Conn and were chosen to appear on the White Stripes at Hyde Park.
The band has performed in NYC, Paris, Amsterdam and throughout the UK.
The debut album was originally self-released and then, following rave reviews, it was re-released by folk-legend Judy Collins' Wildflower label based in NYC. Then things got difficult. Delays, prolonged recording processes, nervous breakdowns and paternity suits put the band on iceVanderwolf continued to record with producer Chris Wyles.
LMS will perform its first gigs in a year with a new line-up this spring and summer.
25 stunning new tracks are complete. Guest appearances by Robert Wyatt and Daevid Allen.
The search for a new label is in progress.
"I thought, if I let these themes takeover the songs, maybe they would get the themes out of my life. I thought that by their very materialization as a song that
somehow I would be redeemed. I thought that I could give these problems to you or you or you. Then I could report it all at a safe distance like someone commentating from the sidelines of hell. But it didn't happen that way."
Making music is an addiction. I'm broke and tortured when I do it and desperate and volatile when I try to leave it alone and I think: this can't be it. There's got to be something more. And the only escape is to follow the dream, follow the music. Just write a little, just play a little, just record a little. Soon I'm 9-men strong ensemble. Personal standards must be met and the demands on one's purse and personal sacrifice must be justified with a plan for success- no matter how preposterous the plan is: Yes folks we're bringing back big band values and raw decadence and composerly electric sounds in 2007 single-handedly because I say so…. Then I go mad until I crash and have to straighten myself out again with a dose of reality."
Now I'm in deep again," says Vanderwolf. " And I'm losing my mind… everything must go. Sacrifice it all. Damn the torpedoes. March, soldier. I can almost taste victory. Or is that nerve gas?