The Greek Embassy

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The Greek Embassy’s John Cutler is both a storyteller and schemer. “Between selling bootleg liquor in Egypt, the bike rickshaws, and selling faux antique cannons on the streets of New York, I’ve always managed to squeak by, but just barely.”



Cutler used that same ingenuity to finish his first EP while on the road with Columbia/Aware artist Bleu (who also produced the disk) recording in motel swimming pools, on creaky old pianos, and backstage near belching boilers. The end result is something floating precariously between Eric Satie, Sebadoh, Sufjan Stevens and Burt Bacharach.



“When we had a moment, we’d corner people backstage with headphones and ask them to sing backups”. Contributors ran the gamut from saints to sinners – including Jon Foreman of Christian Top 40 act Switchfoot and Peter Hess of punk cabaret orchestra World Inferno Friendship Society. “Between Jon and Peter, the album and I are doomed to purgatory,” remarks Cutler a little nervous, “but it wouldn’t be a half bad place to write more songs.”



“Writing more songs” has occupied Cutler’s life since he heard Sebadoh’s album Freed Weed and Paul Simon’s epic song American Tune. First came the four track (cliché but true), an old Fender Rhodes from Salvation Army and a beat up guitar. Hundreds of tunes later – until recently shared only with friends on cassettes and Cds – he’s still hunting for the perfect lyric.



Since completion of the album, Cutler has been playing New York mainstays like the Mercury Lounge, The Delancey and Pianos in preparation for a national tour and a full-length album. And inspiration is popping up in the oddest ways. “I was broke and stranded in San Francisco,” he laments, “but I found a car delivery on Craig’s list – a Trans Am – and I drove it to New York nonstop while filling 40 mini cassettes with a dark sing-song monologue. I’m transcribing it now, and the album is forthcoming. East of the Mississippi things get a little strange.”



“Sometimes this stuff is so sweet it's like rolling around in sugar and then you have to clean the sugar out from under your fingernails and in between your eyelashes.” Jennifer Dzuira