Mortimer Nova is the current brainchild of former Halfway There drummer/guitarist/vocalist Myke Vilches. It can best be described as experimental indie and is the re-birth of the start of a long musical journey. Early Mortimer Nova was an indie-folk project. Over the years, the band has acquired more musicians to turn it into the product that you hear today. The music acts as flowed stoytelling without poetic rhyme. Mortimer Nova is driven by an effected acoustic guitar, vocal harmony, synthesized noise and dirty drums.

Formation and Debut

The band formed in Tampa, Florida in 2003. Vilches had already been playing solo shows for some time and decided to bring along 2 more members full-time. Prior to that he had taken on guitarist Steve Martinez, formerly the drummer from Irrate. Currently, Mortimer Nova is again in the reforming stages as lead guitarist A Verastegui moved to Jacksonville in May 2008. During August 2008, the band reformed with old drummer D Verastegui and Eric Hanson (AKA Red), formerly of Irrate and Faded Nimbus. As of July 2009, Mortimer Novas lineup consists of Vilches and D Verastegui.

The Diary of Valerie Hutchinson

In 2003, the band recorded the album "The Diary of Valerie Hutchinson" (originally titled "You Only Hurt The Ones You Love And The Others Even More") at Caulkhead Productions studio and was recorded by Salvatore Monella. It was a soft recording featuring Vilches on guitar and vocals, Monella and Vilches on percussion and included Nathan Land on the harmonica. This was the first album recorded under the Mortimer Nova name and set the standard for what the rest of the career of the band's sound would follow. Originally the album was only set to have 13 tracks with an EP following shortly after the release but Vilches decided to combine the 2 albums shortly before the release.

12 Long Hours

The bands next album "12 Long Hours" was recorded in 2004 but could not be classified as the second album as it was never released. After recording the tracks for it, Vilches decided to merge this album with the first release, increasing the track count to 17. The tracks were recorded with a rougher sound and 2 of the tracks were old Halfway There songs that Vilches and former band mate Brad Dipietro had recorded. The combined albums end on the track "Luna and the Silver Sunset", the band's first suicide ballad. This would be the first in a long-chain of controversial topics Vilches would write songs about.

Medium

"Medium" was claimed as the bands second album and was released in 2004. By this point Vilches had set up his own portable recording studio and had stopped working at his job for 5 months to write and record the album. Vilches sunk into a state of uncontrolled substance abuse during this time and wrote what he considers his finest album. Song topics ranged from heroin and overdosing to spousal abuse to abortion. While playing many of the newly written/recorded tracks live, Vilches would destroy guitars while on stage; some that he had carved phrases into such as "I am Jesus Christ". Salvatore Monella of River Chicken referred to Vilches as the Pete Townshend of acoustic folk on the bands website.

Drive In

The next album, "Drive In" was a mold breaking album as Vilches experimented more with effects, pedals, and bows. It was scheduled to be released in 2005 but this 5 track EP never made it to release as the half-finished recordings were all lost due to a hardware malfunction during the recording process. These tracks would later be featured on "Terminal".

Interstate

Vilches' next solo album, "Interstate" was released in 2005 briefly but not to the public. The entire album, including artwork and photographs, was a combination of Vilches' likes and dislikes. The songs included on the album were all covers of other favorite artists including Pedro the Lion

Pedro the Lion

Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Singer-songwriter David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. T. W. Walsh is considered to be the sole official band member besides Bazan. In...

, The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast

The Appleseed Cast is an American emo/post-rock band based in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, composed of singer/guitarist Christopher Crisci , guitarist Aaron Pillar, bassist Nathan Whitman and drummer John Momberg...

 and Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

. Vilches made the decision to get rid of even the master recordings as he never wanted to be considered a cover artist.

If You Shoot For the Stars...

Released in 2005, the album fully titled "If You Shoot For The Stars and You Fall Short, At Least You Still Made It Into Space" was the last solo album recorded by Vilches. By this point A Verastegui was already recording with Vilches and can be heard on guitar parts throughout some of the album. The album was composed entirely of one-time recordings and scratch tracks as Vilches decided to do a one time recording on all these tracks because there was more focus on the upcoming album, "Terminal" which would feature a full band.

Terminal

In late 2006, Mortimer Nova recorded its 4th album. This was the first album recorded as a full band and included Vilches and A Verastegui on guitar and vocals and D Verastegui on drums and percussion. By this point, the band was living together in Tampa. The album was recorded at their home in Tampa and was mastered by A Verastegui.

The Future

The band has reformed and is already playing shows in the Tampa Bay Area. They are also working on a new album. Release date is still uncertain.

Discography

Year	Title	Notes
2003	The Diary of Valerie Hutchinson	Debut album

1. "Bearded Lady"
2. "Just Like Water"
3. "Bitter Bite"
4. "To Pass the Time"
5. "Tuesday Night Mixers"
6. "Sweater Birth"
7. "Up on Trial"
8. "Turtle Burp"
9. "Ice Sculpture"
10. "Be Fri"
11. "St. Ends"
12. "Going Home"
13. "Frequent Changes"
14. "3 Steps"
15. "Harmonious Imbalance"
16. "Can't Find Her"
17. "Luna and the Silver Sunset"

Year	Title	Notes
2004	Medium	Second album

1. "The Last Time You'll Say Goodbye"
2. "The Children's Crusade"
3. "Beware of the Leopard"
4. "Familiarity"
5. "Caligula's Senate"
6. "Hide"
7. "Last Call"
8. "Deliberation"
9. "The Right Time for the Wrong Question"
10. "Fluid Complacement"
11. "Sieves"
12. "Parachute"
13. "The Plantation"

Year	Title	Notes
2005	If You Shoot For the Stars and You Fall Short, At Least You Still Made It Into Space	Third album; last solo album

1. "The Secret Life of Mark Bristow"
2. "Following the Interview"
3. "Monument"
4. "Skinned Knees"
5. "To Connect"
6. "The Impact"
7. "Plastic Coating"
8. "The Acrobat"
9. "Replica"
10. "To Reflect"
11. "To Inject"
12. "Declaration"
13. "Afterthought of Grievance"

Year	Title	Notes
2006	Terminal	Fourth album; first recording with full band

1. "The Bully"
2. "Piper of Rats"
3. "Dicembre Piu Difettoso"
4. "Revenge of Dona Maria"
5. "Diagonals of the Pawn"
6. "Last of the Mermaids"
7. "Pair of Threes"
8. "Last Time You'll Say Goodbye"
9. "Ayane"
10. "Suspect Fled the Scene"
11. "Caught With a Smoking Gun"

Year	Title	Notes
2009	Terrible The Fish Has Drowned	Fifth album (In Production)

1. "Contingent Upon Failure"
2. "Arthur Digby Sellers"
3. "Root and Stem"
4. "The Lad is a Reptile"
5. "Suffering the White Hand"
6. "Confessions of an Armenian Late Bloomer"
7. "Love Wounds Make Blindfolds"
8. "Ensemble"
9. "The Atrium"
10. "Familiarity"
11. "The Many Faces Of Ariel"

External links

• Band site
• MySpace Page
• Tablature