Trade Secrets

Trade Secrets is a future synth band founded by machine rock veteran F.J. DeSanto (Hypefactor, the aggression) alongside longtime musical partners Mike “Ash” Venezia (Baye, 4th level) and multi-instrumentalist Charles LaBarbara. Joined by Peter Riley and John Kunkel, Trade Secrets creates unique cinematic soundscapes that dig deep into the hearts and souls of the listener.

Comic book writer, movie producer, and machine/rock veteran F.J. DeSanto (Hypefactor, The Aggression, Chemlab) has embarked on a new musical venture with the synth/electro-pop collective known as Trade Secrets, with the Golden Life (ゴールデン·ライフ) debut serving as the first taste to be released via Distortion Productions. Inspired by DeSanto’s time spent in Tokyo while facing a life-threatening illness, the album serves as a synth-laden soundtrack to “a sonic journey through an urban metropolis while lyrically tackling issues of life and mortality and eventually leading to the promise of a better tomorrow.” Trade Secrets was initially conceived as a producing remixing team between DeSanto and The New Division’s John Glenn Kunkel, eventually evolving into a collaborative project featuring longtime musical partners Mike “Ash” Venezia (Baye, Hypefactor, 4th Level), and multi-instrumentalist Charles LaBarbara. Of the collective, Venezia comments, “It’s dynamic. It feels like a band.” In addition, Kunkel states, “I’m extremely proud to have worked on this record alongside everyone. It’s been an incredible experience collaborating, and working on a project with so many different moving pieces.”

Other guests on Golden Life include The Dossier vocalist Peter Riley, who appears on the lead-off single “Only You,” as well as critically acclaimed French musician Damian Polak (a.k.a. Peka), Brandt Gassman (Hypefactor), and Kanako Kobayashi.

Members: Charles Labarbara, Chris Sargent, F.J. DeSanto, Mike Venezia, Peter Riley, Simon Cranny
Location: Los Angeles, California

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Trade-Secrets-256437681172862/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tradesecretsofficial/
X - Twitter: https://twitter.com/_TradeSecrets
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjRPQ9zMRTa9oA-vcTK7dA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTKtGnMGKqKLVvIgKpgt_ug
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-497748712
Bandcamp: https://tradesecrets1.bandcamp.com/
https://distortionprod.bandcamp.com/


Trade Secrets - Immersed (After We're Gone) Official Music Video




Trade Secrets - Violent Hearts




Trade Secrets - Your Heaven (Before We Vanish)




Trade Secrets - Only You (Ledaux Remix)




Trade Secrets - Prehab (The New Division Remix)




Trade Secrets - Someone Else's Dream (The New Division Remix)




Trade Secrets - Left Behind




Trade Secrets - Burning Daylight




Trade Secrets - Games (Deadliner Remix)




Trade Secrets - True North (Michael Oakley Remix)

My interview with Seattle’s ON THE EDGE is out now. It was awesome speaking with them about the new album and covering a wide range of topics including how we stole the title track from @thenewdivision, our remixes for @Synesthete, the story of how Violent Hearts came together and @alex_blvck’s remix, my love of @andreobin, and the usual trash talk about @johngrandofficial. Also, if you listen to the very end you will hear just exactly who we will be collaborating with for @distortionproductions next volume of #electronicsaviors. It’s a great listen with some awesome tunes to check out.

https://www.c895.org/2024/04/on-the-edge-april-14-2024-trade-secrets-and-y2k/










Escaping History
by Trade Secrets




Trade Secrets returns with a new collection of stories about life, love and loss for Distortion Productions in 2024. A reflection of the substantial emotional, artistic and existential growth that each of the band's members have experienced since THESE OTHER LIVES, ESCAPING HISTORY is a full-length sonic journey spanning multiple sounds and genres that pushes the band headfirst into the future by embracing their collective past. “Life threw a few curveballs at us,” says the band’s F.J. DeSanto, “but when we finally got our shit together, it became clear that those challenges galvanized us and made us eager to dive into uncharted territory. That unity and desire to shake up how we operate has resulted in what could quite possibly be the best album we have ever made.” Smoother, deeper, and sonically more dynamic than their previous efforts, ESCAPING HISTORY redefines the established Trade Secrets sound by rooting the nine new songs in a complexity and maturity born out of the passion and pathos of life itself.

released March 22, 2024

A MOGproduct

Written, Performed & Produced by Trade Secrets:

Mike Venezia, Charles LaBarbara, F.J. DeSanto, John Kunkel, Peter Riley & Damien Polak

Special Guests:

James Meays: Programming & Guitars on Someone Else’s Dream & Antarctic

Colin Wood: Synths on Escaping History

Mixed & Mastered by Mike Venezia at The Island of Misfit Toys

Arrangements by F.J. DeSanto, except Unstitched by Polak and Violent Hearts arranged by Venezia & DeSanto

Recorded on the MOGpac Mobile Unit, The Island of Misfit Toys (Rhode Island), BlueRoom Studios (New York), D.M.J (Lyon). JM Soundstudios (Long Beach), Sound Factory (Los Angeles) & Shallow Play Studios (California).

Unstitched & Kyukei: lyrics & vocals by Polak
Someone Else’s Dream: lyrics by DeSanto; vocals by Kunkel & Riley
Renegades & Metamorphosis: lyrics & vocals by Riley
Antarctic: lyrics by DeSanto; vocals by Meays
Violent Hearts: lyrics & vocals by DeSanto & Polak
Endings: lyrics & vocals by DeSanto

All tracks published by MOGsongs (BMI). Peter Riley published by Whipsmart Songs (ASCAP). John Glenn Kunkel Published by Division 87 Music Publishing (BMI), Damien Polak published by (SACEM), James Meays published by James Meays Sound (ASCAP)

Album Cover and CD design by Nick Mehos
Photos by William Murray
TS logo by Jim Marcus

RIP Franklin LaBarbara, Dan Hamill Sr. & Robert Polak