Many independent bands from the U.S. often find success overseas before they are recognized in their home country. Indeed, many bands make it a point to push themselves abroad given the difficulty in breaking through on U.S. radio and other media outlets monopolized by just the largest of acts.

Broken Trophy has found another way to achieve success at home and abroad: by having both a U.S. and European version of the band. With their unique approach, Broken Trophy is building a multi-continent buzz with their infectious groove-rock taking hold on both sides of the Atlantic.

Lead singer and primary songwriter Lewin Barringer was born and raised in Philadelphia. Lewin co-founded and toured nationally with the band Standing Wave, which played an average of 300 shows a year and shared the stage with many top acts including Blues Traveler, String Cheese Incident and G. Love and Special Sauce. After 7 years, Lewin has left the side-man role to form Broken Trophy. In an effort to expand his and the band's horizons, Lewin moved to Italy in September of 2004.

Adding to Broken Trophy's overseas success is British producer/musician/songwriter Simon Widdowson. Originally from Leeds, England, Widdowson moved to Minneapolis and toured the US extensively in the late 1990's as a solo singer/songwriter and with a band, averaging over 200 shows a year for 5 years. He independently released a handful of albums which received national airplay and strong press reviews. Moving to Portland, Oregon in 2001, he opened the legendary Are You Listening? Recording Studio and Art Space where he went on to engineer and produce critically acclaimed albums for artists such as: Decemberists, Hindi Guns, Man of the Year, Pete Krebs, David Smith, Nicole Campbell, Papillon, Charmparticles, Little Sue and Stephanie Schneiderman. Simon's musical contribution to Broken Trophy adds depth and color that helps create the unique sound achieved on both the new album "Out here and Alone" and in their live performances.

Broken Trophy is rounded out by two of Italy's premier players: Pietro Bertilorenzo, who has performed with Tullio De Piscopo and Tony Esposito, on the Bass and Michele Leonardi, who has performed with Zucchero & Antonio "Rigo" Righetti, on the drums. To keep things truly international, Allen Graham from the American version joined the group for some recent dates in Germany.

On their latest release, Out Here and Alone, Indie-Music.com writes: Broken Trophy doesn't stick to the same old heartache ballads sung by young new singers; the words here are more mature." Such praise has come from many sources and the band is sure to gain more attention around the world. In between shows, I managed to catch up with Lewin to learn more about the band.

Why did you move to Italy?

The main reason I moved here was to try something new! I had done several national tours in the USA with my old band Standing Wave and had seen some minor success with that. The William Morris Agency and Philadelphonic Management represented us. They kept us on the road a lot and we did a lot of tours with G. Love & Special Sauce, Blues Traveler, Leftover Salmon and others. However as is the case with many little bands who are being over worked and under paid, the band personnel began to unravel and the group split up. After that the drummer and the bass player from Standing Wave and I started Broken Trophy. We recorded the album in the summer of 2004 and then I moved here in September.

What's the music scene like there compared to the States?

The music scene here is actually very similar to the scene in the states. There are a lot of GREAT musicians struggling to find enough gigs to keep the bills paid. However I would say that the biggest difference are the audiences. The crowds here REALLY pay attention and really appreciate good musicians. The fact that I am an American musician in Europe doesn't hurt either.

It seems that American music is the only US export that the rest of the world isn't revolted by! The general European attitude about Americans isn't great. They think that we all cook our dinners in microwaves and watch Fox News non-stop. Of course I try to tell them that that is reality for only a SMALL percentage of US citizens!

Do you run into other American musicians over there?

Yes a lot of them! I was surprised to see how many small bands from the States actually come to tour here! Also there are 2 really great musicians from NYC living close to me here in Tuscany. Jono Manson, who is a living legend from the New York R&B / Blues Rock scene of the 80's and 90's lives about 20 minutes from me. He and I have been friends for about 12 years and it is great to have him nearby. Also there is a great player named Jamie Dolce who has been working the scene here for about 5 years and is doing really well.

Are you playing in other European countries too?

Yes we are. We are planning an Eastern European tour for July and recently did a tour of Germany, which was incredible, in March. Germans aren't known for their warmth and their charisma, so it was really interesting to see their reaction to our music. The popular thing there is hard industrial music, basically the opposite of what Broken Trophy does. At one of the first shows in Berlin, we got onstage around midnight and we were faced by a crowd of green Mohawks, studded leather jackets, tattoos, piercings that made me squirm and a lot of folded arms and disgusted glares. I pretty much figured that they were going to hate us and think that we were a bunch of Pussies! But at the end of the night we sold a ton of CD's and the people LOVED us! One guy who bought a CD and talked to me for a little while sticks in my head. He was telling me how happy our music had made him, but the whole time his voice was monotone and his face was expressionless! It was very strange, but I was glad that we reached our goal of making the crowd have a good time!

Are you brining the band over to play the states?

Yes we are planning a tour of the Southwest/West coast in August. It should a lot of fun, the Italians in the band have never been to the US and they are really looking forward to it. I am looking forward to hitting some of the same venues that I played at while I was in Standing Wave and seeing my old friends.

What's your approach to songwriting?

I don't really have a standard approach to songwriting. I normally just start playing around on the guitar and sometimes a certain chord progression just catches my attention and then I start working on it. Usually the music comes first, but every now and then a little lyric and melody will pop into my head while I am driving or something and I will run and grab my guitar and work it out. That is the way that "Better Alone" was written.

Over your career, you've played in bands that are really known for their live performances. How do you go about trying to capture the energy of the live performance on a recording when you make a new cd?

Actually I don't try to capture that energy on an album because I think it's impossible for the band to recreate that live show feeling without a crowd there. And for the listeners so many factors play into what makes a great show. Things like what you had for dinner before the show and things like what the guy next to you at the concert smells like, all contribute to the overall experience. My idea about making albums goes like this. When we record a new album we play the songs in 3-4 minutes arrangements. There are usually very few solos, unless it is a key part of the song, and I don't do any "fancy" vocal improv work. We don't rearrange them so much that it changes the songs completely, but enough so that it is different (mostly shorter) than at a live show. Then when you come to see us play live, you hear your favorite song from the album, but we jam it out and do something extra with it. I have always liked bands that did that and adopted the idea a long time ago for the projects I have worked in.

Who are some of your influences as either a songwriter or guitar player?

Well if you look at my pictures on the website I am clearly a Beatles fan, thus my haircut. Beatles hair all the way! Also Nick Drake is a big influence. Lately I have been listening to a lot of Coldplay and that seems to making it's way into my songwriting a little bit. Pete Yorn is another songwriter that I really like too.
As far as guitar players go, my playing is not really that influenced by anyone. I love Stevie Ray Vaughn of course. Pat Metheny, Marty Schwartz, Bill Palmer and the Edge have all grabbed my attention simply by doing something that no one else does on the guitar. It's not all about a lot of notes and speed, but more about style and phrasing.

Name a band I might not have heard of, but should be listening to.

Oooh that's easy! There are two. "HUNDRED YEAR FLOOD!" They are a great band from Santa Fe New Mexico on the Frogville Records label. Frogville Records is a great label that is putting out some really great music and HYF is my favorite band on it.

The Second band would be "A Toys Orchestra." They are an Italian band and their live show literally brought tears to my eyes. The arrangements, and the execution of the songs were so perfectly done on stage that I was speechless for about an hour. Marco and I went to the show together and walked out changed forever.

What's your take on the current state of the music industry establishment?

The music industry is in such a fascinating turn over right now and I am very interested to see where it will end up. Mainstream music is mostly a joke right now. Sure I like Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and U2 and any others that are doing good music, but that's not who I am talking about.

For example, any thing that comes out of Disney beyond cartoons should be immediately put in the garbage. Sorry Britney, Justin and Christina, but you guys represent all that is wrong with the music industry today. Mass produced, NON-original, bubble gum crap. Changing images every 3 months doesn't fool anyone. You’re not growing up or becoming more daring. You’re being put through the mill, put on TV and soon you will all be put on the shelf.

Musicians like the guys in The Rolling Stones, Metallica, U2 or R.E.M didn't ever "play the game." They stuck to their guns, stood for what they believed in and now they are legends. Madonna actually kind of did the same thing, but she had MTV on her side when MTV was still cool.


I have no doubt that Lewin and Broken Trophy will stick to their guns and will continue to play music they believe in. Broken Trophy is currently touring in Europe and is scheduled for U.S dates in August. "Out Here and Alone" is available internationally through CD Baby.