Geoff Farina has proved himself to be equally capable as a songwriter, guitar player, and collaborator with a variety of projects in the world of independent music. Perhaps best known as the frontman for the trio
Karate,
Farina also takes credit for co-founding the fairly enigmatic indie folk outfit
the Secret Stars with Jodi Buonanno.
Farina's brush with fame started during his high school years in Massachusetts when he was classmates with various members of '80s metal/glam revivalists
Kix and
Poison. His own musical path forged a far different course than that of his high school classmates, however, and after he completed collegiate study of jazz guitar, he founded
Karate with drummer Gavin McCarthy and bassist
Jeffrey Goddard in 1992.
Karate's sound incorporated progressive jazz elements with somewhat left-of-center classic rock forms and the first release in the band's catalog took shape in the Death Kit 7" single on The Self-Starter Foundation. Between working and touring with
Karate,
Geoff Farina co-founded
the Secret Stars with Jodi Buonanno in 1993. The music of the duo was much more folk-oriented (originally conceived with the sole intent of writing love songs for the founders' friends) and often found
Farina playing acoustic guitar. The Secret Stars themselves would come to be a loose collective of musicians involved in the East Coast indie scene, including notables such as
Ted Leo.
Farina stayed active with both groups seeing the release of numerous
Karate and
Secret Stars records, mostly available through Southern Records. In 1998,
Farina released his first solo effort, Usonian Dream Sequence, that found a middle ground between the electric rock of
Karate and the romantic folk influence of
the Secret Stars. His solo discography grew the next year with the Steely Dan 7" and
Reverse Eclipse in 2001, both of which are on Southern Records. Blobscape appeared in 2002 from Kimchee Records, followed by two releases in 2005: New Salt on Xeng Records and Already Told You on Southern Records. 2006 saw
Almanac appear from Atavistic. ~ Nate Cavalieri