Stamford man more than just a funny guy
Singersongwriter’s unorthodox holiday album a humorous hit with local fans
STAMFORD — One year, Stamford native Mike Giordano was having a beer with a friend around Christmastime and while discussing how hectic the holiday season can be, the Belltown resident said, “It’s not Christmas ‘til I’m drunk.”
“Wow, that sounds like a country song,” Giordano said he remembers thinking, and a light bulb went off in his head.
Within minutes, the local musician was at home writing lyrics to the titular song of what would become his comedic Christmas album, “It’s Not Christmas ‘til I’m Drunk.”
Giordano rushing to pen a song isn’t an uncommon occurrence. The mail carrier by day is known to quickly
come up with concepts for humorous songs. He once was inspired to write a number of mafiathemed songs using classic Christmas music just “as a goof,” as he said, to share with his family.
It was only a couple of years ago that Giordano decided to take his ideas and put them onto an album.
One of his mafia tunes, “The Sanny Claus Dat I Know,” made it onto the ‘til I’m Drunk record, and Giordano even filmed a video for the song.
In it, Giordano jokes about the differences between ol’ Saint Nick and a mobster he knows named Sanny.
“He doesn’t carry jingle bells or wear those funny suits, the only thing upon his feet are fine Italian boots,” he sings. “And he don’t wear red velvet, no that would never float. No, the Sanny Claus dat I know wears a big black overcoat.”
“I like to inject the humor into Christmas,” Giordano said. “I tend to be a wise guy. I have a wry sense of humor.”
“My Christmas Wish” is about a child not wanting to kiss his grandmother. “Dear Rover,” the album opener, is about a dog that goes over to the neighbor’s house and urinates on Christmas decorations.
“Restless Elf ” is about an elf who has decided that maybe Christmas isn’t for him anymore. The chorus to that one goes, “Elf yourself.”
In the eponymous song of the album, Giordano sings, in his best Southern twang, “Everyone is singing carols and they spread their Yuletide cheer, but nothing makes me smile like a nice tall glass of beer.”
Giordano is proud of the fact that none of the songs on the album sound alike.
“There’s a little bit of everything,” he said.
Marc Alan, director of marketing at Factory Underground in Norwalk, a music marketing company and recording studio that helped Giordano promote and release his album, said the Stamford resident is more than just a funny guy.
“I think Mike is a wonderful singersongwriter,” Alan said.
Factory Underground helped book Giordano on local shows to promote the album and even got some of his songs airplay on radio stations. His songs have now been played in 17 countries, Giordano said.
The Norwalk company also created a website and produced both of Giordano’s music videos, for “Da Sanny Claus Dat I Know” and the recently released “I Got Squat,” about a disgruntled youngster who gets passed over by Santa.
They even produce Giordano’s comedic “A Wacky Christmas Podcast.”
Alan said his favorite song on Giordano’s album is “Dear Rover,” because, as he said, “everybody can relate to the dog next door coming over to pee on your Christmas decorations.”
Giordano is married with two kids and he also has two grandchildren.
“They think I’m crazy, but they like it,” he said, of his family.
He’s been playing piano and singing on the local scene with a number of bands for 30 years, but his Christmas album is his first foray into music recording.
Giordano hopes his album can bring smiles to people overwhelmed by the holiday season.
“Christmas is a very hectic time so I think that you should stop every once in a while and laugh,” he said.