Once upon a time Robert Scheffler and his band A Million Pieces performed at music festivals, toured locally in the Northeast, and played legendary New York City clubs like Mercury Lounge, Arlene’s Grocery, and The Bitter End. He released two albums – Pretty Town (2002) and Life Of Luxury (2007). His music career all but came to a halt when a freelance gig as a research editor and writer for a national magazine turned into a full time career he couldn’t pass up.
Fast forward a couple of decades and it was time to move on. Time to return to music. Time to record another album. There was just one problem.
“I didn’t have a band,” Robert said. “They all had other opportunities, other projects.” They had moved on which he understood and had no hard feelings about. The question remained, however: How do you create music and an album without a band?
The answer came while going through his collection of CDs. He happened upon a Warren Zevon promotional disc from years back. He recalled Warren talking about recording tracks at home and bringing them into a studio to fill them out. Robert decided to try that approach. Truce was written and performed by Robert, recorded at home, self-produced, then mixed and mastered by Scott Anthony (Beastie Boys, The Feelies) at Storybook Sound.

Robert went through his notebooks of song ideas he had accumulated over the years. Yet try as he might, none of the ideas seemed to resonate enough to flesh out into a complete song. It was while watching Stephen Colbert interview the novelist George Saunders he had an epiphany.
“He (Saunders) said if it’s not fun, don’t do it.” Robert embraced that philosophy. “Writing should be fun and if it isn’t, maybe don’t do it.”
That was enough to get the ideas flowing. The result is 11 original songs for the album Truce – available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, the iTunes Store, and other services.
The album evolved and revolves around the concept of truce as the process of achieving balance in life and relationships with others. Those relationships range from the casual and fleeting to the romantic.
“Excuse The Mess” is the opening track and serves not only to welcome the listener to the album but also describes the awkwardness that accompanies beginning of a new romance. “Where Do I Know You From” is a humorous take on the experience of meeting someone for a second time but not remembering him or her when they remember you. A forgotten hookup, perhaps.
“I Don’t Love You Like I Should” is a tender and heartfelt ballad about not measuring up in a relationship. At least not in the singer’s own mind. “Have me do what you would/ For me to love you like I should.” Along with “Blue Sky Mess,” “I Don’t Love You Like I Should” is grounded in the tensions and expectations arising in long-term relationships.
The title track is a powerful exploration of the emptiness and disconnection felt after the loss “of the promise of a truce gone by.” We are not told the nature of the loss, which makes the song more relatable to many. It could be a breakup. It could be betrayal by a partner. It could be loss due to the death of that partner.
“Basher” and “All in Good Time” explore the theme of coming out. “They are part of who I am,” Robert told me. But he says the songs are also more universal. Everyone has to recognize and be who he or she is meant to be in this world.
Robert said another part of the songwriting process was to avoid the temptation to self-edit a lot. “However quirky it may seem,” he said, “your first thought is usually your best.”
And the last piece of the puzzle is you have to actually sit down and do the work.
That is pretty good advice for a man who admits he is not someone who can come up with an idea and write a song in 20 minutes. You have to do the work. Even if you stare at a piece of paper for hours and only write one sentence. A writer has to write.
Overall, he says he is happy with the process. He has a right to be. Truce is the result of that process and is a strong album. Robert says several songs are already in the works for another album using the same approach.
In the meantime, he will also be at work on his other avocation, furniture making. It is said his partner, John, knew Truce was all but finished when Robert started making trips to the lumberyard.