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St. Paul rocker is rocked by recordings lost in break-in

The burglary leaves Alarmists' frontman Eric Lovold without thousands of dollars' worth of gear, but stolen songs are sadder yet.

By RANDY FURST, Star Tribune

Last update: December 25, 2010 - 11:36 PM

Eric Lovold had an unexpected visitor on Christmas Eve, but regrettably, it wasn't Santa.

One or more burglars broke into his home recording studio near Lake Como in St. Paul and ransacked it.

Stolen was $20,000 to $25,000 in electronic gear, Lovold said, including four computers and a pair of external hard drives that contained two albums' worth of music recorded in the studio.

Lovold, 27, is frontman for the Alarmists, a popular local rock band.

He said the break-in occurred between 6 p.m. Christmas Eve and 12:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, when his roommate, Randy Tomes, came home to discover the house and studio in disarray and called Lovold, who was staying overnight with his parents.

A lock on the front door was smashed, mattresses were overturned, dresser drawers removed and an assortment of electronic items were hauled away, including three TV sets, two iPods, two computer monitors, speakers, a $1,500 German microphone and a synthesizer that Lovold said was worth $2,500.

But the most irreplaceable goods were the nearly completed albums. One was an album by Kicks & Spurs, a local country rock band that includes Tomes; it had been in the works since July 2009, Lovold said. The other was a debut solo album by Brian Deremer, a local alternative singer/songwriter originally from Fargo. Lovold said he was doing sound mixing on both albums.

"To lose that much work is obviously devastating," said Lovold. "What we are going to do is re-create the songs. The music is in our heads and they obviously can't take that away, but to lose the recordings is awful."

The break-in was Grinch-like, to say the least. Lovold said that wrapped Christmas presents were torn open and left behind, apparently perceived to be of little value.

No guitars were taken, Lovold said, some of which were valuable older models.

St. Paul police came to the house at 2 a.m. and took a report and returned during the day.

"We searched the home for physical evidence and are analyzing it," said Andy Skoogman, a St. Paul police spokesman.

"We are asking anyone who was in the area at the time if they saw anything suspicious to call us."

The Alarmists are well known in Twin Cities music circles. The Star Tribune said in 2006 that the "Brit-pop-loving suburban kids ... are fast becoming big stars of the local scene" and in 2009, Star Tribune reporter Chris Riemenschneider called their latest album, "The Overhead Left," a "great record."

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382