Mick Hargreaves Back In The Saddle With New CD

It has taken a year, but Mick Hargreaves can finally tell the story of his last 15 months without crying.

The saga began in early 2011, the East End musician and producer recalled over coffee last week at the Blue Duck Bakery Cafe in Southampton. Amped up from recently founding Lantern Sound Recording Rig, Mr. Hargreaves had been combing through his digital archives, cataloging his unfinished material. There was more than he expected—enough, he realized, to make a solo album.

But in the early morning hours of July 31, 2011, life as he knew it quickly vanished. His musical ambitions had been dashed.

July 30, the day before, was nothing but perfect. Following a morning of making music with fellow East Ender Joe Delia, Mr. Hargreaves successfully debuted his band, Mick Hargreaves & The King Guys, to friends, family and fans at the Grey Horse Tavern in Bayport.

That gig has since become known as “The Shortest Debut Tour Ever,” Mr. Hargreaves said.

Hours after the show, at 3:30 a.m., Mr. Hargreaves swung back by the Bayport bar to drop his ex-girlfriend at her car after sobering her up at a local diner with coffee, water and an omelet, he said. She had come out to support the band as a friend, he emphasized.

As he turned into the parking lot, another car peeled in behind him. From his rearview mirror, it looked like an unmarked police car, Mr. Hargreaves recalled. After hopping out of the driver’s seat to find out why he was pulled over, he didn’t even have time to shut off the engine before he was ambushed. There was never a fight, he said. Just a powerful blow to the back of his head with a crowbar.

“It was over, like that,” Mr. Hargreaves said. “And I don’t even remember getting hit with the crowbar.”

When the musician regained consciousness at the scene, he was on his feet, he recalled, covered in blood from gaping head wounds.

“And there, walking toward me out of the darkness of the night were two uniformed Suffolk County Police officers and they may as well have been on horses because it was like the cavalry coming over the hill, I swear to God,” he said. “And I’ll never forget that. It’s pretty incredible. I’ve replayed it so many times that when I tell the story, I don’t cry anymore. I come close, you know.”

His eyes teared up. “It’s just the human body’s resilience that is unbelievable. Like, I should really be dead. The next thing I remember? Getting my head stapled together. Thirty or 40 staples. I felt like a stack of paper getting stapled at Kinko’s.”

Aside from a fractured skull, fluid on the brain and two large head lacerations, Mr. Hargreaves suffered from black eyes and bruising all over his torso and arms. Miraculously, his hands—crucial for playing bass, guitar, harmonica, piano and drums—were unscathed.

“I had no idea how all that happened,” he said of the injuries. “All I know is crowbar, right? But I didn’t even know that at the time. And I didn’t even know who did it. What a strange feeling.”

His attacker was 26-year-old Jalauddin Khojandi. He pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted assault, a felony, on October 17 and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to a release from Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J. Spota’s office.

Before the ambush, Mr. Hargreaves had never met Mr. Khojandi. But the attacker did know the musician’s ex-girlfriend, according to information provided by the district attorney’s office. The attacker was “angered about issues involving a relationship” with her, the release says.

Though the attack is well documented, one key piece of information hasn’t come to light: his friend’s identity.

“It’s remarkable her name hasn’t been in the papers. Everyone stuck to their guns on that one,” Mr. Hargreaves said. “I even promised her that it wouldn’t be in the paper.”

After his release from the Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue, Mr. Hargreaves spent approximately a month recovering on his parents’ couch in Coram. What happened next was remarkable, he said.

“I was up and around in September. It was a pretty rapid physical recovery,” he said. “I was pretty lucky because, if you think about it, the whole crowbar to the head thing ...”

He paused, and looked away. “It usually doesn’t mean a rapid recovery,” he continued. “And some of that was due to the fact that the doctors told me that where I got hit with the crowbar happened in a really good place. I call it ‘the rear-passenger-side door panel.’”

The musician patted the back of his head over his baseball cap. “You know, around where the gas cap might be. Because if you hit someone with any type of instrument, even a punch sometimes on the temple, it’s all over. So we’re talking inches.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m lying in bed, all these hoses and wires and everything, and I’m like, you know what? There’s soldiers coming back with no limbs at all,” he continued. “You got hit on the head with a crowbar. So shut your mouth, don’t complain, no whining, get better and get back on the horse.”

By October, Mr. Hargreaves was in the studio. It was like he never left, he said, and there was no doubt that he would finish his album. He had never been more musically determined in his life.

“I was all over the news. And it gets very strange very fast, going out in public and getting recognized not for the show you just did or the record you just put out. You’re getting recognized because you’re a con victim,” he said. “It’s very, very strange and I wouldn’t wish it upon anybody. To hole up in a recording studio might have been the perfect thing for me at the time. It was very therapeutic, especially when you’re recording with friends you know. It’s a big bro-down in the studio.”

On his 40th birthday, September 27, Mr. Hargreaves released the eight-track “Redemption Center II—Relics, Hell-Licks & Psychedelics,” which features an array of guest musicians, including guitarists Michael Bifulco, Gary Dawson, Anthony Liberatore, Matty Liot, Pete Mancini, Mark A. Schiavoni, Doug Cox, and drummers Dave Martin and Charlie Servello.

All but the lyrics to one song on the CD were written before the attack, Mr. Hargreaves said. And he’s keeping that single track a secret.

“The weird thing about this record, if you know the story of what happened last year and then you listen to this record and pay particular attention to the lyrics, one would think that some of the songs were written not only after the ambush but specifically about it,” he said. “Very strange to me. They’re not. A very strange piece of musical foreshadowing, in a way.”

But there was another big slice of the past year that Mr. Hargreaves never saw coming: the outpouring of community support following the ambush. At one point, there were so many friends, family, musicians and strangers flooding the lobby that the hospital wouldn’t let any more people in, Mr. Hargreaves recalled.

“Now I’ve just got to get all those people to come to my shows,” he said. “When I was recording the album, it dawned on me, ‘How are you going to thank all these people who were there for you? Hey, what if we say it with music?’ I broke all the rules and uploaded it as a free download right on my website.”

Shaking his head, he smiled. “I have a lot of thank-you cards, a lot of letters to write. This isn’t my record.”

He pulled down his hat bill and propped both elbows on the table, pushing his palms over his eyes. He took a moment to collect himself.

“It’s to thank everyone,” his voice cracked, and repeated, “It’s to thank everyone. It’s your record.”

Mick Hargreaves will play a concert on Saturday, November 10, at 6 p.m. at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett. Call 267-3117 for ticket information. For a free download of Mick Hargreaves’ most recent release, “Redemption Center II – Relics, Hell-Licks & Psychedelics,” visit mickhargreaves.com.