all boy/all girl, Sly Moth, How Sad, Keeps at Cake Shop, Chat With Danielle Lovier of all boy/all girl

Review written 2/18/16

Cake Shop is one of my favorite venues in Manhattan. On the first floor, it appears to be like any other brunch bar in the Lower East Side, but downstairs where the bands play, it looks like a burlesque dive. The space is tiny, dark and dusty and the stage looks like it was lifted from a high school prom around 1980. The bar has a nice whiskey selection and the music is usually well worth the cover. Some of the bigger names that have played here include Warpaint, the Dirty Projectors, and Spoon.

The first band on the bill tonight is Sly Moth, a local pop punk quartet whose punk side leans to the grungier aspects of the genre, reminiscent of bands like Bratmobile and Bikini Kill. In fact, singer Dani Newman has the same intense, childlike tone as Kathleen Hanna. But the real attention grabber from the start in this outfit is drummer Jonathan Levy, whose incendiary playing is the true source of power in Sly Moth. Levy moves his arms like an orchestra conductor as he plays, pounding out beats with passionate precision and maintaining a wellspring of energy throughout the set. Bassist Xiao Mei Hu looks zoned out in her corner of the stage as she slays tuneful melodies usually expected from the guitarist. Hu picks carefree pop lines charged with determination, not unlike Jenny Lewis’s bass playing in certain Rilo Kiley songs. Sly Moth’s diverse sound is frosted with reverberating psychedelic interludes from guitarist Stephen Ericson, giving them a softening touch of acid rock that makes their sound cohesive.

Sly Moth, From left to right: Xiao Mei Hu, Jonathan Levy, Dani Newman, Stephen Ericson

I came to Cake Shop tonight specifically to see the second band, all boy/all girl, because I bought their first EP, Trophy, last week and I’ve listened to it almost every day since. Usually a seven-piece ensemble, tonight is a special stripped-down set with only five members. In trying to define their experimental pop sound, I arrive at the conclusion that they have turned rock opera into a legitimate genre. Delicate schoolgirl harmonies sung by Danielle Lovier and Jessie Rogowski are juxtaposed against gritty lyrics and a heavy electric bass. Lovier manages to coax angst out of her ukulele, and the whole band dances and sways exuberantly throughout the show. All boy/all girl has the carnival theatrics of groups like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and the sweet, bubbly flavor of 60s girl groups. Their sound gets sharper and denser as the set goes on, and their explosive rendition of “Glitter” brings the house down. The magnitude of so many rapidly played strings combined with Joey Campanella’s formidable drums creates a wall of sound so thick that when Lovier’s lilt transforms into an electrifying banshee wail, it sounds like the trumpets of Jericho. Their style oscillates between indie-acoustic and folk-spiked electric pop for most of the set, always in the campy vein of musical theatre. Lovier and Rogowski are radiant performers who know how to capture an audience.

all boy/all girl, from left to right: Josh Curry, Joey Campanella, Jessie Rogowski, Danielle Lovier, Nick Rahn

The third band of the night is How Sad, a dance music group from Montreal, and they set the stage with so many keyboards, it looks like a music shop. The abundance of instruments and players makes it nearly impossible to tell where any sound onstage is coming from. The creation of mesmerizing bandleader Harris, How Sad gets the room moving with meticulously synchronized layers of simple beats and universal melodies that weave together and result in unique and danceable numbers. Some of the songs sound like they belong on the soundtrack to any John Hughes film, and some, like “Hot Blur,” are summer anthems that beg to be played at a music festival. This is unapologetic, celebratory pop, and proof that the musical virtues of the 1980s are still alive and well.

The last band on the bill is Nashville-based Keeps, an ambient rock outfit consisting of three guitarists and a drummer. Keeps traverses dreamy planes of adagio riffs and frenetic war zones thick with metallic vibrations. Oily licks on top of electropop beats give the music a timeless quality that mixes some of rock’s best features from several decades and different subgeneres. While Keeps is a well-rehearsed group and enjoyable to listen to, they don’t have the same versatility as the groups that came before them tonight. It’s hard to tell one song from the next, and they come off a little one note, albeit, a good note.

Before leaving Cake Shop, I catch Danielle Lovier of all boy/all girl and ask if she would be down to do an interview for Hydrogen Jukebox, since their set was such a blast to experience. Below is our interview, conducted over email and edited only for grammar.

HJ: Tell me a little about the formation of all boy/all girl. I know it started with you and double bassist, Nicholas Rahn. How did the rest of the ensemble come together?

DL: Nick and I made some demos and put up an ad on Craigslist and found Jessie and our viola player, Hannah. We found a few others, but over the years we've switched out some key players. Josh is one of Nick's childhood best friends. Joey we found through a mutual friend and Susan came recommended from our last cellist.

Press photo by Ali Brant, courtesy of the band

HJ: Can you tell me a little about your songwriting process? Your compositions seem to have more in common with what’s on Broadway than in Bushwick.

DL: Nick is the main songwriter/arranger. We live together so I help shape the songs from their infancy (mostly just saying no until I like it). Usually we make a demo and send out sheet music to the rest of the band. At rehearsal, we flesh it out a little more and people add their own twists on the existing parts.

HJ: Your sets are really fully-fledged performances! Do you have background in theatre, or formal training in any of the performing arts?

DL: You caught me. I was a musical theatre major at UArts in Philly. 

HJ: Your music is very vocally demanding. How long do you warm up before a show? Do you follow any particular warm up technique? How do you care for your voice between shows and practices?

DL: I wish I was better about this. Usually on the day of a show, I'll have sang through the set list and I try to remember to do some sirens.

HJ: As an artist, what are your favorite platforms to sell your music? i.e. iTunes, BandCamp, etc.

DL: We've made our music available on pretty much every possible digital platform. That being said, we believe strongly in physical media. We prefer people buy a cassette, CD, or vinyl. For our digital downloads on our last EP 'Trophy', we handmade little trophies that had a scroll in it with a redeem code.

HJ: You’ve toured extensively, in the U.S and abroad. Tell me about your craziest experience!

DL: We played a music festival in a small town in the Netherlands called Westerwijtwerd. I think the population is 100. I'm pretty sure every single person that lived there came to see us. Apparently, the last American musician who had played there was Bob Dylan. It was so much fun and we really felt like super stars. 

HJ: I don’t see any upcoming shows on your calendar. Are you heading back to the studio? What’s next?

DL: We actually just got back on Sunday from recording a full length album at Machines with Magnets in Rhode Island. We're super happy with how it turned out and can't wait to release it, but we're now recovering after a few exhausting weeks. We probably won't play another show until early spring. 

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I hope I can catch all boy/all girl's next show, whenever that may be, because their set at Cake Shop was such a good time. In the meanwhile, give this song a listen, and check out their latest music here!

HJ

Half Waif, Swoon Lake, and Fieldings at the Silent Barn, Interview with Nandi Rose Plunkett of Half Waif

It’s an icy Wednesday night and I’m back in Bushwick for what promises to be an evening of mellow folk rock and softer pop sounds at the Silent Barn, one of the remaining DIY spaces in this rapidly changing neighborhood. The cover charge for shows here is usually around $8, and it’s worth it; the musicians who play here tend to be innovative and have great respect for their craft. There is an outdoor area for seasonable months, but tonight’s event is inside the gallery. Walls covered in abstract designs lend to the adaptable nature of the venue. An ominous looking black triangle over the center of the stage brings a psychedelic vibe to the room, and shifting blue and rose lights give the illusion of being in an aquarium.

Fieldings is the first band of the night. The brainchild of Australian producer Lucinda Hearn, Fieldings has the crystal, dreamy sound of 90’s alternative rock laced with pop. Shining, broad notes from the guitar hang in the air and drift by like smoke long after they’ve been picked. This brand of rock is romantic without being precious. It is innocent and sensual, like falling in love on acid. Hearn’s voice whips up and down the scale and weaves around backup vocalist and keyboardist Melodie Stancato’s birdlike soprano tone with abandon. The stripped down pop style of the Smiths-like guitar gives Fieldings the raw sentimentality of teenage lust in all its simplicity and urgency. Their music would be a fitting soundtrack for a high school hipster’s make out session. Fieldings has a show on February 24th at Our Wicked Lady, if interested readers would like to know.

Swoon Lake is the second act, also featuring Melodie Stancato, this time on lead vocal as well as keys. Fluttering three part harmonies climb like ivy around an eerie violin played by Aviva Skye, who seems to play exclusively in the minor key. Swoon Lake call themselves “spooky folk” and it’s an apt label as far as vocals are concerned. The drums are pure rock and roll and even the violin sounds dipped in grunge. Ryan Surrano and Paul [last name unknown] switch roles as drummer and bassist throughout the set. Their songs evoke a wintry melancholy, one minute delicate as a snowflake and then heavy as heartbreak. Stancato’s voice has the same rich yet airy quality as Ingrid Michaelson’s, and the focus of their repertoire does seem to be on the vocals. The synth, violin, bass and drums all seem to support and showcase the impressively sung polyphonies, but what really knocks the listener out is when the weight of all the parts of this ensemble collide explosively at opportune moments in the composition. The music gets more haunting as the set goes on and by the final number, Swoon Lake is deep into some experimental discordance that solidifies the ghostly rock sound they have cultivated.

Swoon Lake. From left to right, Paul [last name unknown], Ryan Surrano, Melodie Stancato, Aviva Skye

 Half Waif is next up and I’m so immediately drawn into their charm that I forget to take any notes for most of their set. The project of singer and keyboardist Nandi Rose Plunkett, Half Waif is a three piece group whose euphonic tunes don’t fit neatly into any one genre. They are cinematic and poetic. Plunkett has a gift for song arrangement, as the pieces are formulaic without predictability. Each song has its own mood and the set list seems to be more of a carefully designed musical journey than most concerts I’ve been to in a while. Plunkett’s stage presence is magnetic and captivating. She manages to embody her songs entirely, and her voice is charged with layers of palpable emotion while being completely liberated. She performs with stunning clarity, as well as the theatricality and diction of a veteran actor. Her piano accompaniment ripples with the misty air of new age music and there is an ethereal quality to her playing. Bassist Adan Carlo gives the group an instinctive pulse that adds an element of primitive sexuality to an otherwise highly cerebral sound, and drummer Zach Levine’s poppy beats keep the ambience optimistic even when the lyrical content is more serious. This is a well-rehearsed and highly disciplined ensemble that manages to not only maintain spirited energy throughout their set, but seems truly excited to share their music. Plunkett’s otherworldly, featherlight voice lingers in my ears long after her songs have finished, and I know I’m going to buy their EP before I get on the train.

Half Waif. From left to right, Nandi Rose Plunkett, Adan Carlo. Zach Levine on drums in the back.

Unfortunately because the show started so late, and I do have to get on the train for a very long ride, I am forced to leave before hearing the final band on the bill, TIGUE, but I hope to catch them another night. Before I head back to my corner of Brooklyn, I thank Nandi Rose Plunkett for a beautiful set and ask if she’d be down to do an interview for Hydrogen Jukebox. She’s as warm and energetic offstage as she is in performance and she agrees to chat with me. Below is our interview, conducted over email, and edited only for grammar.

Q. Your work defies typical classification, beyond perhaps the singer/songwriter category. How would you define Half Waif’s sound?

A. It’s bits of a lot of different things. We recently came up with the term “mood ring pop” and I think that fits it pretty well. But at the heart of all the layers are just songs, and while I don’t necessarily identify as a singer-songwriter anymore, that’s where I started from and I hope to always have good songs at the center of interesting sounds and textures.

Q. Who are your strongest musical influences?

A. Early on, it was Tori Amos all the way. Then Bjork, Radiohead. In college, I was into early 20^th century composers and their use of harmony and tone color – Debussy, Stravinsky, Messiaen. More recently, strong female singers and producers like iamamiwhoami, Joanna Newsom, Weyes Blood, My Brightest Diamond, St Vincent, and Lydia Ainsworth.

Q. Your lyrics are quite poetic. Do you attribute that to any specific literary influences?

A. I love to read! Especially things with really juicy imagery, like Lorrie Moore, Karen Russell, David Mitchell, Milan Kundera, Sylvia Plath, Pablo Neruda. Whenever I’m feeling particularly stuck or burned out on music, I turn to these writers and they sort of kick-start the wellspring again.

Q. How do your heritage and upbringing play into your composition? Your performance?

A. I don’t overtly reference my heritage/upbringing but I do think it comes out in ways. People sometimes say that I sound Irish when I sing. I grew up listening to a lot of Celtic folk music, which is lilting and heavily adorned – not totally unlike Indian classical music. Beyond that, growing up in a multicultural household in a very homogenous area always gave me a sense of uniqueness that I clung to as a way of ‘being somebody.’ My mother, an Indian woman, was a refugee from Uganda and our family is scattered all over the place; our family history is so fluid. That feeling of placelessness – and yet having so many homes – was the source from which this project grew. 

Press photo by Celina Carney, courtesy of the band

Q. You’re releasing a full-length album in the spring! How have you changed, musically and lyrically, since KOTEKAN?

A. Yeah super excited to share this new material! The whole process for recording these two albums was very different – KOTEKAN was recorded in a studio, Probable Depths was more DIY. Many of the sounds on Probable Depths were sampled from the house I grew up in, in Massachusetts. So there’s perhaps a more organic, earthier feel to it. Lyrically, the last album was written when I was living alone whereas the newer one comes at a time when I’m living with someone, sharing my life with someone – so there’s a difference in how relationships are talked about and explored.

Q. Your band is gaining some traction. You’ve made several EPs, videos, and you’re starting to do more traveling for gigs! What are the challenges you’re facing now, and how do they differ from the challenges you experienced when you began Half Waif?

A. Half Waif has evolved so much since it began as my solo project 4 years ago – different band iterations, different influences and sounds. The challenge for a while was how to find the right band, and did I even want this to be a band, or did I want it to just be me? And what does “me” even sound like? For the first time, I really feel like it has become a band made up of these three specific people, and it’s these three people’s sounds that are influencing the music and pushing it forward. I’m still mostly writing the songs, but the process is becoming more collaborative, because I trust Zack and Adan more than anything, and really value their creative input. The challenge now is just to write the best music we possibly can, keep refining our live arrangements, and find what sounds like “us.”

Q. What is your favorite song that you’ve written so far, and why?

A. My favorite song is a super new one that will be on our next EP. It’s called “Magic Trick.” It’s the shortest song I’ve ever written, only two verses, but I feel like I said everything I needed to say in those verses. The arrangement is built upon a sample of me singing with my friends in an echo-y room in California – I made it into a keyboard and it creates this really cool effect of voices sliding around in harmony. Using found sounds to make synths and beats is one method I’m using more in an effort to create unique, space-and-time specific music.

Q. Do you have any favorite venues to play in Brooklyn or Manhattan? Any favorite local bands?

A. Fave venues – Shea Stadium, Palisades, Manhattan Inn, Baby’s All Right

Fave bands (taking local to mean NY/Philly/NJ) – Palm, Alex G, Long Beard, Fraternal Twin, TIGUE, Mitski, Big Thief, Zula

Q. What are your plans after Probable Depths debuts in May? What’s the next step for your band?

A. We’re going on a tour out to the Midwest and up through Canada and back in late May/June. And then we’re going to start working on the next EP! 

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Half Waif  has scheduled their record release show for Probable Depths on May 12th at Baby’s All Right. 

Watch their trippy video for "Ceremonial" here, then find their music on iTunes and BandCamp!

HJ

Oracle Room, Howth, and Lost Gloves at Shea Stadium, Interview with Alex Nelson of Oracle Room

Review written February 3rd, 2016

It’s a rainy Monday night and the crowd at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn is thin, which is surprising since the evening’s lineup is promising. The twenty-five or so who did brave the drizzle stand in clusters of three and four, chatting quietly as pre-show visualizations resembling a horrific 80’s acid trip loop on a screen above the stage. The atmosphere is more like that of a low-key art gallery than a concert, and perhaps this is fitting, considering the style of rock that’s being featured here tonight.

At 8:30, Lost Gloves takes the stage and kicks off the show with a pop-punk number that reminds me of every garage band I’ve ever known, but the sound evolves rapidly through a series of quick songs. Fuzzy vocals throughout the set lend to the punk vibe, as well as the fact that the tunes are catchy and danceable. The influence of early 2000’s alternative is also evident. Lost Gloves sounds like Green Day one minute, and Phantom Planet the next, and they maintain the playfully furious energy associated with that era, remaining as frenetic as the neon visuals behind them. The 4 piece ensemble becomes more focused on the synthesizer as the set goes on, the music growing denser and trippier until the synth is as prominent as the bass. Lost Gloves finishes strong with a whimsically shrieking chorus from all instruments, rabid drums, and a fiery pulse that leaves the audience wide awake, and ready for the next act.

Howth immediately changes the mood, starting their set with a light song that feels like cosmic rain and begs for an outdoor venue. CSN-like vocal harmonies are complemented by airy guitar; the music is melodic and spacey. But the second number is a sharp contrast. Hard and fast-paced rock that cleverly switches flow from staccato to legato every few measures. Giving this performance their all in spite of the slim turnout, Howth showcases their expertise in the lighter elements of American rock with rolling rhythms and shapeshifting synchronicity reminiscent of Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.  Long periods of instrumental play punctuate the set. Arresting allegro riffs are interspersed with sexy licks that wouldn’t have been out of place at the Avalon Ballroom in 1968. This is the first night of Howth’s February residency at Shea Stadium, and from the sound of it, I may have to come back another Monday and catch them again. Their music blooms throughout the show and and the last song is pure adrenaline, the kind of tune that makes me want to drive down an open freeway in the middle of the summer with the windows down.

The room is thick with anticipation as Oracle Room sets up their equipment. Around me fly buzzes and whispers about their previous shows. “Have you seen these guys yet?” “They’re really good.” The hype is not undue; I bought their 3 song EP, Have Everything, last week and have been listening to it constantly, sliding the titular track between Radiohead and Halsey songs on my playlists. The room goes quiet as the band takes up their instruments and singer/songwriter Alex Nelson adjusts the microphone a final time. 

Left to right: Ian Milliken, Zach Fisher, Alex Nelson, Derik Lee, Justin Gonzales

Oracle Room opens with a rich, intense instrumental crescendo that rockets the psyche to an astral plane. Ian Milliken, guitarist and cellist, takes his cello bow to his guitar and fills the room with layers of fibrous harmony. The sound unfolds like a different dimension, and the first two numbers are dark and penetrating. Brief, poetic lyrics tap into the vulnerable subconscious. These songs invite themselves into your brain, curl up and make a home there. Alex Nelson’s mezzo-soprano voice is pure starlight; her lark-like melodies reach the sky and flutter back to the stage with a vibrato subtle as a heartbeat. As mesmerizing to watch as to listen to, she moves back and forth between kneeling on the ground as if praying to entranced dancing as if possessed by some muse. Drummer Zach Fisher provides grounding drumbeats that sound rooted in ancient rituals, and the complexity of the changing rhythms is highly impressive. There are so many sounds occurring in this 6-piece ensemble that it is difficult to tell who is contributing what, but the result is remarkable. Nelson’s vocals soar over the fused harmonies of the strings behind her, high notes dancing like a brook over so many smooth pebbles. It’s the kind of performance that leaves one breathless and inspired, overcome with the sensation of aural beauty. I feel sorry for anyone who missed this show because of the rain.

After the show, I approach Nelson as she is helping clear the stage and ask if I can possibly interview her before she is playing sold out shows across the country. She kindly agrees. Below is a transcript of our interview, conducted over email, and edited only for grammar.

Q. What are the roots of your inspiration to write music?

A. My first guess is genetic, but the roots are very deep. My dad is jazz guitarist and composer, and his father played guitar as well.  My dad writes A LOT of music, it's hard to keep up with him.  We had a piano in my house growing up, and I remember writing songs at a very early age, and recording them on cassette.  I started choir and violin as soon as it was offered in school and continued until I graduated.  At some point people acknowledged I was a good singer in the classical/ musical theatre realms so I focused on that and didn't think more about writing my own material.  I thought for a while I would be a jazz singer, and there was a point where I realized I was always trying to emulate some sort of voice - jazz, classical, musical theatre, whatever.  I didn't know what my own voice was and what my own voice would sing.  In my early twenties a good friend of mine sent me a guitar melody one night and I quickly wrote a melody and lyrics to it.  It turned out really beautiful, and it was the beginning of me rediscovering myself as a songwriter.  It was one of the first songs I performed in my first band as a front woman. It was like picking back up from when I wrote songs when I was a child after a long hiatus.  I haven't stopped since. Someone once said creating music is like an itch, you have to scratch it.

Alex Nelson, courtesy of the band

Q. How does playing a live show differ from creating music in the studio, in terms of preparation and performance? HJ

A. I come from a background of live performance in music and theatre. It was really what fueled me to do music for so many years.  It's quite a rush. I feel extremely comfortable on stage, it's probably where I feel the most comfortable.  It's just a helluva lot of fun, and it's extremely rewarding when an audience resonates with the performance.  In terms of preparation, I'm quite a stickler.  I really don't believe in winging it, even improvisation comes from a place of discipline.  I like to be extremely well rehearsed, and expect whomever I'm playing with to be as well.  There is so much talent in NYC, one cannot afford to half ass it. On the other hand, I enjoy leaving a few doors open during a performance. I like to leave little pockets in the music which are available for spontaneity and improvisation.  I don't want to play a set exactly the same every show.  The pockets of spontaneity bring another layer of magic.  The studio however, is just a totally different world.  I didn't warm up quickly.  Recording is extremely meticulous, time consuming, and it's really easy to over think everything and never finish!  I love the records that are tracked live in the first couple of takes, you can really feel the life in those records, but it doesn't work for every type of music or artist.  I'm a huge fan of Bjork, and she'll work on beats for an album for 3 years, 3 YEARS!  That's the kind of tedious I'm talking about.  The capabilities for recording right now are so vast that it's really like going down a rabbit hole.  You really have to have a such a strong vision or a great team to work with to be able to get something finished that you're happy with.  The learning curve in the studio is so steep that after every recording or mixing session I come out of it with a totally different opinion or perception than I had just the day before.  I definitely have found the joy in recording, and being able to shape every single aspect of my creation, but I'm still learning.  

Q. How does the online music market (Spotify, iTunes, etc.) affect your band?

A. I think it's great for the little guys like us.  All of these platforms give us more opportunity to be heard.  I'm grateful for platforms such as Bandcamp who will pay artists fairly, and seem to actually be rooting for the artist.  I think when we're a money making band my opinion will be different.  I do not agree with Spotify paying .002 cents to an artist per play. That's not right.  On the other hand, for a new band like us, money is not yet a part of our experience making music, so I'm happy we can easily be found in the Internet vortex.  I do struggle with the pressure to use Facebook and social media sites as a musician. It's sad that  bands with more 'likes' get better gigs. On a surface level that makes sense I guess, but it's an added pressure that is time consuming and arbitrary to creativity and the bigger picture of life, it's really annoying.  I was never a fan of Facebook before I had this project, so to feel that I have to use it in order to play shows, is a terrible feeling and really messed me up psychologically for a while.  Now my mentality is for me to make the best music I can, play great shows, and trust that it will move us forward, not the number of our Facebook or Instagram followers. 

Q. What do you like most/least about the local music scene in New York City?

A. I love that there is always a kick ass show going on every night, ALWAYS.  And that's also the downside, there's always a great show going on, so how are you going to get people to your show rather than the other 100 shows happening on that particular night?  It's a battleground for attendance and attention.  NYC is over saturated with immense talent and that is its blessing and curse. 

Press photo, courtesy of the band

Q. You haven't been a band for very long, but your style is evolving. The Knot and Have Everything are two very different sounds. Which genres/sub genres would you like to experiment with next?

A. The Knot and Have Everything were both written and recorded long before I had my live band.  All of it was composed by me, and much of the playing as well.  Having the band has naturally changed the whole feel of the project due to what each player brings to the table.  Our next recordings will sound more like a band if that makes sense, like a bunch of musicians working together to create a vision for a song.  I don't really think in terms of genre when writing or recording, so I'm not sure what is next.  We've lately been working in more of a long form style, longer intros and outros, and interconnecting songs, so that it feels like one cohesive movement, rather than a bunch of separate songs.  I'm not sure if this will translate to our recording, I hope so. 

Q. Who are some of your strongest influences?

A. I will pay my respects to David Bowie first.  I'm a long time fan, but it's been wonderful to go back through his catalogue again after his passing.  It definitely brought a lot of new inspiration. His range is incomparable. The other big ones are Bjork, Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Arcade Fire, Erykah Badu. 

Q. I read in another interview that you'd love to add permanent backup singers and a dance troupe to your performance! Could you tell me what your ultimate concert experience looks like?

A. Sadly, the show you saw was one of the only ones I didn't have my singers with me!  We're in a bit of a transitional period, but the backing singers will be back for our next shows.  If I had the budget and proper venue,  I'd like to have a slew of female backing vocalists, a live synced visual performance, and I have seen some beautiful shows where dance was incorporated, I'd love to include that element at the right venue. Throw a string quartet in there and I'm spent!  I take a great deal of inspiration from Bjork's live shows, she's always one step ahead.  I'm also planning do do some shows with very sparse instrumental, maybe just piano, and 6-8 female voices.  I have written a lot of material just for voice and one instrument, so I look forward to showcasing that at some point.

Q. Is there anything we can look forward to seeing soon from your band? The next show, next single?

A. Oh I wish I could tell you about a big show I'm very excited about, but it's not confirmed yet, so get on the mailing list! Our next confirmed show is Friday March 18 for Out To See Festival near the South Street Seaport. We play at 9pm.  We are also currently mixing two songs which we will release this year, and we're also tracking our first album later this year.

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Interested readers can check out Howth at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn Monday nights for the rest of the month, and get on Oracle Room's mailing list here.

Listen to the performance that got me hooked here, then go buy their EP on iTunes or BandCamp!

HJ

Dead Rocking Horse at Arlene's Grocery, Interview with Marron Chaplin

Written on 1/28/16

It’s 9:30 on a Wednesday night, but from my wallflower post at Arlene’s Grocery, it looks like a Saturday. Crowds of rock junkies outfitted in black leather and denim and sleeved in tattoos saunter across the bar slapping each other on the back and handing Stellas to their dates. The atmosphere is buzzed and familial, feeling more like a birthday party than a concert. Everyone seems to know each other, if only by sight. At 10, the throng starts moving downstairs to the hall where Dead Rocking Horse is onstage, tuning their instruments and setting up their equipment.

I move to the front and find a spot by the edge of the stage, where rhythm guitarist Jaster A. Leon strums a chord to test the sound. The amp sends vibrations beneath my feet. A problem with the microphone delays the start of the set by about ten minutes. Vocalist Marron Chaplin makes witty apologies for the wait, but no one cares, as everyone is happy to socialize and listen to the Led Zeppelin pouring out of the speakers.

When the show finally kicks off, it starts with a power chord that appears to electrify the audience into the light head banging so ritual for rock’n’roll. Leon plays blues-infused riffs woven neatly with David Alva’s intense bassline. Dave Brooks’ drumbeats are Bonham-heavy, pounded out with drumsticks so huge, they may have been living trees earlier that day. But the centerpiece of this grungy tableau is the witchy and bewitching Marron Chaplin, whose vocal quality is reminiscent of some of the best voices in rock history. As she croons, my mind conjures comparisons to Grace Slick’s mature alto range, Ann Wilson’s supernatural vibrato, and Amy Lee’s razor sharp belt. She certainly fits the image of a rock goddess, dressed in black, a loose t-shirt and leather pants that sink into leather boots. The only pop of color is a pink bandana tied around her wrist, drawing the eye to her guitar playing, which is just as good as her voice. During the song “Whiskey & Water” her voice oozes with the rich authenticity of heartache gone stale but not forgotten. A song in the vein of classic rock with a lilting beat and soulful melody, the lyrics depict an anger and melancholy familiar to anyone who has ever turned to the bottle for relief. The tune that immediately follows it, “Soul Saver,” goes in an alternative direction. It changes patterns, at once grunge-inspired and discordant, then hard rock tinged with elements of classical compositions, showcasing Chaplin’s songwriting abilities. Her guitar solo in this song is particularly impressive. She tickles high notes out of the strings like a soprano in a Mozart opera. But this is a good, old-fashioned rock concert, and the band’s dense sound and unbridled energy doesn’t let you forget that for one second.

Left to right: Jaster A. Leon, Dave Brooks, Marron Chaplin

She peppers the set with pleas to ignore the continuing technical difficulties, but the crowd is enthusiastic and they came to rock out, shoddy sound system be damned. Before I know it, their set is over, and I realize that despite attempts to give equal attention to all members of the band, Chaplin’s magnetic stage presence captured me for most of the show. Upstairs I run into bassist David Alva and drummer Dave Brooks and after congratulating them on a killer set, I ask if their singer is still around and whether she’d be interested in talking to me for a few minutes. Certain she’d be down to talk to someone who enjoyed the show, they tell me she should be up in a minute.

Chaplin greets me warmly and suggests that the bathroom downstairs is probably the quietest place to talk. On the way, she is ambushed at every turn by friends and fans eager to tell her how much ass she kicked. She’s gracious and too modest, still stuck on the few audio problems. She apologizes to me for taking so long talking to everyone, but it’s really refreshing to see someone so genuinely appreciative of every person who came out to support them. By the time we can get to our chat, the second band is onstage and Chaplin is sure the musicians’ bathroom backstage will be quiet enough. I won’t refuse the chance to check it out. Arlene’s Grocery is a staple of the local music scene in New York. Some of the artists that have played here include Arcade Fire, the Strokes, and Lana Del Rey. The acoustics in the bathroom are pretty good, and the sound of Acey Slade, also featuring Jaster A Leon on guitar, playing ten feet away is perfect accompaniment for this interview.

I start by asking Chaplin what inspires her to write songs. She says that like all musicians, she is a deeply emotional person and that she is inspired by her rocky past and her Christian faith. “Writing music is just, like, something that you do. If you’re a musician… it bubbles up and comes out…That’s a hard question! That’s some big picture stuff.”

Left to right: Dave Brooks, Marron Chaplin

She tells me about the band’s formation five years ago in January of 2011, which commenced with meeting Alva when the two were both going through a rough patch. Her father and Alva’s grandmother had recently died and they were “raging alcoholics. Like, just ridiculous, not even cool drunks. Just annoying drunks that you didn’t even want to be around. And at the time, I was playing open mics and acoustic shows, but all I ever wanted was to play rock and roll. And I didn’t know how to get it together. I was just out there on my own, trying to figure shit out. And…Dave was in a band and we started working together. And we started a Misfits cover band- Danzig only- and… he showed me how to take the songs that I wrote and turn them into rock songs. I wrote all the music, but Dave was the one who showed me how to arrange it.”

While they were working on original tunes, Chaplin and Alva definitely had fun doing Misfits cover shows. “I was ‘Glennda’ Danzig, I’d get onstage and ‘WAAAHHHH’  and all that stuff and I’d eat raw steak and throw it at the audience, and they’d throw it at me and I’d throw it back at them, it was awesome. But while we were doing the Misfits stuff…I got this burst of creativity, songs were starting to come to me.”

The ideas have kept coming. Dead Rocking Horse recently released a three song EP called Triptych, on which “Whiskey & Water” and “Soul Saver” can be found. I ask her what it was like making this EP. “Eye-opening,” she responds immediately. “I was working with a producer who brought out the best in me, Dave Caggiano…He would do a lot of different takes. He forced me to clean up my guitar playing. He forced me to get very precise on my vocals. The only thing that was confusing about it was that doing these recordings, it was just me. I was using a session bassist and a session drummer. It just feels awkward…because I don’t know how to promote the project.”

Promotion. This is the perfect segue to my next question, which is how does the Internet age affect her as an artist? Everything is heavily promoted online. Music is bought and sold online. What does that mean to her? Chaplin’s boyfriend and bandmate, Leon, has an opinion about online promotion before she can form an answer. “It’s silly because she posts a vanity picture and it gets a lot of hits, but where are these people [at] the show?” Despite the margin between likers and audience members, Chaplin notes that social media is the best way to fill a venue. “That is really all you can do these days, because the days of running around stapling flyers to telephone poles, it doesn’t happen anymore. The best thing you can do is just…post and post and post until you know your friends have seen it for a fact, like, you KNOW they’ve seen it, and then you can make them feel guilty as hell if they don’t show up.”

These days online presence is as important as stage presence, and musicians have to do more than just play shows to get attention they way they used to. “I had someone from Island Records contact me the other day…and he texted me saying, ‘Hey, I went to look you up on YouTube and I really couldn’t find anything, is that wrong?’ And I was like, ‘No, I don’t really manage my YouTube channel,’” she says with a sheepish laugh. Chaplin laments having to maintain different social media platforms instead of focusing on creating meaningful music. “I suck at technology…I would kill to have a social media manager. All I want to do is play guitar and sing. I want to play music, I want to perform music, I want to write…It’s really hard to be someone who is an emotional songwriter, because technically you have to be some sort of mess to write emotional music, so how do you balance that with also being a level-headed businessperson who knows how to market yourself on social media and manage that? And balancing the two worlds is absolutely, mind-numbingly horrific.”

Asked her thoughts on New York City’s local music scene, she had nothing but love for the rockers of the Big Apple. “Everybody’s so kind, and cool, and we support each other. We give each other honest feedback, we play together. It’s a real community and these people are true friends. Man, you walk into a room and see everyone standing around in their leather jackets and spikes and metal studs, and if you’re from a small town and you’ve never been around people like that you might be afraid of getting your ass kicked, but really these are the kindest people you’ll ever meet….and this is probably the first time in my life I’ve felt like I had a community. They truly feel like family.”

I thank Chaplin again for her time and an amazing show. There are no Dead Rocking Horse shows in the immediate future, but I’m definitely going to keep an ear out, ‘cause this bird can sing.

Listen to "Whiskey and Water" here:

HJ