Music: The Grownup Noise CD Release at the Middle East Downstairs

The Grownup Noise celebrate the release
of This Time With Feeling

For almost ten years, guitarist and songwriter Paul Hansen has been playing comedy shows, providing a musical backdrop for sketch and stand-up. He started at ImprovBoston, and got drawn in by The Walsh Brothers’ old Thursday night Great and Secret Shows, one of the most creative and influential scenes in recent Boston comedy history. Hansen calls it “an inclusive and inspired community.”

Of course, that was never Hansen’s main gig. He plays in a band called The Grownup Noise, which will celebrate the release of its second album, This Time With Feeling, tonight at the Middle East Downstairs with Kingsley Flood, Spouse, and Joe Fletcher & The Wrong Reasons. The whole band has joined in on the fun at times. Hansen and bass player Adam Sankowski played Chris Coxen’s farewell show in February. The whole band used to rock out behind The Walsh Brothers for their tribute to the Fung Wah.



Hansen finds there is a certain camaraderie between the music and comedy scenes in Boston. “I think there's a lot of mutual respect between the two,” he says. “Comedians respect musicians because they think they get laid all the time, and musicians respect comedians because it's so impressive to take on a crowd without the protection of an instrument or band."

The Grownup Noise made its mark in 2008 with its eponymous debut album, a dreamy mix of progressive indie pop, folk, and rock. It’s a sound that’s hard to easily categorize, even for Hansen. "You know we feel that might be our biggest weakness, or strength," he says. "We see ourselves as somewhere in a gray area, between Indie and Americana/Folk. I like to think we're the missing link between the two, but yeah it's been difficult to figure out how to promote ourselves."

The line-up has changed slightly, with a revolving drummer’s chair, but the core remains Hansen, Sankowski, and cello player/singer Katie Franich. They’ve gone the DIY route, driving themselves across the country and back on tours they booked themselves. That experience has made its way into the music. “We've gained some confidence, as well as some scars from touring the country several times," says Hansen, "so I think we're bringing a lot more life into this record."



Feeling picks up where the first album left off in terms of the quality and power of the songwriting. Many of the songs, like “Carnival” and “Just So You Know,” have been staples of the band’s live shows for the past few years, but they’ve added a few twists in the studio. “We definitely enjoy adding little things to the recordings that we can't necessarily get away with live," says Hansen. "For example, the mellotron and Wurlitzer are beautiful instruments, but can be a real pain in the ass to deal with in a live setting. Vintage instruments have a lot of ghosts inside of them."

Hansen is an evocative lyricist, but his songs don’t always follow a linear narrative logic. You get the feeling there are stories behind everything, but you are often left to your own imagination to fill in the blanks. “I'd say about half of the songs come from specific experiences and half come from me trying to get outside of myself and just explore a sentiment or imagery,” he says.

The Grownup Noise is a band on the rise, and they’re excited to be headlining the Middle East Downstairs, one of the premiere rock and roll rooms in Boston, and one with a lot of history. So where do they go from here? “That's a damn good question,” says Hansen. “I guess continue to write and hope that someday a hip Indie label will swoop in and help a brother out. That's if we can convince them were not too folky…"

The Grownup Noise CD Release Party: 8PM, $10. With Kingsley Flood, Spouse, and Joe Fletcher & The Wrong Reasons. The Middle East Downstairs, 472 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, Ma. 866.777.8932

The BC Q&A: Musician Bryan Beller, Dethklok touring bassist

I like to cover music on occasion in this space, so it’s a happy accident when there’s some crossover between non-comical music, like that played by Kira Small and her husband, bassist Bryan Beller. The pair are playing a gig tonight in Braintree at Emerald Hall.

Fans of Dethklok, the band from the animated heavy metal show Metalocalypse on Adult Swim, know Beller as the bass player charged with holding down William Murderface’s low end on tour. And the big Boston connection here is Berklee – it’s where Beller was educated and met Kira.

It’s also where Metalocalypse creator Brendon Small studied before he found a new direction at The Comedy Studio, although Beller and Small would meet elsewhere.

Beller has gone from playing metal in larger venues to somewhat smaller venues playing as a duo with Kira. I caught up with him by e-mail to talk a bit about Dethklok and his current tour.

How long have you and Kira played together?

We actually first met at Berklee College Of Music in 1990, and we played together there briefly - she sang in my Senior Recital, and I played bass on her senior demo tape project (with Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, if you can believe that!). But we didn't start playing together as a duo until April of 2009, so really our duo thing is just a little over a year old.

Is it much of an adjustment, personally and musically?

Not really! I've been performing with Mike Keneally in the duo format for over ten years, so it was just a matter of fitting that bass+rhythm role into Kira's original material. And since it's soul/R&B, it's actually much easier, and lots of fun. You know, I haven't always just played metal and wacky stuff. I played old R&B stuff in cover bands like everybody else. I just haven't had much of a chance to do that stuff, and it's great to be able to just sit back and groove and let Kira carry the show.



Do you plan to record together?

We've talked about it. No official plans yet, but I think at some point if we keep doing this, it's just going to make sense to do something like that.

How is it to play coffeehouses and house concerts after playing metal in theaters and clubs?

It's really great, actually. It's all about balance. You go on the road in the bus on the Big Metal Tour and it's great because everything's taken care of for you and the situation's pretty cushy, but after a couple of months it starts to get all weird and slightly dehumanizing.

I actually start to crave the more DIY, drive-yourself-in-a-minivan vibe after a certain point. Plus you get to make much more intimate connections with fans and friends on a smaller scale tour. But a few months of that - which is hard on you physically - makes me miss the bus all over again. Ideally I'd get to go back and forth forever.

How did you and Brendon meet?

Keneally introduced us. They met on MySpace, if you can believe that.
Keneally was a fan of Brendon's old show Home Movies, and Brendon had been following Keneally and me for a long time - he'd actually seen us play in Boston with Dweezil Zappa back in 1994 at The Paradise! - so somehow they stumbled into each other online and were already fans of each other's work.

Then Brendon came to a duo show Keneally and I were doing back in 2006, and I met him there. He was telling us how he had just sold this new show about a death metal cartoon band to Cartoon Network, and it sounded really funny to me in theory. Next thing I knew there were billboards all over the Sunset Strip, the show's a hit, the record's a hit, and now he needs a touring band. So, of course, he gets Keneally and me, the most metal guys in the world, to round out the live band.



Are you recording with Dethklok now, as well?

Brendon pretty much does all of the recording himself except for the drums, because he's got Gene Hoglan for that. So no, I'm not recording with them now, but I did track bass on one tune from The Dethalbum II, The Gears.

Brendon's moving pretty fast, dealing with TV show deadlines and all that, so most of the time it's just easier to do it all himself at lightning speed.

Were people disappointed to come to the shows and find you weren't William Murderface?

I sure hope not, because I'm not supposed to be him. I'm just supposed to make him sound good. Those who follow the show know that's a pretty tall order in the first place.

Really, in the end of the day, at the live shows, we're just the pit band for Dethklok. We're there to make them sound good. I hope they're happy with us.

Are you a fan of comedy and stand-up? Did you go to comedy shows when you were studying here?

Yes, I'm a fan of comedy, but really only a casual fan. Never been to a live stand-up show in my life. I certainly wouldn't call myself an aficionado or anything like that. That said, I'm a big Craig Ferguson fan. Is that just hopelessly mainstream? Oh well. I can say that, after getting to know Brendon, I have a much better appreciation for the amount of testicular fortitude it takes to stand in front of a crowd of people and tell jokes.

What are you up to once you are finished touring with Kira?

Some remote recording projects. I've been having a lot of fun doing bass tracks for folks from around the world writing interesting stuff and wanting my musical voice on it, which is nice.

I have some instructional clinics here and there - one's even at the Armed Forces School Of Music in Norfolk, VA (you're talking to an honest-to-goodness U.S. Dept. Of Defense Contractor, I'll have you know). I'm still doing some writing for Bass Player Magazine, where I'm a Contributing Editor.

Then it's right back out with Kira for two more touring runs, one in the upper midwest and one down south in the Carolinas. Then this fall I'm headed out to the west coast for some stuff with Keneally and my own band. Every month is different, and I really don't know what's coming until about 6 weeks in advance. It's pretty damned invigorating.

Local Music: Danielle Doyle and Joy Kills Sorrow CD release shows tonight

Most of you will probably be out watching comedy tonight. But if you’re more in the mood for some good local roots music, there are two CD release parties going on you’ll want to consider.

The first is Danielle Doyle, who celebrates the release of her debut CD, The Cartographer’s Wife, at the Lizard Lounge with guests Flightless Buttress, Garlic & Moonshine, Beth Colegrove, and Meg Smallidge, all of whom played on the album. (Note – if you miss her tonight, make sure to get out to the Burren on April 18 when she plays the Sunday night singer/songwriter series hosted by Danielle Miraglia, or, if you’re further north, catch her opening for Loudon Wainwright III in Portland, Maine on March 26).

Doyle has paid her dues studying at the Passim School of Music and interning in the music industry, while gigging around town and writing her own ethereal alt.country repertoire. She lists Iron and Wine, Neko Case, and Gillian Welch as influences, and you can hear different elements of those artists pop up on Cartographer, especially the nourish “Sky,” which would slip easily into a set of Case’s first few albums. If you’re a fan of that genre, you’d be doing yourself a favor to familiarize yourself with Doyle’s music.

The second is the Boston-based bluegrass band Joy Kills Sorrow. They’re at Club Passim tonight touting their second album, Darkness Sure Becomes This City, which was officially released February 23 on Signature Sounds (home to Peter Mulvey, Patty Larkin, Erin McKeown, and Kris Delmhorst). JKS immediately brings to mind Alison Krauss and Union Station, mostly because of Emma Beaton’s smooth, dreamy vocals.

While the overall sound is mellow, there’s a lot of active flatpicking going on with guitarist Matthew Arcara (winner of Winfield’s National Flatpicking Championship in 2006), mandolin player Jacob Jolliff (who studied his instrument on scholarship to Berklee), and banjo player Wesley Corbett (who has toured with Crooked Still). Bassist Bridget Kearney does more than hold down the root – somehow, in the midst of all that picking, she manages to find melodic, flowing basslines. A talented outfit from top to bottom.