DCist Interview: Olivia Mancini & the Housemates
Back when they honored DCist by performing at our second Unbuckled, Olivia Mancini and Randy Scope had Housemates and bandmates. All their Housemates were bandmates, but not all of their bandmates were Housemates. Since then, Washington Social Club called it quits, leaving Mancini and Scope with fewer bandmates, but more time for the Housemates, who will be playing the Black Cat this Saturday night. There, they will debut fresh material for D.C. fans in support of Georgie James. Mancini and Scope recently spoke to DCist about the WSC break-up, the road ahead, and how Scope's scrambled eggs can save the lives of suicidal poets.
So, let's start things off with the obvious: why did Washington Social Club break up?
Randy: The last album really took a lot out of us. I mean, we were making Chinese Democracy jokes. Although I felt our best work was still ahead of us, I just couldn't imagine doing another album. We just weren't communicating well and personally I was tired of struggling to keep the mood light. Apart from the time we were actually playing live, it just wasn't fun anymore, and being that fun is the point of it all...
Olivia: I knew it was time to move on when I stopped having fun at the shows. I mean, I always have fun at the shows. How could you not? Marty's a riot, the kids in the front row are having a blast, Evan, Jared, Randy and I are playing are hearts out, trying to keep everything on the rails... But, eventually, even the performances couldn't help me shake the feeling that it just wasn't going work out.
So what does the Housemates lineup look like now? What do you guys see happening/want to happen with this band?
Randy: First and foremost I want to see the name changed. I'm never short of ideas on this one, yet Ms. Mancini seems to find most of my suggestions farcical. Also, she moved me off guitar, mostly I think to keep my side project Clear The Room (with Ed Donohue) from performing impromptu sets at the end of Housemates shows. This is unfortunate for the people who work at the clubs and want to go home, because we are quite effective at living up to our name.
Olivia: The Housemates have settled nicely into Ed Donohue, Dan Swenson, Kristin Forbes, Randy and myself. That's a standard rock lineup - guitars, bass, drums -augmented by Dan's trumpet and his and Kristin's great harmonies. Frankly, I'll go wherever the future takes us. The Housemates have always been a band of the moment, which the name reflects, or reflected, actually, which is why we're kind of looking for a new moniker. Right now, we're in the process of putting together songs for the next record, some of which we'll debut Saturday night at the Black Cat.
Do you have plans to record already?
Olivia: Yup. Randy will be producing this next record, as he did the last, but we're starting the process by recording some tracks later this month with Roger Greenawalt up in Brooklyn. Roger produced and engineered the last Social Club album which, despite the difficulties we experienced during its making, sounds fantastic.
So how long have you guys been playing together? Are there any dynamics that you think define this band?
Olivia: The Housemates have been together for about two and a half years now, but all of us have been playing together off and on for the last four or five years. Ed actually played guitar Social Club for a few shows, before we got Evan Featherstone. Dan and I played for a year or so together in a group called the Small Shouts. One of our unique dynamics as the Housemates is that we are informed by our other musical relationships: Randy and I are the rhythm section for Ed's Donny Hue and the Colors. I play guitar in Dan's Holy Attack. I sing for Randy's studio project, Sleeping Secrets, which is another reason why he devotes free time and energy to doing the Housemates' production. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses and trust each other as musicians in a lot of different scenarios.
Randy: Thank you Olivia, for mentioning The Sleeping Secrets, I appreciate it even though you forgot to include a URL which is: www.myspace.com/thesleepingsecrets Our album will be out in 09 on DC's The Kora Records, assuming I get around to finishing it. Also I still hope to produce the Holy Attack album should Dan Swenson read this interview. I work cheap.
When you do settle on a new name for the band, will it still start with "Olivia Mancini and the"? Will you still be the defacto leader of this group, Olivia?
Randy: It's my belief that it should just be "Olivia Mancini" but I don't think her ego has the capacity for this.
Olivia: I never liked the "Olivia & the" thing. It just started that way because it wasn't really a set cast of characters and then we kind of got trapped in it.
And, another question: How do you divide your time and your energies between so many different bands and projects? Does each one have a different sound? What's the reasoning behind making music in different configurations rather than just doing whatever it is you want to with one band?
Randy: Finding time is easy. Some people spend their time watching The Biggest Loser, some people spend it in a basement ruining their hearing. I prefer the latter. The reason we play in so many configurations is because we all have multiple interests musically. My approach to drumming with Olivia's group is different than it was with the Social Club, same goes for Donny Hue and the Colors. There wasn't room for me to play guitar on WSC recordings, but there is on Olivia's albums. Also, you develop more relationships by playing around, make more friends, real friends, as opposed to MySpace friends which aren't really friends at all.
Olivia: Each band definitely has a distinct sound, each with a different primary songwriter. It's funny, I have this occasional fantasy in which we form one ultra-creative band in which people switch instruments and we have different lead singers. But the reality is that they're all separate endeavors. And as Randy said, that gives an opportunity to explore different musical sides of yourself. I play bass for Ed, I play guitar for Dan, I sing in the Housemates and with Sleeping Secrets and I get to employ a different style in each group. It's a good deal.
One last question: do you guys cook? What's your favorite recipe?
Olivia: I think Tenacious D can sum this up nicely. "What's your favorite dish? I'm not gonna cook it, but I'll order it from Zanz-i-bar!"
Randy: Any one who has been on tour with me or crashed at my place while on tour knows that my breakfasts would get Slyvia Plath out of bed. My scrambled eggs (with american cheese only), are light, fluffy and perfectly moist, while my blueberry pancakes (lightly fried in corn oil) are delightfully crispy and golden. My favorite recipe of late has to be peas, steamed and pureed with a splash of breast milk and a side of 'Baby Mum Mum' brand wafers from Whole Foods. I'd also like to add, thank you Amanda for NOT asking us about the D.C. scene, our favorite D.C. clubs, or what bands randomly come up when we put our i-Pod on shuffle.
Olivia Mancini & the Housemates: Press
Listening in on Olivia Mancini and The Housemates
January 22, 2008 by Svetlana
Olivia Mancini is hands down the most featured woman ever on BYT.
From live shows to reviews to listening parties and interviews, this is the third band she’s in that we’ve splattered all over our “front page” (don’t believe me? check out this and this)
Not too shabby for a girl that spent all her childhood Christmases asking for a drum set and an electric guitar and never, ever got one, so didn’t really “get going on this band stuff till later in College”.
But! Olivia & The Housemates is HER band, most reflective of her personal tastes (”You know what”-she told me as we squeezed in a phone call this weekend -”No matter what you end up liking, and a lot of musicians like a lot of types of music, for me it always comes back to the early Beatles”) and is the little outfit that came on almost by chance (”Well, how it all happened was that I was offered a gig before I had a band”-she laughs-”And I used to get so horribly nervous when I am on stage alone that I had to surround myself by my friends who just happened to be great musicians”) and now has a full length under their belt, a series of well publicized and well received shows in the last few months and a tour ahead.
Even if they are (quite possibly) changing their name.
You know, considering that none of the members of the band (featuring the all-star cast of Ed Donohue, Dan Swenson, Kristin Forbes, Jon Roth, Randy Scope) live together anymore, it makes sense. (“Plus”-as Olivia says-“Its not like any of us particularly liked “The Housemates” as a band name, it just worked, because it was true. Now, we’re leaning towards Homewreckers”)
Names and plans aside, when we got “This kind of Life” in the mail (with handwritten note inside) and listened to the 10 songs of sweet-even-when-sad pop music inside, we decided we HAD to do a listening party prior to their CD release at the Cat this Thursday
Listen, and if you make it out, and you should…expect handclaps, unstoppable drums, bursts of trumpets and things that look sort of like this.
(There were some pictures here.)
and now [Olivia talks to us about] ... the songs
I Wouldn’t Worry:
This was a tune I had been working on for awhile that didn’t come alive until we started playing it as the Housemates. First, Ed kicks off with this terrific guitar lick that still gives me a thrill whenever I hear it. That was a good start. Then, we start playing the
song and, all of a sudden, I hear this flawless early-Beatles-esque harmony kick in at the start of the second verse. I actually stopped playing, it was that good. Kristin and Dan had created a magical music moment – they had simultaneously launched into the unplanned harmony and it totally made the song.
Jealous Type:
This song has a good story. We’d been playing it for about a year and I’d never gotten around to writing a second verse I was happy with, or fleshing out the counter-melody rant at the end of the song. One winter afternoon, I took myself to the Childe Herald (RIP, though I think that was one of, like, two times I ever went in there) with a notebook and my iPod and sat down with a beer to figure out the rest of the lyrics. For whatever reason, this activity attracted the attention of some grizzled regulars and before I know it, there are three barflies singing “I’m, I’m not the jealous type,” over and over while I worked out the lyrics over them. I think that easily qualifies as my oddest songwriting experience, but thanks, guys!
The Deal is Off:
This is the saddest song on the record, the tale of a husband and wife who have been together for years, but when their children finally leave home, they find that there’s not much left between them. Right. Really depressing. The music, however, is uplifted tremendously by Kristin’s gorgeous harmonies on the choruses and Randy and Dan’s lovely guitar and trumpet lines throughout. Sad, yes, but pretty.
This Kind of Life:
The title track. Always risky to name the album after a song because it can bring undue attention to the tune of the same name. In this case, though, we’ve got a best-case scenario because I love the way this one turned out. When we recorded the original tracks in the studio, something was wrong with one of the guitar parts and the solo at the end had to be removed and replaced. I asked Randy - who produced and mixed the record as well as engineered the vocals and overdubs - to put in a “noise solo.” What I meant, I think, was a guitar part that was calamitous and exciting and really brash. But, in fact, there is a technical definition of the term “noise solo.” Please fast-forward to 2:24 in this song to find out what it is.
Let’s Do This:
The depressing subject of “The Deal is Off” didn’t hold a candle to the original version of this song, entitled “She Died Alone.” One of
those occasions where the music was agreeable but the lyrics were really god-awful, we decided to record the song in the studio anyway with the intention of changing the vocals at a later point. The music turned out very nicely (Ed’s offbeat guitar gives it a great ’60’s feel) but I was stumped about how to effect a lyrical turnaround. My friend Katie Cleary saved the day by writing the words that changed this song from a beat-down account of my grandmother’s death to an adorable ode to the start of a new love. Randy added some really great percussion and Kristin and Dan’s stair-stepping vocals on the chorus and the soaring choral effect on the bridge make it one of my true favorites on the record.
Robert Fulton and Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Olivia Mancini & The Housemates
This Kind of Life
www.oliviamancini.com
The energy on Olivia Mancini & the Housemates’ debut disc “This Kind of Life” is infectious. Mancini (of Washington Social Club fame) and the five-piece Housemates roll through 10 tracks here. Mancini’s leading vocals combined with the horn section and the occasional feedback guitar make for an unparallel sound. It’s a cross between old and new. Just try not to shake your butt. Highlights include “I Wouldn’t Worry,” “Jealous Type” and the sweet title track. A must get. And don’t forget the handclaps. Check their site for local show dates.— RF
Washington Post Express talks to Olivia:
YOU CAN ALWAYS make time for the things you love," Olivia Mancini said a year and a half ago, when indie-pop-rock band Olivia Mancini & The Housemates was new to the D.C. scene. Now, it's become almost a motto. The way she says it, it's less a cliche and more a kick in the pants.
This is a roundabout way of saying that Olivia Mancini is a busy woman.
"I'm not monogamous," she says with a laugh, referring to the four bands she's a part of. "I like to play a lot of different instruments, and I like a lot of different kinds of music."
Two of her bands will play this weekend: the Housemates on Friday at the Black Cat and Washington Social Club heading up the "Washington Social Christmas" at the 9:30 Club with Jukebox the Ghost, Exit Clov, Caverns, The Dance Party and Laura Burhenn on Saturday.
The Housemates were born when Mancini had written some songs that didn't fit with WSC. She assembled a band to play her upbeat, playful tunes. "I knew I wanted Ed Donohue to play guitar, and he was living in this house ..."
Mancini was hanging out and playing music with Donohue and his housemate Jonathan Roth, a drummer, when Kristin Forbes, the third housemate, appeared. "She was like, 'Hey, guys, sounds good,' and then she left with a guitar case," Mancini says. "I turned around to John and Ed and said, 'Does she play? Because that would make this whole thing very easy.'"
It's not just Mancini who likes to juggle: Forbes (bass, vocals) has the Kristin Forbes Band. Donohue (lead guitar) has Donny Hue and the Colors, which also features Randy Scope (guitar) and Dan Swenson (trumpet, organ, guitar). And so on. Also, the Housemates no longer live together; though Roth still lives in the same Arlington house, the others have moved on — Donohue to New York.
"We're a very modern band," Mancini says, explaining that the group communicates via e-mail and phone and sends MP3 recordings back and forth. For their upcoming album, "This Kind of Life," the instrumentation was recorded in two days, and Mancini and Scope produced and recorded the lyrics over the course of the next year.
The Housemates may play for a living, but it's hard work. Mancini recalls a practice session during which, after a particularly tough song, Forbes exclaimed, "Hey, look at my bass!" "And it was just covered in blood," Mancini says. "She must have nicked her finger and she just kept going.
"That's the kind of tenacity that I appreciate."
Rachel Kaufman, 12/13/2007
Photos by Chris Combs/Express
Washington Post reviews "This Kind of Life":
"I Wouldn't Worry," which opens Olivia Mancini and the Housemates' engaging "This Kind of Life," also has a folksy appeal. But this D.C. side project, led by Washington Social Club bassist-singer Mancini, doesn't embroider its sound with fiddle or banjo. The sextet's main instrumental surprise is Dan Swenson's trumpet, although a handful of these fundamentally easygoing songs are jolted by raucous electric guitar.
The Housemates have a taste for mid-'60s pop, rock and soul, as well as a weakness for novelty tunes. The song here that will probably wear the worst is a plea on behalf of recently downgraded ex-planet Pluto. That playful indulgence aside, the band's songs are sturdy, lively and sharply arranged. Like the way Mancini delivers such exemplary rock-and-roll nonsense syllables as "uh-oh," the Housemates' music is both classic and fresh.
-- Mark Jenkins, 12/14/2007
Washington City Paper features "I Wouldn't Worry" for their One Track Mind column:
One Track Mind
This Week: Olivia & the Housemates' "I Wouldn't Worry"
By Kim Gooden
Posted: December 12, 2007
This Kind of Life
Olivia Mancini & the Housemates
Standout Track:
No. 1, “I Wouldn’t Worry,” a pop tune rife with trumpets, handclaps, and cheery harmonies. Singer-guitarist Olivia Mancini sings a tale of frustrated relationships: “So you thought about the Army/And you thought about jail/But neither seemed the way out/So you packed your bags for Boston/Thought of her not as often as she’d like.” Ultimately, the song is about not letting it all get to you: “But I wouldn’t worry would you, would you?/I wouldn’t worry,” she sings on the chorus.
Musical Motivation:
Mancini, 28, has weathered her share of long-distance relationships. “They cause a lot of anxiety and confusion, and you kind of always feel like you’re doing something wrong,” says the Logan Circle resident. When she wrote the song in 2005, she says, “I was under a lot of stress. I was talking to myself a lot, telling myself, ‘Don’t worry.’” Mancini then decided “to make it into a musical joke.…I sort of built the story around that little mantra of mine.”
The Game of the Name:
Mancini, who plays bass in Washington Social Club, started her side project about two years ago. “I had a bunch of songs that didn’t fit with Social Club style,” she says. She also had a bunch of musician friends who happened to live in the same house in Arlington, but the housemates have since scattered across the city; guitarist Ed Donohue is now a New Yorker. Is the band going to change its outdated name? “We’re taking suggestions,” says Mancini.