Photo by Jason Curtis courtesy of The Bridesmaids' MySpace
Band of the Month: The Bridesmaids
Hooks, horns, and harmonies define the pop quintet’s irreverent sound
By Arianna Stern
Published: October 29th, 2007 | 2:27pm
WHO IT IS
Leah Paul on flute and vocals, with a rotating cast of backup musicians that includes a tenor saxophone player, a trumpet player, a drummer, and a bassist. Drummer Jared Schonig, bassist Tom Abbs, and tenor saxophone player Matt Bauder are early favorites for a permanent lineup.
LOCATION
Brooklyn, New York
FILE UNDER
Sweet, Belle and Sebastian–style indie pop enlivened by catchy horn riffs
IN A NUTSHELL
If the Bridesmaids take off like they should, Leah Paul can likely anticipate lots of puns about the marriage of sounds. Combining Big Band horns and infectious pop hooks, the Bridesmaids originally started as a means for Paul to try pop songwriting. Though the 27-year-old singer-songwriter had worked freelance gigs with established musicians including Dirty Projectors and Anthony Braxton, she never released her own material until recording 2007’s self-released EP, Here Come the Bridesmaids…
Paul says she took the DIY approach to recording her music, using GarageBand on her computer. “It was basically me just layering tracks of flute and saxophone, and then getting really weird bass and drum sounds out of my synthesizer,” she says. “After I listened to those, I realized that the flute actually sounded really cool in a pop context.” From there, she enlisted the help of musicians she had met from other projects. Stuart Bogie and Eric Biondo brought their production techniques to the record, forming the infectious and winsome pop songs on the EP. “To be perfectly honest, it’s the first pop record I’ve ever made, and I wasn’t sure if it was going to even work; and then I was really happy with how everything sounded,” Paul says. “So that was the highlight for me. I think the highlight for [Bogie and Biondo] was the bag lunches I would bring in.”
No offense to Paul’s lunch-packing abilities, but the Bridesmaids’ bouncy melodies would be hard to top. “Suitcases,” the fifth and final track on the EP, layers high-pitched vocals over an electronic beatbox and deep synth pulses. The record’s standout track, the addictive “Death Rattle,” centers around a popping drum cadence and a slippery horn melody. With their 1960s soul throwbacks delivered in a vivacious, poppy vehicle that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Quentin Tarantino movie, the Bridesmaids’ songs have rightfully attracted some attention. “People seem to really like it,” Paul says. “I’ve had a lot of people say that they didn’t know they liked the flute until they kind of heard it in [a pop music] context.”
As a formally trained flautist who studied at the University of Michigan, Paul speaks highly of her influences, including the Supremes, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Otis Redding, and St. Vincent. “I wish I could say that I had these obscure, cool influences,” Paul says. “I try to hear what’s new, but I always end up listening to the same old stuff that I love.” Fortunately for fans who want their well-worn favorites filtered through an unconventional modern lens, the Bridesmaids deliver both.
GOALS
Paul’s goal is refreshingly guileless: She wants people to hear the Bridesmaids’ music. “I’d really like to get signed, preferably to a label with good distribution, and just kind of get out there and tour,” she says. She adds that she has enough new material to record a full-length album but lacks the money to do so. “I’d really like to be able to make another record soon and get out there and have people hear what I’m doing and make lots of music.”
MORE INFO
This is the third installment of Venus Zine's "Band of the Month" feature, which is published on the first day of each month. Visit our Sonic Bids page to submit your profile for coverage consideration.
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more