Band of the Month: Midtown Dickens
The group of best friends keeps their freak-folk sound honest and lighthearted
By Arianna Stern
Published: February 7th, 2008 | 12:00am
WHO IT IS
Multi-instrumentalists Catherine Edgerton and Kym Register on guitar, bass, brass and more, with new addition Michelle Preslik on drums.
LOCATION
Durham, North Carolina
FILE UNDER
Playful, poppy freak-folk with lo-fi production and a DIY ethic.
IN A NUTSHELL
In California, multi-instrumentalists and best friends Catherine Edgerton and Kym Register found a book on the side of the road. “It was Charles Dickens’ Hard Times,” says Edgerton on the topic of the band’s name. “We had this game where we would flip through it and Kym would ask a question. I would point to [a sentence] and then I would read her fortune and it was uncannily, amazingly, weirdly right on, and so we got obsessed with this book.” From there, the two plugged “Dickens” into a band name generator on the internet and came away with their current moniker.
At a Durham, North Carolina, coffee shop called Bean Traders, Edgerton and Register befriended current drummer Michelle Preslik by talking about their love of the K Records roster. When Edgerton and Register found out that Preslik drummed, they invited her to play music with them, after which she became a permanent part of the self-described anti-folk band. On Oh Yell! their 2007 debut, songs like “Eggs & Toast” and “The Job Song” combine acoustic guitar and childlike vocals with classic pop song structures. Their self-taught styling emphasize the fun and spontaneity of their music, also reflected in their subject matter — breakfast foods and part-time work.
Both their use of found objects and their laid-back attitude characterize Midtown Dickens, whose instrumentation includes everyday items like skateboards and eggs. The more conventional instruments might come as hand-me-downs, as in the case of Register’s guitar, which originally belonged to her grandfather. Edgerton’s glockenspiel and Register’s saxophone came as gifts, whereas Edgerton found her banjo in a dumpster. “We just started sort of finding instruments and playing them, and teaching ourselves how to play them,” says Register. “None of us are formally trained.”
The band’s DIY aspect comes through in their recording with 307 Knox Records, a label run by one of their friends. “We’ve all put a lot of work into the label,” says Edgerton, noting that the band intends to do even more of its own production on its second full-length release, slated for later this year.
Edgerton says that the band writes about everyday topics because they are relatable. “It just seemed like more fun to kind of write about random things that people can relate to,” says Edgerton. “I mean, people get more excited about relating to really specific, everyday-life things, you know?” That kind of honesty, adds Register, characterizes the freak-folk movement as a whole. “If Bob Dylan was playing music right now, that would be anti-folk,” says Edgerton. “Folk, but still interesting, with an edge, politically driven, funny, realistic … we write about real-life experiences, and it’s really honest. And that’s why sometimes it comes across as very fun and lighthearted, because we are fun and lighthearted people.”
GOALS
Midtown Dickens currently uses Sonic Bids for entry into festivals, but as for their long-term plans, they’ve expressed a strong interest in the K Records family. Kimya Dawson, their longtime inspiration, played their Oh Yell! CD release party. In addition, the band has opened for Dawson and other K Records acts. “It’s just been one of those ‘Oh, I’ve had that poster on my wall since I was in high school’ kind of things, you know,” says Edgerton. “So it’s really really really exciting, anything we get to do with [K Records]. They’re definitely our heartthrob record label. As far as where that will go in the future, I don’t know.”
MORE INFO
www.myspace.com/midtowndickens
—
Midtown Dickens is Venus Zine's "Band of the Month" for February 2008. Visit Venus Zine's Sonic Bids page.
Issue #35
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more