We are here to celebrate the CD release of “Anise and Anisette” by Bellman Barker and we will get to

that

(and the listening party) in a split sec… but before we get to business, here’s a little sentimental history for you:

I remember crystal clearly (yet tipsily) the first time I saw Bellman Barker (then the Run-In) play live. This was before BYT even existed, in 2005, and there were these (at this point, some may even suggest, legendary) parties at “The Florida House”. Gwen ruled with an iron fist (in a velvety glove), the pool table was used as a bar (and then some), the AC rarely worked, there was always a good cause involved and they ALWAYS had live bands. In the living room. It was sort of absolutely amazing yet tittering on the very edge of disaster every time, just like all the best things are.
That night the Run-In played sandwiched in between two DC bands that are no more (Bonapartes, whom we showed up early to see, and Thomas Lunch) and I remember thinking “Super fun, yet oddly heartfelt” as I tapped my toes and definetly felt a hand clapping urge (which, in my opinion, is the sign of the highest of music quality)

They played maybe 5 songs, and I did not even meet any of them at the time, even if I am pretty sure there may have been a bow tie involved-see above-…(though meeting everyone in DC as some point is inevitable, you will all agree)

fast forward.

Now, its 2007, and The Run-in several are Bellman Barker, they played our very excellent relaunch party (the fact that they pulled, amazingly at that, off both Britney Spears AND Wilson Pickett covers speaks volumes about their musical aptitude without any attitude) and they are releasing their debut CD “Anise and Anisette”, a collection of melancholic yet jaunty pop songs (few raging guitar solos and unexpected bursts of funk nonewithstanding) this Saturday at the R’N'R Hotel.

They are a band we have seen many times since their conception (that 2005 party was probably just a few months after Thomas and Aaron found each other) and so, Joel and a tape recorder in hand we sat down to discuss all things Bellman Barker and to also have a listening party. For them, for us, and for you.

So, here is what you need to know: Bellman Barker is a 5 piece, Aaron, Thomas, Steve, John and Mike are the 5 pieces in it. And on this particular Sunday, they were all wearing black t-shirts, and Aaron a white one, eating tortilla chips (transcribing this conversation was a joy!) and drinking “ice cold coca cola”.

We talked (very meanderingly and tangentially) about:

HOW THEY MET

Aaron and Thomas met online (but then, who doesn’t these days? THOSE adult chatrooms are everywhere you look). On July 4th (no, 3rd!,) 2005, on the corner of 14th and Euclid. Thomas had just arrived to DC and Aaron was wearing a t-shirt with a giant hole in the back (“It was a style statement”. “No, it was ridiculous”) and they walked to a kiddie pool and….talked a lot about Elliott Smith. Mike went to school with Thomas (at Yale, natch) and they were together in a power-rock trio ( “Which played plenty of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and rocked really REALLY hard”.”And was really really lame” “But really really fun”). And Aaron’s roommate Wes (who is also in an excellent local band called Len Bias) knew John (who is from Baltimore, and a survivor of a Good Charlotte band before they were Good Charlotte) and Steve is a coworker of John’s.
John and Steve are from the area but Aaron, Thomas and Mike made their way to DC from South Dakota, Kentucky and Florida, respectively. ( “It is a very DC band in that sense. Found people, sort of cobbled together. But cobbled in a good way”)

ON THE SOUND THEY DECIDED TO LOVE AND PLAY

Most of the stuff on this record Aaron wrote early on. He had these songs and he wanted to make a band to play them, since day one of his arrival to DC 4 years a go. Most of these songs were sort of lighthearted and upbeat musically, with sort of melancholic (Not necessarily SUPER personal!!!-they are quick to add) lyrics, which puts them in that old-fashioned pop music vein, where the music juxtaposes the lyrics. Thomas was (“Aside from the power rock trio”) in concert bands and played the piano all his life, so being exposed to many (MANY) musical genres, he was mainly drawn to the quality of the songwriting Aaron presented ( Plus, you know, we talked a lot about Elliot Smith and his more poppier, rangier albums in the beggining). The result was “artistic and yet not pretentious” ( Or is it the opposite?-someone yells over the tortilla chips at this point- I was promised Pretentious!).

ON CHANGING THE NAME MID GAME

The name had to be changed, because the Run-In:
a. didn’t describe them well enough
b. and yet wasn’t ambiguous enough to describe nothing
c. it was important to do it now and not post CD release when there has been press associated with The Run-In
and
d. was significantly more difficult to google.
Thomas bought a book called “Circus” (“With exclamation point!” and Aaron hijacked it and has had it since, and it is filled with different entertainer vernacular and both “Bellman” AND “Barker” are synonims for the person ringing the bell, and getting people to get into the circus (“Tho some pointed out that only rubes call them Bellman or Barker, and that the respected term is The Pitchmen, so you never know….).

The music is to define the name, and not vice versa (“We felt the Run-In sounded like the kind of band you would not like to run into in a dark alley.Very West Side story like…(cue the whistles)…and we are definetly not that kind of people”)

ON THE RECORDING PROCESS

All the music was recorded right there, where we conducted this interview. Definetly a learning process for everyone, as only John had any recording experience at the time (The music was much more stripped down in the beginning, one drum, one bass, one vocal track and then it slowly got built upon through the recording process). What ended up happening is that now on our hands we have a record, in which the, in some way, “Take on the Chicago Bears”: big pop choruses, anthemic arrangements, string sections…something that is even now being built upon and will definetly be more reflected in the live shows, especially with the addition of Steve to the band (even if the Korg was stolen after the BYT relaunch party, all revved up and filled with “Toxic” samples).

A FEW WORDS ON THE SONGS)

(as we launch into the listening party)
“Charles Kil is this guy that Aaron knew a long time ago. But the song isn’t really about him. This is the oldest song on the record and was written in 5 minutes.
Thank you to Len Bias, Greenland, Mikal Evans, and the Pleasantines for the sing/clap-a-long and cheering at the end of Molly Maroon–this is Aaron’s mom’s favorite song.
Pockets is another older song that aaron originally recorded for a solo project a few years ago. This track was really fun to record and uses Tom’s Civil War era bass drum. The strings were played by our friends Sadie, Mikal, Matthew, and Janel.
In Their Defense is Tom’s favorite song here. Aaron came up with the melody while falling asleep, singing into a tape recorder.
Aaron wrote I do I do a couple years back while staying in Minnesota for a month, working on a friend’s record, and eating a lot of Thai food. This song makes a lot of jabs; it’s really quite angry underneath the sing-song melody, and is the only real “break-up” song on the record. yeah! The strings were played by Mikal and Janel.
Anisette is a liqueur made from the Anise seed, which is both sweet and bitter–it was first written as a bridge for Molly Maroon, but we felt it bookended the record better, doing a nice job of wrapping up all the sentiment and saying, hey, we’re all saving up for these wishes, and it’s difficult to keep a balance between getting carried away and sloughing it off or losing track, but that’s ok; it’s ok that it’s difficult. It wouldn’t seem so important to us otherwise.

ON FUTURE PLANS

Taking it as farfield as possible. They bought a snazzy new van (“Nice, non-descript, missing a curtain”), and are booking shows in Baltimore, Richmond, Philadelphia and New York (first ever show to be at Pianos, on the LES, on May 27th, the day after their CD release in DC). and of course…“If there are any record labels out there listening…HI!”

ON THE SATURDAY SHOW, AND WHY YOU SHOULD BE THERE

“Everyone can expect a much more energetic, up-tempo show”. New songs, old songs, big string sections, sing-along choruses and with some very excellent “come early for openers”

There will be The Subjects! (www.myspace.com/thesubjects) a NY band Aaron did the sound for at DC9 a few times, very fun, supposedly composed of old high school teachers and students (at least according to their press materials, which “may or may not mean its true”)
There will be Bellflur! (www.myspace.com/bellflur) a local, Maryland band, that practices, wildlife kingdom menagerie included in an abandoned mansion in Potomac with an empty pool, and a lemur to boot.

Well, we will definetly be there, and you should too.

if you want MORE, MORE, MORE. On Bellman Barker
myspace:
Bellman Barker (www.myspace.com/bellmanbarker
washington post CD review:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/goingoutgurus/2007/05/new_music_from_local_bands_3.html
on how springtime stylish and appropriate they are on Pandahead:
http://pandahead.blogspot.com/2007/04/panda-head-interviews_Bellman Barker
AND TO WIN WIN TICKETS AND MORE. look no further than here

main photo credit by: Joel Didriksen of www.kingpinphoto.com
additional live photo by: Lindsay Hart of El Harto Imports.