Sure they look all cool on stage/commanding the ones and twos. Sure they pull the strings that make the audience sing and dance. Sure they have a gazillion MySpace friends… but the DC musicians you love and have come to respect have paid their dues.

So to provide insight, inspiration, and instill even more admiration into the collective musical genius of Washington, DC, BYT is bringing you a new series: “Before They Were Famous”

Name of the band: The Secret History

Etymology: Named after the Donna Tartt novel of the same name about a group of truth and beauty seeking college students who murder their own friend

Genre of music: Indiepop with a faint hint of Shoegaze

Active dates: 2000-2002

Homebase: Washington, D.C.

Band members: The Secret History began in D.C. with Nalinee Darmrong and myself in 2000. We shared songwriting duties and both played guitar and sang, usually lead vox on our own and harmonies on the others songs. In 2001, we were joined first by Ryan Hicks (The Snuff Project, Edie Sedgwick) on drums, and later Dave Allsopp on bass. Dave’s previous band, Fretblanket, was signed to A&M in the 90’s and had a minor college radio hit with “Into The Ocean.” I remember playing it on my college radio show.

How you formed: Nalinee and I met at the old Metro Café where Bliss, Mousetrap and a bunch of other indie djs and dance parties got their start. One night, we were both there to see my friends’ band from Minneapolis, The Hang Ups. They were a great pop band who channeled The Byrds and 60’s guitar pop through the lens of 90’s bands like the La’s and Wedding Present. There were maybe 40 people in the club, all diehard indiepop fans. Besides the band, Nalinee was the only other person I knew there at the time. We started talking and it turned out she and I liked a lot of the same music (not surprising) and were both toying with the idea of starting a band, so…We started by getting together every Sunday to strum guitars and smoke cigarettes. It was just two people singing with twee, jangly guitars. In hindsight, it was kind of hippie, but definitely filtered through an 80’s indiepop influenced by the 60’s sort of thing. I never had a beard or anything! Hahahahaha. The notion was to kill it with melodies and harmonies that stick in your head. It was a tall order. We played shows at the Black Cat but our sound was basically lost in any room larger than a kitchen.

When we were ready to record a demo, Nalinee and I worked with Trevor Kampmann (hollAnd) at a studio he then had in his house on 11th Street, near where the Rhode Island Avenue skate park is today. It made sense to us at the time, but in hindsight this was an odd fucking choice. Our sound was all about organic guitars and vocal harmonies and Trevor’s approach was strictly digital and minimalist. It was kind of like trying to grow a flower in a vacuum tube.

Once Ryan and Dave joined the group, our sound became more like a “band” and we had a much better time playing out. We recorded an album with Archie Moore of Velocity Girl/The Saturday People at Omega Studios in Rockville where Archie then worked as an audio engineer. We did the entire thing between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.m. on the cheap, since we were all broke. Archie was a good choice for producer and I think he did a great job on the album. There’s a lot of his vision in there on the overall sound and nuances like the bells on “Sweden.”

We had full access to the treasures of Omega and we got to sneak some sounds in that otherwise would have been impossible like glockenspiel, organs, etc., crazy, expensive instruments that basically no single person could have in his or her collection. It’s a bit sad when I think about it now, because with advances in recording software and technology, grand old studios get ever further out of reach, and we were just lucky to even have a hook up at the time. One of my most vivid memories was recording guitar overdubs in Room A, which can accommodate a full orchestra, just myself, my Fender Jaguar, and Fender Twin and about 3,000 square feet of empty studio space. It felt very… rare.

A friend of mine, Ara Hacopian of Boy Racer and the Saturday people, released the record on his short-lived Foxy Boy label. I think it sold maybe 300 copies? Sorry, Ara! Last I heard, the remainder of the stock was sent to the trash when Ara moved to the UK. Mark Zimin of the Mousetrap was a fan and great supporter of the band, and helped finance the record, too. Sorry, Mark!

Sample lyrics

“I keep waiting for you to say let’s disappear from here. I keep waiting for you to say let’s get on a plane to Sweden. Get on a plane to Sweden, and take it from there.”

“You left a hole in my brain where tenderness used to lay”

The record is out of print and isn’t available for sale by digital download, but it looks like Parasol has few copies for sale

Influences:

Our sound was influenced by 80s and 90s indiepop bands like East Village, My Bloody Valentine, Go-Betweens, The Smiths… and more Fleetwood Mac, Donald Fagen, Beach Boys, and The Mamas & the Papas than I would have been willing to admit at the time, but at this point I’m calling it as I see it. Dave is English, from Birmingham, and spending a lot of time hanging out with him drinking is my only excuse for the horrible English vocal affectation on Sweden! I don’t really talk that way. The songs are all about disillusion, relationship tension and collapse, emotional stress and confusion.

My favorite song on the record is “What I See.” It captures relationship tension that was the centerpiece of our lyrics and the unguided swagger that was the kernel of our persona—punk rock, but with out the rock. It also has a fuck all long pause and tempo change which audiences always interpreted as the end of one song and the beginning of another. We were 4 kids doing what felt honest and enjoying pop music and art.

Why you broke up:

We split up in 2002 to pursue other interests. I was beginning to DJ a lot and Nalinee and Dave wanted to pursue a project that was more rock and, well, VERY much more loud. They later married and formed the group Owls and Crows. Yay! Happy endings.

Moment of success:

Our greatest moment of success as a band was probably opening for Tahiti 80 on the main stage of the Black Cat in November 2002. We drank champagne with the band that they somehow brought with them from France. For me personally, one gratifying moment came several years later. I was djing in Berlin and a fan of the band happened to be at the club. He was shocked to run into me, djing of all things, and told me how much he enjoyed the music and that he thought we were “the Go-Betweens of the USA.” An overstatement for sure, but being a huge Go-Betweens fan I didn’t let it stop me from feeling a moment of pride.

Moment of failure:

Our greatest failure was breaking up; not being able to sustain our creative collective. I think any band that’s ever been together then found themselves not together can understand that. If you haven’t been there, it’s hard to describe. It’s sort of like an artistic divorce. There was no animosity or ill feelings between anyone in the band, but trying to reconcile artist visions between many people and ultimately deciding it’s time to throw in the towel on something multiple people have poured great energy into is tough.

How it was worse than your current gig:

In terms of what I do now as a DJ, logistics-wise, the band was a lot more frustrating!!! Getting 4 people in the same place to practice on a regular basis is a nightmare. Then, when you get the people together they all have to be getting along in order to be productive, and once you’re productive when you play a show you have to split to measly proceeds 4 ways. As a DJ, I don’t have to rely on anyone else to show up to practice. I just do it.

Performing live, frankly, I don’t miss having to show up at 4:00 for sound check or worrying about whether one of my band mates is going to be too drunk to play well. I only have to worry about whether I’M going to be too drunk to play well!

How it was better than your current gig:

There’s a wonderful feeling of pleasure and pride in working with a group of talented people to produce something that no one person of the group could have done on his or her own. When performing live, when it’s tight and the group is feeling it, you feel 4 times larger, because what you’re making IS 4 times larger than you. As I begin to produce my first solo record of dance music, I’m definitely going to be working with other djs and musicians.

(As an aside, a few years ago, I got an email from Michael Grace Jr., formerly of My Favorite, who said he was starting a new band and wanted to call it, yes, The Secret History. He had no idea one with the same name already existed and was wondering if we were still together and if I minded that he used the name. With DC’s The Secret History defunct and largely still a secret it seemed silly to tell him anything other than go for it.)

If you want more Will Eastman check out 9:30 Club this Saturday

If you think you’re a “famous” DC musician and want to reveal your sordid musical history email Libby@brightestyoungthings.com

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