Who doesn’t like a little potluck from time to time? North Elementary and Organos offer up a couple of side dishes for your pleasure on a split 7 they’re calling Potluck. Order the 7 ” here or download it for the low, low price of $4 from bandcamp. The 7 inches are limited to a run of 100 and each is one-of-a-kind with cover art submitted by friends including Andrew Whiteman of Broken Social Scene, Missy Thangs of The Love Language, Seth Kauffman of Floating Action, Ginger Wagg from Veelee and Eric Johnson of Archers of Loaf. North E also has a song on the new Guided By Voices tribute.
TVD is really digging the North E track “For the Vampires.”
Catch both bands live locally at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh April 7 or April 9 at The Cave in Chapel Hill. Be sure and say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Harrison April 9, too. (More shows listed below).
Harrison was nice enough to answer a few questions for TVD.
What is Potluck?
Potluck was formed by Reid Johnson, Maria Albani (Schooner, Organos) and myself as an entity to so some creative things we’ve talked about doing over the years for ourselves as well as with other artists and the communities we live in. Maria and I have been working together with Minus Sound Research for over 6 years and it seems like we are able to work together well to create and organize towards common goals… Reid and I have watched over 100 basketball games together over the years… so it makes sense.
Right now its mostly a way to get the musics out to the good people. We also have a home movie series that will feature live intimate recordings of songs and some interviews with artists we like that are in town and travel thru town. It’s pretty open ended and we have talked about many things we’d like to do… so… we’ll see.
How did you and Organos decide to team up for the split?
Maria and I have talked about doing a NorthE/Organos 7″ for a while and this just seemed like the right time. Its been good for us to use this release to figure out some of the processes in releasing music… sort of a trial and error that we don’t have to subject others to. It’s also nice to have the first release be one that involves us as to have a foundation that we believe in and can instantly be a part of. Personally I’m a huge fan of Maria’s songwriting and process she has with Organos so… it was a no brainer for NorthE.
Were the songs written specifically for the 7 in?
The NorthE songs were. In fact we sorta took this whole 7″ process and made it into a game for ourselves. Obviously we had to have songs we liked and wanted to play but beyond that we decided write 3 short songs (each under 2 mins) as to fit on one side of a 7″. So within a week I’d sent demos out to the band and by the next week we were at Nick Pedersen’s recording the songs… it was really fun. Even within the context of each song we tried to do some fun stuff such as write a song that has one chord progression throughout (For the Vampires) and a song that was mostly vocals and lots of space in between the notes (Ye olde Light).
I think that the cover song “He Needs Me” was recorded for the 7″ in particular by Organos. Although Organos had not played “Fits and Fears” out live it was a song that had been around for a bit and I think Maria wanted to give it a home.
You have 100 different covers for the limited edition 7 inch, right? How many submissions did you all receive and how did you sort through them?
That is correct. We received a whole bunch… over 100 for sure. Maria is picking most of them out and sending them to me so I can size them correctly. We are trying our best to include everyone and I feel that we will be able to. Many people sent in multiple pics for us to choose from. Its been great seeing them all and we are excited to share them with everyone.
Knowing know that you’re a huge BBQ fan, would you like to share a favorite recipe or at least describe your love for Q?
Well first off…..I like most all BBQ. Eastern, Western, Midwest, Rubs, Sticky…..whatever. Lately I’ve been using a slow cooker. 6lb or so pork shoulder marinated in one liter of A & W vanilla root beer (do not get the good stuff….you need the ultra sweetness of the vanilla). Set on low for 8-10hrs then drain, pull and add your favorite BBQ sauce. I’ve made a few kinds but this is where I’m at for the moment.
What’s next for NorthE?
We have some shows in April with Organos and a few others:
April 7 – Tir Na Nog – Raleigh NC – WKNC Band Night w/ Organos
April 8 – Snug Harbor – Charlotte NC – w/ Organos, Elonzo and Anna Bullard
April 9 – The Cavern – Chapel Hill NC – Split 7″ Release Show w/ Organos
April 15 – Harris Field NCSU – Raleigh NC – NCSU Earth Day Concert
April 18 – Cats Cradle – Carrboro NC – opening for British Sea Power – NorthE play at 830p
We’ve been writing and demoing songs pretty quickly since January…..and although we are still playing shows and supporting our last record “Southern Rescue Trails” and of course the split 7″…. I think we might go back into the studio mid to late summer and record. I have no idea what will happen to those recordings but it’s were we are at for the moment. In the meantime I gotta get married to the most wonderful girl in the world and take her to Costa Rica so the NorthE operations will be shut down in May.
Thank you for chattin’ with me… Maria Reid and I are happy to finally get Potluck off the ground and share this Split 7″ with everyone.
