Ariane Trahan is a music publicist, radio promoter, manager, and event curator, but most importantly, a music consumer. She has lived in New York City, Memphis, Las Vegas, and New Orleans and seen a slew of bands in the last ten years. She runs Easy Apple– an artist development company in New Orleans. This is her first piece for TVD. She is on the right in the photo with Christian (left) & Tony of Secret Society In Smaller Lies, and a random concert attendee.—Ed.
(photo-Gary LoVerde)
It’s always an interesting night when you’re double dipping shows. Venue-hopping to catch two bands, hoping you get the timing right and don’t miss any of the action. Tonight? My show hopping was seamless.
When a friend introduced me to Houma-based Secret Society In Smaller Lies, I admit I had had a couple of drinks, but the video for “Little White Horse” caught my ears off guard. Here was a band in the middle of nowhere, with almost no online presence, and a roughly two-minute video done in a single take in someone’s dingy living room. A little bit punk. A little bit experimental. A lot of mystery surrounding such an epic band name.
My personal back story with Secret Society is that after watching their video about a dozen times, I dragged my intern out to Houma to see them at what is supposedly the venue in the area. After being bored with the opening acts for nearly three hours, it turned out the sound was so piss poor at The Brickhouse that I couldn’t dare form an opinion about them. It was a disappointing waste of a psuedo-road trip to say the least.
Saturday my friends and I arrived at Siberia just in time to catch the first screeching guitar and synthesized note that was the opening of their set. Being amongst their fans a second time, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the guys invoked the same kind of spirit of being in the crowd at a Sonic Youth show, only with more chaos and angst. The driving drumming style of Tony Bergeron mixed with singer Joe Harp’s vocal expression (think David Byrne) makes it hard to not “get” the Secret Society sound after a few songs. Once you catch on you realize that what you’re hearing is not easy to categorize, and for once I didn’t care to. I know this music is not for everyone, but if you’re into banging your head to songs about the never-ending competition we all feel we’re in with one another, or watching some really interesting concert-goers do strange dances that look especially crafted for this band, I would recommend seeing them when they return to our neck of the woods (October 8th – Checkpoint Charlie’s).
After the last song–which consisted of Harp and guitarist Marc Miller eerily barking like wild wolves–I shook hands with the band and we darted over to Hi Ho Lounge, promising to return for a drink later. Our group continued on to a performance from Dimestore Troubadours, whose music became the background for the burlesque/variety show presented by Freaksheaux To Geaux.
I first saw these guys when I was scouting for Warner Records. I found my old email to the head of A&R which read, “The music turned from Russian weirdness to circus frenzy to swing. Aside from the usual guitar/bass/drums/singer, they had a couple guest vocalists come on stage, and also had the accordion, banjo, horns, and a kazoo! Sounds like Morphine and Tom Waits smushed into a bottle of burlesque.” Nice description, right?
My feelings about Dimestore Troubadours haven’t waned since then. I would describe this performance as that feeling you get at 9am when you switch from coffee to bathtub gin. The band had their own analogy to relay their style to me, “It’s a one way ticket, but it promises beauty in the grotesque, and a light at the end of the tunnel, even if you have to dig yourself all the way to China with a silver spoon.” Clearly their storytelling has improved, and singer Joseph Kees is taking more risks vocally. With their newfound focus on partnering with strip teases, burlesque, fire-eating and ta ta’s, they certainly have something for the mischievous devils in all of us.
Three hours in and a handful of drinks later, I had to keep my word and return to Siberia for the guys in Secret Society. It is, and always has been, my job to speak to musicians in detail, get the big picture about who they are, and maybe discover things I don’t know about the industry in the process. Cory, Marc, Christian, Joe, and Tony are a group of respectable young men who know exactly who they are and where they’re going. I may not altogether agree with their plans, but it’s refreshing to meet a band who has some. The night closed out with us discussing the ideas behind their songs, “Schizophrenia, loss, personal battles, apocalyptic fiction and Louisiana folklore,” Tony tells me.
So that was my late Saturday in the Marigny. In the end all great evenings have an expiration, and mine came around 3am, when it was time to phone a taxi – and call it a night.
