Interview: Honest Mechanik go under the hood of new album
The debut LP from Boston music veterans Susan Cattaneo and The Grownup Noise’s Paul Hansen is set for release on Friday, July 16
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Q&A: Cattaneo and Hansen discuss collaboration, songwriting, and reaching out beyond their comfort zones
MEDFORD, MASS. [July 16, 2021] -- When a mechanic looks under the hood of a car, they see a puzzle, of sorts -- gears and tubes and wires and belts and cylinders, all the indispensable pieces that come together to make the vehicle run smoothly. A look under the hood of Boston indie-pop duo Honest Mechanik yields the same type of interconnected wonder: a casual and collaborative songwriting process, dual lead vocals, and layered compositions that cradle introspective lyricisms and tender reflections of the world around us. No singular piece is the driving force; instead, it’s the combined elements and talents of Boston music veterans Susan Cattaneo and Paul Hansen that allows Honest Mechanik to dance freely amongst genres, crafting songs with a heartbeat that trace across the aisles of folk, indie, Americana, and electronic-pop.
On Friday, July 16, the duo releases its debut album, a self-titled LP of 10 tracks that weaves together the groove of the Velvet Underground with the vocal intimacy of Belle And Sebastian. Honest Mechanik -- named as such because “they’re very rare and you’d travel a great distance to find one,” as the band likes to say -- found instant chemistry after its two principal members, joined by Marco Giovino on drums, sought to collaborate just beyond the reaches of their respective scenes: Cattaneo amongst the songwriter worlds of Americana, country, and folk; Hansen via his background in synth-pop and indie rock. They’ve released four warm and engaging singles so far in 2021 -- “Movie”, “Outsider”, and “Translate”, and June’s “Love Alone,” -- setting an elevated harmonic tone leading up to the album release.
Ahead of the album release, publi*sist caught up with Cattaneo and Hansen to discuss their debut album, collaboration and reaching out beyond their comfort zones.
publi*sist: They say a debut album is made over the course of a lifetime, but Honest Mechanik is a relatively new project. Was it easy or difficult to come up with the 10 tracks on this debut LP?
Susan Cattaneo: I love this question, because I think it has two layers to it. On one hand, I think Paul and I have both had solo careers and bands with others. That gave both of us a certain life experience that we brought to this project. I feel like there was something about our collective and separate musical worlds that enabled us to come together now to create this sound. From a track standpoint, writing for this album was really easy, because we didn’t have any expectations about starting a band when we started! Paul and I wrote our first song together, and because it was so much fun, we just kept on writing. It’s this relaxed nature of Honest Mechanik that I believe makes the project so special and unique.
Hansen: That is a great saying about debut albums. Since Susan and I are no longer spring chickens, Honest Mechanik feels a little different. Although I suppose we are bringing two different lifetimes together. For me, this feels like a second life. And it did seem somewhat easy to make, probably because we are juicy -- meaning we have a lot of life experience to bring to our little table. Actually between the two of us, I think we have 100 years, haha! Anyway...
Was there an immediate sense of Honest Mechanik’s style and sound or did it grow organically?
Cattaneo: Ha! It definitely grew organically. The first song we wrote together is called “Maybe” and the one thing that struck me about that first collaboration was that from the beginning, we shared lead vocals. That became one the key elements of Honest Mechanik’s sound. Once we’d recorded the tracks with just vocals and Paul’s amazing guitar work, we then brought Marco Giovino in on drums. His tracks added such a fabulously deep groove to the songs, they suddenly felt like an integral part of our sound as well. The final sonic puzzle piece came when Paul added some great synth tracks.
Hansen: I think it grew as we went. The only thing we knew for sure, is that we wanted dual vocals throughout. When Marco added his thing, it grew. And when we added synth bass, it grew.
What would you say is the stylistic vision of Honest Mechanik, and how might that differ from each of your previous projects?
Cattaneo: I think the stylistic vision of Honest Mechanik is quirky, literate and fun. Paul and I started writing these songs pre-pandemic, but the album was recorded for the most part during the quarantine period. (In fact, Paul had never even met Marco in person until last week because everything was recorded remotely.) And we are a duo who took our first promo shots wearing our pajamas!
Hansen:Susan and I were just talking about how different our musical backgrounds are. She has a strong musical family and learned vocal harmonies at the dinner table. And I have zero art or music anywhere in my family. So it feels like Susan brings some tradition with her, and I bring more of an abstract, fly by the seat of your pants, kind of thing. And I think those experiences informed our previous projects.
Cattaneo: Paul and I come from different musical lands. We each have different songs that are part of our foundation. He’s more indie, pop, rock in sound where my background is Americana, folk, country. When you listen to our solo work, you hear those elements clearly. What makes Honest Mechanik special is this blending of both of our styles into something at once familiar but also new.
Speaking of, what was the songwriting process like, as a whole, and how was it a collaborative affair?
Hansen: It was wonderfully collaborative in a way I’m not used to. I’m used to arranging with a band, but not surgically going through the DNA of a song together with someone. So it was so kinda thrilling to hang out and live each line together, and discuss and look random things up, and go back and forth.
Cattaneo: There are two words I would use to describe our process: relaxed and easy. It feels like a really natural “give and take” when we write together. Paul usually comes in with a song seed, and after much conversation about what it means to both of us, we develop it from there. As the song progresses, I’m usually thinking about harmony and how we can trade off lines to build the song sonically. As a songwriter, I think our lyrics and melodies are more open-ended. It’s as much about capturing a feel as it is about what we’re saying.
One thing I love about this Honest Mechanik album as a whole is the sharp lyricisms, but also how they fit so comfortably within each song. How did you decide which words and themes fit with each musical composition?
Hansen: I think once we decided what each song was about, we were good at focusing in. And I have to give credit to Susan, she has such a strong lyrical-minded approach. Which I’m sure helped the songs from drifting away. Left to my own devices, I can sometimes float away and never return. So Susan would often grab my foot just before I drifted out of the airlock of our little spaceship.
Cattaneo: I think it’s this early conversation that we have around each song that helps guide it in a specific direction. There are a few themes that come back into our songs on a regular basis: the idea of art and its value in the world, family and kids, what it means to be part of a music scene, what it means to be a human on this earth. Paul and I are pretty different, but as working musicians, we share many of these experiences and that informs the songs we wrote for this album.
Was there a eureka moment when you realized this was a real, legitimate project that needed to be heard?
Hansen: I think maybe when Susan said: “Are we a band?” And also previously, the songs would occasionally pop up in our minds and we’d text each other like “hey... that one song of ours was totally in my head when I woke up this morning.” And that always seems to be a good sign!
Cattaneo: I remember loving the first song we wrote together and wondering what it would lead to musically. We did half-hour set opening for a friend of mine at Club Passim (we’d only written five songs at that point!) and we didn’t even have a band name. As we were running our songs in the green room, Paul said he thought he had a band name and suggested Honest Mechanik. I thought it sounded cool, and so literally, we announced our name in that show. When we’d written our ninth song, I think I turned to Paul and said, “Are we a band? Is this a thing?”
What was the best part about songwriting with the other person?
Cattaneo: Hmmm, it’s hard to choose the best part! Paul’s a great lyricist, melody writer and a great guitarist! Plus he’s a good hang. What’s not to love? If I had to choose, I would say that my favorite part is when he first brings in a song seed and plays it for me. It feels a little bit like opening a present. I feel like, “Oooh, what is this about? How can I sing on this? How can we develop it?”
Hansen: Just how different we are. A lot of times we’ll reference albums and the other person does not even know it. And I kind of love that. We are bringing different aesthetics to this sound. We are certainly outside of our comfort zones.
Okay, on a personal tip, what is your favorite track on the LP?
Cattaneo: I love different tracks at different times. I would say that right now, “Under The Weight” is my favorite. I have two kids who’ve just left the nest to try out their new lives in the world. I feel like they’ve been “under the weight” of everyone’s expectations and of the pressures of this past year and a half. So this song speaks to me for the themes of being able to reinvent oneself.
Hansen: I think at the moment, my favorite is “Under The Weight”. Such a strong concept and heavy groove to help hold the listener.
And lastly, what’s a fun bit of trivia that people should know about?
Cattaneo: One thing that’s a cool little detail is that the album cover is a photograph of The Mechanics Theater in England.
Preview the debut Honest Mechanik album here. Contact michael@publisist.co (press) and david@powderfingerpromo.com for more information.
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Honest Mechanik is:
Susan Cattaneo - Vox and Writing
Paul Hansen - Guitar, Synths, Vox, and Writing
With Marco Giovino on Drums and Percussion
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Honest Mechanik 2021 press photo:
Photo Credit: Dino Cattaneo
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Honest Mechanik album cover art:
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Media Contact:
michael@publisist.co (press) and david@powderfingerpromo.com (radio).
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