Typewriters and tubas and bird whistles, Oh my! The Scarring Party makes some noise at the Studio

Interview by Elaina Ellis, Empty Sea Studios

The Scarring Party, all the way from Milwaukee, will make their west-coast debut at Empty Sea Studios on April 22nd.  We corresponded with tuba and trumpet player Isabella Carini, about the sounds The Scarring Party will be making in Seattle next week.

How do you describe your sound/style, for folks who are new to The Scarring Party?

End-timey seems to be the term we’ve adopted over the past 5 or 6 years. We perform tuba, accordion, and banjo driven music drawing on the influence of 20’s and 30’s music hall, Lomax folkways recordings, as well as 70’s punk.  We tend to use unorthodox percussion, such as 40 pound cast-iron bells, vibraphone, and tongue drum. Dan croons through a hand-built copper microphone. People can expect to hear songs about zombies, the apocalypse, and dog boys. You know, the usual. We’re also looking forward to playing this show with Erin Jorgensen, a local vocalist and marimba player.

How would you describe the  music scene in Milwaukee, and (how) does your band fit that picture?

The Midwest is finally starting to get a little attention, whether it’s because of bands that are actually getting some national exposure, recording studios, or great venue spaces.  We’re  lucky to be a part of that and to have found like-minded people to be in a creative community with. New things are popping up around Milwaukee all the time, but a lot of bands that we kind of “grew up” with in our city are calling it quits. I think each of our records (as different as they are) still represent us now as well as where we’re hoping to continue moving in the future. We’ve always been kind of odd in Milwaukee, but I think people are starting to realize that a band format outside of “drums, bass, guitar” can be interesting, too. It’s great knowing that we can throw orchestral chimes, an array of brass, and some bird whistles on a record, and people might actually like it.

What brings you to Seattle and/or to Empty Sea in particular?

This is our first trek out West (which we’re extremely excited about).  Seattle seemed like a great place to start. It’s a city with a rich history of unconventional music. Empty Sea was recommended to us as a space that supports all kinds of traditional and non-traditional acoustic music, so we’re hoping to enjoy the intimate setting for our first night out.

Is it true that typewriters sometimes make an appearance amongst your other instruments?  Do tell…

This is true! We have one song in particular that it makes a special appearance in, however, due to our situation on this tour with air travel, we weren’t able to bring one along this time. We are actively encouraging people to bring a typewriter to our shows on this tour. No joke, we’ll use it!

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Get your tickets to see The Scarring Party, with Erin Jorgensen, here!