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The Interns
DUAL CD
and Thayer
RELEASE
Sarrano
SHOW!
C ooperation's a skill taught early on, at.least to those
raised by public television, and its results can be as
representative of the individuals involved as if no col
laboration took place. Cooperation doesn't mean compromise!
So, when two local acts, rock band The Interns and songwriter
Thayer Sarrano, found themselves at work on new recordings
earlier this year at the same time and in the same place, they
combined energies.
They're doing the same thing tTiis week,
celebrating the release of both The Interns and
King with a joint show at the 40 Watt Club.
"Drew Vandenburg and I engineered and
mixed Thayer's record over the past few
months," says The Interns' Thomas Johnson.
"We were mixing and mastering parts of the
Interns record over that time period, too.
Thayer and I developed a mutual respect and
admiration for each other's music... [her]
songs are great and we have really different
crowds. This show is also a big moment for me
and Drew; he and I have worked very hard on
these two records, and it's something that we
are really proud of."
Thayer Sarrano's been in town for a few
years now, humbly making her way into the
music scene, lending her piano and keys skills
to bands like Sweet Tooth Simpleton and
Kaitlin Jones & the County Fair. She's even
taken a more energetic turn away from those
more rustic acts, playing in former Whig Hank
Sullivant's band Kuroma.
"I prefer playing with others because there
is almost no stress at all. It's like you just
figure out what their songs need and then go
into that zone," she says. "I feel the need to play my music,
and keep writing songs, but it messes with my head in a very
different way, since it's a more personal thing, I guess. Even
when I'm not that nervous, I just always feel more at home
being a side person."
That said, Sarrano's tunes are more than just a throwaway
vanity project. Kincfs songs are emotional and vulnerable,
melodic and entrancing. There's a bit of an early Cat Power
spareness to them, and more than a little influence from the
'60s singers on the fringes of the folk scene.
The album was recorded at Sarrano's house using gear,
borrowed from Chase Park. Vandenburg and Thomas mixed
and mastered the album afterwards. "Most of the songs were
written this past winter; January through March, in my house
when we lost heat in the morning," says Sarrano. "There are
a couple of older songs that have a more epic sound, but I
wanted them on there because some of the lyrics tie together
the main themes. Though one of the main reasons we recorded
at my house was because of money, in the end I thought it was
appropriate because of how much that space had to do with
the songs that are on the album."
Sarrano is pressing 1,000 copies of the album and making
the artwork and packaging by hand as necessary. "This entire
record was made possible by my friends in the Athens commu
nity," she says.
With tracks like "Hard Line," "One of My Own" and
"Smother" pulling serious guitar duty, the new-ish local band
The Interns has built a strong reputation in relatively, short
time. The guys' country-influenced sprawl and reverby rock-.^
ers sure owe a great debt to My Morning Jacket, but there's
er ough personality in there to dismiss thoughts of straight
aping. And though they all have studio experience, a lot of
cooperation was needed once they decided to record.
"The recording process was long," says Johnson. "We had
just formed the band and gotten the songs together in their
basic form when we went into Chase Park at the end of last
November. Since I'm an engineer there I had planned on doing
most of it myself, being that Brannen [Miles] is also a fantastic
engineer in his own right, I thought it would be pretty easy
to play and engineer. I was wrong, but, luckily, my good friend
and fellow Chase Park engineer Drew Vandenburg offered to
take over engineering duties. This ended up being the perfect
combination, as his role as co-engineer, co
mixer, and co-producer helped really shape the
record."
Though things came together quickly
enough, there were still some setbacks, and
some vocal tracks laid down at Johnson's
house had to be redone at the studio. "When
we finally smartened up and went back to
Chase Park to finish vocals it went way
smoother," he says. "We had originally thought
we would have the record done by the end of
January and ready for release in February...
it's finally being release in August."
The guys in The Interns also spend
time in the more lo-fi pop-leaning
act Futurebirds. "As far as The Interns and
go," says Johnson, "it's been great
for all of us because it allows us to do some
thing completely different but equally engag
ing and inspiring. We've been given the rare
opportunity to make two vastly different kinds
of music with the same great people."
Current plans for the release of The Interns
include shopping the record around to labels
looking for some sort of industry support and
setting up a couple of brief weekend'tours.
And keeping with the spirit of collaboration,
more teamwork seems likely. The Interns is available for free
download at theintems.bandcamp.com, ancl physical copies of
both that album and Thayer Sarrano's King\will be aya
this week's 40 Watt dual CD-release
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AUGUST 19,2009 • FLAGPOLE.COM 23