This article originally appears on Boston Band Crush ). Lucky band #7, The Peppermint Patties, took the concept of One Night Band to the extreme. They decided to be a band that only played ’50s style numbers…about murder. They also managed to somehow write 3 songs and record them in the few hours between the morning meeting and the show. You can download and get more info on TPP’s 3-song EP, This Ain’t No Shit Show right here on Boston Band Crush at: https://blog.mikeandsophia.com/?s=http://www.bostonbandcrush.com/2009/08/one-night-band-download-peppermint.html
Tracklist:
1. Do You Wanna (Kill Somebody)
2. I Can’t Find Your Head
3. Oh My God I Killed Somebody and I Feel So Good (OMGIKSAIFSG)
Set Highlight: Joe DeGeorge shirtlessly transforming his keyboard into a keytar.
Julie Two Times (The New Alibis, Vagiant)
Joe DeGeorge (Harry and the Potters)
The Morning Interviews and Name Picking
Rich’s Recap
“Can ya smell it?”
The gig lies in wait for you, like the phone booth lies in wait for Superman. It’s the gig that keeps you hungry somehow, that reminds you of a secret world of possibilities. For years, imagining the gig that lies ahead has been something that has soothed my pains, and rescued meaning from nothingness. I’m often overcome with emotion, simply dreaming of the next gig. Why else would I continue?
In my dreams, I had some ideas about who I wanted to play with at the show. I had hopes for certain scenarios, where I’d play with my close friends, or with my favorite artists involved in the show. I dreamed these things up, worked them out, but reminded myself not to be disappointed if things didn’t work out exactly as I planned. After all, they never once have. The one potential scenario that really scared me was ending up with a dictator. Or worse, two or even three dictators. (After all there’s always a few in any gang of All-Stars) ACK!!! Drummers get it the worst from Napoleons.
Fuck it. It’s only for a night.
Ashley hands me an envelope, it contains a nametag with my name and the number six written on it, and a map. To my left, almost immediately, I hear an assertive voice shout “6!” It’s Chris Mulvey, who I met on the way in. Nice guy. This isn’t so bad. We begin to work together immediately, raising our voices in unison, trying to find our band. When that doesn’t work, we walk together towards the back of the room, and find our other bandmates; Julie, Joe & Jason. In five minutes we have decided on a band name and a direction and are driving over to Jason’s basement studio to work.
With the exception of Jason and Chris (who I met five minutes earlier), I hadn’t met or even seen any of these people before. I didn’t know what their bands sounded like, I didn’t even know if they could play! I had some clues to go on; Julie was in a band with Jesse Von Kenmore, who is an excellent drummer; I figured she must know what she’s doing, but can she improvise? Joe was in a band called Harry and the Potters. (My girlfriend is a librarian, and LOVES that band, as do all her librarian friends. Her one wish for me was that I end up in the one night band with the guy from Harry and the Potters.) I’m in a band called the In Out. Was this ever going to work? I knew from the start that I could work with Chris; we hit it off right away. Jason I knew from his work. I respected his talent, and I figured that he would take charge; it was his place, and he wanted to record our work before the day was out.
Before we left the Middle East, we had decided that we would write within a theme of 1950’s pop. This made writing tunes much easier; no groping about for anything “unique.” I remember mentally running down all the beats from my favorite songs of that era; we somehow decided collectively that key changes were very important; eventually we decided to make the lyrics about murder. I remember Chris singing “Do you wanna be somebody?” over our first attempt at a tune. I couldn’t really hear him… I asked him, wait a minute, did you say “Do you wanna kill somebody?” To my surprise, everyone liked it. Then Jason came up with “I can’t find your head” and we died laughing. Then I wished out loud for a saxophone solo, and damned if Joe, (who had been playing keys the whole time) didn’t bring out a saxophone! It was magical. Julie came up with a great narration to go over that tune… everyone was involved in the most perfect way imaginable. Then we needed a cover, and we were of course, running from the police!
I was completely drained by the time we hit the stage at midnight. Being out late the night before, and all the effort during the afternoon really starched me. For that reason I don’t think our show went as well as it could have; but it really made no difference. I’ll always remember Joe ripping his shirt off and running from the police next to Chris’s enormous Morrissey hair. I’ll remember Jason’s great guitar leads (One sounds just the melody from the Pogues “Sunny Side of the Street”) and Julie’s funky bass in “Oh My God I Killed Somebody and it Feels so Good”
I have to hand it to Jason especially; he was super determined to get that EP done, and he did it in style. I’m very proud to be on it. I’m very proud to have been a part of The Peppermint Patties, whether it continues or not. Julie nailed it when she said “I was afraid that this would be a shit show.” Well, this ain’t no shit show.