The Sewerheads bring a sort of noir-folk vibe to post-punk that fans do really like. Cool noise in overcast hellscapes sits “Diary of a Priest b/w Man of Finite Sorrow,” the new 7” from the Pittsburgh ensemble. A sluggish pace to water in a drought town, the oasis a saloon, “Diary of a Priest” furls itself on a dusty stool. The violin and guitar of Shani Banerjee and Eli Kasan interplay riffs of redemption met with languished strums, posing as a minor-key sibling to Iceage’s Bob Dylan cover, “I’ll Keep It With Mine,” but sludging like “Better Go Home Now” by Dirty Three.
The band revels in sounds both grotesque and beautiful. “Man of Finite Sorrow” marries americana with dissonance into dust bowl punk — a string sound Pittsburgh houses well with bands like Tyler Heaven, Clear Creek SP, Sneeze Awful, and Merce Lemon. Their music borrows a speck of strange from Peter Gradzien’s album The Unicorn, a rainbow peeking through the stairs of a cloud. We chatted with Kasan and drummer Evan Meindl at the digital table, speaking to the 7” release and their headlining set from the Thunderbird Music Hall showcase “May the Saints Go March in Sin” which is premiering here for the first time.
Pittsburgh Independent: What can we expect to be different sonically from the full length vs. the 7” that just dropped recently for “Diary of a Priest” and “Man of Finite Sorrow”?
Eli Kasan: The 7" was essentially a demo we worked on at My War [bassist Matt Schor]’s house and we were pleased with the results, and thought we could cull two for a 7" as an introduction to the band. The LP came much later and we were more of a fully realized band with a sound. We spent considerable effort traveling to Electrical Audio to work with Matt Barnhart (works for Chicago Mastering Service, and does live sound for Superchunk, Destroyer, New Pornographers, etc.) and further fleshing out the recording with piano, organ, marimba, acoustic guitars, trumpet, various dicking around with space echo and Electrical's legendary reverb chamber in the basement. While I'm personally very partial to the spartan versions on the 7", the LP is much more widescreen in scale and sound. We re-recorded “...Priest” and turned it from a Gun Club funeral march to more of a Townes-style mariachi bleak mini-western. So there's room for both to exist.
Can you take us through the organization of the "May the Saints Go March in Sin" showcase at Thunderbird that The Sewerheads headlined 5/27/22 with Blinder, Big Baby, and Silver Car Crash? Can you explain your relationship with the other groups on the bill and how the night may have offered a footing for the band after an electrifying set?
EK: This one was all Evan's doing, as he decided to gather up all of our friends for a show before we set off to record a set at WFMU in NYC. Was a really great night of music (notice I didn't say local music) as each band is unique and doing something interesting independently of each other. It did galvanize us as a live force.
Evan Meindl: The impetus for putting on “May the Saints…” came after solidifying a weekend of performances in New York City the following two days: a radio session for WFMU on Saturday, May 28 and a headlining set at Baby’s All Right on May 29. I wanted to put together a fun, all-locals show the evening prior to the NY performances, and everything came together really easily.
When booking shows, I always try to have variety, stylistically, across the board. I love when all the bands sharing a bill exist in a very peculiar spot in a hypothetical Venn diagram. Big Baby and Silver Car Crash were easy asks, as they are two of my favorites that Sewerheads had yet to play with. And having Blinder play their first set in Pittsburgh for the show?! Really special.
I love doing shows with Margot Smith at Thunderbird — she was fully on board to host the event and even got Goodlander Cocktail Brewery to sponsor the gig. Matt from Sleeping Witch & Saturn did the poster art and could not have done a better job. Let alone all the work you did to document the night! Jeez.
There were a lot of moving parts to make the event (1) happen and (2) ultimately successful. I’m really grateful for everyone involved and the weight they respectively pulled. What an awesome time. I’m still happy about it and proud of how it turned out.
The 7" was the first on The Government Center's new label Office Boy Records, describe the process of getting the 7” pressed with them.
EK: Josh [Cozby] is an old friend and I worked for him. He was initially taken with the band, and offered to start a label to release it. Hard to say no, I love enthusiasm as well as an early adopter. Being the designer on it (and all my records for bands I'm in) I was real particular on what I wanted: hand stamped labels, glued pocket sleeve, internal printing, red folded inserts à la The Fix. He was able to accommodate it all and we really can't thank him enough. I believe the next release will be Gina Gory, which is a mighty fine band.
Can you walk us through the story/inspiration for writing “Man of Finite Sorrow” and “Diary of a Priest”?
EK: During pandemic times I would take long walks with my dog Oskar, a real good boy, and brainstorm ideas, and very rudimentary capture them late at night when my then girlfriend's daughter was sleeping. Nightshift 2 a.m.-5 a.m. style. I think the nighttime is the key to all the songs, as I don't care for the day. I wanted to try something different in terms of songwriting from the automatic writing of the Gotobeds, and have always been a fan of Outlaw Country's ability to tell a story, compellingly, in song. The first line of 'Man of Finite Sorrow' is a cribbed line from the great Burl Ives: “You stole my act as a clown,” something I thought was hilarious to expand upon. Explaining the lyrics further would cheapen the experience for all involved.
Describe the songwriting process for the band, is it mostly collaborated from the beginning or fleshed out individually and then brought to the table?
EK: It can vary, I'm not big on "jamming," so I tend to bring the song either fully formed or in fighting shape to be further developed. From there, [the songs] always get stronger and more interesting when they hit the hands of the various folks involved. But as far as writing, either music or words, is something I'm consumed by and spend a large chunk of my time developing, even if a lot of ideas I'll discard for some really inane reasons.
The show on the 28th at Government Center was a benefit show for the Western PA Diaper Bank, how did it go?
EK: It was wonderful to see/feel the support and was great of Shani to organize a donation event, [playing] with like-minded friends (Big Baby, Late.) at a space we love. Josh at GC donated the door fee + some, and it was a heartening experience. I'd be remiss not to mention that during our set, Lawson (Shani's husband) brought their daughter Evie to the back of the stage and it really created a joyous atmosphere, unlike anything I've experienced before. It's wonderful to know this far into my life and playing music that moments like that can still happen, and are a great reminder of why we keep going.
What album has had the most influence on the overall Sewerheads’ sound?
EK: Real hard question, but my "aha!" moment came listening to Rowland S. Howards works (These Immortal Souls, solo) and feeling like it was a combo of ugly guitar sounds and aching beauty. Shani might say PJ Harvey (another fave of ours), as it covers similar sonic terrain.
Any big tour plans to support the LP release this fall or next year?
EK: We finally have the masters to the LP, Despair is a Heaven and am just racing to finish art so we can send it off. So gambling a little around timing, but have some scattered dates between Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, DC, NYC and Pittsburgh this year. Lot's more to come next year.
The Sewerheads hit the road this week for Cleveland’s Grog Shop 7/19 Friday, and head back for Curwensville, PA for the 6th Annual Blueberry Festival, 1 hour west of State College, 7/20 Saturday.
