My favorite people in music are three guys and a girl from Boston. They’re in a band called Mean Creek. I met them during the snow storm of 2010. They played a show at the Khyber and I’m pretty sure the five of us and tour mates Destry were the only people in the room. At the time they were churning out organically epic rock with folk tendencies. Since then they’ve gone more in the direction of something that would be on the soundtrack of My So-Called Life (Buffalo Tom actually took them on the road this year) and their sound seems to be evolving every day. They released an EP earlier this year (Hemophiliac) that totally rocks. Last month they put out a free single and music video that rock equally hard. Check it out here. This Wednesday, July 13, they’re gong to be playing North Star Bar and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be there. However, if you don’t believe me, let founding members Aurore Ounjian and Chris Keene convince you. They’re far more charming than me.
Izzy Cihak: You’ve been to Philadelphia, or Philthy (as we like to call it), a number of times now. What are your thoughts on the city?
Aurore Ounjian: Its one of our favorite places to play! The last 2 times we were here, we walked around your lovely town visiting record stores (I found the soundtrack to Jaws on vinyl for $3.00), eating delicious food at Johnny Brenda’s, purchasing goods at Di Pinto’s. We even met some of the nicest bands, as well as genuine music fans in Philly- its pretty incredible.
IC: Each one of your releases has a fairly different sound to it. What inspired or influenced your current sound?
AO: Each release is different from the next because we love all types of music and we’d hate to put out the same type of record twice. You evolve as people and it reflects in your songwriting. We listen to tons of bands/artists, but for us, it feels like it’s our day-to-day lives that influence our songwriting.
IC: The second half of “The Land of Hopes and Dreams” really reminds me of Hunky Dory-era Bowie, like Post Folk (I realize that’s not a real thing). Do you have any reactions to that? Are you Bowie fans?
Chris Keene: That’s very awesome to hear. I personally never got super into David Bowie, but I have always appreciated him as an artist. It’s probably about time that I actually spent time with his records. “Ziggy Stardust” is the first song I learned how to play on guitar. I love that song.
IC: You recently put out a super cool video for the song. Who came up with concept?
AO: Thanks! We went into this video with an open mind. Although the song/lyrics have a strong sentiment, we wanted a minimal video that could be open to interpretation. We worked with the talented Kieran Delaney and Lunar Pictures to provide a visual to the song and they did an amazing job.
IC: Last month you came up as pretty huge winners for The Boston Phoenix’s Best Music Poll. How was that? Any Boston musical peers you’d like to share a kind word about (I saw Freezepop last month and they were totally fun.)?
AO: We couldn’t be more thankful for the support Boston/The Boston Phoenix has given us over the past couple of years… It’s a pretty amazing feeling. There are tons of awesome bands in Boston everyone should check out: Earthquake Party, You Can Be A Wesley, Fedavees, the list goes on…
IC: Why should Philthy readers come see you on July 13th at the North Star Bar?
AO: To see live music! And its summer! And it’s Wednesday? Uh, and you’ll feel terrible at work the next day, but who cares?
