Rising from the basement to headlining on stage, Screaming Females come at you with a snarling sound that’s built on soul and feeling. Marissa Paternoster is one of the best guitarists in independent music, unleashing incredible solos that ride shotgun alongside her booming voice. Bassist King Mike and drummer Jarrod Daugherty create a killer rhythm section that’s both powerful and energizing, and working together, the New Brunswick, New Jersey, rock trio have become one of the few modern bands that are must-sees whenever they roll through town.
Those in New England will have two chances to catch the band this weekend, when Screaming Females play the second night of the seventh-annual Boston Hassle Fest with Pile, Cloud Becomes Your Hand, and several others at Brighton Music Hall on Friday, then perform at the third edition of Revival! at the Columbus Theatre in Providence with Kishi Bashi, the Low Anthem, and more.
In heavy anticipation of this Southern New England two-fer, Vanyaland caught up by phone with Paternoster and King Mike to chat about their latest release, Rose Mountain (released back in February on Don Giovanni Records), all ages vs. 21-plus shows, collaborating with Garbage, and having no idea what they’ll be doing next year.
Rob Duguay: On Rose Mountain, you had ex-Minus The Bear keyboardist Matt Bayles producing the album and he has quite the resume. Matt has worked with a wide ranging amount of acts such as Isis, Mastodon, The Fall Of Troy, Horse The Band, and Caspian; what was it like working with him in the studio?
Marissa Paternoster: Working with Matt was awesome. People often ask us what it was like working with him and my response has always been that it was very pleasant. I’m sorry that I don’t have any exciting stories to tell you but we had a really nice time. Dare I say it was even relaxing. The weather was really nice, Matt was awesome, we had a good time at the studio.
King Mike: Which is owned by Stone Gossard.
So obviously because it was at Stone’s studio you guys made the album in Seattle.
Paternoster: Yeah, but he didn’t come over.
That’s a bummer.
Paternoster: There’s a Fred Durst tag in the bathroom though.
That must have been cool [laughs].
Paternoster: Yeah [laughs].
You guys got your start playing basement shows mostly as a way to help start an all ages music scene in New Brunswick. When you go out on tour, do you find a big difference between playing all ages shows and 21-plus shows?
King Mike: Well, we’ve always tried to play all ages shows because I’m sure you remember a time when you weren’t 21 and you wanted to go see a liked and then you couldn’t or you tried to sneak in and maybe you got in. I think it’s important for everybody to have access to live music and to experience whatever art or music that they desire. I don’t know if there’s much of a difference in the crowds other than that all ages spaces tend to be cooler.
Paternoster: I concur.
It seems that all ages shows have a lot more energy as well.
King Mike: I had a lot more energy when I was younger too.
Paternoster: Yeah, I’m really tired nowadays.
Same here, we’re all getting old. We’re all tired, we all want to sleep in all the time.
Paternoster: Most of the time.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Screaming Females play three times and Marissa, I’m always amazed by your skills on guitar. I understand that it can be pretty hard while singing and pulling off these solos and riffs while playing in a trio. When you first started starting playing guitar was it your main goal to play like you do today or did your techniques come to you over time?
Paternoster: When I first started playing guitar I didn’t really have any expectations, it was just for fun. Then I started playing with some people when I was in high school and it was still just for fun. It wasn’t until the end of high school that I realized that I really wanted to be in a band because I was getting better and better at guitar. I was writing songs by myself and I was just like “I think I could be in a band. I think it would be fun.” I was really into riot grrrl and all kinds of punk bands and stuff at that point. It wasn’t until I started playing in Screaming Females where I feel like my particular playing style began to develop. Up until then I just mimicked the things that I like to listen to, I still do that a lot but I think it takes time to develop a style that is unique to you. I’m still working on that but only time will tell.
From a fan’s perspective, I think you’re doing very well at it.
Paternoster: Thank you.
A couple of years ago, the three of you got to do a groovy collaboration with Garbage for Record Store Day, covering Patti Smith’s “Because The Night.” What was the experience like? You got to play with a couple of legends in Shirley Manson and Butch Vig.
Paternoster: It was fun, we went on tour with Garbage for about two weeks on the West Coast. They’re all super friendly and they were cool. They wanted to hang out and they wanted to collaborate while we were on tour together. Shirley suggested doing a cover song before tour was over, we all liked a lot of the same bands and wound up deciding that doing a big Patti Smith hit would be the best thing to do. We rehearsed it a couple times while we were on tour and people seemed to like it at the shows so when we got home Shirley suggested that we would get flown out to L.A. and record it for Record Store Day. That was that really, we hopped on a plane and went out there with our guitars. Both in their entirety played the cover songs together in a really big studio and then we mixed it the next day. It was nice, we were already friends at that point so it wasn’t like a weird culture shock.
It must have been fantastic to work with such a talented band.
Paternoster: Yeah, it was great.
It seems crazy to say it but 2015 has been a total blur and we’re already nearing the end of the year. So what does Screaming Females have planned for 2016?
King Mike: Actually we have absolutely nothing planned.
Woah.
King Mike: It’s completely open and I don’t think we even have a show booked in 2016 yet.
Paternoster: If you happen to have any ideas…
King Mike: What would you do if you were in our shoes?
What would I do? I would probably relax a bit.
King Mike: That would be so fun.
Maybe watch some Netflix, eat some food, probably buy a pizza. You guys live in the Northeast so do some regional shows and just rock it.
King Mike: Yeah, we gotta get out more.
SCREAMING FEMALES :: Friday, November 6 at Hassle Fest 7 at Brighton Music Hall, 158 Brighton Ave. in Allston, MA : 6 p.m., all ages until 11:30 p.m., $25 : More information and tickets : Facebook event page :: Saturday, November 7 at Revival! at the Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway in Providence, RI :: 6 p.m., all ages, $18 to $25 : Advance tickets : Facebook event page :: Featured photo by Christopher Patrick Ernst
