What’s That Sound?: An Interview With Gabi Mendick and “There’s Something Happening Here” Doc
For anyone who knows me personally…or maybe indirectly from reading Red Line Roots even once I would venture to guess its fairly obvious that the local New England music community and the artists, supporters, booking agents and lovers of the music within are pretty damn important to me. If I didn’t listen to a friends record one day and think to myself “why the hell aren’t people talking about THIS record?” then, well, RLR wouldn’t be existence over 4 years later.
While the community around here is pretty tight-knit, there aren’t all that many people who want to do something a little more to shine a light on it. One of the few, however, is Gabi Mendick and her documentary that highlights a slice of the musicians in and around Cambridge, Somerville, Providence and all things that it encompasses is out now. Its aptly titled “There’s Something Happening Here“.
I could probably spout a million diffferent things about this. I think its a beautiful and wonderful thing that someone took the time and effort to try and capture the glimmer and light that is embedded within this strange circling cloud that is New England music and artists, but I thought it best to let Gabi tell us all about the why, the what, the how and who of how her documentary came to being. You can (and should) stream it and share it…its embedded below. But first, read up on Gabi and her experience with creating this film for us all to enjoy and revisit the community and art that so many of us love.
RLR: Not to start our conversation bluntly, but: Why??? I mean, there is obviously a strong foothold of folk music in Boston and the greater Cambridge area that spans generations, but why try and tackle such a robust community of musicians for your project? What was your mindset when launching into this? What really triggered your interest? How did it begin to take shape after you said “OK, I am committed to this project”?
GM: Honestly, the idea started as “how do I get around writing a 50 page paper for my thesis?” I figured that if I was going to be working on a project for almost a year it would have to be something creative and music related for me to enjoy it and stay motivated. The initial appreciation and awe I had for the greater Cambridge folk scene when I moved here a few years ago still has not worn off. I’ve always been struck by how genuinely supportive and talented the community of musicians and music supporters is.
But, from my experience, even though there is such a lively and expansive roots music scene, it isn’t necessarily recognized outside of the area or outside of musicians and fans. For example, I just graduated from Tufts and on Thursday nights students always go to The Burren to drink, etc. but most of them don’t notice the traditional music sessions and jams and don’t know about the backroom that hosts amazing shows.
At first I somehow thought I would be able to make a relatively comprehensive documentary, interview tons of people and film many performances. But I realized that was impractical and would probably come across as more educational, not emotional. I ended up reaching out to a handful of individuals and performers and tried to have a little bit of variety in terms of roles, genre, age, and experience. Rather than creating a comprehensive documentation, I tried to portray what the community is like as a whole through the stories of a few people.
RLR: So are you a musician yourself in any capacity or just a lover of this kind of music? What was your foray into this community or was it kind of just a stumble upon effect that drew you down the rabbit hole?
GM: I’m a very incompetent musician to say the most, but my love for this kind of music came way before I tried picking up guitar and banjo.
I think I started noticing the community at first just by going alone to a bunch of shows around town and seeing familiar faces- on stages and in audiences. Then I interned at club passim a few years ago, which really introduced me to a lot of local music I didn’t know about. That and finding out about red line roots were a couple of things that kind of felt like a crash course in discovering the community and finding out about local venues, artists, concert series, and other things going on.
RLR: Well shucks, thats an awful nice mention there! In your work in pulling together the documentary, what did you see as a common thread in most of the artists, bookers and others you spoke to? I mean, I would assume that deep sense of community was a staple in most of the conversations, but what else do you think drives this sense of building something here in New England (and Cambridge/Somerville specifically) vs. other places in the US or the world?
GM: It’s definitely hard to pinpoint, but there were a few things that came up a lot when I was talking with people that are unique to this area and make people so passionate about music. One of those things was the music schools- Berklee and the New England Conservatory- that bring loads of talented young musicians to the area.
The history of the folk music scene in the Cambridge area was also mentioned a lot. Artists and listeners are aware of and really appreciate this history, and I think the feeling of being a part of something bigger than what is happening right now motivates people to sustain and support the community.
One thing that I had not really thought about before was that the geography of New England, having so many states and smaller cities in such close proximity to one another, creates a network of smaller communities that allows musicians to more easily travel around and find more audiences. In the movie, Courtney Rodland contrasted New England with cities in the south where a musician might have to drive six hours from their town to find another venue to play in.
Also, this isn’t something that came up much in interviews, but I like to speculate that the fact that this area doesn’t have a huge music industry contributes to the quality of music as well as the vibe. I think it makes for a less competitive mindset and encourages collaboration and experimentation because people are not making music just to sell it or to be especially commercial. I also think that musicians and individual people take on more responsibility in growing the community because there aren’t really huge, rich institutions that can do it alone. A lot of people end up investing a lot of time and effort to support the community.
RLR: Thats a really interesting point…the music colleges situation is always one that gets pointed out, but the fact that you can play at so many different venues within a 30 mile radius (or less really) is certainly an interesting one. You mentioned the Burren being a spot you frequent. Any other favorite venues around town that you really love to take in a show at…and maybe a little bit about why you dig those specific places?
GM: Yeah, the number of venues in the greater Boston area is really amazing. The only downside for me is that there is so much just within a three mile radius of where I live that I don’t make it to shows outside of Cambridge/Somerville enough, but I’m working on it!
Passim is my favorite place to hear and actually appreciate music. Aside from the great acts that play there, I think the listening room ambiance really intensifies the experience of seeing a live performance. Also, the audience at Passim is full of music lovers and so is never chatty, which is a big plus.
I only turned twenty one less than a year ago, and so have not been going to Atwood’s for that long, but in that time I have seen so many amazing shows there. I think just in terms of the booking Atwood’s really hits the nail on the head with up-and-coming Americana artists from around here and beyond.
RLR: Why do you think its important that people for people to TALK about this music and these musicians and not just let it be a sort of passive thing that exists?
GM: I’m having some trouble putting it into words, but have you seen The Ballad of Shovels and Rope? Although it’s a different kind of thing to my film, a documentary that follows one band over the course of a few years, rather than trying to capture a community, for me it’s the perfect example of why it’s powerful to acknowledge and talk about this stuff and not just let it happen. The stories of “struggling”, crazy talented, humble and kind artists who are so grateful that they get to make music is really beautiful and inspiring. Of course bands tend to get more coverage and are talked about more as they gain success and fame, but I think the beginning of that journey is so significant and, in a lot of ways, probably also more interesting and inspiring than what might come after.
It’s also important to talk about this music because word of mouth can play such a huge role in building a fan base and growing support for the artists.
This music community is awesome in so many ways, but not necessarily for everyone and I think it’s necessary to talk about both the good aspects and the not so good. For example, in the movie I addressed issues of gender balance and the lack of racial diversity in roots music. There seem to be very few people of color playing this kind of music- or getting much recognition for it, and the audience for this genre of music is also almost completely white. It’s so striking, I can’t help but look around me and think about it every time I’m at a concert, but I never really hear musicians mentioning it, and I almost never see any articles or anything else about it online. Everyone I interviewed was aware of the issue, concerned, and had a lot to say. But, when I asked if musicians and music professionals were having conversations about this with one another, most said no. I think that being aware and actually speaking about issues is just one of the first steps in creating a more inclusive community. If we talk with one another about the good things going on, people can work together to encourage and build on that, and if we speak openly about issues we can start to figure out how to address them and make progress.
RLR: This will be tough, but if you could put together a playlist, an “intro to” type of thing to the community you have highlighted here, what would that playlist look like in terms of 10 or so artists that you feel really exemplify what you unearthed in your work on this film?
GM: Hmm, I was going to specify ten songs, but that seemed difficult, so here are ten artists: Lula Wiles, Honeysuckle, Ian Fitzgerald, Session Americana, Rosemere Road, Pumpkin Bread, Greg Klyma, The Ballroom Thieves, Twisted Pine, Julie Rhodes…
Playlist below. Listen. Buy these records. And share and watch the film.
