Corner House is a juggernaut of a string based outfit consisting of some of the most talented Northeast based players in the landscape today. Ethan Setiawan on mandolin and mandola, Louise Bichan on fiddle, Ethan Hawkins on guitar, and Casey Murray on cello, the band weaves the varying plucked, picked and bowed strings in a manner that is equally magical and entrancing as it is comforting and relaxed.
“Happy Now” is a deep, reverberating pool of gorgeously intertwining melodies and notes…and thats before the words of the song begin to be sung. There is a simple beauty in how they present expertly played instruments and beautifully arranged vocal harmonies. Making the truly intricate and pensively thought song feel effortless, when there is actually so much going on. Hawkins voice floats in a pillowy cloud above the string arrangement beneath. Lilting, high flying and leaving a flutter in your chest.
Check out the track below and a few questions we caught up with the band to ask about their forthcoming release ‘Smart Folks’, out September 13th, 2019.
CH: For us, it was mostly practical; we wanted something to document where we were for this year of shows, before we go into the studio to record a full length album. However, we love the art of making EPs as opposed to records as well, there’s something really sweet about the bite size ~30 minute record.
RLR: With 4 truly excellent musicians in the mix I am curious what the writing process looks like for you all. Can you take me what it typically looks like in terms of how you guys approach bringing songs to the band? Is it collaborative from the start or does someone bring a fairly well put together skeleton to then be fleshed out?
CH: When we sit down to work on new material, each of us bring ideas of things we want to work on. We all come from different respective musical worlds/upbringings/influences and work together to arrange and write music that uses all our strengths. We worked on writing together on a retreat in Vermont recently and have paired up to write at times – Ethan and Ethan team up with bourbon on occasion to work on songs! We find that duos are a little easier to get work done than with a whole band, there ends up being a “too many cooks in the kitchen” syndrome. The arranging is always totally collaborative though.
RLR: You all mixed and mingled some original stuff here with some traditionals. How much of your work do you feel is influenced heavily by tradition and reels and tunes you learned coming up vs. trying to stretch the boundaries of contemporary music? Do you find that to be a difficult balance?
CH: We all individually love many different kinds of music, and it’s the double edged sword of this band to try to synthesize our many interests and skills into a cohesive sound. We’re all interested in playing Scottish and oldtime music in a traditional way, as well as taking our other musical influences (such as bluegrass, pop, electronica, and great songs) and making them all play together nicely. It’s one of the great challenges of this band, in a good way.
RLR: What else do you all want to push about this project? Any tour dates around it? What else is going on?
CH: Most immediately, we’re really stoked to be putting the EP out on September 13th, and playing a hometown show at Club Passim on the 15th! We’re touring Smart Folks in the New England area for much of this fall and spring, and going into the studio again next year for the next full length record. We’ve got a really great team of folks to work with for that record, which will be a very different experience than recording in Ethan Hawkins’ bedroom for the last two records. We’re super stoked about that; keep your ears peeled!
RLR: Ok, here’s a wild card…pizza or tacos?
CH: We’re pretty equally divided as a band. How about this: we’ve never made either at band dinners, but made a nacho mountain in Vermont once. We often spend more of our get-togethers cooking and eating than actually playing and have big plans to release a Corner House cookbook some day…
photo by Louise Bichan