By Fei Cai
Contributing Writer
At first listen, the Wingdale Community Singers' latest album seems somber, reminiscent of both a folk band and an Appalachian music group. But listen again, and you catch the lyrics: "Lies with his sister twice a month, her issue does he kill / buries them in unmarked graves right beside his steed / tidies up for Sunday church, recites the Nicene creed."
These are the first lines of "Rancho De La Muerta" on the Singers' second album, "Spirit Duplicator," released on Scarlet Shame Records Nov. 17.
Rick Moody '83, a novelist and short story writer, formed the group with Hannah Marcus in 2002. Nina Katchadourian '89, a visual artist, joined in 2006 after being invited by Moody. The fourth member is David Grubbs of The Red Krayola, Squirrel Bait and Bastro.
The group started as a few people coming together to play music. "Performance is just a part of it," Moody told The Herald. "We are just doing something that we love, something for the joy of it."
Moody, who sings as well as plays acoustic guitar, piano and organ for the group, said that while "Wingdale Community Singers" sounds like a typical folk band name, it comes from a specific childhood experience of driving by a foreboding mental hospital in Wingdale, N.Y.
The album's title also contains deeper insights into the group's history. On one hand, Moody said, "Spirit Duplicator" recalls a 60s-era copy machine, reflecting the age of the band members — these are not hopeful 20-somethings seeking fortune and fame, but adults with successful careers. On the other, the title suggests that the group is duplicating something from another time and place and adding its own modern, urban flavor.
"We are totally uninterested in imitating folk music and Appalachian music," Katchadourian told The Herald. "We are people who live in the present, and we live in the city. We're not sitting on a porch in Appalachia. We live in Brooklyn, and we take the subway."
Despite the band members' modern lifestyle, Moody said the album tries to evoke images of distant times and places. "Most of the songs have an implicit narrative that connects them to a much older reservoir of songwriting," Moody said. "I like the idea of a song taking you to another place."
He added that the lyrics of "Rancho De La Muerta," which Katchadourain calls "darkly funny," allude to a small town in West Texas, where Moody once stayed. "I like the disjunctive quality of the music," he said of the upbeat tune with dark lyrics.
Katchadourian said she likes the album because she is interested in timeless works. "Spirit Duplicator" embodies "fascinating and interesting forms" that are "traditional, yet still (bring) the listener into the present day," she said.
"The songs have musical styles that could have come from any time in the last 100 years," Katchadourian added. Still, "the songs are about contemporary events."
Katchadourian and Moody confirmed there is a third album in the works.
Both were in bands during their undergraduate years at Brown.
Katchadourian said she was always interested in music but never performed publicly until joining the Singers. With a background in acoustic guitar, accordion, recorder and the tomato (a small, shaker-like instrument), she certainly shows her prowess in the music world.
"Music is yet another medium for me," said Katchadourian. "When I'm thinking about something, sometimes it is best expressed as a song."
It took a while for Katchadourian to comfortably tell people that she is both an artist and musician, though. "I was very strict about not crossing over," she said, adding that she was afraid that people would compare her art and her music.
Moody has also pursued music from a young age, playing piano at age ten. "Novel writing is a solitary thing," he said, explaining his love for music. "It's nice to have something to do where you interact with other people."
His love for music also stems from that his role as a passionate listener. Singing in harmony, an integral part of the Wingdale Community Singers' album, forces him to pay close attention to the music, he added.
Moody also finds a relationship between listening and writing. "Writing is musical in a sense. It is made of language, which is an oral form as well as a written form. My attention to music makes me think of the musical aspects of prose and paragraph construction."
