Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Thanks to his days booking shows at the Mr. Roboto Project — and time spent playing in bands like Adult Field Trip — Rick Moslen knows a thing or two about Pittsburgh-based music. On Friday, he’ll release Drag Me Home, a collaborative CD and zine featuring songs by 22 local bands, corresponding work by 22 visual artists and various writings by Brendan Sullivan, Ryan Kaufmann, Cassidy Gruber and others.
“After seeing the local music ‘scene’ from so many different angles, I noticed that a lot of bands and show attendees don't necessarily know what's happening outside their smaller micro-scene or group of friends,” Moslen says. “It's like, hey young punk kids, or, hey older scenesters, there's this weird and heavy band Night Vapor, or this melodically beautiful band Trapper's Harp, or this super catchy indie pop band The Lampshades who you'd probably all REALLY like, but you don't know they exist.”
Beginning early this year, Moslen solicited bands from a mix of genres, not knowing what songs would be submitted, or how they would work together. “I wanted there to be some kind of flow while still keeping things balanced within the indie rock/punk realm,” he says. “It's a good (though not by any means thorough) representation of what's happening musically in the East End, even though there's a ton of great hardcore bands, noise artists, folk rockers, electronic artists, and DJ's doing fantastic stuff who unfortunately aren't on here.”
Furthering collaborative spirit of the project, Moslen enlisted folks like Jeff Betten of Wild Kindness Records, who helped with CD duplication, Garrett Haines of Treelady Studios, who mastered the comp and Brandon Locher of My Idea of Fun, who is releasing the finished product on the MIOF website.
In the end, the project has reinforced what Moslen already knew. “Seriously, every time I had a new song or piece or artwork or essay waiting in my e-mail inbox, it felt like Christmas,” he says. “And everything submitted was legitimately REALLY good—it made all the hours working on this so much easier. We have such a talented city.”
Drag Me Home release show feat. The Harlan Twins, Host Skull, Allies, Cyrus Gold, The Lopez, Trappers Harp, Driver, more. 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 27. The Mr. Roboto Project/BUNKERprojects, 5106 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $3. www.facebook.com/dragmehome
Tags: Drag Me Home , Rick Moslen , Mr. Roboto Project , BUNKERprojects , FFW>>