If you take the time to cut through the noise of the music industry- the ticket sales, Instagram posts, themed photo shoots, rushed album releases-you’ll find a band oriented in such a way that puts the music above all else, and lucky for you, they have a new album on the horizon. Open City is an amalgamation of influences, experiences, and talents, all brought on by a group of people well versed in the making and performing of punk and hardcore music. The project was started by Andy Nelson and Dan Yemin, who play together in the band Paint It Black, as a means of creative freedom and exploration. “Starting the band in the first place, this was Dan and I wanting to stretch out a little bit creatively, we wanted to try some new stuff which this record is full of, new territories,” Nelson says.
From there, the duo recruited drummer Chris Wilson of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and began jamming, writing and recording bare bones demos. The only caveat-they still didn’t have a singer. Luckily for them, Yemin had a serendipitous run in with the musician they all had their eyes on. “I have this memory of bumping into Dan Yemin randomly at Grindcore House, like randomly, and him being like, ‘Oh I’ve been meaning, to get in touch with you, I’m doing this band with some folks you might know…but we need a singer, maybe you’d be interested,’ ” vocalist Rachel Rubion explains. “In my mind that’s how it happened, kind of by accident, while getting a coffee at the punk coffee shop.”
The pieces fell into place for the band after the addition of Rubino and the music followed suit. The band knew even before starting on their first album that they wanted to release music in a way that was more detached from the current means of distribution, resulting in their self released debut album Open City. Now, with the support of independent label Get Better Records, Open City is gearing up to share their latest musical installment Hand in the Honey Jar out Oct. 6.
Musically, the album pays homage to classic hardcore records off of Dischord, Ebullition, and Kill Rock Stars, as each of the band’s members have a shared love of and draw inspiration from the bands that have called these labels their homes. “Musically, there are definitely some stylistic touchstones,” Nelson says. “But just from a musical standpoint, it was about making a badass record that was sort of in the spirit of those things [labels] that I mentioned.”
Lyrically, Rubino took a similar laissez-faire and creatively liberated approach. “I often just write from experience and topically, what feels relevant to me,” Rubio explaines. “There’s always going to be just personal themes throughout. I wanted, on this album, to really stretch myself as much as I could. I like a challenge and I wanted to experiment with…topically, things that are dark or feel like they can’t be resolved, and just leave them out there. As a queer person living in the United States there’s so much that’s fucked everyday, so those are obviously topics that repeat throughout the record, and just a lot of human experiences in that.”
The process of creating the record was one that was long winded and not without its share of obstacles for the band. From, in Nelson’s case, having to record bass lines interspersed with a show for another band, to, in Rubino’s, writing and recording vocals in the absence of the rest of the band during the pandemic. But how the band looks at it, it happened in its own time and as a result, the end product was even more thrilling and impressive than they could have imagined.
“I think all of us were frustrated but as soon as we all heard what Rachel did on it, it instantly evaporated and that space was filled with pure stoked energy. Open City’s not a band who, we don’t do it for a living or anything and that’s not at all how we approach thinking about playing in bands period, and so, we didn’t have to rush a commercial product for a certain schedule for industry shit or anything. It was just a punk band making a punk record and it’s going to take as long as it’s going to take but it’ll be worth it,” Nelson says.
To that sentiment Rubino adds, “For me, hearing it all come together after such a long time, it really felt amazing because it almost was like I had never heard it. Hearing it as a collection of songs, I enjoyed it that much more and it made me more excited to present it.”
Speaking with the band, it was clear in the way that they spoke about their upcoming record that this project, the release and the band in and of itself, was something they have an unabashed amount of pride for. “There’s so many really cool offerings from the people in this band that make this record special so all of the parts of the record that make me excited and want to hear it, I’m excited at the thought of other people experiencing that,” Rubino says.
Hands in the Honey Jar drops Friday and you can pre-order it from Get Better Records. Follow Open City on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
Photo courtesy of J Leiby.
