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Music

Trouble & Daughter Speak About the Simple Wonders of Youth

Toronto's folk-pop duo on their new EP, their relation to The Mamas & Papas, and their chemistry

There is something strangely familiar about Toronto folk-pop outfit Trouble & Daughter and it has everything to do with their incredible knack for speaking to the simple wonders of youth. From their sound and lyrics to their visuals and live show, these guys live inside the memory of first time loves, are as exhilarating as the chase and as electrifying as the pay off of locking lips for the very first time.

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When it comes to Trouble & Daughter, there’s feeling involved. They are the kind of band that straddles that wonderful line between conscious and completely fucking free, they’ve got alcohol and nicotine on the breath and the best part about them is that they don’t appear to know just how good they really are.

We caught up with vocalist James Mascola to talk about the band’s latest EP Thrills, which dropped on May 27th, guitarist John Doherty’s rock and roll lineage as the son of one of the Mamas and The Papas and about this band’s clear and inherent desire to just get up on stage and perform together.

Noisey: You guys just released your third EP, Thrills, late last month. Tell me a bit about the writing and recording process this time around?
James Mascola: Thrills was recorded at Heritage Studios in Streetsville Mississauga, at our friend James Robertson’s house and was co-produced by Will Marr. The whole thing happened in this great heritage home with a big studio and pool, which was the perfect atmosphere for getting down to business and writing and recording. We would even sleep there and wake up early to write music until it was our time to get into the booth and record. I mean this place had every instrument you could possibly think of and multiples of them, so even when there was down time there were still a lot of positive things going on musically.

With regards to the writing on this record, Jenni and I did a lot of the lyrical aspects of the songs but it was very much a team effort. One person might do the lyrics and then another person the melody so it was really communal. We’ve had a couple of the new songs in the books for quite a while, it was really just about figuring out the right time to release them, but overall we were in there for about two months just getting everything sounding how we wanted and at the same time having some fun as a band.

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So once again, this new record continues to straddle that line between infectious pop melodies and folky musicianship, but you guys also do a really great job of capturing some of the simpler aspects that tend to accompany youth. Can you tell me a bit about what informs your sound and knack for those things?
Yeah, I mean we always just want to be as relatable as possible. As you said, that idea of youth is something everyone has either experienced or is experiencing currently. It’s one of those things that every person can connect with especially when reminiscing about the past; we’ve all been through it.

I know you guys recently expanded your line up to include a fuller roster of musicians, including bassist Will Marr who played alongside John in IllScarlett. You guys have also been doing a bunch of touring as of late, it must be beneficial for you to have a couple of road-dogs like John and Will to guide things along…
Having guys like John and Will who have experienced what being on the road is like totally makes the transition to playing every night in a different city easier. The way those guys are wired to just get out and play whenever, wherever is very admirable. Richie (drummer) has also done a lot of touring with his old band, so for the most part our band is quite familiar with it. Jenni and I are both looking forward to getting a real taste of what touring is all about on a large scale with guys who know the ins-and-outs.

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Okay, so you and I have chatted on more than one occasion now and I do want to ask you about this idea of proximity to “greatness”, and what I mean by that is it is hard to ignore that John’s father was a member of the Mamas & The Papas. Now, while that may not directly inform what you guys are doing today, it must creep in from time to time. I mean I think these days there is such a separation from that portion of our musical history, but really were not for bands like the Mama & the Papas, most of us wouldn’t be here talking about this kind of stuff in the first place…
Oh for sure. I mean his dad was a musical legend. He was in one of the bands that really brought music to light during that period and you have to think, we all still hear those songs every single day. I remember when I first met John I thought ‘oh wow, he totally looks like his dad,’ and it’s a really cool thing, but I think the novelty has worn off on him at this point. When it really comes down to it John is John, and his dad is his dad. Two very talented people in there own right.

I want to talk to you a bit about your guys’ visual branding. That’s an aspect that a lot of independent artists lack these days, but somebody on your end really understands how to do that effectively. From the album art and the typography to the photography, whose influence are we seeing there because you guys really know how to deliver “Trouble & Daughter” as a full-package.
The art is an aspect of T&D that I really enjoy focusing on; I actually designed the cover illustrations for Thrills with help from a design team called Trend Collective. We got the album package exactly how I wanted it: Simple, yet alluring.

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Visually branding yourself is something that is so important these days in music. Having a solid logo that is easy to recognize and remember holds a lot of value when it comes getting your name out there. We put a lot of effort into plastering our ‘skull & heart’ logo on everything we do. The goal is to have people associate our band with that symbol without having our band name anywhere on it.

It seems like right from the get go the Trouble & Daughter Youtube page has played a pretty integral role in what you guys do as a band. Not only are you guys on top of it in terms of producing frequent content but again there is a real aesthetic there, it’s often live, pretty raw and uncut and I find that is true of your live show as well. What is it about that medium that works so well for you guys?
You know, we have always really presented our videos in the same way; we write a song and put it out there. Because everyone has access to the Internet these days and we have grown the channel over time, we can see that there is some loyalty there and so it’s our Youtube subscribers who get them first since they were there right from the beginning. When we put out a video, it’s very ‘what you see what you get’ and we know that the sound quality isn’t amazing, but the videos hold a lot of truth in terms of what we are as band. If you come and see us live you can be sure you are going to get exactly what you are seeing in those videos.

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Tell me a bit about the live show because I’ve seen you guys a couple of times now and there is really something to your chemistry as a unit when you’re all up there; you guys are always present and contributing to the moment at hand.
When we first started this band it was just us three (Jenni, John and I) and an acoustic guitar. Now our live show––over the past 6 months––has changed to allow for a fuller sound on stage where we can incorporate a drummer (Richie Gregor) and bass player (Will Marr). It wasn’t hard at all for those guys to jump right in there with us and understand the type of band we are––it clicked right away––but it definitely helps that we have all been friends and been making music together for quite awhile now.

Being on stage together is one of those things that just makes sense. It’s definitely a place I think we can all agree is our comfort zone and where we feel most happy, which results in that unconditional chemistry.

Can you pay it forward and recommend any other really great independent acts that you guys have either shared the stage with or are really into these days?
Recently we shared the stage with a folk/pop band called Olivia and the Creepy Crawlies from London, Ontario. Super catchy, heartfelt stories, sang beautifully by Olivia Borkosky. Keep your eyes and ears open for big things from them.

Juliette Jagger is writer living in Toronto. She's on Twitter.

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