Honest Mechanik unveil ‘Outsider' video
New indie-pop project featuring Boston music veterans Susan Cattaneo and The Grownup Noise’s Paul Hansen release new visual May 11
WEBSITE . SPOTIFY . BANDCAMP . INSTAGRAM . FACEBOOK . TWITTER . YOUTUBE
Debut self-titled album set for release this summer
Featured photo Credit: Dino Cattaneo
MEDFORD, MASS. [May 11, 2021] -- These days, perhaps more than ever, we’ve all felt a bit like an “Outsider.” Whether it’s a case of imposter syndrome as an artist, watching our friends and colleagues living their best lives on the internet, or just trying to be heard beyond the towering walls of our digital echo chambers, many of us have spent the past year or so feeling like we’re living on the outside looking in.
And maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.
Honest Mechanik, the new indie-pop duo from Boston music veterans Susan Cattaneo and Paul Hansen, have tapped into that feeling of FOMO -- a “fear of missing out” on something, anything, everything -- on their infectious new single “Outsider.” Released digitally last month, the track gets the visual treatment with its official music video, set for release Tuesday, May 11. And it’s a rally cry for all those who feel left out in the never-ending film of life.
“Who hasn’t felt like they don’t belong? Who hasn’t experienced a sense of wanting to be included and yet feeling left out?” asks Cattaneo. “You often hear about a group of musicians being part of a scene hanging with the ‘cool kids’. ‘Outsider’ speaks to this idea of trying to fit in, trying to belong to a music scene and that constant yearning that all artists have for their art to be recognized and validated. It’s about feeling insecurity in your community and obscurity in your art.”
The mood of the track is reflective in the collaboration between these two songwriters. Honest Mechanik finds the pair writing and recording just beyond their usual creative boundaries; Cattaneo coming from the world of Americana and folk as a solo artist and accomplished songwriter, and Hansen honing his craft of indie rock and electronic-pop with scene veterans The Grownup Noise. Together, their sound as Honest Mechanik is melancholic and organic, the result of two seasoned songwriters exiting their comfort zones and embracing a new type of musical collaboration.
“I think in our own way, Susan and I feel a bit like outsiders,” adds Hansen. “You know, we’re both not young anymore and we come from fairly different music scenes. And we are excited for something new. What comes out of the two of us together feels different and unknown, and it’s quite reinvigorating to explore this.”
“Outsider” is a delicate bounce of indie-pop that finds its weight in its lyricisms, exploring themes of valuing your own art (“Check me out I’m the one you need to know / My art’s important just nobody knows”); witnessing others’ successes through social media (“It’s like recess but now you’re old / With pretty faces trapped in glowing phones”); and the time-honored practice of never getting invited to get high with friends (“I don’t fit into any scene / Nobody calls me back to smoke the weed”).
“Our songwriting process is very fluid and easy,” Cattaneo adds, “and I think the songs reflect that sense of relaxed creativity that we have with each other.”
The video for “Outsider” takes these notions and brings them into a visual realm, with Cattaneo and Hansen trapped inside constructed boxes as life plays out around them. Hansen harnessed historical images via public domain use to create a storyline that suggests a certain timelessness to these feelings; ones that existed and permeated long before social media.
“I think the visuals reflect the song as it shows us alive in motion, but trapped inside our little boxes,” Hansen says. “Plus I’m always game for some heavy handed juxtaposition. I love how juxtaposition can take two distinct concepts and invent maybe a third concept, or a random new thought that leads you somewhere else.”
Adds Cattaneo: “Honest Mechanik’s vibe has been this combination of black and white, older style footage with more modern, quirky elements thrown in. The video for ‘Outsider’ is like our music. We want our listeners to feel like they’re hearing something at once familiar but also new and surprising. I love the fact that we are literally captured in boxes within different still scenes, so we are inside looking out into the world and not part of it. It speaks to feeling alienated from the action, and I think it’s the perfect visual to accompany the song!”
Contact michael@publisist.co for more information.
***
Honest Mechanik is:
Susan Cattaneo - Vox and Writing
Paul Hansen - Guitar, Synths, Vox, and Writing
With Marco Giovino on Drums and Percussion
***
***
Honest Mechanik 2021 bio:
We are Honest Mechanik, an indie-pop duo born in the wilds of Medford, MA. Yeah, that’s right. We’re a Medford Super Group. We’re also Susan Cattaneo and Paul Hansen, two singer songwriters who have joined collective and creative forces to create a new sound that feels at once, both familiar and unique. Featuring quirky lyrics and ear-worm melodies that highlight our dual lead vocals and close harmonies, Honest Mechanik has the vibe of The Velvet Underground paired with the intimacy of Belle and Sebastian.
Three years ago, Paul came over to Susan’s house to see if we could write a song together. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that such a beautiful thing would come out of this first meeting. One song led to another and then another and suddenly, we realized we had a full-blown album of 10 songs. “Are we a band?” Paul asked Susan. “Hell, yeah,” Susan replied. And so, Honest Mechanik was born
We’re both seasoned musicians with solo careers on both the local and national music scene. Paul, the tall one, considers himself “song obsessed” and has been the lead singer and creative force behind the popular band The Grownup Noise, an indie-pop group that has garnered rave reviews and over the years , has performed in numerous sold-out shows including seven national tours. Susan, the other tall one, has won or been a finalist in all the prestigious songwriting festivals around the country and tours as a solo artist and also with The Big Loud Band. When she’s not performing, she’s had a 20-year career as a songwriting professor at Berklee College of Music. She’s also a “go-to” songwriter for others, having crafted songs for both national and local artists (Mark Erelli, Dennis Brennan, Dinty, Child, Jenee Halstead).
The songs of Honest Mechanik came together around our voices and over the distinctive sound of Pauls’ Godin Archtop semi-acoustic. When we went into the studio, Susan brought in Marco Giovino (Band of Joy) to add some amazingly deep groove to the tunes. Recorded over the past year with Dan Cardinal at Dimension Sound Studios (Darlingside, Mark Erelli, Lula Wiles, Air Traffic Controller), Honest Mechanik’s self-titled debut album is a testament to what happens when two new friends hang out and make music together.
Our last recording session together was the week that the world shut down, so most of this project has had to happen remotely. It has been wonderful to work on these songs during the pandemic, because we feel so much joy when we perform them. We consider ourselves lucky to make music at all, and to be able to bring this album out in these times feels like a wonderful happenstance.
And why Honest Mechanik? We chose the name because “they’re very rare and you’d travel a great distance to find one.”
***
Media contact and press/radio inquiries: michael@publisist.co.
WEBSITE . SPOTIFY . BANDCAMP . INSTAGRAM . FACEBOOK . TWITTER . YOUTUBE