From left: Michael Rocheford, Tyler Kershaw and Cooper Leardi; Photo by Caroline Bailey.
Skittering back and forth in darkness and light, somewhere between joy and melancholy, hope and defeat, tearing down a lonely freeway, streetlights passing like camera flashes, the distant glow of the city reminding you that you’re not alone, that the night is still raging on: these emotions and feelings are rich throughout House of Harm’s music. A trio composed of Michael Rocheford, Cooper Leardi and Tyler Kershaw, House of Harm is a night owl’s call back to the birth of new wave. Dark, seedy, intense and also frenetic, emotional and upbeat. One second you’re brooding in the back of the bar, furious at whoever’s scorned you. The next, you’re shaking and twisting your cares away under the glittering lights of the dancefloor.
The newly liberated concert-goers of Boston got to do just that this past weekend when beloved Cambridge venue The Sinclair finally reopened. House of Harm was invited along with Eldridge Rodriguez to open for Boston’s own The Sheila Divine. “Boston is celebrating reopening, so we’re excited to be a part of that,” says Rocheford. One of just a few shows booked for the rest of this year, their first show back was initially due for November. “Seems like the rest of the world is going full throttle, but we’re taking it a little slow. We have some other things we’re doing, but just to get our feet wet again we’re doing this one. Next year we’ll go crazy. We’re busy writing.”
Photo by Andrew Bourque
The night was dark and full of good music as the three acts ushered in a new dawn of live shows in Boston. The show begins with a familiar voice greeted attendees. Welcoming us back with the customary instructions and warnings as the room filled with eager ears, plugged or not. Rodriguez kicked things off powering through standout tracks “What a Difference a Drug Makes” and “Country and Western”. A solid set that got the energy going quickly and sustained before handing off to House of Harm for round two.
Performing tracks off of their debut album Vicious Pastimes, this marked the first time House of Harm would be performing some of these songs live. Like many debut albums, Pastimes is a collection of tracks written over their formative years as a band. Some songs had been released for a couple of years before making it back on the debut. “Should we record this song for a 3rd time? Yeah, because it’s a good song and it should be on there,” explains Rocheford. Whether or not they had been performed before, you couldn’t tell because the band flowed through the set with such ease. The excitement was rich on stage between the three members as they played off of each other and into the hungry crowd. Finishing off strong with title track “Vicious Pastimes”, the trio left the stage having successfully emerged from the hiatus that was COVID-19.
Local favorites The Sheila Divine closed out the evening. Frontman Aaron Perrino put it best that seeing everyone in the audience was definitely “overwhelming but exciting”. The band performed some popular tracks to please the crowd before diving into deeper cuts for the true fans, some of which hadn’t been performed live for several years.
With their first show of 2021 now officially behind them, House of Harm is ready to get back to work on their next album. “Making music makes me happy,” admits Rocheford, “[I think] people imagine we’re just sitting here crying writing our sad songs but we’re pretty happy. I think it’s happy music, but people might disagree with that [laughs].” With this upcoming album being a first for the group in that every song is newly written, Rocheford is excited at the prospect of a blank canvas. Avoiding any specifics, the band believes some listeners may be surprised with the new material. “The new stuff is more guitar driven… going into new territories, but in a natural way. Nothing too crazy, but you never know. I don’t want to put limits on it, if we wanna make some kind of folk song maybe we would. Never say never.”
Between playing a handful of shows around the Greater New England area, the band will be relocating to the West Coast to work on the new album. They hope to finish it up before the end of the year and head into 2022 with new sounds, new shows, new experiences and possibly some new pre-show rituals. “Some show rituals shouldn’t really be documented [laughs],” admits Rocheford. “You just have to get a pep in your step and get comfortable enough to perform. Don’t throw up on yourself, but be loose enough. No witchcraft involved.”
Listen to Vicious Pastimes by House of Harm below. Follow along with Eldridge Rodriguez, House of Harm and The Sheila Divine on their respective websites and social media. Check out The Sinclair schedule for upcoming shows!