Photo by Justin Melanson
There’s this false belief that making music is a young person’s game and that longtime music veterans aren’t equipped to contribute fresh ideas to the overall zeitgeist of a long-beloved genre. Let’s put that exclusionary mindset to bed while we throw on some Honest Mechanik, the folk-rock duo composed of Susan Cattaneo and Paul Hansen.
Both are longtime musicians based in Medford with a knack for crafting pleasing melodies and painting vivid pictures of nostalgic contentment, tepid isolation, and wanton daydreaming. Susan’s – a Berklee songwriting professor for 20 years until leaving her position in May – has a background in Nashville-style pop country and Americana, while Paul’s background is more on the indie rock side of the aisle, having played in various bands over the years, notably The Grownup Noise.
With Honest Mechanik, you can hear these two backgrounds meeting in the middle, with less of a respectful handshake and much more of a warm embrace. The collaboration afforded both of them space to try something new and extend their songwriting capabilities beyond what either was used to in past projects. For Susan, this was liberating: “My storytelling in songwriting has been pretty formal. I really feel free in Honest Mechanik, and I love that about it. We’re more chasing a feel and a vibe rather than an emotion. It feels really open.”
The duo joined forces a few years ago to write music together. As Susan puts it, “It started out in this natural way of seeing if we could write a song together. There was no pressure on us because we didn’t know we were a band. Over time, we discovered we had this cool sound that was different from what we do solo. It made the whole process really fun.” This no-pressure collaborative mindset gradually evolved into them officially becoming a band when they finally played a couple shows together, first at Somerville Porchfest and then at Harvard Square’s Club Passim. It was right before that Passim gig that the Honest Mechanik name came about. According to Paul, it’s a reference inspired by a neighborhood mechanic that went out of business, one who charged very fair prices and was an overall good dude. Basically, the joke is that an honest mechanic is sort of an oxymoronic term, a hard to find entity.
On Friday, July 16th, the duo is releasing their debut self-titled album on the back of its preceding singles “Translate,” “Outsider,” “Movie,” and “Love Alone.” Additionally, there have been a handful of videos released for these tracks. It’s a beautiful collection of songs, exhibiting the duo’s penchant for harmonizing catchy indie folk vocal melodies. The album was recorded predominantly under the restrictions of quarantine. While much of the songwriting had been completed with the two able to actually get together, they were forced into separate sessions once social distancing went into effect. Once Paul and Susan recorded their parts individually, they sent the tracks over to drummer Marco Giovino (whose credits include working with Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant) to lay down the percussion.
Both Paul and Susan are parents, and “Translate” deals with a certain parental insecurity surrounding seeing your children grow up in a new, ever-changing world that is vastly different from the one you’re familiar with. “I think,” Paul says, “the initial notion was that, even with all our combined life experience, our kids are gonna be living in a new world. We’re not even going to know what to say to them on some things. Our wisdom only goes so far.” There’s an equal measure of something unsettling yet also exciting in that notion. He elaborates, “It’s realizing that and being ok with that. You want to be protective and give your kids all you can in the world, but there are some things they’ll have to learn on the way.” Susan adds that her kids are a little older. “They’re leaving the nest. It’s the idea of questioning did we do too much? Did we not do enough?”
Honest Mechanik Album Art
On “Movies,” the two spend some time fantasizing about some of their favorite types films, explaining that each of the song’s three verses was loosely inspired by cinematic reference points (also note that the album cover is a photo of an empty theatre, an image that certainly hits home to avid moviegoers who are only just recently able to get back to the watch flicks on the big screen). Withnail & I, a British dark comedy starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, lays the foundation for the first verse; old vaudevilles that depict a damsel in distress tied to a train track for the second; and the classic dance duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for the third. The Fred and Ginger inspiration feels particularly reflective of the way Paul and Susan’s vocals play off of each other.
But of the first three singles that precede this album, “Outsider” stands out as a particular songwriting achievement, a track about trying to find your own place within a community and questioning if what “you’re doing is valid,” as Susan puts it. She questions the social dynamics we establish as youth and continue to perpetuate throughout adulthood. “It’s all still high school,” she says. “The bridge goes, ‘it’s like recess but now you’re old.’” Paul adds that the song examines the need for mutual understanding. “We’ve all felt like the outsider at some point,” he says. “Maybe that’s cathartic in a way too. Everyone’s kind of selfish in that way. That’s a good defense mechanism.”
That’s sort of the underlying metaphor that gives Honest Mechanik its real potency: dissolving preconceived notions of background to unite into something greater. It’s really never too late to get in touch with that spirit of personal freedom.
Stream and purchase Honest Mechanik below via Bandcamp, and keep an eye out for this duo as they look to perform shows now that clubs around Boston are beginning to book live music once more.