Interview: Micah Schnabel & Vanessa Jean Speckman Energize The Parlour

Micah Schnabel & Vanessa Jean Speckman (Photo Courtesy of George L. Blosser)

There’s something really powerful that occurs when a musician, or a group of them, has the ability to take over a room with barely any instruments. It’s a genuine exhibition of their talents and it’s what separates the innovators from the imitators. With an acoustic guitar, a whole lot of emphasis, and something to say, Micah Schnabel and Vanessa Jean Speckman are a stellar example. On May 22, the duo are going to be headlining a stacked show at The Parlour on 1119 North Main Street in Providence with local rock staples Six Star General and Boston punk legend Lenny Lashley rounding things out. Bobby Forand is going to be doing a reading from his new book It’s Been a Pleasure as well with the whole thing starting a little after 8pm.

I had a talk with Schnabel and Speckman ahead of the show about their latest full-length, their collaborative process, and what they have going on later in the year.

Back in March, you both put out a new record together called *The Great Degradation*, and you brought a bunch of people into the fold including Frank Turner on the mixing and mastering while playing tambourine, piano, and organ along with the likes of drummer Jason Winner and multi-instrumentalists Jay Gasper and Todd May. What was the experience like with the songwriting and recording process? It’s mentioned in the liner notes that you did it in a couple basements in Columbus, Ohio.

Micah Schnabel: It all happened very fast because we found out that our rent was being doubled, so we had to make some decisions on how we were going to proceed in life in general. We had the songs, so we quickly decided that we were going to make a record and we booked the time with our friend and engineer Alex Douglas. We got the tunes together, demoed them and everything, and we recorded them very quickly in the basements of Columbus.

Vanessa Jean Speckman: Yeah, I think it was over the course of three days total.

MS: It was very frantic and our world was changing very fast. We decided that we were going to move out to California and out of our apartment that we had been in for 13 years in Columbus. I’ve been in Columbus since I was 18, I had spent 25 years there, so it was basically an upheaval of our entire lives and it was all happening at that time.

VJS: We were on tour for most of the summer and we were away from the band, so during that time, Micah and I discussed that we should probably record these songs with the band while we have physical access to everybody. We told the band that was what was going to shake down, so by the fall, we had booked the recording dates. It happened very quickly, which was good and bad, but I think it helped alleviate some of the shock of what was happening in our lives. It also kind of ripped the band-aid off of saying goodbye to our people.

MS: As with all creative endeavors, it put the countdown clock on, so we had to do it right then and right now. It has benefits and pullbacks, but I think it was a benefit in this situation.

[embed]

It’s good that you had a way to process everything that was happening rather than be immersed in the chaos. Micah, I know about you because of the rock band you’re a part of in Two Cow Garage, so Vanessa, before getting involved in this collaborative project, what were you doing musically? Were you in other bands in the Columbus area or doing other types of performance art like theater or improv?

VJS: I wasn’t doing anything sonically. I was a writer and a visual artist, and in my early 20s, I started making scenes and stuff like that. Then I was painting with my poetry onto large pieces of fabric that could hang on walls. I continued to explore different mediums of sharing my words and my poetry, and then at the end of 2019, that was when I approached Micah about wanting to create soundscapes to go along with my poetry. My first project was called Call Me Rita with all the guys that we recorded with, Jason, Todd, and Jay.

Micah and the guys created a soundscape to go behind some of my poetry, which I was doing as spoken word. Then I think we recorded that in February of 2020 before lockdown started, so during that time in isolation, I started developing more song structures along with a lot of rage. It made me get more aggressive with my stage presence and whatnot, so performance wise, it’s all pretty new to me, but I’ve always been writing and looking for different ways of sharing that outside of just paper and pen.

When it comes to the way you both perform and the artistic and sonic dynamic you both share, what do you think makes it stand out? Are you able to open creative doors for each other through songwriting and exchanging ideas?

MS: For me, I’ve never really written with another person. In Two Cow Garage, there are two songwriters where Shane Sweeney writes songs and I write songs and we collaborate musically on them. This is the first time I’ve ever written singular songs with another person and it’s really exciting because if I start a song with one perspective or one idea, there’s this sort of handshake where I give it to Vanessa to see where she takes it. Then I can jump from there, so it moves it forward in a different way and there’s a level of intimacy and trust you have to have with somebody to create something that’s lasting and not superficial. A lot of times, sharing artistic ways like that can make you stay guarded easier, but in this way, there’s enough trust where you know the person isn’t going to take it some way you weren’t looking to go or say some off-the-wall shit.

There’s definitely a level of trust that we have with handing songs back and forth. It makes it very exciting because there’s no pre-planned destination that you’re going to arrive to and you go to new places that you weren’t thinking about.

VJS: I think in a song like “No Xmas Cards for Fascists,” what’s exciting is that we kind of trade off and we’re able to positively assault the listener with different perspectives, and for better or for worse, cram a lot into a singular song. In the song “Omaha,” Micah writes from the villain perspective, and when we were writing it, I was like, “Ah shit, man. You’re being an asshole in this song” while coming at it with the complete opposite perspective. I really like the concept of writing together and getting a lot of different perspectives and point of views through our characters in one singular piece.

[embed]

That’s a very cool approach to have. I know Micah has played in Providence a bunch of times with Two Cow Garage, but what are your thoughts on coming to the city to perform at The Parlour?

MS: Two Cow Garage was very fortunate that when we started playing gigs in the early 2000s, Providence quickly became one of our favorite places. That has stayed true with Vanessa and I, we’ve been able to meet so many great bands and great people that it’s become a second home. It makes it much easier showing up to the venue than it is in towns where you don’t have that.

Yeah, we do have a great community here and it’s great that you have a similar notion from an outsider’s perspective.

VJS: I think Rhode Island, and especially Providence, has been so kind to us between music lovers and people who play music or work at the venues. It always feels really special coming back there, you know you’re going to be safe and it’s going to be exciting. It’s a place I would consider living. (laughs)

As a person who lives in Providence, I can’t blame you for feeling that way. You have this new record out, so what would you say is the next step for the both of you? Are you primarily focusing on touring to get as many people to hear the songs off of The Great Degradation as possible, or do you have any other projects or collaborations in the works?

MS: I think we’re full throttle on this record right now and we’re looking to take it as far and as wide as possible. Ideally, not too far down the line, we’d love to get to a financial point where we can bring out the band, but right now, we tour as an acoustic duo. We’re going to be performing as part of Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings in September down in Dallas and then we’re going to be at the OffBeat Festival in Reno in October, so those are some really great opportunities we’re excited about. It’s pedal to the metal on this to see where we can take it.

VSJ: Like Micah said, in terms of touring, we’re just doing this as a duo right now, which is still exciting because it’s challenging in a positive way with us always being present on stage. We’re always aiming to deliver the best performance we can every night and we’re always working and writing. I know I’ve been asking Micah to write a waltz, so he’s been working on that, and I think the level we’re at socioeconomically and the level of venues that we play at, we consume a lot of America from a unique perspective. That’s always inspiring us to jot notes in the notes section on our phones, which is usually where our songs start and develop.

[embed]

In order to make Culture Beat’s content available to everyone, we decided to stop utilizing a paywall. With this being said, we are utilizing the crowdfunding service Buy Me A Coffee in order to have our readers support our endeavors, which they can do so right here.