Rosin Coven
Encyclopedia
Rosin Coven is a theatrical music ensemble based in San Francisco, USA.
Rosin Coven's sound can be described as part of the Dark Cabaret
movement, with strong jazz
, rock
, lounge
, theatre
and klezmer
influences, amongst others. Most all of their music performed is original, with very occasional covers. For lack of a suitable genre, they came up with "Pagan Lounge Music," based on a mock business card that a friend created and handed to them at their very first backyard gig in Berkeley, California.
The band has become popular amongst many San Francisco subcultures, the most notable being devotees of the Edwardian Ball, a mini-festival based on the works of author/illustrator Edward Gorey
and the Edwardian Era. They are also well known within the Burning Man
crowd, having performed many times at the desert festival and at the San Francisco event known as Decompression.
Rosin Coven initially formed as a trio in San Francisco in 1996, and has performed regularly in the San Francisco area continuously ever since. They have made three albums: Penumbra, Live in the Pagan Lounge, and Menagerie.
), and Anastasia Emmons (violin
). The core trio had a vision of amplified, sweeping strings accompanying driven lyrics. The three began a search for compatible musicians, primarily a drummer and bass player.
Working through friends and free ads in the San Francisco Guardian, the three found Patrick Kaliski and Justin Katz, who met in San Diego as students at UCSD and played together in other bands. Beth's summer work in a trio in Yellowstone Park required a substitute cellist, and Brian Bulkowski was brought in, but the added richness of a second cello lead to his assimilation.
The band's early works were primarily penned by Carrie Davis, with other members contributing. Songs were often orchestrated and improved collaboratively, leading to an eclectic mixture of sounds and songs.
Justin and Patrick lived in a warehouse in the "Jingletown" district of East Oakland, where other bands formed (notably YOU, a psychedelic space-rock band), and large parties were thrown on a regular basis. Rosin Coven's first gigs were at warehouse parties, although they quickly graduated to San Francisco's clubs, such as their first gig at the Hotel Utah. It was at this gig where they were scouted by Cafe du Nord's booking agent, which led to a series of performances at that club in the years to follow.
The band's first album, Penumbra, was recorded during this period, and the band's debut year at Burning Man was 1999.
San Francisco's live music scene was vibrant during this period, as the Dot-com bubble
was in full swing. The band's mainstay club was Cafe du Nord, and they typically performed in elegant costumery with an empahasis on decor and set design.
The band expanded on its theatrical roots by creating and performing a live operetta, "Dream of the Scarab, A Beetle Bagatelle", which ran in sold-out glory for only four shows on one weekend at small black-box theater space called Venue 9. This exceptional experience prodded the band to greater emphasis on theatricality and costumes, in collaboration with visualist Ken Reeser who became the band's "visual alchemist."
, where they played CBGB
Gallery and the Flux Factory. Other than this period, the band has not toured extensively, primarily performing in the San Francisco area.
Two key forces were added - trombonist Tim Carless, and vibraphonist Tim O'Keefe. Violinist Andrea left the SF Bay area for Hawaii
, and a new violinist was found in Lila Sklar, who shared many of the gypsy-inspired violin techniques, but with a heavier influence on jazz than rock.
Importantly, Carrie and Justin were married in late 2000, contributing to the stability of the band. Later, Tim Carless and Beth Vandervennet would marry as well, turning Rosin Coven into a decidedly family affair.
The album "Live in the Pagan Lounge" was compiled from live recordings around this period, primarily for sale on the short tours.
Rosin Coven's music found its way into a short film project by Yael Braha called, The Waves, which won an Eastman award. "Lion Song", from Penumbra, was heard on MTV's Big Brother
, as well as in the Malcolm McDowell
film, Dorian, a mediocre retelling of the Oscar Wilde
novel.
The band's booking and management primarily became the responsibility of bassist Justin Katz, who co-founded Berkeley arts organization Epic Arts, and began organizing and promoting his own shows, often under the PARADOX Media name. San Francisco's Edwardian Ball, celebrating both the Edwardian Period as well as writer and illustrator Edward Gorey
, began in 2000 as PARADOX Media productions, initially at the Cat Club. As the event grew
Rosin Coven's music took even more theatrical turns, working with costumer and visual artist Gitty Duncan. Longer songs, such as the 20 minute song cycle "Train (A Vague Hunger)" created extended collaboration with local dance groups.
Band members Justin, Patrick, Tim and Espie formed a project called Dr. Abacus inspired by cartoon soundtracks, burlesque and 80's glam metal during this period with saxophonist John "Dr. Abacus" Schroeder. This was, in fact a sort of continuation of Schroeder, Justin and Patricks' seminal "YOU" band that recorded 3 studio albums, hosted outrageous art parties in their Oakland loft (where R.C. first performed) and toured the western U.S. including a tour van flipping and leaving Justin's upright bass in splinters and Patrick with his now famous "belly scar."
The album "Menagerie" was recorded early in this period, showing the band with a lusher and more mature tone. It featured original paintings by Craig LaRotonda of Revelation Art. Soon thereafter, family responsibilities slowed down the band's pace, but as the children have grown, the band is back on track with new material and even larger shows.
Rosin Coven's sound can be described as part of the Dark Cabaret
Dark Cabaret
Dark cabaret may be a simple description of the theme and mood of a cabaret performance, but more recently has come to define a particular musical genre which draws on the aesthetics of the decadent, risqué German Weimar-era cabarets, burlesque and vaudeville shows with the stylings of post-1970s...
movement, with strong jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
influences, amongst others. Most all of their music performed is original, with very occasional covers. For lack of a suitable genre, they came up with "Pagan Lounge Music," based on a mock business card that a friend created and handed to them at their very first backyard gig in Berkeley, California.
The band has become popular amongst many San Francisco subcultures, the most notable being devotees of the Edwardian Ball, a mini-festival based on the works of author/illustrator Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
and the Edwardian Era. They are also well known within the Burning Man
Burning Man
Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Monday before the American Labor Day holiday, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...
crowd, having performed many times at the desert festival and at the San Francisco event known as Decompression.
Rosin Coven initially formed as a trio in San Francisco in 1996, and has performed regularly in the San Francisco area continuously ever since. They have made three albums: Penumbra, Live in the Pagan Lounge, and Menagerie.
Founding
The band formed around Carrie Katz, nee Davis (vocals, guitar and harp), Beth Vandervennet (celloCello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
), and Anastasia Emmons (violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
). The core trio had a vision of amplified, sweeping strings accompanying driven lyrics. The three began a search for compatible musicians, primarily a drummer and bass player.
Working through friends and free ads in the San Francisco Guardian, the three found Patrick Kaliski and Justin Katz, who met in San Diego as students at UCSD and played together in other bands. Beth's summer work in a trio in Yellowstone Park required a substitute cellist, and Brian Bulkowski was brought in, but the added richness of a second cello lead to his assimilation.
The band's early works were primarily penned by Carrie Davis, with other members contributing. Songs were often orchestrated and improved collaboratively, leading to an eclectic mixture of sounds and songs.
Justin and Patrick lived in a warehouse in the "Jingletown" district of East Oakland, where other bands formed (notably YOU, a psychedelic space-rock band), and large parties were thrown on a regular basis. Rosin Coven's first gigs were at warehouse parties, although they quickly graduated to San Francisco's clubs, such as their first gig at the Hotel Utah. It was at this gig where they were scouted by Cafe du Nord's booking agent, which led to a series of performances at that club in the years to follow.
Early years
Anastasia departed the band early, and the search was on for a new violinist. Andrea Walls, a veteran of San Francisco's rock and gypsy scene, joined the band, and the band gigged heavily in 1998 and 1999. Soon thereafter, a second female vocalist, Carri Abrahms, joined the band, adding operatically trained vocals and great depth to Rosin Coven's sound, as well as composing strong songs.The band's first album, Penumbra, was recorded during this period, and the band's debut year at Burning Man was 1999.
San Francisco's live music scene was vibrant during this period, as the Dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
was in full swing. The band's mainstay club was Cafe du Nord, and they typically performed in elegant costumery with an empahasis on decor and set design.
The band expanded on its theatrical roots by creating and performing a live operetta, "Dream of the Scarab, A Beetle Bagatelle", which ran in sold-out glory for only four shows on one weekend at small black-box theater space called Venue 9. This exceptional experience prodded the band to greater emphasis on theatricality and costumes, in collaboration with visualist Ken Reeser who became the band's "visual alchemist."
Expansion
2000 was a watershed year for Rosin Coven, with a one-month European tour primarily in the Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic. The tour was repeated in 2001 with Poland and France added to the visited nations. Both the 2000 and 2001 tours included weekend gigging stints with the classic Czech rock band, Brutus. In 2002, financial strain of touring an eight-piece band led Rosin Coven to cut the tour to a week in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where they played CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
Gallery and the Flux Factory. Other than this period, the band has not toured extensively, primarily performing in the San Francisco area.
Two key forces were added - trombonist Tim Carless, and vibraphonist Tim O'Keefe. Violinist Andrea left the SF Bay area for Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, and a new violinist was found in Lila Sklar, who shared many of the gypsy-inspired violin techniques, but with a heavier influence on jazz than rock.
Importantly, Carrie and Justin were married in late 2000, contributing to the stability of the band. Later, Tim Carless and Beth Vandervennet would marry as well, turning Rosin Coven into a decidedly family affair.
The album "Live in the Pagan Lounge" was compiled from live recordings around this period, primarily for sale on the short tours.
Rosin Coven's music found its way into a short film project by Yael Braha called, The Waves, which won an Eastman award. "Lion Song", from Penumbra, was heard on MTV's Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
, as well as in the Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
film, Dorian, a mediocre retelling of the Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
novel.
The band's booking and management primarily became the responsibility of bassist Justin Katz, who co-founded Berkeley arts organization Epic Arts, and began organizing and promoting his own shows, often under the PARADOX Media name. San Francisco's Edwardian Ball, celebrating both the Edwardian Period as well as writer and illustrator Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
, began in 2000 as PARADOX Media productions, initially at the Cat Club. As the event grew
Later
2004 saw several changes, as band members settled down. Lila Sklar had a daughter, while the two couples in the band, Carrie and Justin and Beth and Tim, had boys who were born within a week of each other. Carri Abrahms left the band during this period to pursue other projects.Rosin Coven's music took even more theatrical turns, working with costumer and visual artist Gitty Duncan. Longer songs, such as the 20 minute song cycle "Train (A Vague Hunger)" created extended collaboration with local dance groups.
Band members Justin, Patrick, Tim and Espie formed a project called Dr. Abacus inspired by cartoon soundtracks, burlesque and 80's glam metal during this period with saxophonist John "Dr. Abacus" Schroeder. This was, in fact a sort of continuation of Schroeder, Justin and Patricks' seminal "YOU" band that recorded 3 studio albums, hosted outrageous art parties in their Oakland loft (where R.C. first performed) and toured the western U.S. including a tour van flipping and leaving Justin's upright bass in splinters and Patrick with his now famous "belly scar."
The album "Menagerie" was recorded early in this period, showing the band with a lusher and more mature tone. It featured original paintings by Craig LaRotonda of Revelation Art. Soon thereafter, family responsibilities slowed down the band's pace, but as the children have grown, the band is back on track with new material and even larger shows.