WBCN Boston Emissions

Radio Interview with The Curtain Society

From: WBCN, Boston, MA, 19 February 1995
Interviewer: Shred (WBCN DJ)

Last modified on October 4, 1995.

SHRED

Ok, the members of The Curtain Society, and there are three of them in the studio, the 'BCN studios right now... hello, guys.

ROGER/RON/DUNCAN

Hello...

SHRED

I guess we've got Ron, Duncan, and Roger.

ROGER/RON/DUNCAN

Yep. Correct.

SHRED

Roger was saying his name... it's like, "come on, remember it." When did the CD come out? It's like, very recent. Is it not fresh?

RON

Fresh.

ROGER

It's still wet.

RON

Very fresh.

ROGER

It, uh, our release party was the...

DUNCAN

February 3rd.

ROGER

...and that was it. The first...

DUNCAN

We got them a few hours, actually, beforehand...

ROGER

As is normal...

DUNCAN

...for the release party.

RON

I was praying to God that they came in to my work, and they came in just in time, I was just out the door, and they just came... right... same-day.

ROGER

Helpful hint to all bands trying to put a CD out. Helpful hint #1: do not book your CD release party until you have the discs in hand.

SHRED

Well, that was, like, a thing in the '80s, essentially, was to... if you were going to have a record release party, you could count on the record not being out at the time of the record, or cassette party. Back then, there wasn't that many CD's, I'm thinking about basic early to mid 1980s. So how long has The Curtain Society been actually in existence?

ROGER

Six and a half years.

RON

Six and a half, yup.

SHRED

And how many pieces of material have you released in that time?

ROGER

Millions.

RON

Quite a few. A lot of, like, just homespun EP cassettes, and then we did a full-length cassette a couple years ago, and a couple of 7-inches followed and...

ROGER

We did a couple of compilation CDs in the last year, we did the Soon CD, Boston... Boston's darker not-grunge bands, that came out last year, we had a cut on that, and we'll have hopefully a couple of cuts on the new one that they're talking about putting out, too, but we did that. We did the Kindred Spirits CD from Bedazzled Records last year, too...

SHRED

How many Bedazzled things... when did you hook up with Bedazzled? ...and that's a record label out of Washington, D.C., that the other local band that comes to mind is Mistle Thrush, they're on that label, and they were just up...

RON

Umm... a year and a half ago?

ROGER

Yeah, it was... we hooked up with them in '93 after the Where Are You? album cassette came out, and we did a 7-inch with them, and it's been a great thing ever since. We... it was a label that I liked -- I'm a DJ on a radio station out in Worcester, also -- I liked all the stuff they were putting out, and I said, well, if anybody's going to appreciate what we're doing, we should send them a tape. And, you know, they did, and we hooked up, and it's been a great friendship ever since.

SHRED

And now, they're releasing The Curtain Society's stuff.

ROGER

In digital.

SHRED

Inertia is the name of the CD.

ROGER

Yup.

DUNCAN

We were just kind of looking for a nondescript word, I came up with it one night just off the top of my head. We were just thinking of just very nondescript names for it, and that had a nice ring to it, I guess. Nothing really to it.

ROGER

Except that it goes forward.

SHRED

Usually. Or, the inertia could make you go back.

ROGER

We like words. I mean, the name The Curtain Society doesn't necessarily mean anything either, but it just has a certain sound to it. And, even though it doesn't have a meaning or you don't think it has a meeting... meaning... meeting? We have a meeting tomorrow morning with the name... umm... no, it just sort of evokes a sort of image, and "inertia" is one of those words that just kinda feels a certain way and doesn't necessarily have to mean anything specific, but just feels a certain way.

DUNCAN

It's actually amazing how many people I've run into that pronounce it "in-er-tah" or don't even know what it means...

ROGER

"In-er-tee-ah"...

DUNCAN

Right.

ROGER

That drunk guy...

SHRED

It implies movement of some sort. Now, Roger, you say you DJ at a radio station down in Worcester, that's a college radio or community radio station, right?

ROGER

Yeah.

SHRED

Have you guys played in Worcester, and got a following going down there, and what is that like if you have?

RON

It's actually been more productive in Boston, but, the Worcester scene right now...

SHRED

What, you don't like Ralph's?

RON

Well, they make great cheeseburgers, and if you eat there you'll live forever... no, it's been a lot more productive out in Boston. The scene right now in Worcester...

ROGER

What scene?

RON

Well, the scene that actually draws people is more of a hard-core, and a heavier scene, and that's what people are into, and that's what people pay money to go see. It's hard to get people out of their dormitory or out of their house in Worcester. And especially for something like us, which is a little bit different, especially out there.

SHRED

Having a problem at Worcester Poly[technic Institute] and Holy Cross?

RON

Yeah, but they...

ROGER

Actually, WPI is pretty good... we've got lot of fans from WPI.

RON

...people just want to stay home and drink, it seems, on the weekend in Worcester.

SHRED

They live in Worcester... I mean, do you blame them?

ROGER

You don't need another excuse.

RON

We used to play down there a lot, and I think we kinda... it was more nonproductive, it seemed like we were burning ourselves out a little too much on that scene. It's definitely where we cut our teeth and everything, where we just kinda figured out what worked and what didn't work and everything, and it's definitely... it's helped out a lot in that respect, but...

DUNCAN

There's really not a lot of venues, either. There used to be the Worcester Artists Group, but...

ROGER

Bowler's was kinda cool, too...

DUNCAN

And Bowler's, also...

ROGER

Bowler's is gone...

DUNCAN

...now defunct, and unfortunately, because it was such a good venue and they actually were pulling in a lot of really good international bands on the college circuit.

SHRED

Yeah, didn't they pull in Stereolab?

ROGER

Stereolab, Tsunami...

DUNCAN

Meat Puppets played there, actually...

SHRED

That's right, Meat Puppets played there. I remember that. One thing that I want to point out was that that song... or the whole thing, was done on 8-track, Inertia.

ROGER

Quarter-inch 8-track.

SHRED

And, Roger, you recorded it and produced it?

ROGER

That's what I do.

SHRED

Occasionally.

ROGER

Yeah.

SHRED

A pretty fantastic job.

ROGER

Thank you very much.

SHRED

I mean, audibly it sounds great. Was it...

ROGER

Well, they played on it.

SHRED

Yeah... well, performance is part of it, too, definitely, but I mean for just 8 tracks, it sounded very good, it sounded very full.

ROGER

Thank you.

DUNCAN

That was one of our goals. We... They had done some stuff prior to me joining, we had recorded on it before, and it was a goal to make it sound the best that it could.

RON

It's nice and big.

SHRED

Now, it's a process that sometimes gets overlooked, I feel, is mastering. Does it help it out that much more, mastering it?

ROGER

Definitely. When you're working on a format that has a lot of limits, like... quarter-inch 8-track compared to two-inch 24-track, there's a huge difference physically and dynamically.

SHRED

With the tapes, yeah. You have to make up for...

ROGER

The story about mastering it was just kind of funny, that we finished mixing it on 10 o'clock on a Monday night, and by midnight, Duncan and I were in the car driving to Canada, and by the next day at 2:00 p.m. ...

DUNCAN

We were dumping it into a computer.

ROGER

Fourteen hours later, you know, and twelve thousand cups of coffee later...

DUNCAN

Cappio.

ROGER

Cappio for you.

SHRED

Cappio?! (laughs)

DUNCAN

During a blizzard.

ROGER

Yeah. They drink milk out of bags in Canada, it's so weird.

SHRED

Yeah, I know. I think I've had it. Matter of fact, I thought it was yummy at the time.

ROGER

I mean, the mastering, I think, made a big difference to make for the things that you're lacking in format, like quarter-inch 8-track. I think it sounded good when we finished mixing, but the mastering just kind of took care of what was missing in the high end and the low end, and making everything sound equal.

SHRED

To me, it's an important step that a lot of bands just don't think of.

ROGER

Oh, yeah.

DUNCAN

There has to be a continuity within the CD, when we mastered it...

RON

It needs the missing sound, just to make sure everything's nice and level, I mean... basic... first step I guess.

ROGER

It was mastered specifically, as Duncan was saying, where it flowed. If you listened to the whole thing as one piece... it's not like a concept album at all, but if you listen to it as one piece it all sort of makes... aural sense.

DUNCAN

Sonic.

ROGER

Sonic sense. Yeah, that's a better word. And it was mastered that way, and sequenced that way, with songs kind of cross-faded into each other.

DUNCAN

The way we did it we actually got to see the songs on a computer screen before we arranged them the way thet you hear them now, so it allowed us to kind of get an idea of what flowed, and I think it worked out.

ROGER

Yeah.

SHRED

So, you guys thought about this... a little bit.

ROGER

A little bit.

SHRED

At least.

ROGER

That's a long drive to Toronto.

SHRED

Yeah. All right, you have some upcoming gigs?

ROGER

No. We're breaking up.

SHRED

That's it, six and a half years and it's done, tonight. Just because I asked if you had some upcoming gigs and somebody got scared.

RON

Roger, I told you not to talk about bad milk.

ROGER

Ok, I'm leaving.

DUNCAN

We're playing, actually, this Saturday at T.T. The Bear's, it's a Bedazzled night, it's gonna...

ROGER

It's gonna be awesome.

DUNCAN

we're gonna play with Mistle Thrush, and...

ROGER

Viola Peacock, and...

SHRED

An April March...

DUNCAN

An April March, from Toronto, who are just great.

ROGER

They are... the greatest.

DUNCAN

A great reason to go out and see...

ROGER

I get to play guitar with them, too.

SHRED

Awesome.

ROGER

It'll be fun.

SHRED

Roger, what's some of the production jobs that you've done, just real quickly?

ROGER

I've did some of the new Mecca Normal album... I did Puddle, who have a great 7-inch. I'm gonna be doing the new Mistle Thrush compilation cut... they're doing a Bedazzled compilation with us and I'm doing their cut, and... a lot of Worcester bands like, Puddle's probably the best, and Huck, which is... remember Childhood, who won the [WBCN] Rumble a few years ago?

SHRED

Yep.

ROGER

Their guitar player's new band, Huck, which is... they're really great. They're actually playing in the W-B-mmm-mmm Rock Hunt in Providence.

SHRED

(laughs)

RON

That other station.

ROGER

And, wish them luck, 'cause we can't be there to root them on, but they're a great band... and Jive Lama, umm... oh, I can't... lots of hardcore 7-inches, tons of hardcore. That's what's going on in Worcester, so I did so many...

SHRED

You did a lot of that?

ROGER

Yeah, I did Beyond Id's stuff, I don't know if you have any of their stuff here, but they're...

SHRED

No, but send it on up.

ROGER

They're nuts, but they're touched. They've got something going on, they're great. Umm... so, you know, I'm keeping busy.

SHRED

That's pretty awesome.

ROGER

Yeah.

SHRED

And after Saturday?

DUNCAN

Causeway.

RON

The Causeway on the 2nd.

DUNCAN

March 2nd.

ROGER

Yeah, Thursday the 2nd, with Midnight Call, Blueshift Signal, and Curious Ritual, who are great.

RON

And March 11th, we're doing Ralph's.

SHRED

There you go, there for the burgers.

DUNCAN

And then the next night, we're playing Brownie's in New York.

ROGER

New Yawrk!

SHRED

Now, have you guys been out on the road yet, or what?

ROGER

Yeah.

DUNCAN

This summer we did Canada, we did a couple shows in Canada, then up to Detroit, Michigan...

SHRED

Did you go up with another band, like An April March?

DUNCAN

We went with An April March, yeah.

DUNCAN

And we go down to Rhode Island every now and then.

ROGER

We'll play anywhere that... if we can afford the gas and the van's running good, we'll play anywhere. We went down to play Virginia, and drove straight down, played a show and came straight back, on no sleep, hallucinating all the way...

SHRED

And lots of Cappio, right?

DUNCAN

Yeah...

SHRED

Well, Roger and Duncan and Ron, I want to thank you very much for dropping by the 'BCN studios on Boston Emissions tonight, and we're going to play another song off of CD Inertia, this one's called "Ferris Wheel."

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