Northampton’s Darlingside combines so many elements in its musical stew that a new descriptor is needed. The quintet came up with “string-rock,” and quickly realized there was an added benefit to existing in a genre of one: it would be easier to create its own expectations than to live up to those of a pre-existing category.
The band says string-rock sits at the intersection of rock, classical, and folk music—a place where violin, cello and mandolin play alongside acoustic and electric guitars and bass, and rich vocal harmonies and intricate, wide-ranging drum styles abound. The group is influenced by artists like The National, Nickel Creek and Radiohead, but claims to draw songwriting inspiration from all over the place: dreams, people, mathematics, literature, visual art.
Darlingside features Sam Kapala on drums and vocals, Don Mitchell on guitars and vocals, Auyon Mukharji on mandolin, violin, pandeiro (a type of hand frame drum) and vocals, Harris Peseltiner on cello, guitar, bass and vocals and David Senft on vocals, bass and guitar. The five youngsters met through the music community at Williams College, where each wrote his own compositions and and all played in various ensembles together.
After graduating in 2009, the crew settled in Northampton to sort out the best way to exploit their unique blend of instruments and interests. Mitchell said that after a few scant months, it was clear that they had something special and worth pursuing. The collective initially thought its dramatic mashing together of styles and genres might be a hindrance, but in practice it turned out to be quite the opposite.
“We were worried, to start with, that our eclecticism would leave audiences confused,” says Mitchell. “But it turns out that many people—ourselves included—really crave diversity from song to song and are really excited to see what happens when a band tries to push itself in lots of different directions over the course of a set. It also helps us keep our energy fresh and playful.”
The band also pours energy into a robust Web presence. The site features fresh content for virtually every day of the week, from Mixtape Mondays to Comic Tuesdays to Song Lab, online home to projects like Darlingside Rustic Ringtones, where members take their songs and try to recreate their essence in short sound clips using old-school synthesizer sounds for fans’ ringtones.
Mitchell credits the site for helping the quintet win a trip to Austin’s South by Southwest music conference to play with The Antlers and Luyas. “The contest was decided by online voting, and I think our consistent emphasis on quality Web content is what created the community that carried us through that competition,” Mitchell says. “The Web is the new place where fans interact with music, and we view our revamped website as a way to give our audience further windows into our musical world.”
Darlingside is on a tour throughout March that will take it from Canada through the Midwest and South, then back up the Eastern seaboard. Darlingside plans to record its first album in May.
You can catch the quintet at Northampton’s Iron Horse Friday, April 22 with Rustic Overtones. For songs and much more, visit www.darlingside.com.
