Dark Circles

BLURT’S BEST KEPT SECRET #17: Dark Circles
Aug 16, 2011

With one delightfully eclectic album under their belt and another one in the works, the clouds are gathering nicely for the Nashville indie-rockers.



BY FRED MILLS



As previously announced, the latest selection in our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret" series of new or under-the-radar artists is Dark Circles, from Nashville, and our 17th BKS since commencing the program back in 2008.



Meet the band: Celeste Millius (vocals, acoustic guitar) and Pat Millius (guitars, keyboards, percussion), both with extensive musical backgrounds. Celeste grew up in New York and, as a member of the Convertino clan - her brother is John, of Giant Sand/Calexico fame, while her father was a professional piano player/accordionist and her mother was a music teacher - started performing early on with her family. From there her travels took her all over the country and she subsequently played in numerous bands, notably the all-girl Downgirl, which released the Smooch album in '98; she describes the group as "a foray into many new and exciting experiences... one word sums it up: fun." Adds Pat, "Tough, badass guitars, with Celeste purring like a kitten over the mayhem. One of the best live bands I've ever seen - they presided over numerous block parties under the 4th street bridge in downtown L.A." Trainspotters may also recognize her name from Giant Sand's 1990 LP Swerve: Sand mainman Howe Gelb tapped the Convertino talents further and had her sing backing vocals on several tracks.



Pat's from L.A., is an accomplished artist and muralist and has also been in a number of outfits over the years, among them the improvisational Sunz of Zorro, garage/punk outfit DAVE and surf/garage combo The Fugitive Kind, which featured none other than John Convertino on drums (the band's Bone Dance album was released in '88). As you'll read below, it was Convertino who introduced his sister to Pat. A romance blossomed, as did a musical partnership; the duo eventually gravitated to Nashville and established a home recording studio, and earlier this year they released their debut album as Dark Circles, One Golden Day, currently available via CD Baby. (That's Pat's art gracing the cover.)



It's always risky to quote directly from a band's own bio, but in this case the description they provided us was what caught our attention in the first place and prompted us to investigate more closely (musicians, there's a lesson in there somewhere): "A woozy melange of pop styles, from the sunshine harmonies of Brian Wilson, to Joni Mitchell's jazzy meditations, to the retro-pop groove of Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66; all shaded in deep blue undertones."



The first thing that strikes you when listening to One Golden Day is how all over the map it is while retaining an essential cohesiveness that might elude less experienced artists. The duo clearly knows what it wants to do, as evidenced by the explicit Latin/bossa nova vibe of "Winter Lullabye," delightfully playful instrumental "Cicada" (which hearkens back to the anthropomorphic song-titling tradition of ‘60s pop and surf bands), and the sleek and jazzy "Giving Birth to Grasshoppers On A Yellow Dashboard."



Giving Birth To Grasshoppers On A Yellow Dashboard by Dark Circles





Elsewhere, Pat's garage roots are on display in the more revved-up psychedelia of "Hills Have Eyes," while in "One Golden Day" both musicians share the mic for one of the sweetest slices of sunshine pop - listen for the midsong choral break - this side of the Cowsills. And the moody, brooding "Under the Ride," with its percussion, piano and viola and echoey production, tips its hat in the direction of early Velvet Underground, with hints of Mazzy Star lining the edges. Deep blue indeed - and a remarkable album in every sense of the word.



Check out Dark Circles' official website or MySpace page for additional details as well as more song samples. They're one of the good ‘uns, trust us. On to our interview.



***



BLURT: Let's start with the "key influences/heroes" question - what made you want to play music?

PAT MILLIUS: One my earliest memories is my step brother Mark coming home from a "love in" at Griffith Park in the sixties, and painting my whole body in psychedelic colors, and then we freaked out to the Doors and Love's first album. He had an electric guitar with a reel to reel tape recorder as an amp and he taught us the opening riff to Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" on guitar. I used that reel to reel for some of my first ping pong song recordings.



CELESTE MILLIUS: Because I am the 4th of 5 siblings, I shuffled along in the middle. From Peter Paul & Mary to "Onward Chr - Blurt-online

Congratulations to Junkyard Girls, Dark Circles, and Resident Scout - the three artists who were selected from Sonicbids for our Band of the Year Poll.
Junkyard Girls (top picture) could be described as a darker, more ambient blend of Antony and the Johnsons; Dark Circles is a folk duo that could be compared to an equally as relaxing Jimmy Buffet, while Resident Scout (bottom picture) has more of an indie vibe, 90's alternative thing going on with some ska thrown in to make things more interesting....like Foo Fighters meets Cold War Kids. It was a tough choice, but all three of these bands stood out to us with their originality. They will be moving on to the next stage, as well as the ten bands who were selected in the Open Submissions category last week. Keep checking back for developments with our Best of Nashville Emerging Artists Poll! - Erin Manning - The Deli Magazine

Congratulations to Junkyard Girls, Dark Circles, and Resident Scout - the three artists who were selected from Sonicbids for our Band of the Year Poll.
Junkyard Girls (top picture) could be described as a darker, more ambient blend of Antony and the Johnsons; Dark Circles is a folk duo that could be compared to an equally as relaxing Jimmy Buffet, while Resident Scout (bottom picture) has more of an indie vibe, 90's alternative thing going on with some ska thrown in to make things more interesting....like Foo Fighters meets Cold War Kids. It was a tough choice, but all three of these bands stood out to us with their originality. They will be moving on to the next stage, as well as the ten bands who were selected in the Open Submissions category last week. Keep checking back for developments with our Best of Nashville Emerging Artists Poll! - Erin Manning - The Deli Magazine