COVER STORY .

At the Hip

Brian McTear/Amy Morrissey


	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Mar 7, 2007

Photo By: Michael T. Regan

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Read Michael T. Regan's commentary

"It's how all the songs from the first and second record exist in my head," says Brian McTear, perched in the control room chair of his Miner Street/Cyclesound recordings studio, of the full-band treatment his songs get on Bitter Bitter Weeks' forthcoming third album, Peace Is Burning Like a River. It's perhaps a surprising statement for anyone familiar with the haunting acoustic guitar-based songs that populated the band's self-titled debut and follow-up Revenge. Those albums were defined by spare arrangements and McTear's voice, which is something like the embodiment of vulnerable anxiety. On a conceptual level, the thought of losing that singular trembling beacon in a sea of racket seems blasphemous.

The good news is that McTear, the go-to producer for Philadelphia's burgeoning indie rock set, had his ear out for that. "I didn't want to lose any sense that I'm a good singer," says McTear. So while they're fleshed out on record, there's that echoey voice floating like a specter throughout McTear's new songs, which tend toward fear of loss in a world gone mad. "Maybe it's the stage Amy and my relationship is at," says McTear of his bandmate/studio partner/girlfriend, artist Amy Morrissey. "Life is starting to stabilize and you envision your future. It's about partnership in light of how crappy the world is." Though the official release of Peace Is Burning Like a River remains up in the air as McTear finalizes label details, it's just part of what's shaping up to be a gigantic year for him and Morrissey.

Earlier in the day, McTear was looking over footage for one of the videos he's having shot for the album. He's enlisted friends and acquaintances — such as Quentin Stoltzfus, Greg Weeks of Espers and CP photographer Michael T. Regan — to shoot videos for each of Peace Is Burning's 10 tracks. He'll release the videos leading up to and following the release of the album and hopefully as a DVD.

There's the debut, self-titled album from Morrissey's The Novenas (Morrissey backs McTear in BBW; McTear backs Morrissey in Novenas). She tries her best to downplay it — "I'm a little shy. I've never been in a band before" — as something she'll self-release when she gets around to it. But The Novenas, an album that's been in the works for some time now, reveals Morrissey as a clever and thoughtful songwriter.

And then there's the studio — moved last year from Manayunk to right around the corner from their Fishtown home — where McTear and Morrissey have recorded new stuff from B.C. Camplight, Hail Social, Apollo Sunshine, Milton and the Devil's Party and Espers. They're in the process of converting part of the first floor into a kitchen/loft area (pictured above) for visiting bands and another part into a workshop for the multitasking Morrissey to build amps and practice aerial trapeze work.

(Somehow they manage to play out: Bitter Bitter Weeks will play March 8 at the M Room, and The Novenas will hit up The Khyber on March 14.)

It's sort of natural to wonder whether two people whose lives are so intertwined get sick of each other. They claim they don't, and honestly, it just doesn't sound like they'd have the time.