Getting Fresh

Michael Kiley goes dark and dramatic with The Mural and the Mint.


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Published: Nov 19, 2008

Rock/Pop

Nichole Canuso

TRIPLE MINT: (From left) Michael Kiley, Eliza jones and Jack McBrearty.

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

The music of The Mural and the Mint has a way of sneaking up on you. Perhaps it's because composer/singer Michael Kiley likes to book shows at places like the warehouse-y The Parlor and the dainty L'Etage. ("I'm more interested in building community than playing the right clubs, getting the right publicist or blog write-up," says Kiley.)

Perhaps it's the way Kiley's sweeping melodies, spider-web arrangements and curvaceous singing style are laced with stark, snide, hard-life lyrics. "I can promise you that there'll be hell to pay/ Just remember that the world needs enemies and that is why you're here/ That is all you are to me/ You are something to fear," goes the chorus to "Something to React Against."

Or maybe it's how the whole shebang is dipped in dramatic flourishes, one after another. Kiley's vocals trill thrillingly where they should be soft. The most somber songs on the just-released debut full-length Private Pockets seems to brew steadily, only to boil without warning. It's chamber folk with a kick. It's a big gulp of rich Chardonnay with a nibble of bitter dark chocolate. It's as if some Goliath of art rock like Queen got its ass kicked by Bon Iver.

Blame the theater. Kiley's been making noise on local stages for years: sound collages for David Brick of Headlong Dance Theater, a song on Subcircle's dance film Here, co-composition with James Sugg for Nichole Canuso's roaming performance installation Wandering Alice in the most recent Live Arts Festival.

"I've found that I love writing songs to order through that kind of work," says Kiley.

Add Jack McBrearty — whose guitars sound like violins, birds or whales — Eliza Jones' subtly sinister piano and vocal interplay with Kiley, and The Mural and the Mint is a far cry from the musky rock stuff Kiley did with his old band Cordalene. This music is moody — soft-around-the-edges pop with a hard center.

"It's not really something you just put on," says Kiley of Private Pockets. You have to pay attention to it. I like how much space there is in it, which was my intention with not having a drummer. It keeps the noise floor low and allows for melody and harmony to poke through. When I did play with a drummer, I was always trying to get rid of the cymbals for that reason. I don't care if I never hear another cymbal crash as long as I live."

Kiley's been married to Canuso — a doyenne of local modern dance choreography — for five years. She exposed the onetime rawker to music and sound designs that illustrate and illuminate rather than slam and dance.

"Most of my friends are theater artists or dancers, so me making that music grew from wanting to work with people I love and admire."

Kiley also found that a lot of the music used in local dance to be "horrible."

Says Canuso: "When Mike and I met, we were using a lot of pop songs in our work," referring to her late Moxie dance collective. "This was in total contrast to the more traditional modern dance scores he heard elsewhere. He found the music of Moxie exciting."

Moxie inspired Kiley to see the connection between modern dance and pop music, and led him to make work like that. "I guess it's in my nature to try and fix things," says Kiley.

HALF OFF DEPOT

Why live life at full price?

The songs on Private Pockets certainly take their cue from Kiley's theatrical side — emotionally charged, always in the first person. The melodies are lilting yet the subjects are often grave. Why so serious? Kiley has a lovely, talented wife, a son named Simon who turns 4 this month, a great career in the arts ...

"It's a big topic around the house," laughs Kiley.

Some of his lyrics are scathing deconstructions of his marriage or about how hard it is to be a father. "The best compliment I've gotten is when people tell me my songs make them cry," says Kiley.

The best answer Kiley can give is that he needs to write about things that bother him. Songs like "I Never Knew" make Kiley feel better and help him learn about those issues.

"I have a wonderful life, and have been lucky, but that doesn't mean I'm happy all the time. ... Being married is difficult. So is being a father. I would rather express how I feel about these things than keep them inside. People often write negative songs about relationships after they have deteriorated. I'm more interested in trying to capture the smaller, more intimate moments of a relationship now."

For all the gray skies, Kiley keeps coming back to the image of sunlight shining through the clouds. "There is always a message of hope, of a desire to fix things in all this."

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

The Mural and the Mint record release show with Pig Iron Theatre Co., plus movement/installation by Headlong Dance Theater, Nichole Canuso Dance Co., Subcircle, Kate Watson-Wallace and Christy Lee, Fri., Nov. 21, 9 p.m., $10, Johnny Brenda's 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com, themuralandthemint.com.