Band of the Week: Post Honeymoon

It's your typical love story; the couple meets, they get married, they form a rock band, they record a tremendously forceful debut album and tour the country, etc. What? That is not your story, well if your name is Rachel Shindelman or Nick Kraska then that is exactly what happened. Post Honeymoon is a husband and wife duo that did not begin playing together until after they were married. Last month they released a debut album that magically combines raw energy with a darkness that may surprise some. Using manufactured and organic beats, keyboards, and bass, the duo leaves the guitar at home and still rocks the crowd. What appears to be a cute love story on the surface quickly gives way to a powerful sound.

The band just wrapped a cross country tour and are appearing tonight at The Empty Bottle (for free if just rsvp to rsvp@emptybottle.com with ‘midwest’ in the subject line) here in Chicago. Before they head to the stage they took time to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): You two have been together and performing for several years, how long did you work on your debut before you knew it was ready to release?
Rachel Shindelman (RS): It took about a year and a half from start to finish. We started writing when we got back from our honeymoon in October 07, and we headed into Great Western Record Recorders to record basics in Aug 08. Then we spent a couple of months doing overdubs in our engineer’s home studio, as well as our own.

Part two is an interesting question, because nothing’s ever perfect, and there are always things you’d do if you had unlimited time and resources on any record…the process could go on forever. We definitely had a vision for how we wanted it to sound — so I’d say we stopped working once we got to the point that we’d done nearly everything we wanted, and any improvements would’ve been outweighed by the advantages of finishing it while the songs were still fresh enough that we enjoyed playing them.

OA: For a duo you have such full and forceful sound, especially live, how were able to capture that in the recording process?
RS: Recording basics in a good room was a big help, along with using an awesome engineer (Greg Norman), who we have worked with a bunch of times over the years in other projects (i.e. New Black and Bang! Bang!). And we brought in an additional drummer (Shane from Call Me Lightning) to perform along with Nick in Fakes.
Nick Kraska (NK): Some of it is just being a little older and experienced enough to know when to push yourself and also when to leave well enough alone. Working at this isolated studio it was easy to let our guards down -we were in a mentally good place to record, free from distractions. If it didn’t sound right, we just kept working at it until it sounded like what was in our heads rather than sort of accept the first thing that comes off playback. But being in the right frame of mind and in a place that allowed us to hear everything well were probably the most important aspects of that – ultimately we just had to play well, so we did what we could to stack the cards in our favor for that.

OA: Speaking of live, you toured in support of this album. Do you enjoy touring? I would imagine as a married couple it is not a difficult.
RS: Yes! Touring is great fun. Exhausting, and equal parts discouraging and exhilarating, but ultimately an amazing experience. You never know who you’re going to meet day to day on the road, or how you will be received, or what the other musicians in a show will sound like… it’s always interesting and surprising. And, of course, we get to play everyday and see the songs evolve with each performance.
NK: I really enjoy touring as well - I just wish we had a booking agent. Booking the tours is a huge pain in the ass! Off days are easier to pretend that you’re on vacation as a couple vs. when you’re in a normal band. When we were off in San Diego we pretended for a night that we were normal people again and went on a date to a nice restaurant – it was strange but good for a change of pace to be surrounded by people sipping wine instead of PBR tall boys.

OA: Speaking of marriage, what role, if any, has your marriage played in the creative process of the band? Do you feel you connect and understand on a different level than other duos?
RS: Marriage definitely takes away any sense of propriety we might have had in other bands. We are free to say exactly what we want, and usually don’t worry about hurting the other’s feelings. But we also have a similar aesthetic sense, and sense of humor, and we’re perfectly comfortable with each other, which I think definitely comes across in the music.
NK: I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand Rachel.

OA: Do you feel Chicago is a good place to be a musician?
RS: Absolutely. I moved to Chicago in 2001, and had never played rock music in my life (I was classically trained, along with some jazz). I’ve been in three successful, touring bands since then – where else could that happen? Also, and I feel extra-qualified to say this considering that I’ve just finished playing shows in 35 other cities…the promoters we work with are some of the most professional you’re likely to find, anywhere. If you can’t find somebody to make music with and a venue to listen in this town, you’re not working hard enough.
NK: I love it here - it’s well situated for touring too – you can do an east coast leg, come home for a bit – head out west. Or do a Wisconsin weekend thing, or Michigan, or Iowa/Indiana. I like the attitude here – people work hard and we’re sort of removed from the ‘cool factor’ of other places. It seems like people just kind of put their head down and do their thing. Also there are a ton of great studios, venues and different sub-scenes of bands. That’s kind of annoying actually – I feel like I miss a lot of things that are going on. In fact, I was planning on going to the Hideout tonight to check out Follows since I’ve really wanted to see them live, but here I am doing this instead of seeing a great local band at one of the best venues in the country..

OA: What's next for Post Honeymoon?
RS: Playing more shows, getting our music out to more people.

Listen to: First World Problems (mp3) from Post Honeymoon

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
RS: Our grandparents.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
RS: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle really knocked me out. I haven’t read anything better in the past year. And I’m always taking suggestions!

For more information on Post Honeymoon please visit their website.