Open Secrets "Chamber-pop" has always felt like a limp descriptor of The
Secret Ink's music. It fits in that the New Haven-based quintet plays highly
melodic music and has a cellist and a violinist, but it doesn't describe how
their music can sound gentle and tough simultaneously, or how they can lay
down a solid rock beat, or how they can pull dreamlike abstract sounds and
off-kilter shrieks from their instruments. And yes, they throw down a big
handful of big pop hooks, too. The band's in the process of making a new
album, but their already infrequent shows will soon become even
rarer-singer/bassist Jennifer Morgan will be skipping town for Austin soon,
where she'll be joining the University of Texas faculty. For now, they have
two shows this week, both with guest guitarist Bill Beckett -Brian LaRue

The Secret Ink's self-titled, self-released debut is heavy on the strings; it uses violin, cello, and e-bow to deepen a set of insinuating indie-rock songs. The effect is most striking on "Boomerang," which sounds like a sassy pop hit converted to chamber music, and "Neverafter," a pretty ballad that turns a little sinister, just to let listeners know that the band can go there if it needs to…

The Secret Ink are like Prague, a city with unavoidably beautiful historic elements but a happening town with trendy cafes and creative young people. The self-titled debut from this New Haven, Connecticut quintet seamlessly blends harmonizing super-pop songs along the lines of Belle and Sebastian with string compositions that could easily serve as a classical soundtrack for a stroll through Prague's old city.
My favorite part of this record is the 18-second "Introduction," a string piece that is the musical equivalent of watching autumn leaves drift to the ground. It leads directly into "Neverafter," with Jennifer Morgan's dreamy voice floating over a calm, acoustic beat, guiding us into a catchy chorus that utilizes a perfect contrast of sweet vocals over dramatic strings. Another noteworthy track is "Boston Winter Snow," in which Doug Slawin and Morgan take turns singing about the unexpected paths of life from different perspectives, recalling Lennon and McCartney's "She's Leaving Home."
The Secret Ink practice in the oldest printing factory in the United States and make much of this fact by posting photos of their beloved rehearsal space on their website. Their quirks are endearing. Their music is impressive. 8

It's not often you find grace in indie rock-for the most part, the slipshod musicianship and impromtu esthetic don't allow for a lot of coordination. But you do sometimes find charm, and when that charm is in cahoots with said grace, there's something truly special going on. the Secret Ink, a New Haven outfit that play twee-tinged jangle pop that is buffered by the addition of cello and violin, has a unique sound, to say the least. On their new Rough Trade disc, they adroitly shift gears, offering Beat Happening rave ups one moment and Satie dreamscapes the next. They can be a great minor pleasure.

The Secret Ink's music has been described as "endearing" (Venus Magazine) and "graceful" (Providence Phoenix), and after listening to the album, one can see why. The mixture of melodic pop songs, lyrical instrumental pieces and experimental tracks makes for a unique experience - the album resembles an anthology of poems, each with its own mood, yet unified with the others to form a concise, if multi-layered, whole.

It might be a bit melodramatic to call The Secret Ink's upcoming cd
release show at Firehouse 12 a triumphant homecoming, but considering that
the band's got its own string section, maybe a bit of melodrama isn't such a
bad thing at all.

The five-piece indie-pop combo which very prominently features violin
and cello in addition to the standard guitar, bass, and drums recorded their
debut long-player with producer Nick Lloyd in his studio/bar/performance
space earlier this year, and they're returning on Friday to roll the record
out in style. According to Secret Ink founder and guitarist Doug Slawin, the
band is ecstatic to play together in the converted 19th Century firehouse
again.

"Working at Firehouse 12 was an extreme pleasure, it was a luxury," he
says, comparing the band's revisit to the setting where they recorded their
album to a local version of one of those VH-1 concert specials. They'll be
joined by an additional seven-piece string section onstage for the
performance, and are hoping Lloyd himself will step in to accompany them on
piano and Hammond organ.


The album, whose songs Slawin says will comprise about half of the
Firehouse 12 concert, shows two dramatically different sides of The Secret
Ink, both of which should be on display Friday night. Its first handful of
tracks are upbeat, pretty pop songs, rendered especially appealing by the
warm combination of strings (courtesy of cellist Linnea Weiss and violinist
Netta Hadari) and singer Jennifer Morgan's lush, very feminine vocals. Most
of the latter half of the album, meanwhile, finds the band stretching into
more complex, experimental compositions on everything from the melancholy
ballad Orange November Day to the post-rock excursion Bartok, which builds
in intensity over eight and a half minutes to a crescendo of guitar and
strings that recalls My Bloody Valentine.

"I think that we wanted to give the listener a more concise
introduction to what we could do as a band for the first half of the record,
and then really kind of let it unfold for the second half," Slawin says.

The self-titled disc follows an earlier, out-of-print Secret Ink EP
from 2004 that offered the first taste of the band's hybrid chamber-pop
style.

"Basically, we just wanted to create a different kind of band for the
audience as well as for ourselves as musicians," says Slawin, who was
inspired by the disbanded local trio 33.3, a cello, guitar, and drums combo.
He first conceived of The Secret Ink three years ago, but it wasn't the only
idea for a new band he'd had at the time.

"It was either gonna be, like, a really kind of campy 60s revue with
go-go girls, or it was gonna be this ethereal kind of band with strings,"
Slawin explains. "I pretty much had the songs written for this band, so I
decided to do this one."

On his own at first, he recruited players the old-fashioned way
posting flyers at places like Best Video, where Hadari first got wind of the
project and, after a few personnel changes, emerged with the band as they
are today (drummer Richard D'Albis completes the lineup).

In terms of songwriting, while Slawin is often responsible for the
rough framework of Secret Ink tracks, all five members have equal input the
string players write all their own parts, he says, and the entire band
contributes to the arrangements. "We're very much a band in the true sense
of the word, as opposed to, like Elvis Costello and the Attractions or
something like that - we're probably democratic to a fault."

The quintet really came together in the studio sessions for the new
album, recording all the basic tracks at Firehouse 12 in just three days.
"It was really nice to play live as a band, and [Lloyd] has the setup for us
to do that, even with the strings," Slawin says. The rest of the four-month
recording and mixing process which took a break when Barsuk Records' duo
Mates of State stopped by the studio to record their new album he describes
as "very relaxed," as the band got to flesh out their sound with a variety
of real, non-synthesized instruments.

"We got to use a real concert Steinway, a real Hammond organ, a
vintage Wurlitzer piano from the 60s everything you hear on the record is an
actual instrument," Slawin says. The band even ventured outside of the
studio to record its percussion - D'Albis got permission to use the "giant,
42-inch, Led Zeppelin-like gong" in Yale's Woolsey Hall, and the band
borrowed a timpani from the Neighborhood Music School to beef up their
orchestral low-end.

Already, the finished product has earned The Secret Ink some
significant exposure the record is being distributed in the U.S. by national
indie label Darla, and the band also recently signed a deal with Rough Trade
Publishing in the U.K. to make their music available for film and television
productions.

That's especially fitting, since Slawin says the band's newer material
"falls a little more into the film score genre." Expect to hear a few of
those cinematic songs at the Firehouse 12 show, which, in addition to the
music, the band considers "an inexpensive way to check out one of the most
beautiful venues in New England" (cover charge for the show is a mere five
bucks).

The guitarist has no shortage of praise for the unique studio and
venue, and especially for the guy behind it all. "Nick is really interested
in working with local bands and doing all kinds of projects, and he's trying
to put New Haven on the map as far as getting these national indie rock and
jazz combos to do records and perform in town," Slawin says. "He's really
building something there."

MAKING A MIX: Doug Slawin



Who: Doug Slawin, guitarist for New Haven’s favorite cello/violin powered indie band The Secret Ink (www.thesecretink.com). The band draws on many influences, ranging from classical to classic rock, from Bartok to Led Zeppelin. Slawin, far right, and his bandmates (Netta Hadari, left, Jennifer Morgan, Richard D’albis and Linnea Weiss) are currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on a new disc. The early results easily impress.
Where you can see him: Doug and The Secret Ink will be at Rudy’s in New Haven Thursday with the Boston-based band Sneaker. The show begins around 9 p.m. Of this mix, he says, "I am only one voice in a very democratic band. Had you asked the others, you might have heard Bach, Led Zeppelin, Wilco and King Crimson. but here is what the guitar player has to say."

• "This Charming Man," The Smiths — Growing up in the Midwest, there were two kinds of music: classic rock and heavy classic rock. It wasn’t until I heard Johnny Marr’s chiming guitar did I meet a player who spoke with a well-crafted part instead an over-the-top solo. I didn’t understand the lyrics until I was much older.

• "Sea, Swallow Me," The Cocteau Twins — Composed and performed with minimalist composer Harold Budd, "Sea, Swallow Me" sounds like a radio transmission from a distant star. Elizabeth Fraiser’s ethereal voice is unparalleled in its uniqueness.

• "Wave of Mutilation," The Pixies — Easily one of my favorite songs of all time. When "Doolittle" came out, the chord progressions it used were so fresh. I had no idea where the songs would lead to next. When the Pixies broke up, I was heartbroken. Someone told me recently that they might have gotten back together …

• "Is It Wicked Not to Care," Belle and Sebastian — A sweet song about the vulnerability of love wrapped in a blanket of Hammond organ, strings and chimes. Isobelle Campbell’s vocal is the archetype of "twee." Makes you feel happy to be a little sad.

• "Only Shallow," My Bloody Valentine — A song just as frightening and aggressive as it is sweet and dreamlike. Forget your ideas of standard pitch as well. The song that launched 1,000 guitar-effect pedals.

• "Rock and Roll," the Velvet Underground — "Despite all the computations/You could just dance to a rock ’n’ roll station and it was all right." Lose your mind and gain your senses.

• "Desafinado," Getz/ Gilberto — A delicate piece of musical history crafted giants, complemented by Stan Getz’s lyrical playing style. A record that stands the test of time despite the waves of cheesy lounge music that it inspired.

• "Lip Service," Elvis Costello and the Attractions — Oh, to be young, British, angry and high on amphetamines. Bruce Thomas’ bass playing amazes me every time.

• "Girl Inform Me," The Shins — No one can touch the Beatles, no one. But this little gem has all the things I love about pure pop music: sweet harmonies, a snappy beat, evocative lyrics and a melody that sticks in your head for days. Pretty good for a song that is barely over two minutes long.

• "Hot Pants," by Soul Brother No. 1, Mr. Dynamite, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, James Brown — What’s wrong with being sexy? Sometimes you just have to dance.

When The Secret Ink singer/bassist Jennifer Morgan almost got hit by a car near Yale three years ago, she thought the guy on a bike asking if she was OK genuinely wanted to know the answer.
“I’m not really sure if he really cared I didn’t get hit by the car,” laughs Morgan, now a biology professor at Bowdoin College in Maine. “He started asking me how long I’d been in New Haven, and I was saying I really liked it. I came from Chapel Hill where there’s a music venue on every corner and the music is all really great. I just couldn’t figure out the music scene in New Haven. I needed to find a person to tell me how it worked.”
The biker? The Ink’s guitarist Doug Slawin, a guy who, at the time, was looking to start a band. “I was riding my bike to work,” recalls Slawin, “and this woman was almost run over. She was yelling, and I thought she can project her voice really well, and I thought maybe she’d be in the band.”
Slawin had a bunch of songs written, but since his old band had broken up, he had nobody to play them. He started flyering the area, looking for like-minded musicians. “After my last band broke up, I was sitting at home scratching my head figuring out what to do. I thought I could do one of two kinds of bands. I thought maybe a ’60s French pop band with go-go dancers. It attracted a lot of go-go dancers, but not people to play instruments.
“Then I thought about a band with original music with strings. I was interested in using nontraditional instruments in a rock band and finding people to play with who I would hang out with.”
With a lineup rounded out by cellist Linnea Weiss, violinist Netta Hadari and drummer Pasquale D’Albis, The Ink began gigging around New Haven, bringing its brand of string-fueled chamber pop to such traditional rock stages as Rudy’s. But even though the band’s music bleeds Belle & Sebastian and Bach, the quintet’s indie-rock roots seeps through, giving the act a nervy backbone, one not that unlike The Velvet Underground.
After a couple years of finding its sound, The Ink went into the studio at Firehouse 12 to record its debut full-length. “We started the record last Memorial Day weekend,” recalls Slawin. “We knocked out the basic tracks in like three days. And then we were on and off for four months with (producer and Firehouse 12 owner) Nick (Lloyd). We had a brief interruption when the Mates of State recorded its record there. We worked on it slow and steady. We were fortunate that we all live in town and that Nick has built a world-class studio right here.”
It was the time spent, says Morgan, that really helped the band work its tunes into record shape. “We took the time to think about it while we were making it,” she says. “We had the luxury and time to listen to each part as it was being added and saying, ‘Is it right, not right?’ We thought about it. Nick was so flexible and such an amazing person to work with.”
The result speaks for itself: an 11-song excursion that runs the gamut from traditional chamber pop, to more sunny ’60s rock, to more experimental, classically influenced pieces. You can hear the band’s penchant for baroque-inflected music, but you can also hear elements of filmic scores, something Slawin and Morgan say The Ink is focusing on now.
“We have these amazing string players,” Morgan says, “and it opens up the possibility to do a lot of instrumental things, lots and lots of different sounds. And to be able to explore it is kind of what’s naturally happened. Would you say it’s a conscious thing?” she asks Slawin.
“I think it’s a totally natural thing,” he says. “A cello with a loop pedal will get you really far.”
Patrick Ferrucci can be reached at pferrucci@nhregister.com or (203) 789-5678.

Linnea Weiss - The Rocking Scientist
As a classically trained cellist, Linnea, a
fourth year student in MCDB, has played in
numerous orchestras and chamber groups.
These days, she plays in various string and
piano chamber groups, the most consistent
being a violin-cello duet with a grad student in
Chemistry. She started playing non-classical
genres as an undergrad and continued to do so
after moving to New York. While in NYC, she
played with several bands and was also busy
as a studio cellist for many bands, including
Moye, Edison Woods, Elk City, and Fabu. After
moving to New Haven, she began playing with
a pop band called The Secret Ink. They
just released an album locally on May 12, and you can
hear her songs on regional commercials!
In her free time (ha!), she composes songs
for her own amusement. Fun fact - her first
composition was called Beefsteak (as in the
tomato) and was named after her cello. Here
are the websites for Linnea's two bands:
http://www.myspace.com/thesecretink
http://www.myspace.com/theglaciers