Expect '60s Style — But Not Too Much Glee — From A Band Called Unloved

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Two composers and a songwriter walk into a bar. It's not the start of a joke; it's the start of a band. They're called Unloved. Keefus Ciancia has composed for the TV shows "True Detective" and "The Fall." David Holmes is a DJ, producer, and the man behind the score of the "Ocean's 11" franchise.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: And Jade Vincent is a songwriter with a sultry voice who sang at the 1920s-style saloon where the three began their collaboration.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GUILTY OF LOVE")

UNLOVED: (Singing) Mistakes I've made, whether mine or happenstance.

MARTIN: Unloved's debut album is called "Guilty Of Love." Jade Vincent joins me from our studios in Culver City at NPR West, and David Holmes is on the line with us from the BBC in Belfast. You two, thanks so much for being with us.

DAVID HOLMES: Oh, hello. Thanks for having me.

JADE VINCENT: Thank you.

MARTIN: How did this collaboration take off?

HOLMES: I actually met Keefus working on a film. And then Jade and Keefus, they were an item. And they had this Tuesday night rendezvous called the Rotary Room at a venue called the Virgil in Las Vegas. And the whole idea behind that was a collection of really interesting and very talented musicians would come together and just play songs.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

HOLMES: And Keefus invited me down. And I came down and I met Jade. Then that was the first night I heard her sing.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

VINCENT: (Singing, unintelligible).

MARTIN: And what'd you think?

HOLMES: I thought she was amazing. And then, you know, the next day, Keefus called me and said, you know, would you like to work with Jade and I? And it just developed from there.

MARTIN: Jade, what's your take on the special thing that happened at the Rotary Room? I mean, what was happening in that scene?

VINCENT: Well, I was just - it was a very romantic setting, I thought. Kind of like stepping into an old movie in a music salon. I had really loved this film called "Bell, Book And Candle," and there's a scene where they can't find this underground club. And James Stewart and Kim Novak are looking for this secret club, and then you walk in and it's dark and moody and drums and - that's kind of what inspired Keefus and I to start the Rotary Room.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVERY MOON")

UNLOVED: (Singing) If I should die before I wake, it's a somber day that I won't waste.

MARTIN: This is such a cool sound, but it feels very much of a different time and place. Where does this come from, David? What kind of atmosphere were you trying to create with this?

HOLMES: This track was born from a few kind of looks that I had kind of mirrored. Keefus had got his new mellotron and...

MARTIN: ...I don't know what a mellotron is.

HOLMES: You know the sound - the opening chords to "Strawberry Fields," the flutes?

MARTIN: Yeah.

HOLMES: That was played on a mellotron.

MARTIN: OK.

HOLMES: But it has since been updated and digitized. The great thing about the modern mellotron is that you can merge sounds. So you can take, for instance, electric guitar and the electric harpsichord.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: Let's listen to another clip. This is a track called "Damned."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DAMNED")

UNLOVED: (Singing) Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. Heart's desire. Hellfire.

MARTIN: Damned if you do, damned if you don't, heart's desire, hellfire. This is kind of dark, sad stuff (laughter). Did you have to channel a particular character to sing these songs?

VINCENT: To me, a lot of things are discovered in dark places. I'm not a super dark person, but when you hear music like that, you go to the deep end and see what happens. Some of the songs are journal entries because I write all the time. So I would know exactly where to go to when I would hear the music.

HOLMES: I think also that this kind of period we were kind of, I suppose, influenced from was a period between, like, '59 and '63. And a lot of these songs had these incredible and quite uplifting kind of backing tracks, but the actual lyrics were so dark and heartbroken. And these tracks - as kind of dark and twisted sometimes their lyrics may be, they're quite uplifting as well. There's actually - there's hope in there.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

UNLOVED: (Singing).

MARTIN: David Holmes and Jade Vincent of the band Unloved. Thanks to both of you.

HOLMES: Thank you.

VINCENT: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG)

UNLOVED: (Singing) If I gave you my heart, would you take it? If I gave you my heart, would you break it?

MARTIN: Our theme music is written by B.J. Leiderman. This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.