Joseph William Mitchell, Marc Aiello, Carlos Mitchell, Nick Mavridoglou-who make up the Cincinnati band The Mitchells-have been in their share of bands. When the foursome joined together to make up the current group, they all vowed that they wanted to make this special. They grew tired and unhappy with making music that they weren’t happy with it. “You just always know where you missed…you were slow on the beat, you didn’t rushed it just to get it to a point that worked. At the end of the day, you have all these albums that you are genuinely are unhappy with,” guitarist and lead singer for The Mitchells’ Joseph Mitchell says. “As a musician, you start to think what I’m leaving behind a legacy. You want something to be proud of.”
The Mitchells released their first EP in November 2012. Earlier that year, the band formed when Joseph and Carlos started developing the desire to expand their sound. Playing around establishments like the classic Arnold’s in the summer, Joseph and Carlos enlisted Mavridoglou and Aiello to join them. Bird Feather was a fantastic introduction to the music scene for The Mitchells -highlighting gorgeous violin and cello play, rich harmonies, soft vocals. It was well- received to the point that the organizers of the annual Bunbury Music Festival and the MidPoint Music Festival added The Mitchells to the lineups in 2013, and the band had a successful Midwest tour.
When the band returned from their tour, there was some talk of rushing and getting another album out. After some discussion amongst the band, they all realized that by speeding up the process and getting something out, it wouldn’t be in the best interest for them. They felt that by releasing it quickly, it wouldn’t be as satisfying. “A lot of times you kind of want to record something to show people what you have. We already had the EP out there. We felt it would be better for the LP to really take our time with it,” Mitchell said.
The Mitchells went on to record the LP in Lebanon at All Nighter Studio, the album’s engineer’s Tommy Cappell and Aiello’s studios. The Mitchells also wanted to release the LP on vinyl, so they spent a significant amount of time doing research on how to have the sound of it be spot-on and perfect. Overall, the freshman LP took The Mitchells over a year to craft. In the end, the band was pleased with how everything came together. “I don’t know if it’s the right way, but for us it was worth it,” Mitchell says.
The Mitchells self-titled album is a beautiful, open piece of work that truly captures the spirit of alluring storytelling, along with irresistible composition. Throughout the album, a flawless weave between classical and indie rock comes alive in the album, and offers a little bit of everything. “Driving In Cars”, the album’s opener, blends pop and roots rock seamlessly with singer/songwriter Caroline Kingsbury offering a softness to it. The eight-plus minute dreamy “Absalom” slows everything down so effortlessly, and gets picked right back up with the rocker “Denmark”. Guitarist virtuoso Noah Wotherspoon adds some grit to “Willie Mays”.
In the meantime, The Mitchells have plans on releasing a book next summer containing the lyrics to the album. Mitchell explained that each song on the album has a specific little story that goes along with the lyrics. They crafted the stories after putting the music together. Once the book is released, the band plans to give it as a gift when someone buys an album. This fall, The Mitchells also plan to release some work with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.
To hear the self-titled album from The Mitchells, and even get a copy of it on the custom marbled vinyl they released it on, go to the band’s Bandcamp site: http://themitchells.bandcamp.com/album/the-mitchells.
The Mitchells will be performing at South Park Tavern on August 16 with Dayton’s own The 1984 Draft and Tender Mercy (Louisville). Doors open at 9pm.