OREGON S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
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music
OCTOBER 21. 2011
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They Only Come Out At Night
Uh Huh Her’s sophomore effort Nocturnes sees daylight
BY RYAN J. PRADO
It’s been said, mainly by entertainment
publicists, that there’s no such thing as bad
press. And while that remains a relative ob
servation—excluding, o f course, someone’s
obituary— the fact remains that well-timed
salacious dalliances, transgressions or ward
robe malfunctions in public can prompt a
firestorm of social interest far quicker and
with more zest than an emailed press release.
Electro-rock duo Uh H uh Her— Camila
Grey, 32, and Leisha Hailey, 40 (yes, Alice
from The L Word)— are, for better or for worse,
now highly aware o f this infallible PR rule.
Less than a m onth after they were booted
off a Southwest Airlines flight for betraying
the company’s “family-friendly” scripture—
they were kissing (gasp!), and were subse
quently revealed to be a couple— Uh Uh H er’s
sophomore album Nocturnes is finally seeing
the light of day, three years after the group’s
debut, Common Reaction. I t’d be somewhat
sad if the timing o f their tryst were the only
reason for the group’s newfound notoriety.
Luckily, it’s not.
Nocturnes, released October 11 on the hand’s
own label Plaid Records, bubbles with synth-
bass warbles, vivid homage to the bleaker bits
o f the New Wave oeuvre (think Joy Division or
the Eurythmics) and danceable moments of
brooding pop just melodic enough to lull you
into a false sense of security before dropping
the full extent of its gloom. It’s the classic sym
biosis of a dark foundation given a radio-ready
facelift, and it’s immediately alluring.
For Grey (pictured, left), the grim outlook
was an easy source to create from, culling as
she was from the time during the band’s split
from Nettwerk Records just as their debut LP
Common Reaction was released in 2008. The
bitter taste transferred over to the songwriting
for Nocturnes.
“We went on a firing spree and got rid of ev
erything old, and wanted a fresh start,” explains
Grey. “After an experience like that, it’s trying
on you emotionally. We wanted to go back to
the basics like, ‘W hy do you make music?”’
The duo opted to take its time in recording
a new batch of material, renting a studio in
Van Nuys, Calif, and laying down the founda
tion for what was to become Nocturnes over
the next seven months. Following the initial
recordings, the album sat while Grey and
Hailey mulled over how they were going to
go about releasing their new music. In the
meantime, they decided to hand the record
ings over for a hit of collaborative production
work by friend Wendy Melvoin, who worked
most famously with Prince and the Revolu
tion. W hat came next was a totally new take
on the record Uh Huh Her had been making
in the previous months.
“I can get stuck into my own little dreamy,
synth-pop world,” ruminates Grey. “I’m super
pragmatic and I very rarely go outside my own
little box. W hen we brought Wendy in, she
challenged me. She brought this really crazy,
left-of-center element that I’m not used to,
which I loved in the end. Both o f our brains
ended up working really well together.”
Upon release, Nocturnes topped iTunes’Top
10 Electronic albums list, providing an inter
esting read from Grey, who insists she was
trying to make a rock record.
“I was going for this super 70s, Pink Floyd,
big wall-of-sound kind o f thing,” explains
Grey. “W hen [Nocturnes] was #1 on the elec
tronic charts, I was like, ‘This is a rock record.’
I don’t know who gets to name everything on
¡Tunes. I think it takes a more organic rock
approach than any o f the other stuff we’ve
ever done. We wanted to be a little grittier
than normal— less polished, a little more raw.
That’s how we were feeling from all the crap
that was going on.”
However you slice it, the album is garner
ing near universal praise. Uh Huh Her is
headlining the first ever Keep A Breast Tour,
zigzagging the continental United States and
Canada to promote awareness and education
of breast cancer. The tour benefits the Keep A-
Breast Foundation, with volunteers from the
organization handing out informational pam
phlets, pink ribbons, necklaces, bracelets and
more. The ladies begin each of their perfor
mances on this tour by bringing a breast can
cer survivor on stage to share their story with
the audience.
“It’s an important thing for young peopl^
to hear, and a cool way to do it through mu
sic,” says Grey. Both her grandmothers sur
vived breast cancer.
Beyond the Keep A Breast Tour, Uh Huh
H er hopes to tour Europe before heading
back to the States to do more supplemental
touring for Nocturnes. W ith all that time to
gether, Grey and Hailey, it would seem, have
likely not let the unwelcome spotlight o f the"
Southwest debacle thwart their camaraderie
(journalists are instructed not to ask about
the incident by the group’s tour publicist). In
fact, as Grey reports, the couple’s offstage
balance seems to translate into the creative
process as well.
“The way I see Leisha is that she’s a bunny
and I’m a bear,” giggles Grey. “She’s super
light and energetic and really positive, and
I’m kind of this broody... I tend to go dark.
She really tries to bring out the sweet, light
side of me. I don’t know what it is, but from
day one when we got together and started
writing, it was so easy. It wasn’t ever challeng
ing. It’s not like a Fleetwood Mac kind o f
thing; there are no huge fights. We comple
ment each other really well.” ! • ]
The Keep A Breast Tour makes its fin a l stop in
Portland Sun., Nov. 6 at the Wonder Ballroom.
128 N E Russell. Jarrod Gorhel opens; 8 p.m.
(doors at 7:30); $15 in advance, $17 day o f
show; 21+; wonderhallroom.com.
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