Houseguest

Houseguest
Music from the Mutual Chums of the Black Keys & Royal Bangs
By Andrew Clayman
Published in The Knoxville Voice, June 2008



Regardless of what the name might suggest, Houseguest is not a band interested in being anybody’s Kato Kaelin. Even in their hometown of Akron, Ohio, where singer Ted Mallison helps run a record label with longtime friend and Black Keys drummer Pat Carney, there is zero pandering to the fans of popular fuzzed-out, blues-rock duos. Instead, Houseguest is a quintet quite content with its own wholly unique pop sound, running the gamut from XTC to GBV and quite a few random influences in between.

“That’s what makes songwriting so interesting with this band,” Mallison says. “We all have very different tastes. I think a lot of bands form based on a shared idea of what music they all like, but we really didn’t do that. As a group, we don’t even really work that well together,” he laughs. “It’s hard. Each of us wanted to have a certain kind of band, but we wound up together because we’ve been friends for so long, and it just made the most sense. Our ideas clash a lot, but what comes out is pretty cool, I think.”

The initial seeds for Houseguest were planted in Akron’s own musician factory, Firestone High School, in the late ‘90s. A generation removed from producing the likes of Chrissie Hynde and Devo, Firestone cranked out a few more winners for the new century, including singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur and a couple of noisemakers by the names of Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach (the Black Keys). The friends who would later become Houseguest were in the midst of this Akron renaissance, as well.

“Yeah, we all went to high school together,” Mallison says. “We were in a bunch of different bands, too. I was in a band with Pat (Carney) when I was in ninth grade. Houseguest actually started out as mainly just our bass player Gabe (Schray) writing some songs with (guitarist) Dave (Whited). Eventually, Dave Rich and I joined on, and everyone started to contribute more and more.”

Since those first gigs in 2002, Houseguest has seen the high and lows of the music business swirl around them. The tragic death of bandmember Stephen Caynon inspired the band to stay together after a near breakup in 2003, and the improbable success of their Black Keys comrades provided a whole new perspective on music as an economically viable career choice.

“Most of what happened with the Black Keys was totally unexpected,” Mallison says. “I mean, that band had only existed for a couple months when they got their first record deal-- which was kind of a fluke. Everyone was just like, ‘how did that happen?!’ And then all of the sudden they got this review in Rolling Stone and they’re going on tour with Sleater-Kinney! That just doesn’t happen. And obviously, that was never the path I expected Houseguest to take.”

Fortunately, the Keys have remained loyal to their hometown and their old friends. When Carney decided to start Audio Eagle Records, he asked Mallison to join him as the label’s Director of Operations. Houseguest also became one of Audio Eagle’s first signings, with their well received record High Strangeness hitting shelves in 2006.

“As far as Audio Eagle goes, it’s been a real positive experience,” Mallison says. “Pat’s hope was to use his notoriety to help boost up bands he likes—the Royal Bangs, for example.”

So, how did one of Knoxville’s most promising bands, Royal Bangs, wind up on an upstart Akron label? Turns out Houseguest had a hand in that, as well.

“Knoxville is one of the cities that we’ve been playing for a long time,” says Mallison, noting that Houseguest drummer Stephen Clements is a UT alum. “During a show a while back, I met Chris (Rusk) from Royal Bangs and liked what I heard from them. Then, when Audio Eagle got started, they actually friended us on Myspace, and when Pat stumbled upon them, he immediately told me he really liked it and wanted to put it out. And I agreed. Their record is really good, they’re good live, and they’re funny guys. We’ve got high hopes for them.”

Mallison also has high hopes for Houseguest’s next album, of course, which is due out this fall. It’ll supposedly be a mellower affair than the band’s usual high energy, humor laced, New-Wave-post-punk sound.

“I think I’m more serious about it now than when I started,” Mallison says. “I didn’t even plan on being in a band. I thought it was fun, but it wasn’t really what I wanted to do. But now I really want to try and make a serious go of it. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”