Mary Casiello, of Three At Home, Visits Section 36 Music!

Section 36 Music has another visitor! Mary Casiello is a fantastic singer, and one half of the talented duo Three At Home. I was thrilled she wanted to visit with us and discuss her music, the group, and more. I’m sure you’ll love everything she has to say.

So, let's see what happens when Mary Casiello visits Section 36 Music!

You're a member of the duo Three At Home. How did that group come together?
There is evidence to suggest that Dann and I have known each other for over a decade, but we both remember meeting about eight years ago at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA. We were both at the open mic, and talked between our sets about music and parenting and balancing it all. We stayed friends and I even came on as a guest on Dann's radio show on the now-defunct WEMF a couple of times. At the end of 2015, we got together to cover one tune - "Dearly Departed" by Shakey Graves ft. Esme Patterson - and had such a great time that we decided we had to form a band. It's been such a nice shift from being a solo artist and/or front woman to being part of a project where both people are equally invested. I feel really lucky.

I’m a big fan of the group’s recent album “playlist. #notarecord”. What can you tell me about it?

Thank you so much! Even though we're a duo, we tend to make a big noise.  In our heart of hearts, we want to play with a big old rock band all the time. So for now, studio recording is a way to do that. Our producer George Woods played some of the bass and guitar, and engineer Pat Hanlin (Revival House Records) played drums and organ. A lot of the instrument tracks were recorded with all of us in the studio at once, to give it the extra energy that comes from playing together. Some of the songs were solo ones that had been absorbed into the 3@H repertoire; others were ones we'd written over the last several years but hadn't had a chance to release yet. We wanted some strong Black Keys energy in there as well as some 90s rock vibes. 

(Also I have to shout-out our other engineers Mark MacDonald and Claire Mulvaney, our mastering engineer Nick Zampiello of New Alliance East, and Alex Wajsfelner who owns the space that houses Revival House Records. All of them were crucial to bringing this thing together.)

When we started recording these tunes, we envisioned a proper album, tracks flowing into one another, that kind of thing. And then we started questioning that idea after the whole thing was recorded and mixed. So the name for this album is a snarky commentary on the shift we've seen in the music industry towards singles and streaming over the album format. "Who makes records anymore? That's just not trendy. So this isn't a record; it's a playlist. " We're even printing it on vinyl in the fall, just to be extra cheeky.

We had a big summer 2020 release plan in place for "playlist. #notarecord" including dates in Boston, Chicago, and Austin ... and then, the pandemic happened. We kept delaying the release and hoping for things to get better. So many people had supported its production through crowdfunding, and we didn't want to let them down. By late 2020, we decided we didn't want to wait any longer. We started releasing a single a month, had a virtual listening party for a core group of our fans and supporters, and then released the full "notarecord" on 1.21.21. Since then, it's been all about getting some post-release momentum behind it again before a proper in-person release party this fall (date TBD).

Who/what would you consider to be your biggest musical influences?

Nearly everything I write sounds like Sara Bareilles.  I absolutely adore her voice and vocal control. Her melodies are flawless. Her piano arrangements are gorgeous. I am in awe of her ability to play with lyrical structural elements like internal rhyme while speaking very deep honest truths. And neither of us can get away from the musical theatre sounds that permeate our writing.

My first great loves as a kid were 90s pop and R&B artists -- Mariah Carey, Brandy, Lauryn Hill. I spent hours in my room trying to emulate their vocal runs. I listened to a lot of acts like Hanson, *NSYNC and the Spice Girls as an early teen (I'm a lot less embarrassed by that than I used to be). By high school I started listening to more acts like The Goo Goo Dolls and Tonic. But without question, Ben Folds was at the top of my list, especially as a singer/songwriter and pianist, and that one has lasted.

I adore everything Brandi Carlile does; I have her lyrics tattooed on my arm. I cannot get enough of Frank Turner. Ella Fitzgerald made me fall in love with jazz. P!nk and Demi Lovato are both geniuses.

And I can't possibly mention literally every awesome musician in the Boston scene who inspires me all the time!

I also enjoyed the Tiny Desk video for your single “Fill it Up”. What was it like to put that together?
That day was such a slog, haha! Because of family

circumstances, Dann and I weren't in each other's quaran-bubbles at all, so recording that was the first time we had played together inside a building since early 2020. Equipment kept breaking. The camera fell over. It took us forever to get the sound right. But getting that perfect take ... it's cheesy and a little meta to quote our own song, but "it's worth it, I promise" was our motto for the day.  And it really was worth it! I'm so happy with how it turned out, and how much fun we had in spite of all the struggles.

What would you say is your biggest career challenge?
Being a mom in an industry not at all designed to accommodate motherhood is definitely a challenge. I had kids at a time when none of my peers were. I looked around desperately for models of other moms in particular who were balancing everything that I was, things like pumping at 2 am for 45 minutes after getting home from a gig, changing diapers in green rooms, and going from a full day of hands-on parenting to a full night of playing at a venue without a moment to breathe in between. I think so many women leave behind playing live music because the demands our society puts on them to be everything to everyone and nothing to themselves are absurd, unattainable, and cruel. I could rant about that all day. (And frequently do.)

Of course, motherhood has also been such a gift, obviously in general (my kids are the freaking COOLEST) and also to my career. My time is not my own, so when it's time to work, I *work*. It's forced a level of structure onto my life that I couldn't implement on my own as someone with ADHD, and I'm so grateful for that.

Dann and I talk a lot about balancing music and family life. It's one of the things that has made this project so fulfilling. As we were starting this band, we weren't approaching our music careers in the conventional way: we each have kids, families, mortgages. We couldn't throw caution to the wind, jump in a van, and drive around the country. That didn't mean we stopped; it meant we pivoted. It meant piecing songs together over text messages and voice memos while waiting for the school bus. It meant posting on social media while the kids had a snack. It meant late nights and early mornings and occasional very long practice sessions. And it meant trusting one person to pick up the slack when the other couldn't. And, it's still hard work.

Over the last year and a half, I think every musician has gone through a period of wondering if they would be remembered on the other side of the pandemic, worrying about their value or relevance. Those worries were extra loud for me. And I also know there is no right way to do any of this music stuff. Even promoting this album! There was no way for us to promote it sufficiently before its release, so we're focused on post-release promotion instead. Time is a construct, standards are made up, and not everyone's life looks the same as another. For anyone facing a challenge to their career -- especially a systemic one -- following their dreams can be an act of resistance. So I try to hold that in my mind and heart. 

What are your immediate career goals?
Getting to play for real-live people is pretty high on the list right now, haha! We have a gig on August 19th at The Burren in Somerville, MA with an incredible band called Visiting Wine. The Burren is our home, so it's going to feel amazing to be back on that stage again.

I really want 3@H to land a good opening slot for someone big over the next couple of years. We're focusing a lot of energy on that. I've been talking about getting into sync licensing for a long time, so I've been seeking out those opportunities a lot more as well. And we have some more music to release next year as well ... but that's all I'm going to say about that for now. ;)

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I can't wait to hear more!

As always, I want to thank Mary for visiting, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview.

I know you’ll all want to follow along with Mary and Three At Home to see what they're up to. The best way is to visit their website, and follow their social media accounts like Instagram and YouTube. They're all great ways to keep track of everything they have going on.

You can also check out Mary's Section 36 Music page. It's a perfect way to enjoy everything she has to offer all in one place.

Thanks again Mary, and good luck reaching your goals!