There’s always some sickly sweet couple gabbing about metaphorically making music together. When Rich and Mimi McLaughlin tied the knot and the bassist for his band split for Russia, this couple decided to make that darling claim a reality. Mimi went from biggest fan to bassist. Rich’s band became a family passion. A few years, a few shows, and two full length records (2008’s Forty and 2009’s Second Skin) later and the core of The Pneurotics are still literally rocking out together.
With Chris Burzminski on skins, Mimi keeping steady on bass and Rich handing guitar, vocal and songwriting duties, the sound this trio creates is somewhere in the realm of alt.country with a power-pop burst of energy. It’s a twang-addled without the nostalgic drag, pop/rock without the blustering naiveté. And you can hear catch The Pneurotics live this Saturday, May 29th at The Pinhook where they’ll be joined by Lonnie Walker and Sweet Sacrafice.
Now just five questions for the leading lady:
1. If your band were a member of The Cosby Show family, who would it be?
As much as we wish we were Theo, the cool, ever-charming, athletic, popular all-about-the-ladies character, or even the deviant Denise who dropped out of college, ran off to Africa and got married, we really are most like the paternal Cliff Huxtable. We want to be cool, but really, we just wear bad sweaters, make goofy faces, can’t dance to save our lives, and like the chance to say “pudding†funny. Rich definitely plays a meaner guitar than Cosby Kids’ Rudy Davis though.
2. What compelled you to start playing your instrument?
Rich started playing guitar when he was 14 years old, and begged his parents for an electric guitar, They compromised, indulging in a $5 nylon string acoustic garage sale special. He taught himself to play adapting his years of classical piano training to the guitar. I started the Bass guitar about 5 years ago after meeting Rich as part of our pre-nuptial agreement. It came down to play bass or be in charge of laundry, so I chose bass.
3. Describe what it feels like when you play together.
Being married brings another dynamic to our music. Rich typically writes songs on his own. To me, it’s a tedious process with lots of playing the same riff over and over. Learning and writing a new song can be both challenging and exciting, with lots of working and re-working, and criticism, which is sometimes hard to interpret positively when coming from your significant other. But when things come together, and we hear the blend of our instruments, and I know that what we’re doing together is creating music, well, we just know it’s right. The addition of Chris Burzminski as our most recent drummer has brought an energetic percussive creativity and collaboration that drives the beat, and highlights the rhythmic nuances of our songs.
4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?
Rich has a strong background in classical music and loves Chopin, particularly the complicated melodies and exquisite rhythms, playing 9 beats over 4 and crazy patterns like that. It’s no surprise that he obsessively imitated Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page as a kid, but likely surprising that he has a secret penchant for pop and country music. He knows all of the words to Justin Timberlake’s “What goes around†and publicly accompanied our teenaged daughter’s on a moving karaoke rendition of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me.†No one is surprised that we are inspired daily by our awesome kids, Jack, Mara and Grace.
5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how ’d that turn out?)
Rich wanted to be a professional basketball player. He briefly considered turning down a mathematics scholarship to Princeton grad school to pursue music, but then thought better of it. He is now making waves as a fluid dynamicist at UNC, recently getting a little press about his studies on plumes, and underwater oil mixing as relates to the oil spill. I always wanted to be a veterinarian, but take care of people instead as a physician assistant.  I never dreamed of being in a band.
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Check in for more five this time next week. And head out to The Pinhook this Saturday to catch The Pneurotics live and by all means, give Mimi a high five when you see her!