{"id":3050,"date":"2010-05-27T19:48:03","date_gmt":"2010-05-28T03:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/?p=3050"},"modified":"2010-05-27T19:48:55","modified_gmt":"2010-05-28T03:48:55","slug":"gimme-five-mimi-mclaughlin-of-the-pneurotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/2010\/05\/gimme-five-mimi-mclaughlin-of-the-pneurotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Gimme Five! Mimi McLaughlin of The Pneurotics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3053\" title=\"the pneurotics\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"175\" height=\"262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics-53x80.jpg 53w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics.jpg 367w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><\/a><\/strong>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Mimi went from biggest fan to bassist. Rich\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s band became a family passion.\u00c2\u00a0 A few years, a few shows, and two full length records (2008\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>Forty<\/em> and 2009\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>Second Skin<\/em>) later and the core of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reverbnation.com\/ThePneurotics\">The Pneurotics<\/a> are still literally rocking out together.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a twang-addled without the nostalgic drag, pop\/rock without the blustering naivet\u00c3\u00a9. And you can hear catch <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/pneurotics\">The Pneurotics <\/a>live this Saturday, May 29th at <a href=\"http:\/\/thepinhook.com\/events\">The Pinhook<\/a> where they&#8217;ll be joined by Lonnie Walker and Sweet Sacrafice.<\/p>\n<p>Now just five questions for the leading lady:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. If your band    were a member of The Cosby Show family, who would it be?<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/cliff.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3059\" title=\"cliff\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/cliff-238x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/cliff-238x300.jpg 238w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/cliff-63x80.jpg 63w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/cliff.jpg 358w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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.\u00c2\u00a0 We want to be cool, but really, we just wear bad sweaters, make goofy faces, can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZHC-YsXYTsg\">dance<\/a> to save our lives, and like the chance to say <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9eI8qTiJ3Jo\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153pudding\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> funny.\u00c2\u00a0 Rich definitely plays a  meaner guitar than Cosby Kids\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Rudy Davis though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. What compelled you to  start playing your instrument?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rich started playing guitar  when he was 14 years old, and begged his parents for an electric  guitar,\u00c2\u00a0  They compromised, indulging in a $5 nylon string acoustic garage sale  special.\u00c2\u00a0 He taught himself to play adapting his years of classical  piano training to the guitar.\u00c2\u00a0 I started the Bass guitar about  5 years ago after meeting Rich as part of our pre-nuptial agreement.\u00c2\u00a0  It came down to play bass or be in charge of laundry, so I chose bass.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Describe what it feels  like when you play together.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Being married brings another  dynamic to our music.\u00c2\u00a0 Rich typically writes songs on his own.\u00c2\u00a0  To me, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tedious process with lots of playing the same riff over  and over.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 But when things come together, and we hear the blend of  our instruments, and I know that what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing together is creating  music, well, we\u00c2\u00a0 just know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. The addition of Chris Burzminski as our most recent drummer has  brought\u00c2\u00a0an energetic\u00c2\u00a0percussive creativity and collaboration\u00c2\u00a0that\u00c2\u00a0drives  the beat, and highlights the rhythmic nuances of our songs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Who\/what might be a few  inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3060\" title=\"pneurotics\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics1-244x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics1-244x300.jpg 244w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics1-65x80.jpg 65w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/pneurotics1.jpg 398w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><\/a><\/strong>Rich has a strong background  in classical music and loves <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin\">Chopin<\/a>, particularly the complicated  melodies  and exquisite rhythms, playing 9 beats over 4 and crazy patterns like  that.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no surprise that he obsessively imitated Led Zeppelin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s  <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jimmy_page\">Jimmy Page<\/a> as a kid, but likely surprising that he has a secret penchant   for pop and country music.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows all of the words to Justin  Timberlake\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TOrnUquxtwA\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What goes around\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> and publicly accompanied  our teenaged daughter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on a moving karaoke rendition of Taylor Swift\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TOrnUquxtwA\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You Belong with Me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> No one is surprised that we are inspired  daily by our awesome kids, Jack, Mara and Grace.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. What did you dream of  being when you were a kid? (how \u00e2\u20ac\u2122d that turn out?)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rich wanted to be a  professional  basketball player.\u00c2\u00a0 He briefly considered turning down a mathematics  scholarship to Princeton grad school to pursue music, but then thought  better of it.\u00c2\u00a0 He is now making waves as a fluid dynamicist at  UNC, recently getting<a href=\"http:\/\/green.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/05\/22\/expert-head-scratching-on-the-plumes\/\"> a little press about his studies on plumes, and  underwater oil mixing as relates to the oil spill<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0   I always wanted to be a veterinarian, but take care of people instead  as a physician assistant.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I never dreamed of being in a  band.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c   \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Check in for more  five this time next week. And head out to <a href=\"http:\/\/thepinhook.com\/events\">The Pinhook<\/a> this Saturday to catch The Pneurotics live and by all means, give Mimi a  high five  when you see her!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[311],"class_list":["post-3050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-gimme-five"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3050"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3072,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions\/3072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}