Roll Me Through The Gates Of Hell - Music

Mischief Brew Was An Anarchist Folk-Punk Band. A Wicked Concoction By Erik Petersen – A Musical Feast Falling Somewhere Between The Categories Of Pirate Punk Celtic Folk Gypsy Swing Devilish Jazz American Olde-Tyme And Country. It’s Good Music To Stomp Kick Pogo Jitterbug Waltz Drink Twist And Shout To – Whether The Performance Is Solo Acoustic Or With A Backing Band Of Accordion Drums And Mandolin. Erik Started Making Music At A Young Age But It Wasn’t Until Age 16 That He Started Playing Shows With His Punk Band The Orphans. Influenced By “Fresh Fruit”-Era Dead Kennedys And “Worlds Apart”-Era Subhumans The Band Had Released A 7” “Anthems For Doomed Youth ” 1996 Before Half Of Them Were Even Old Enough To Drive. They Officially Disbanded In 2000 And Erik Continued To Make Music…digging Into The Past For A More Traditional Sound To Mix With Punk Ideals. The Result Was “Mirth ” A Demo Of Acoustic Punk Influenced By Medieval Danses And Raucous Romany Dust-Raising Ditties 2000 . The Tape Was Rough And Scratchy - Yet It Was Clear That There Were Solid Anthems Buried Under That Hiss Which Was Evident By The Scope Of The Tape Spanning City And State. Logically A Live Show Was Expected – And Despite The Drums And Extra Instrumentation On The Tape All Layered On A Four-Track Recorder There Was No Band. Over The Years Seeing “Mischief Brew” On A Flyer Meant You Were Just Seeing Erik Petersen With An Acoustic Guitar Or Mandolin. There Was No PA In The Beginning Just A Roomful Of West Philly’s Finest Rabble-Rousers Singing Along To The “Mirth” Songs. And For Quite Some Time This Is How Things Stayed Until It Was Necessary To Deliver A Proper Recording. “Bellingham & Philadelphia” 2003 Is A Split LP/CD With Washington State’s Roving Songcrafter Robert Blake. Meanwhile Fistolo Records The Label Erik Co-Founded And Runs With His Wife Denise Released The “Bakenal” CDep. It Was Hard To Believe That All The Songs Were Recorded In The Same Session And Split Between Two Releases As They Were Completely Different Experiences Soundwise. “Bellingham” Was More Phil Ochs/Bob Dylan-Style Political Folk While “Bakenal” Delivered Gypsy-Punk Swing Poguesy Drinking Songs And Even A Drunken Tango. Two Years Of Touring Followed From Punk Bars To Basement Shows. Meanwhile Erik Visited The Studio Here And There To Record A Few Acoustic Tracks For The Orphans Discography “Raise The Youth ” 2004 And The Mischief Brew “Oh Sweet Misery B/w All About The Class War” Single 2005 . For An Official Full-Length Mischief Brew Needed A Non-Traditional Studio By Punk Standards Since The Songs Required A More Varied Instrumentation To Bring Forth The Gypsy Melodies And Circus Beats. Impressed By The Work Of Israeli Producer Tamir Muskat Balkan Beat Box Firewater Big Lazy… Erik Visited The Brooklyn Studio That He Runs. Vibromonk Has Produced Records By Such Festive Acts As Gogol Bordello World/Inferno Friendship Society Firewater And More…the Kind Of Place That Knows How To Mic A Marimba. For This Record A Backing Band Was Assembled Consisting Of Bass Drums Accordion Clarinet And Junk Percussion. Guest Appearances By Sturgeon Leftover Crack Peter Hess Guignol And Franz Nicolay World/Inferno The Hold Steady Bring The Album Even More Character. “Smash The Windows” 2005 Includes The Folk-Punk Anthems “Nomads Revolt” And “Roll Me Through The Gates Of Hell” – But Also The Epic Tale “The Gypsy The Punk And The Fool” And The Klez/ska Rendition Of “A Liquor Never Brewed.” The Album Closes With “Departure Arrival ” A Sweet Folk Lament About Leaving The Comforts Of Home For Uncharted Cities And Towns. “Departure” Was Also Featured On “Up The Stairs And Through The Hall ” A 2xCD Compilation Of Independent Artists And Bands From Philadelphia. But Wait There’s More! Meanwhile Mischief Brew Released A Split 7” With David Dondero An Influence On Bright Eyes And Another With -Bread & Roses Boston-Based Labor Folk At Its Best . The Newest Recording “Songs From Under The Sink ” Is A Batch Of Anarcho-Folk Songs Written Between 1997-2002…finally Put On LP And CD Once And For All. If It Had To All Fit Under One Banner It Would Read "Carnivalesque!" read less