Shawan And The Wonton, Catchin' Feels, and Releasing Them...
By: Tory Gates Feb. 14, 2016
Midtown Scholar Bookstore is one of those quirky places you don't see much of anymore. A former movie theater in the heart of Harrisburg, it is a haven for book collectors, readers of the latest thing, local authors, and for the many characters that call such places home.
I sat across from Shawan Rice, a Central Pennsylvania native who fronts the Midstate group, Shawan And The Wonton. That name is as quirky as those who play behind it, and how the moniker was chosen.
"It's actually quite a cool story," Shawan recalls at a table between the Café and Children's section. "When the band first started two years ago, I was traveling in a vehicle with the bassist, and a drummer, and we're like, 'What're we gonna call this project?' And they were like, 'Shawan, we're just gonna be backing you up. We can just be like the Shawan Rice Trio or something like that...and then the drummer at the time was like, 'What about Shawan And The Wonton?' And right when he said it I was just like, 'That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! I love it!'"
The name is perfectly appropriate for those who view Shawan and her band in its various forms. Perception may differ, but whether live or on their EP Catchin' Feels, there are two things that stand out, one by what's there, the other by what's not.
"My music can be like very heavy and just like emotional," Shawan says, "so I think having a whimsical name kind of cuts the blow a little bit. I think it's like a staple of the music itself."
The voice first: there is a soulful tone that I can't begin to identify. There's no feeling that Shawan has to stretchat all. Musically? Guitar, keyboards, and a minimalist approach. That's about it.
"I like the idea of keeping things raw and expressive," Shawan explains. "I think when it comes to my guitar, my singing, I like to keep it to a minimalist style. When we recorded Catchin' Feels, that was recorded at a friend of ours, Jamar's...just me and him, we did most of 'em on the first take. It was very expressive, seemed to flow really well. We were gonna have other musicians come in, but we were like, 'This just needs to be the way that it is.' It left like a pure vibe with it."
One might think with Shawan's voice, the acoustic guitar that certain influences come to mind. Never believe that. "I've always loved all sorts of music," she says, "I absolutely love the Doors; ever since I can remember I've been infatuated with (them). Jim Morrison, the way he sang was very poetic and the way he wrote was very poetic."
Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes and Amy Winehouse were two others that left their mark on Shawan, the latter after reflection quite easy to see. "I went through a really intense Jimi Hendrix phase," she goes on, "I really love his off-kinda rhythm and strumming style. I guess a lot of my guitar playing was inspired by him. There's tons of influences, it's constantly changing, whatever I'm listening to at the time in some way influences my music.
'When it comes to my writing style," Shawan explains, "people that have an ability to be transparent about their feelings and emotions, and be able to just like share everything, just in hopes that someone else will relate to it."
The members are Mike Dempsey, "he plays keys, we play as like duos and a trio. Xander Moppin played bass, Jason Mescia is playing saxophone, a phenomenal musician, and Dani Fiore has been sitting in playing drums. It's really exciting and I feel like really honored to put my felling into sound with such talented musicians."
Shawan's desire to write began early, along with music. "I always wrote poetry," she recalled. "I remember being in like fifth grade and writing songs. I played upright bass I our orchestra in fifth grade, and then I moved school in 6th grade and started playing saxophone. When I was thirteen for my birthday, my mom got me a Dean Playmate left-handed electric guitar...I started playing it immediately, and within a couple of hours I wrote this little song, and I was so excited. That's when it began..."
A native of York City, Shawan lived in several communities around the county, and also in Baltimore. She moved to Harrisburg about five years ago, and the capital city is "still a place I love and call home. The city has a certain feeling. I don't know if it's because the river is running along it, and the river is so old and full of wisdom and history, or even that this city is pretty old in general. There's so much felling so much passion like love you can just like feel, just like buzzing in the area. The community's really great around here; it seems like there's a lot of beautiful people tying to do beautiful things. The city's just full of like hidden blessings."
The standout, and centerpiece track of the EP was "Relativity." "That song was written last September," Shawna says. "We recorded Catchin' Feels in Jan or Feb of last year...that song is actually one of the songs that make up the biggest chunk of myself took out of it. When you write a song a chunk of you kind of leaves you, something kind of breaks off. It's definitely heavy one, kind of influenced by love and loss, addiction...just really heavy.
'I would say pretty much 99.9% of my stuff is written about me. Even if it's written about an experience I've gone through, it's about the emotions attached to that experience. It's easier for me to write about myself than to write about others. It's my personal belief that everything that has happened in my life has prepared me for this moment.
'When it comes to the songwriting process...it's like shedding my skin."
Coming up is a live EP. "When we played the Pittsburgh Winery they did a live recording," Shawan says. "We listened to it and we were like, 'Okay, I'm happy with these recordings'. It's a little bit of a fuller sound it's got some new songs on it. The opening song is "Sheer Folly," which is fairly new...it's all pretty much new stuff except for 'Recessive Traits.' I'm really excited to share that w/everybody."
The recordings are available on Bandcamp, on a pay-what-you-will basis. On the question of selling one's music? "It can be a little bit difficult," Shawan admits, but she seems not to be perturbed by it. "When it comes to our physical copies, we don't sell them for a set price. Some people pay us a dollar for a CD, and other people give us twenty dollars for a CD. You just have to find the proper outlet. On iTunes we've sold a couple of copies and seen like five bucks for that. On Spotify we've been streamed a couple times...I think if you offered your music for free, then if they want to support you, they will support you. It's hard trying to find that balance when you're a musician, especially so you don't have to gig every day. It's got like an ebb and flow to it.
'When it comes to writing music, I write for myself, and I write to survive, and by survive I mean to express myself, pacify my soul. But I also write because I think it's a way to connect with other people, to share a piece of yourself, and to help the heal part of themselves."
The band's usual haunts are the River City Blues Club, where Shawan also hosts open mics, and the band has branched out into Pittsburgh and New York. As for Shawan herself, she is looking south, to New Orleans.
"I went there last year," Shawan says, and called the experience "intense. I've never been 20 hours from my home first off; it was so beautiful, so much going on, so much art, so much music, it was just like I need to (go) back."
I came away from this finding Shawan to be very open and optimistic, more than most folks, even artists. That has translated to her music, wherever she ends up.
"I've had a lot of interesting experiences in my life," she says. "If we share these experiences w/each other, we feel a little better about it...being transparent and sharing whatever it is I feel with others so they can feel free whatever it is they'd like to share."
https://www.facebook.com/shawan.rice/?fref=ts
https://shawanandthewonton.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/shawan-and-the-wonton
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw4F8WUdEoXyyvF3ZeNYKwg
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