| For years before Chicago singer-guitarist Miranda Winters cofounded beloved noise-rock group Melkbelly in 2013, she was already making music as a solo artist. In 2018 she released a cassette called Xobeci, What Grows Here? via Sooper Records where she performed all the parts herself; it emphasizes her nimble guitar playing and subtly emotional singing, which can be sublime and unsettling. The following year, after becoming a parent, she developed a newfound desire to focus on material she developed on her own. “I wanted to explore other musical relationships, and specifically with women that are making music—that was really important to me,” Winters says. “The birth of my first child sent my ass in gear.” On Friday, April 26, Exploding in Sound will release Lawn Girl, Winters’s debut album under the name Mandy.
Winters succeeded in building those musical relationships, and she recorded Lawn Girl with a band of women from Chicago’s underground rock scene. Drummer Wendy Zeldin caught Winters’s ear with the noisy guitar-drums duo Pussy Foot; Zeldin introduced Winters to bassist Lizz Smith, a veteran of postpunk group Bruised. Winters knows guitarist Linda Sherman from a variety of bands, including doomy trio Not for You. “It’s a really great blend of personalities,” Winters says. “We’re coming at it with different levels of experience and techniques, so it fleshes it out in a really interesting way.” Winters had a lot of her songs to pick from for Lawn Girl, including one she wrote around 15 years ago. She also rerecorded the tune “Mickey’s Dead Stuff” from Xobeci. Winters and the band she’s put together for the Mandy project made Lawn Girl at Electrical Audio with engineer Taylor Hales. “We recorded in two chunks—recording itself probably only took two or three weeks, and then mixing and mastering another week,” Winters says. “We started recording it when I was pregnant with my second and final child. He was in the booth when we were mixing.” Meer... |
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Working on Lawn Girl helped Winters manage some of the challenges of the pandemic. “I had, like a lot of people, a pretty difficult time dealing with the world shutting down,” she says. “And I had some mental health stuff that really I don’t think would’ve been fixable without having the new friendships of Wendy, Lizz, and Linda. It helped me to feel like I was existing outside of parenthood, but also outside of Melkbelly. It gave me necessary space and helped me reduce anxiety.” Guitar/Vocals - Miranda Winters Drums - Wendy Zeldin Guitar - Linda Sherman Bass - Lizz Smith |
| Melkbelly is an American four-piece noise rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, made up of Liam Winters (bass), Miranda Winters (guitar/vox), Bart Winters (guitar), and James Wetzel (drums). They are known for their frantic arrangements, toothed melodies, and blaring live show. The group has toured extensively across the US in the last couple of years, and Stereogum called them the "Most Exciting Rock Band at SXSW". They released an album titled Nothing Valley on October 13, 2017, on Wax Nine Records. |