Reticence
ReMedial

reticence - n: inclined to keep one’s personal affairs to oneself.

While in their Twin City personal lives, Jesse Norell (guitar/vocals), Kristof Marden (bass) and Kyle Bonderson (drums) went from engaged to married and kept their private lives personal, in their free time they were forming a platonic little project called Reticence they felt was destined to share with everyone…

Then in November 2005 the group released their debut album, ReMedial, recorded over a year and a half at Velvet Brick Studios and currently the group is playing gigs across the Twin Cities.

Their self-described “Toggle Rock” switches from intense Pedro the Lion riffs to fun and laid back Bare Naked Ladies melodies with touches of Toad the Wet Sprocket and the Eels.

A favorite track is “Up Up Down Down,” an ode to staying up all night to play video games with familiar lyrics to some of us, “Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Select Start.” While it’s a great song, it maybe needs a tad more Mountain Dew to really rock. But overall, Reticence knows when to rock and knows when to let the melody and lyrics do the work. ReMedial is a smart album from a group who knows a thing or two about songwriting and has plans to go places.

We sat down with Jesse Norell of Reticence to talk about gigging, the new album and Reticence, Jr.:

What gigs do you have coming up in addition to The Terminal Bar on Jan. 21, and how do you balance touring with family life?
We have a gig on Friday, Feb. 3rd with The Vestals, Mollie Dean and TBA (which will hopefully be The Umbrella Sequence) at the Turf Club. When I finalize the lineup I’ll post it on the website and Myspace. Reticence usually books full lineups and works hard at it, so fans should expect to hear good music all night, not just for 45 minutes.

We plan on gigging twice a month in the Twin Cities and see if we can get anyone to pay attention. Once everyone is sick of us here, we’ll see if we can branch out to something in the Midwest doing 2 or 3 shows over a weekend. Long tours need to be financially rewarding right off the bat to be worthwhile since we all have wives, houses, and full-time jobs. Were hoping to find a radio promo company that will focus on getting us radio play in the Midwest so when we do small tours, there will be more than 5 people to see us.

What should people expect to hear from the ReMedial?
The album starts pretty upbeat and (arguably) radio-friendly with tracks 1-3. Track 4, Catharsis, is kind of a transitional song that speaks to the conflict people feel deciding whether or not to express themselves. “Catharsis” was seriously considered for the album title (it was also played on 89.3 The Current). From there on out the album takes a turn towards something darker and harder to express (at least for me) only with words.

I hope people expect something thought provoking and honest. If they pop in the disc expecting something that will make them dance for 55 minutes, they’ll be disappointed because I feel that is limiting as an art form.

What’s your favorite song on the album?
Most days my favorite song is “The Tendency of Ending.” It’s pretty dark and dirge-ical. Reticence doesn’t really “jam” but we gave this song some room to breathe and messed with some guitar and vocal effects that I thought came out sounding interesting.

Where will Reticence be in five years? ten?
I see Reticence making music for a long time to come because we love it and we enjoy each other so much. But after 5 more years (which would bring the total to 8) we’ll either have a decent following and be established or we’ll be cranking out CDR’s in Kristof’s Garage. Right now we’re really struggling to make waves. In 5 years, that struggle will be over… either because we’ve decided just to play for our friends or because our work has paid off and we don’t have to work so hard to be noticed.

In ten years, this will either be a full-time job or every show we play will be a reunion-type show… an excuse to hang out and play music.

I know you’re all recently married. Will you encourage your kids to start a band together? Reticence, Jr. is pretty catchy.
Kids aren’t really a focus for any of us now, but yes I see the main goal of parenting is to raise young, well behaved rockers. I’m sure Kristof and Kyle would agree.

I love the artwork. Who did it?
Sam Keenan (Misplaced Music Radio Program Director) did the Artwork. Our bass player Kristof Marden Did the Layout. Drummer Kyle Bonderson did all the recording, mixing and mastering.

Where can you buy the album?
The album can be bought from CDbaby.com, Twin Cities Cheapo stores, CD Warehouse in Dinkytown, The Electric Fetus or at our shows (which is the cheapest option).

Check out Reticence on Saturday, Jan. 21 at The Terminal Bar with Mr. Whirly (Reunion show) (9 p.m./21+) and Friday, Feb. 3rd with The Vestals and Mollie Dean) at the Turf Club.