If you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing Mary Lynn live, then you’ve witnessed the unbridled optimism her band brings to the Columbus music scene. Finding their ground between the mountain ranges of indie-punk and the still waters of bubble-gum pop, the band cemented a sound that is not only infectious, but also something that will leave an unmistakable sweet taste on your tongue.
Be it through the bittersweet melodies like candy-hearts; the borderline-jangly, chopped guitar chords; the lively, in-the-pocket drums; or the roaring, monstrous bass—the music breathes energy.
“My goal is,” said Mary Lynn Gloeckle, the leader and namesake of the band, “to make every single person watching us feel the same way I do.”
And, it seems her goal is met every time they play live. With more and more shows around town bringing in larger crowds–and creating a steady fan base–it seems there are plenty of people who also want to feel the same way the band does. But, this wasn’t necessarily the case five years ago when Gloeckle attended Capital.
“Honestly,” said Gloeckle, “I was more the type of student who would just hang out in a practice room alone and hope that no one walking by heard me.”
She would spend hours in the basement of the Conservatory playing on the out-of-tune pianos, building up a repertoire of original songs that would come to be her first album. Later on, she would start recording demos in those practice rooms with her future bass player, Joe Camerlengo.
Graduating in 2010, she majored in music technology with a minor in marketing. While going to school, she rarely mingled with any of the other musicians in the conservatory. Ironically, the one person she ended up playing music with from Capital, her current drummer Jeremy Skeen, was not even in the Con; he was a philosophy student.
“We met through Joe, who played in This is My Suitcase,” said Gloeckle, referring to a band that Gloeckle would later be asked to join, and even tour with, during the fall semester of her senior year. “My parents were terrified that I would just never go back.”
After school, she began to perform her songs solo, playing piano and singing by herself, in an act that lasted for about five shows.
“I am pretty sure I sounded like a little lamb,” said Gloeckle, “because my voice was shaking. But, somehow, I really wanted to do it, so I made myself.”
However, once she recruited Skeen, Camerlengo–and rounded out the lineup with guitarist Austin Wyckoff–there was a power in their numbers, and they became one of the top bands playing the Columbus circuit. And, with all of the hard work and originality put into their music, they have recently begun to reap some of the benefits, such as winning the CD 102.5 Local Artist Contest last year (which meant the band got to play CD 102.5 Day Side A with the likes of Grouplove, Ms. Mr., Skaters, and The Orwells).
“It was an amazing experience for me,” said Gloeckle. “It was a lot of hard work, because I wanted it really badly, so I was constantly promoting and practicing, and I was a nervous wreck over it.”
But once they won, and then got to share the stage with revered national acts?
“When we actually won, it was one of the best moments in my musical career…, and it was just such a confidence builder for me,” said Gloeckle. “That was when I really started to let loose during our shows.”
In the year since, Mary Lynn has only gotten tighter musically and looser as an act. Recent shows have fans both dancing and banging their heads–a peculiarly mixed reaction. It might have something to do with, sonically, a strange concoction of Neutral Milk Hotel, Taylor Swift, The Beatles, and Dr. Dog.
Either you get suckered in by the undeniably-catchy hooks or the fuzzed-out bass that, at times, almost obliterates the brain right out of your skull. And, while they continue to play a stream of upcoming shows, they are also almost done with their second album.
“The new album is going to be really noisy,” said Gloeckle. “I’m so in love with it.”
When asked if there was anything she missed about being at Capital, Gloeckle said, “I miss having access to a piano at nearly any time in a basement where I can be loud and alone. A real piano, not just a keyboard. There’s something about it, especially when writing, that just helps you get your emotions out better.”
“I love Capital’s campus,” said Gloeckle. “I love how close to the city it was but how small it was in itself. So I kind of miss being there in general.”
But, when asked if there was anything she didn’t miss about being at Capital, just a simple two-word response: “Ugh, homework.”
Watch Mary Lynn play Saturday, March 6, at Spacebar, located on North High Street.
