Darlingside | Frail Talk

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Darlingside

Everything Is Alive, Darlingside’s fourth LP, marks a subtle but remarkable departure for the Boston-based group NPR once described as “exquisitely arranged, literary minded, baroque folk-pop.” While the album retains much of the lushness and sophistication of Extralife (2018) and Fish Pond Fish (2020), the band’s latest work decisively exposes and differentiates the individual voices of the band’s songwriters—a daring reinvention for a group known for ubiquitous vocal harmonies. Grappling with change both personal and universal, with quandaries domestic and existential, Everything Is Alive is an album about loss and the struggle for a semblance of redemption. 

Comprised of Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji and Harris Paseltiner, these like minded multi-instrumentalists who first met at Williams College in 2009, Darlingside’s career has been defined by the elegance of their compositions and the unity of their voices. Their talent for harmony and melodic world-building is part of what garnered praise from outlets like NPR, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, and what has created demand worldwide for their extraordinary live performances. Becoming beautifully unindividualized has, in other words, worked very well for Darlingside in the past. With a vigor and discipline more common to graduate-level writing workshops than to indie rock, Darlingside has, over the years, experimented with all manners of idiosyncratic methods for elevating and upholding a truly democratic process of songwriting—processes that include multiple rounds of group writing and recording exercises—all with the aim of escaping the trap that bands with multiple songwriters often fall into: ego-driven infighting and artistic incoherence.

DON MITCHELL's oldest memory (age 2) is of a colorful dragon kite that folded down into a can on his parents' sailboat 'Acacia.' More pertinently, he remembers growing up in rural Connecticut, where his musical training began as a boy alto in Chorus Angelicus and as a liberally-freckled cast member of such regional theater productions as "How to Eat Like a Child." Adolescence came and went in its unflattering way, leaving Don with a repository of skillz including guitar, juggling, and uncanny Dr. Claw impressions. At college, he studied songwriting, music theory, and animal tracking, each of which is indispensable to him now as his alter-ego Doug, the band's official Road Food Scout. Doug's greatest finds, which include a vegan/vegetarian buffet located inside a Hare Krishna Temple in Dallas and a toothsome kombucha bar-cum-sandwich shop in Richmond, are traditionally celebrated with hearty pats on the back and rousing cheers for "More Doug!"

Young AUYON MUKHARJI's worrisome lack of athleticism prompted his parents to enroll him in music classes at the age of three in the hopes that he might one day become a well-rounded college applicant. All went according to plan until a pubescent Auyon discovered songwriting. These days Auyon can be found foraging for berries, fermenting the entire contents of the fridge, and/or working on a cookbook with his mother Jyoti. He has been described as "naïve, without financial wherewithal, and most probably very anxious to return home" by American Airlines' head of global investigations. Auyon serves as the band's Director of Special Projects and Emeritus Booking Agent.

HARRIS PASELTINER has been playing cello classically since age 6. He has also played guitar self-taughtingly since sometime in high school. In his spare time, he enjoys playing Dave's bass, or the organ he discovered at the town dump, or his erhu, or Auyon's mandolin, or the organ that the band was given in Illinois, or perhaps Auyon's saz, or Don's banjo. As the old adage goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Regarding music, Harris is like a horse that drinks substantial amounts of water whenever it is available. And regarding other things, Harris is often like a horse that is very thirsty and would you mind taking it back to the water, please? (Harris will also happily drink a pour-over, or scotch, or a nice pu-ehr if you were to lead him to one of those.)

Frail Talk

Formed in the foothills of Northern Colorado in early 2020, Alex Woodchek and Cor Wright of Frail Talk are creating a blooming universe of squiggly indie music for squiggly people. Like the kind surprise of a backyard garden, their songs spring up from the dirt with folk roots, soft pop colors, and burgeoning lyricism ready to welcome every listener with daydream-love.

In August of 2024, Frail Talk released their sophomore album, Microspirit. Recorded in seven days of heat-sweat-friend-magic in Silsbee, TX alongside producers Hannah Read (Lomelda), Tommy Read and with the help of Tobias Bank (drums) and Nathaniel Riley (bass). With more attention to the emotion and substance of sound than ever but with the same honesty Frail Talk has always valued, Microspirit touches on the landscape of the queer divinity in all things, and world speaking through bugs, dogs, sunsets and friends.

The album itself has already had a life in the time it’s been out, being featured on NPR Tiny Desk’s Top Shelf, getting multiple features from their video “little al” and landing singles its firsttwo weeks on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds” and “Fresh Finds Folk” playlists.

Through the art of mashing folk-pop sensibilities with strange-space-synthetic-sounds, Frail Talk offers a landscape where one’s self, surrounding, and experiences are as much a part of the songs as the music itself.

The future is bright for Frail Talk. It’s all love now.

The Rogue Folk Club is pleased to provide great Sponsorship Opportunities for all our shows. For a nominal cost, individuals or businesses can sponsor any of our shows and reap a number of benefits - free tickets, reserved table, recognition on literature, our web site and at the concerts. Find out more here, or simply contact our Sponsorship Director Morris Biddle at mobiddley@me.com