Photos - Mise en Scene at WECC, Winnipeg Dec 1 2012
– photos by Cheyenne Rae
Mise en Scene played a release party Saturday night in Winnipeg for their debut full-length, Desire’s Despair.
From small-town Manitoba, Stefanie Blondal Johnson (guitar/vocals) and Jodi Dunlop (drums, formerly of The Paps) are the founders of the band. Ron Obvious (D.O.A., The Subhumans) recorded their debut EP, Late Night Triple Feature. It earned the group slots at festivals like CMW and NXNE, crammed club shows across the country, and a highly-coveted 2011 residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Desire’s Despair was recorded with the aid of Obvious as well as Howard Redekopp (Tegan & Sara, The New Pornographers), Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, CÅ“ur de pirate) and Tony Berg (Beck, Jakob Dylan). Winnpeg label Pipe & Hat released the record Nov 13.
The album has been charting for the last month on campus radio across Canada, and the band recently returned from a Western Canadian tour (including a Media Club show in Vancouver Oct 7) with label mates The Noble Thiefs (who also opened the album release show at WECC).
An arty duo who formed an alliance first over painting, Johnson and Dunlop cite mutual influences such as photographer Diane Arbus and filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard as well as Leonard Cohen and The Clash.
Video – Mise en Scene, “Hey Velvet”:
More photos: