Mister Heavenly | Interview

Story by Dylan Bliss 

| Published Sep 6, 2011

No band truly wants to be described as a “super group.” Acts like Monsters of Folk have only played with the idea in an ironic sense, while the upper crust of popular music reminds us all to “watch the throne.” When your colleagues consist of friendly and talented musicians who have an open-ended sense of direction with their careers, it’s completely logical to collaborate and try your hand at mixing and resurrecting different genres.

Touting the brainchild subgenre of “Doom-wop,” Mister Heavenly rocks and shouts and croons their way through debut LP “Out of Love,” which becomes more cohesive with each go-round when listened to as a single entity. Nicholas Thorburn, lead singer of Islands, often trades verses with Ryan Kattner, “Honus Honus” of Man Man, playing to a good cop/bad cop theatric that hearkens to songs like Micheal Jackson’s “The Girl is Mine.” As a trio, including Modest Mouse’s Joe Plummer, the band has found a comfortable side project, an outlet for increasing the draw towards their primary acts.

Kattner, or Honus Honus, shares his ambitions for the “super group” and reflects on the differences between the bands involved.

DailyER Nebraskan: Explain how the partnership between yourself, Modest Mouse's Joe Plummer, and Islands’ Nicholas Thorburn (other than the fact that you're on the same label) came about.

MH: Nick and I had been talking for a long time about collaborating. Then I had the same kind of conversation with Joe. When I started working with Nic’s songs, I figured it would be best to put my side away first, personally, and also get their problems out of the way at the same time.

DailyER: With the success of "Out of Love," is returning to your respective acts going to be transformed in any way?

MH: I don’t think so. The thing about the band is that, hopefully, it raises awareness for our other bands, you know? I won’t just stand there. I think both of our bands [Islands and Man Man] don’t necessarily get the attention that we’d like to have. I still feel like we’re both bands that are under the radar.

DailyER: The back-and-forth nature of your two vocals combined seems to contrast quite well. How easy was it to arrange this new song structure?

MH: It was pretty seamless, actually. One of the big parts of the process is that we didn’t want to over-think things too much. It just felt right, and it felt good. We found ourselves singing the songs later without each other and it was completely wrong. They’re our tracks.

DailyER: What sort of changes in the creative process were brought about when working with Nicholas?

MH: One of the most notable things with Nic, another song editor--I differentiate between songwriter and arranger. With Man Man, it was amazing to have [the band] play with me. I’d just give them parts of the song, you know, the right pitch and such. When working with someone like Nic, it’s refreshing to hit a wall and have someone to pawn it off to.

DailyER: The live performances of Islands and Man Man carry completely separate energies. How different is the experience of the two combined?

MH: In this band I don’t get to put on a dress. Working with this band has been really fun; not that working with Man Man wasn’t fun, but it’s a bit more straight-laced. You’ve heard the record, right?

DailyER: Yes, a few times.

MH: The songs are definitely a lot different compared to Man Man songs.

DailyER: Describe the state of mind of Doom-wop. Was it just the general sound of 50s R&B that inspired you? Were there specific artists that inspired you?

MH: I think of a girl driving a corvette with her dead boyfriend in the trunk.

DailyER: You seem to have a lot of fun on stage with Man Man. Does that same sense of humor cross over into Mister Heavenly performances?

MH: It’s not so much the numbers, it’s just fun playing with other people.

DailyER: What gave you the idea for the name Honus Honus?

MH: It’s just a stage name.

DailyER: Do you retain it while playing with Mister Heavenly?

MH: It’s difficult, because I still use it now on stage, and when someone calls to me, “Ryan,” I’m wondering if they know me or not.

DailyER: In my opinion, 2011 has been full of some really impressive releases, especially from Sub Pop. What are listening to currently?

MH: I listen to a lot of podcasts. Super Ego. I really like the Tune Yards new album.