“Were you looking for me this whole time or did I
send for you?”
Today we’re premiering the music video for the folksy, sensual “Bonecollector”, the first single from Slake’s debut album Let’s Get Married, slated to be released by local label Cherub Dream Records on June 20. Slake is the latest project by Mary Claire, who previously self-recorded and performed as a solo indie artist under their own name.
Beginning delicate and light, the song ambles along to the sound of Mary Claire’s sweet, clear voice backed by seraphic background vocals that glimmer in and out. At the song’s climax, their voice turns downward in tone and the strummed guitar evolves into something heavier and more distorted. It’s the ideal first single to demonstrate what they’re calling a “lesbian doom folk” sound, and it makes sense they’ve landed on Cherub Dream, which has carved out a space as one of the best independent labels in SF for bands stretching out in the shoegaze/punk spectrum.
The video is largely set at local beloved venue Kilowatt, juxtaposing images of colorful spandex workouts with an older man in flannel singing passionately to the nearly-empty bar. In the cover art for the single, Mary Claire hugs a scythe, all of which suggests a conversation with youth, aging, life, and death.
Read on for our interview with Mary Claire.
Why did you record this video at Kilowatt?
Mary Claire: I was going back and forth between a couple Bay Area bars. I wanted a disco ball, I wanted some pool tables, I wanted to be able to get some good shots of a long bar, I wanted some dark corners, I wanted a spot for someone to perform their little heart out to this song. I had big dreams for this video so I just imagined it as big and beautiful as it could be, and luckily there were a couple epic spots that immediately fit the bill. Then reality came into focus and we had to consider who would even let us take over their spot for a day.
Our drummer Ashley works at Kilowatt and offered the space, so it was a no brainer. It’s perfect too since Kilowatt is such an awesome hub for incredible music right now. I wanted to represent them and be represented by them too. They were so generous lending the space to us, and we shot first thing in the morning until the bar opened in the late afternoon. It turned out better than I imagined and they had all the things that made this video come to life.
Why did you record the album in upstate New York?
A couple years ago when I was still playing music under my name, we played a show in Sacramento with Babehoven. Me and my band were all hanging out in the green room and Ryan was playing pool while me and Maya talked about our mutual interest in being Doulas or Midwives and kinda just started getting to know each other. I felt very happy to be there. I was talking with her about the next album I wanted to record and how it was all a little up in the air, but I talked about wanting to record it with someone more professionally, since I’d mostly just recorded music on my own at home. She immediately was like “well we’d record your album for you” and I was just so surprised by that generosity. They hadn’t even seen me play yet, like what if I sucked! There was just a sort of instant kindness that took me off guard and that I appreciated about them. Maya told me Ryan had been recording all the Babehoven stuff for the past couple years, and I thought that was really cool. After the show, I reached out to them to ask if they meant what they said and lo and behold they did! Then me and Ryan sort of played phone-tag for a while and figured out some dates and goals and talked budget and album length and lodging and plane and train logistics.
It all came together and me, Bridge, Lil, and Oona (the musicians featured on the album) flew out to New York and recorded this album in two weeks. I had never done anything like that in my life – waking up early and spending all day in the studio, working so hard on a song every single day and then the next day we’d have to move onto something else. It was so hot and I was so happy and nervous to make it all come together.
I care so deeply about this collection of songs. Maya and Ryan were kind enough to let us stay in their home for the two weeks we recorded the LP. It felt like summer camp, it flew by but was also very labor-intensive and hard. We shared a lot of meals on their screened-in porch and played board games and I got really intense about Scattergories one night and we grilled on the fourth of July and we swam in ponds and waterfalls and I tried to save moths that had flown inside every morning. I’d never been upstate, and I love it very much.
What’s your connection to the Bay Area, and how do you find being a musician here?
I’m from Sacramento. I left when I was a teenager to go to college in Seattle, and moved to the Bay Area 2021. The Bay rocks, it’s so central to so many musicians coming and going and there’s always a show to see or a bill to hop onto or some venue you can cobble some show together at or some space you can make something beautiful happen.
I love living in the Bay Area. I am lucky to live in West Marin now after having lived in the city for a couple years, so I really get to experience so much of what this beautiful place has to offer. It’s hard to compare the Bay to Seattle when I was in college or Sacramento when I was a kid. I played music in all of these places I’ve lived, and they were all so different from each other and definitely a result of their specific time. But they all had a pretty receptive DIY pulse that ran through them.
Seattle was a great place to be young and try different things out, but I’m glad I don’t live there anymore. Sacramento was a place you went as far from as possible when I was growing up, or it was a place you got stuck in. Now all these trendy artists want to live there. It’s so different! Never thought I’d see the day. It’s cool.
But the Bay Area feels unique and timeless as it’s an important stop on the map for touring musicians far and wide. So that feels like a plus as a local musician – I can see an artist I like is coming to town and reach out, and often they’re receptive and we get to play together, and then you have a new connection. I love that about the Bay 🙂
Buy the single from Cherub Dream Records →
