When we last left Kathryn Edwards, our hero was redefining what it meant to run a music venue and community space during a global pandemic. The always-busy Edwards, who founded the all-ages art space Drkmttr and plays bass in the magnificent post-punk outfit Donors, also fronts local hardcore unit Thirdface. Thirdface’s other three tent pegs — drummer Shibby Poole, bassist Maddy Madeira and guitarist David Reichley — all play together in the band Sallow. Today, Thirdface releases their debut LP, Do It With A Smile, on Brooklyn indie imprint Exploding in Sound. Ahead of our print deadline, I got talk with Madeira about her perspective on the album, but just after the paper went to press, I got a chance to catch up with Edwards, as well.
The title, Do It With a Smile, is so perfect. I feel like that phrase subtly told me everything I needed to know about the LP.
It is a line from the song “Villains!,” which is our first single. That’s our workers’ rights song, I suppose. At least, that's what my lyrics are about. And just basically being in the habit of being in that low-wage slavery. By the end of the song, all you can really do is come down the path and you have to do it with a smile — you know, you don't really have many choices at the moment.
The record was finished early in 2020, before a pandemic, worldwide protests and countless events that highlighted the injustices of our society. After sitting on this album throughout that time, do the lyrics speak to you differently?
I think that they’re a little more poignant, because when I was writing them they were more about ideas and concepts that we all think about, and know about — marginalized groups and people who are oppressed and different things like that. That's just the subject matter that I generally talk about. But then as things started to progress — well, now these lyrics are a lot more speaking to reality than ever. It's just that it's a little bit more obvious why I wrote the lyrics, as time has progressed.
Exploding in Sound Records isn’t a label known for the style of music you guys make. What made you want to do the full length with that label?
We recorded it and we had no plan of what to do with it. We were just like, “OK, let's record it and then we'll figure out what to do with it.” And actually, we have so many friends on Exploding in Sound. We've played shows with Pile, Shell of a Shell — just so many different friends have have released things on the label. And they just hit us up, because they know who we are. Because they know Maddy and Shibby and David from Sallow. I think Sallow talked to them before and stuff like that. I think that they just really wanted to branch out the kinds of genre offerings they have. And we knew that, once again, our friends on the label had really good experiences with them. So after talking to them we decided that would be a super interesting choice to make instead of going with a traditional hardcore label.
And I guess it’s come up multiple times during our processes of promo for the album — how people like to keep talking about how we aren't like the most traditional hardcore band. We don't have a formula. We’re from Nashville. That’s not a place known for hardcore music, nationally. Different things like that. And so while we're already making interesting choices that people can't guess, we might as well also go to the label that no one could see coming.
As someone who plays in two punk bands and runs an all ages DIY venue, do you ever feel like you need a break from that world?
Yes! But I guess, the past entire year, I've had the longest break from DIY culture and music since — I don't even know — I guess, 10 years. It was a good time to be able to pull back and see what exactly it is that you're wanting to do with things. Especially since Thirdface — we have already been writing new songs during this year. Donors — we haven't been able to get together, but have been working on different riffs and stuff, because I play bass in that band.
I don't sing in that band, so I’ve just been working on different music and thinking about how to improve once things get started again. Because instead of sounding like the present, you might as well take the time when everybody comes back to put out some good stuff. … I feel like beforehand, a lot of complacency was a thing that happened in a lot of DIY scenes. But now I feel like after this long break, everybody should be able to come back and see what's actually really important for us all.
Do you think this break — for both you personally and for the band — changes the way that you view what you do?
I think that it at least puts into more perspective why it is that we do what we do. There're a lot of times when some people feel the obligation to just release music constantly all the time, to keep the feed fresh, and to constantly have content and things like that, instead of actually thinking about the quality of the thing that they're putting out. So I think that has definitely impacted us, where you have nothing but time at this point to perfect what it is that you're trying to do with your art. It's given us a good opportunity to do that and look at why the band is and what it is, and what kind of sound it is that we're trying to have. Working on lyrical content. What themes do I want to talk about with the band? So it’s really opened up a perspective of being a little bit more mindful.
What’s the most important thing you want listeners to take away from Thirdface?
While there is importance to thinking about the quality of things that we put out, I hope people realize that we’re just four friends coming together to make some awesome music. And we hope that people not only appreciate that, but actually hear and read our lyrics and think about the world around them and how they can improve other people's plights that are not necessarily their own.
