Mischief Brew

Mischief Brew

Mischief Brew is a folk-punk group from Philadelphia, United States, formed around songwriter Erik Petersen. The project begins in 2000 after Petersen’s earlier punk band, The Orphans, disbands. Mischief Brew develops from solo acoustic performances into a backing-band format when needed, while still centring on Petersen’s songs and guitar or mandolin.

Style and influences

The group mixes folk, punk and anarchist themes with a range of older and hybrid styles, including pirate punk, Celtic folk, gypsy swing, jazz, American old-time music and country. Its songs often sit between political folk and more boisterous, dance-oriented material, with references to medieval dances, Romany tunes, drinking songs, tango, ska and klezmer elements. Petersen’s early punk influences include the Dead Kennedys and Subhumans.

Early releases and live approach

Petersen starts making music at a young age and begins playing shows at 16 with The Orphans. That band issues the 7-inch Anthems for Doomed Youth in 1996, before the members are old enough to drive. After The Orphans end in 2000, Petersen records the acoustic demo Mirth, which is rough in sound but establishes the core songwriting. In its early period, Mischief Brew is often presented live as just Petersen with acoustic guitar or mandolin, usually without a PA and in small West Philadelphia settings where audiences sing along.

Recordings and collaborations

Bellingham & Philadelphia appears in 2003 as a split LP/CD with Washington state songwriter Robert Blake. Around the same period, Fistolo Records, the label Petersen co-founds and runs with his wife Denise, releases the Bakenal CDep. The recordings cover contrasting styles: the Bellingham material leans toward politically minded folk in the style of Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan, while Bakenal contains gypsy-punk swing, Pogues-style drinking songs and a drunken tango.

Two years of touring follow, from punk bars to basement shows. Petersen also records acoustic tracks for The Orphans discography on Raise the Youth in 2004, and releases the Mischief Brew single Oh Sweet Misery b/w All About the Class War in 2005.

Smash the Windows and later releases

For the full-length Smash the Windows (2005), Petersen works with Brooklyn producer Tamir Muskat at Vibromonk. The studio setup allows for wider instrumentation, and a backing band is assembled on bass, drums, accordion, clarinet and junk percussion. Guest appearances come from Sturgeon of Leftover Crack, Peter Hess of Guignol, and Franz Nicolay of World/Inferno Friendship Society and The Hold Steady. The album includes the songs “Nomads Revolt,” “Roll Me Through the Gates of Hell,” “The Gypsy, The Punk, and The Fool,” “A Liquor Never Brewed” and “Departure Arrival.” “Departure” also appears on the compilation Up the Stairs and Through the Hall, a 2xCD release of independent Philadelphia artists and bands.

Mischief Brew also issues split 7-inch releases with David Dondero and with -Bread & Roses, a Boston labor folk act. Songs from Under the Sink collects anarcho-folk songs written between 1997 and 2002 and is later issued on LP and CD.

Members

At different points the group includes Erik Petersen, Robert Sarazin Blake, Chris “Doc” Kulp, Shawn St. Clair and Gregory Taylor.