Alchemy in Lower Allston

The LEDE:

Allston-based post-pop band Pretty & Nice have been a dervish in the Boston music scene since they arrived in 2005. Thriving in our perennially underdogging city, co-leaders Jeremy Mendicino and Holden Lewis have bucked area pitfalls by managing to successfully juggle the elusive trifecta that plagues all recording artists: they write amazing songs, put on great live shows everywhere they go, and produce inventive recordings that only get better with age. Behind the boards on those recordings is grown-ass wunderkind engineer/producer Mendicino. For years he operated out of his basement studio, Esthudio, where he also tackled the work of some of the area’s most exciting independent music with partner Dan Gonzales. In late 2013, however, they endured every studio owner’s fear: having to move.

I spoke with them last year about their most recent release, the concept album Golden Rules for Golden People. In anticipation of Friday’s Spirit Kid album release show—Is Happening was one of the last projects recorded at Esthudio—I caught up with Mendicino via email to see how they’d settled into their new location, Odd Fellows Recording.

Read the full interview on Boston music blog Allston Pudding.