On November 9, Josh Modell and Dan Didier’s Foreign Leisure record label will be hosting a Cactus Club concert that features artists from three of their latest releases. Joining The Hallelujah Ward and Clem Snide on the bill is Troubled Hubble, whose 2005 album, Making Beds In A Burning House, was just reissued in honor of the record’s 20th anniversary.
Ahead of the show, Milwaukee Record caught up with Chris Otepka of Troubled Hubble to talk about the newly released reissue, the band’s recent performance at Bay View Bash, their connection with Foreign Leisure labelmate Clem Snide, and more.
Milwaukee Record: Making Beds In A Burning House just was reissued by Foreign Leisure on October 17. How did this 20th anniversary release come to be?
Chris Otepka: I think it happened when drummer Nate Lanthram was hanging out with Josh Modell at a Record Store Day a couple years ago. Josh, being a fan of the record, mentioned it to Nate that the anniversary might be coming up and we should explore reissuing it. And then it was like the same day Nate reported back to us that he’d talked to Josh and that they were interested in celebrating the 20th anniversary somehow. And yeah, fast forward, it’s printed and it’s being celebrated. The wheels just started moving and they never stopped, so here it is. We’re super excited.
MR: Revisiting the album again 20 years after its original release, are there any aspects or elements you might appreciate more now compared to when you first put it out in 2005?
CO: It was about a year ago now that I started diving back in to go and re-explore all of these songs from 20-plus years ago to just re-familiarize myself with them and to get in touch with who I was and where I was at that time in our lives. Everything felt great! Like, I wasn’t cringing at myself or out of touch with who and where and when that all was. There was some challenge, but there was some comfort in there as well. I was just in my twenties, but I was trying to be optimistic back then. So the messages of hope and just trying to enjoy life were refreshing to get back into.
Last October, I cracked open the record to just get back into the songs and I ended up re-recording the entire record with kind of a dad rock groove to it acoustically. In relearning everything, I was feeling and hearing new grooves and new rhythms just playing it now 20 years later. I went so thorough on relearning it and just like getting to re-feel it all that it ended up that I re-recorded everything. I spent some money and time at a studio and made an acoustic version of it that I have not shared with anybody, nor do I know if I will. But yes, it was that much fun that it took me to a whole new recording of the record and a whole new experience.
All the while, Josh Miller, the guitarist in Troubled Hubble, was working with our mixing engineer, and our mastering engineers, and the lacquer cutting guys, and he was dialing in a whole new mix of the record. So it has felt very thorough.
MR: In that process of revisiting the album, were there any songs that automatically came rushing back to you?
CO: “I’m Pretty Sure I Can See Molecules.” I had, like, a solo version of it that I would play through the years. I didn’t ever really stop playing music and ended up touring even harder after Troubled Hubble was done in 2005-2006, so some of them stayed and morphed into more folk-y versions of themselves.
MR: And on the other hand, were there ones that took longer to relearn?
CO: There were some I was kind of intimidated by, like “oh how is this going to go again” and some of them had some string parts on it. Like the song “Get Lost” might have been intimidating, but it feels so good to play again.
MR: Troubled Hubble played at the Bay View Bash and will be back in town performing at the Cactus Club on November 9. What’s it been like for the band to be back together preparing for these shows?
CO: It’s sporadic but it’s really exciting. Everybody moved on in life and there are wives, and children, and homes, and businesses, and professions. None of that is in the way, it’s just a bigger family celebration. We did Mile Of Music in Appleton over the summer and everyone’s family came up and stayed the weekend, swam in the hotel pool, and partied with us at the shows. And then again at Bay View Bash, despite the rain, the families all came out. It’s just had this whole new level of emotion and celebration that wasn’t there before. So that has been this incredible boost of new and fun energy, especially to see the children of the bass player and the drummer—like the rhythm section’s kids—dance around like crazy. Josh’s kids are sweet and cute, but maybe a little bit more reserved, but our bombastic rhythm section have the offspring to represent that as well. It’s really cool.
MR: At the Bay View Bash, I actually was sold a copy of the reissue by one of the Troubled Hubble children.
CO: That’s awesome. So you get what I’m trying to say then. That wasn’t there 20 years ago! I think it just gives everybody a sense of “this is a real thing and this was a real time.” We worked our asses off and there’s some tangible proof of that now. It’s pretty cool.
MR: Clem Snide will also be playing at the Cactus Club on November 9. You have a history of playing and collaborating with Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide. How did you and Eef first meet?
CO: Troubled Hubble was still rocking when we met up with a management company that also represented Eef and Clem Snide. And we did like a four- or five-day tour across Texas and Oklahoma with the Hungry Bird-era band, so that four-piece version of Clem Snide and Troubled Hubble got to do a few shows together.
And then I don’t think it was until 2009 that I opened for Eef at Schubas, and then from there, I was brought on for the Meat Of Life record and I brought my Heligoats band with Clem Snide across the country a few times. It was pretty intense for three years, and I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun.
MR: Anything else you want to share about the reissue or the show coming up at Cactus Club?
CO: It’s very exciting to be a part of the Foreign Leisure label. The Hallelujah Ward record just came out a few months before ours, and their band is really damn cool, and I think that the styles compliment each other. And for Clem Snide to be chilling along on the bill and on the label, like, there’s a good wholesome vibe to it.