Indie folk duo Builder of the House don’t exactly sport rubber clothing or latex thighs highs on stage, but Rob Cimitile and Elliot Heeschen are well aware of how clothes can make a wardrobe…no matter if a guy or girl is wearing that wardrobe. The band’s brutally honest “Look at the Man” video (see here) features Conor Leigh Tubbs morphing into his/her Cherry Lemonade drag persona. Issues of gender certainly rate high on the country’s current concerns, and knowing how our own work often makes folks feel better about whatever gender they identify with, we wanted to get to know Builder of the House better.
First and foremost, Rob elaborates on the “Look at the Man” video:
I was originally writing an autobiographic song about my own issues with acceptance and approval. But at the time, I was intentionally moving away from writing about myself, and in this instance I knew my issues were nothing compared to what others go through. Around this time I saw Cherry Lemonade, the drag persona of Conor Leigh Tubbs, on Facebook. I immediately knew the song I was writing needed to be about someone who suffers from a lack of approval in a much deeper sense.
Builder of the House is like lots of newer bands, embracing video once again as an alternative way to get their music to fans. The era of MTV might be gone, but many bands enjoy the costume design, movie making and overall art form of getting their music out across Youtube and the other video outlets.
Having grown up in the age of the music video, we are excited to see its resurgence” Rob says. “And it is definitely back and will probably be here for a long time – groups like OK GO! have seen to that. It’s not easy making a video, and lesser so a great one. So it’s a great way for musicians to try and break through the noise. At this point, we view ourselves as one of those ‘bands with the cool music videos’-hopefully people think so too!”
Music, video, provocative subjects, good rockin’ tunes based as much around the snap and percussion of acoustic guitars as looped percussion samples, this duo has lots happening. Builder of the House’s first full-length CD, Ornaments will be released shortly and the band opens for Taylor Hicks Dec 16th. at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA.
Listen, look and enjoy what Rob Cimitile and Elliot Heeschen fashion here: https://builderofthehouse.com/
