The father writes and sings the songs. The daughter (about 12), sits behind the drum kit with pigtails and pounds away while being on backup vocal duty as the mother occasionally also sings backup vocals, but mostly runs a slide projector full of strange slides to go along with the songs. This isn’t a vaudeville act . . . or maybe it is? The trio goes by the name The Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players. You may have heard of them. You may have even seen them live or on Conan O’ Brien. If you haven’t then, well, you should, because they are one of the most interesting acts in New York City these days.
Self-described as an “indie-vaudeville-conceptual-art-rock-slideshow band” by the father, Jason Trachtenberg, the band is a unique attraction that has garnered them attention not just for presenting an act interesting to see, but for having a shtick that is part sideshow and part comedy act. Jason, no doubt acts as the family ringleader, talking to the audience a mile-a-minute, explaining the slides, while Rachel, their young daughter who seems too good at drumming for her age, sits and sings along with her dad, while mom, Tina Piña sits smiling, playing the slides. She also designs the costumes the family wears on stage.
The DVD highlights the family running around New York City to play gigs and has local, upcoming, and established acts talk about the band. The likes of Nellie McKay and Regina Spector have opened for them and have gotten record deals with the family’s help and exposure.
And the slides? Somewhat of a fourth member of the band, the songs would not exist without them. To backtrack, here’s the origin of the slides: The family, who are from Seattle, would walk dogs to support themselves. A few years ago, Tina and Rachel, were walking dogs and bought an old slide projector and a box of slides labeled "Mountain Trip to Japan, 1959" at a garage sale. Jason wrote a song off the slides with the same title, they presented it live and it was so well-received the band has taken off from there. Since then they have acquired slides from various estate and garage sales and written a few albums off that material alone. The songs are exposes of the people on the slides while incorporating their own wacky humor on top of it. Subjects (and slides) range from death, a fast food marketing meeting, the military, and public hangings, all while using slides showing peoples lives and family photos.
The DVD does a good job at capturing the family playing live, getting from gig to gig, while showing how they livs together as a tight unit. The artists and friends interviewed paint a warm portrait of a creative family living on the fringe of music, surviving and building an audience. Extras include videos and old performances of the band, who are all quite quirky and fun. |