Unseemlier’s Mike Assatly Tells The Truth About THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE EP (The Witzard Interview)
Unseemlier band photo (CREDIT: photographer unknown / SOURCE: Instagram)
Little Low drummer Mike Assatly recently moved back East with his girlfriend and Little Low founder, singer, and guitarist Christine Atturio. Atturio & Assatly have recently kick-started a new version of Little Low (let’s just call it “Little Low 3.0”) and are gearing up to record new material with their newly-minted East Coast line-up soon enough. While Atturio has been playing gigs again with her old band, Save Ends, Assatly started a new project of his own dubbed Unseemlier. Genre-wise Unseemlier has been billed as/self-described as being “FFO [for fans of] Radio by Hot Water Music, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and growing up in Stoughton” in addition to their own new genre tag, “Heavy Emo.” Unseemlier very recently unveiled their debut five-song demo EP entitled THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE jointly co-released on Sell The Heart Records and Stoughton Forever Records. It’s now available online on digital streaming platforms with pre-orders now ongoing for THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE EP CD’s and cassette tapes expected to ship in mid/late May. We recently reached out to Mike Assatly, who was more than happy to tell us all about the latest and what’s to come next from UNseemlier. It’s been tunred into the 12-question interview you now see below, which has been lightly edited for general clarity.
I. When did Unseemlier initially form?
Mike Assatly: October 2023. I had just moved back to Boston after almost 10 years living in The Bay Area, [California]. I texted Kevin [Meriam] (drums,) who I’ve been in many [bands] with over the years that we had to do another one when I finally moved back!
II. Who are the members of Unseemlier and what is each member's role within the band?
Assatly: I (Mike) am the singer/guitarist. I wrote a lot of the initial riffs for the band and all the lyrics. Kevin [Merriam] plays drums and structured the songs with me from the beginning. Chris Pina plays guitar and has written every lead, thus far, structuring the songs with Kevin [and I]. Andrea [Neuenfeldt] plays bass and is the newest edition to the band. When we started writing these songs, I was not sure if I wanted to play guitar or bass, so the first couple months, we just did it as a three-piece where I would alternate between the two. Andrea brings the kindness to the band that three dudes who grew up in the same town together no longer have for each other. She’s, also, gonna sing on songs and probably write lyrics at some point!
III. How did you decide upon the band name Unseemlier and what does it mean to you guys or what is it intended to signify?
Assatly: I had a few names in the bank that I wanted to use and Pina & Kevin chose Unseemlier from all of those. It, actually, fits well because at the very beginning, I didn’t know if I could hack it in a band like this; so, essentially, these songs were a “proof of concept” to myself. I wasn’t sure they would be suitable for public consumption, which is, actually, also, the loose definition I use when someone asks me what Unseemlier means. The dictionary definition is “not proper or appropriate.”
IV. What made you decide on the name THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE as the title for the debut Unseemlier EP?
Assatly: I honestly think either me or my friend, Ryan, said it out loud one time in 2012-13 when I had an alien mask on and thought it was so funny; so much so that over 10 years later, we used it to name this EP!
V. What is the significance behind the singles titles on the EP: “Occam's Razor,” “Gayle’s Sun,” title track “The Truth Is We Out Here,” “Sometimes We’re Mostly Chillin’,” and/or “Shoulda Never Went to The Glitter Boys The Night Before Recording?”
Assatly: A lot of the song titles for this band are [jokes] that [were] made at one point or another in our friend group. I like the idea of having joke song titles ‘cause it’s always been hard for me to not take every facet of a band super-seriously and naming songs is sometimes annoying, so I’m trying to allow myself the grace to laugh about the band in some ways.
“Occam’s Razor” goes out to Kurt Vonnegut. It’s the concept I learned [from] one of his books that means if you have two competing ideas to explain the same phenomenon, you should prefer the simpler one. It is mentioned in his book, Timequake, which I was reading right when the band first started.
The title “Gayle’s Sun” was a thought I had about how when my mom passed how I lost touch with her whole side of the family becoming nothing more than Gayle’s son, but, also, when I was little, she used to sing “You Are My SUNshine” to me. The song itself is more about recognizing the moment you are going to lose someone who would shape your life, but not fully being able to grasp it making you wonder if you’d be the same person had they not died or left your life for whatever reason.
“The Truth Is We Out Here” title was described earlier, but the song itself is about growing up lower class and how the “American Dream” is becoming more unattainable by the day, but people will just tell you to “stop buying avocado toast” or some sh*t, as if that is the problem.
The title “Sometimes We Mostly Chillin’,” I think, was Kevin describing [our] relationship to someone who didn’t know us(?) I don’t remember fully, but I think those words came from his mouth and it was funny, so I remembered it. The song itself is about being vocal about being a cog in the machine and how we, as humans, are treated unless we acknowledge it and try to do better for ourselves.
“Shoulda Never [Went to The Glitter Boys The Night Before Recording]” is named after me being bad at taking care of myself/taking sh*t seriously. Two of my childhood friends do these WYLD [CBD] DJ nights under the name The Glitter Boys and they had one of their biggest events of the year the night before we recorded, needless to say, I was not kind to myself. The song itself is, also, about growing up in a lower income family and the “American Dream” not being attainable for everyone.
VI. How were the tracks for Unseemlier’s THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE EP written, produced, created, recorded, etc.?
Assatly: I would bring a riff (or almost whole song) to practice, Kevin would come up with drums to back it, and Pina would write the leads over it. We all structured the songs together and we recorded them with my friend, Jason [Tucker,] at his studio space in Dorchester, [Boston, Massachusetts.]
VII. Who or what were some of your biggest sources of inspiration and influence while recording THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE?
Assatly: Musically, I wanted to sound like Small Brown Bike. I don’t know if I quite hit that fully or if I let Kevin & Pina steer me in another direction. Some of these riff/lyrics, I have had for over 10 years now, so I’d say my biggest inspiration was getting off my ass and finally putting music like this out. If I sing in a band, usually it’s a Hardcore/Punk band. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about my voice/how I would change lyrically with less aggression behind it.
VIII. We saw on Bandcamp that your sound is self-described as “Heavy Emo.” Who else would you suggest our readers check out in the same vein as Unseemlier from your local East Coast scene?
Assatly: “Heavy Emo” was a term I came up with off the top of my head when I was thinking of the lyrical content of the band, but, also, the music style we would play with/fall under. It isn’t a term I would really use to describe any other bands, in particular. For local bands, I’d say check out High & Dry, Massive Nightmares, [and] Hell Beach, off the top of my head.
IX. How did you guys end up connecting with Sell The Heart Records to unleash your THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE EP?
Assatly: I’ve known Andy [Pohl] for a bit and we have had really good talks about what it takes for a band/label relationship to work and the actual effort both entities have to put in. When I was booking shows out in The Bay Area, Andy had reached out to me to help book some of the bands on the label. When the EP was done, I sent it to a few friends’ labels, but Sell The Heart was the one that made the most sense and I’m glad it worked out!
X. What's planned next for Unseemlier?
Assatly: We have about six shows booked from now through July and will definitely have more. We plan to record an LP’s-worth of songs in October. No actual release plan for that yet though, just in the writing stages!
XI. In addition to or aside from Unseemlier, do any of you have any additional bands or active musical projects?
Assatly: Kevin is still cranking with Crescent Ridge. Just recorded drums for an LP! Andrea has a band called M.K. Naomi that is releasing an EP soon! I play drums in Little Low. Pina joined Kevin [and I’s] band, Spirits, right before a European tour in 2018. We haven’t done anything since, BUT the two long-distance members are coming out to Boston to record an EP next weekend!
XII. What are your current plans for Little Low (2.0) AKA Little Low On The East Coast now that yourself and Christine Atturio have migrated back East, Mike?
Assatly: Technically, this would be Little Low 3.0—Christine did it as a solo project for years before it was ever a full band. Most of the songs were primarily hers and we would all just add a little here and there. We are going into the studio in late May to record five songs with Trevor Reilly (A Wilhelm Scream, Smackin’ Isaiah) and have a few local shows lined up. We will be doing a weekend North up to Montreal and will probably do one South in the fall. We are playing NICE, a fest in Somerville, [Massachusetts] in July, as well!
Unseemlier - THE TRUTH IS WE OUT HERE EP cassette tape and Unseemlier live shot (SOURCE: Mike Assatly)
