Mincer Ray is an unabashed, fearless (and strange in all the right ways) quartet who cite a “long blink” at an Actuarial job as the reason for ditching the humdrum and joining the madness in Berlin.

They take that gritty Trixta stage this Saturday in celebration of their new split cassette tape release with Apostrophe.

BLY spoke with Mincer Ray:

Can you give us a brief history of Mincer Ray?

The short answer is that we met at an AA meeting for immigrants with severe social anxiety who over-compensate through excessive humor & harbor deep desires to reintegrate into the social drinking community.

But the long (and potentially boring) answer is that a man wearing glasses (Graham) blinked for too long at his Actuarial job in Chicago, saw himself 40 years down the road, panicked, and decided to hop a plane to anywhere else.  His friend (Sean) – having a similar early-life crisis – tagged along.  Landing in Berlin three weeks later with grand visions of learning German, the two crossed paths with a Brazilian named Cate (pronounced Ka-Chee) on the first day of German class.  The three quickly bonded over a shared love of The Flaming Lips, Guided by Voices, & chemical abuse, and have been having regular arguments over hypothetical situations for the past six years in between playing music & working meaningless jobs.  ….  OH!  And somewhere along the way a proud Bavarian man (Endai) crept behind the drumkit.

Wait.  Why did I write this in third person?

How would you describe your music for those who have yet to hear it?

Indie-Rock or Freak-Pop or Unshowered-Pock are pretty good descriptors.

Although we are four different people, who each write songs, enjoy various kinds of music, but more or less appreciate genuine, unfiltered, creative tunes so it can be tricky to sum it all up with one hyphenated word.

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You’re releasing a split cassette tape with Apostrophe. How did that come about?

Extra Tall Jeff (from Apostrophe) chatted us up at split release concert we did with Berlin Pop masterminds Man Behind Tree, but we arrogantly pushed him aside to bathe in the sweaty lust of rabid groupies.  He showed up again at our next show, shoved the Apostrophe album in our hands, and when we went to listen to it the next day – it was blank.  We thought it was a pretty darn good joke (which it wasn’t) and went to their next show.  Lo & behold, they were pretty fucking awesome: the perfect mix of fun, hyperactivity, & creative violence.  We’ve been buds ever since, and buds record tapes together.

What’s happening at Trixta on June 18th?

We (Mincer Ray) & Apostrophe will be rocking – sometimes hard, other times not so hard.  We’ll be cracking jokes.  Sipping suds.  Maybe wearing dresses.  Plus, Shaky Tooth Tapes will be releasing these snazzy, fun, neo-retro, charming, mind-pleasing, hand-warming, potentially-childhood-remembering cassettes available for the folks who are kind enough to attend the evenings festivities.

Plus lots of surprises.  Huge surprises.

What do you like best about being in a band that is based in Berlin?

You can be so inebriated after a show that you forget your guitar inside a Turkish Pizzeria at 4 in the morning, realize three days later, and they will have safely tucked it away instead of selling it on Ebay – only in Berlin, folks.

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Mincer Ray & Apostrophe Live

Mega-Deluxe Split Cassette Tape Release

Saturday, June 18th @ Trixta!

For the address of Trixta, please email: hello@listentoapostrophe.com