Ali and the Scoundrels are a self-proclaimed funky little soul band from Minneapolis but they’re anything but little in reality. The outfit is comprised of magnetic front woman Ali Fisch and her 8 member backing band The Scoundrels. Their style marries old familiar themes of classic soul and R&B with contemporary sounds of indie rock and pop culminating in something uniquely their own. The perfect compliment to their modern soul songs is an engaging live presence propped up by a massive wall of sound featuring horns, harmonies, and hooks. Thankfully, you and that special someone can throw on those adorable couples costumes this Halloween Saturday and get down like James Brown at Ed’s (no name) Bar with Ali and all her scoundrels. Local lounge cats The Old Fashioneds will be on the night’s bill as well and will be hosting a costume contest.
The Interview Part:
We tend to write more from personal experiences so the themes tend to be heartbreak and booze, for sure. Does that make us sound real sad?
Can each member of the band tell me their favorite scary movie and Halloween candy?
Neil (bass) – Titanic and gummy Venus de Milo.
Rob (guitar) – An Inconvenient Truth and Baby Ruth.
Frank (keys) – Jingle All the Way and candy canes.
Tyler (trombone/harmonica) – Mad Max: Fury Road and Reese’s.
Gabbi (backup vox) – The Conjouring and candy corn.
Chris (trumpet) – Evil Dead and Butterfingers.
Ali (vox) – Troll 2 and Mounds/Almond Joy.
Charlie (sax) – Finding Nemo and Skittles.
Luke (drums) – How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Peanut Butter M&M’s.
Are you guys still a 9-piece? Is it hard fitting on that stage at Ed’s? What’s the smallest stage you’ve ever fit on?
We sure are! I won’t lie, when we first played Ed’s back a few years ago it was a little tricky, but with practice and creativity we have been able to make it work. And Ed’s definitely is not the smallest stage we’ve played. We just recently played at Harriet Brewing. That place is a great venue, but boy did we have a hard time fitting on that stage. BUT I think that’s our problem though, right? We definitely brought this on ourselves, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You guys have your costumes picked out yet?
Costumes…that’s always the hardest part! Being a 9-piece band it’s sort of hard to agree on one solid idea for that so we’re sort of doing our own stuff this year. But we’re not going to give any of our costume plans away! You’ll have to just come join us on Halloween!
I’ve always wondered—does Ali identify as Scoundrel too or is that just the rest of the band? I apologize if I’m overstepping my bounds asking that.
I definitely identify myself as a scoundrel, absolutely! Anyone who says they haven’t been a bit of a scoundrel at least once in their life is probably a liar right? My knowledge of scoundrels is sometimes they like the sea, me too! Sometimes, they like mischief, me too! And sometimes they like to drink and have a good time…well…me too!
Name a few of your guys’ favorite venues to play.
Oh man. Not just saying this because we’re promoting our gig at Ed’s…but seriously Ed’s is our favorite. We love the vibe, it feels like our home turf in a lot of ways. It’s funny, we all live up in Minneapolis and we love playing up there don’t get me wrong, but when we come down to Ed’s it feels like coming back to our family home or something. We love the Amsterdam up in St. Paul, great people working there, great sound, great drinks! We love the Nomad, Acadia, The Red Star in Duluth is super fun too. Kathy’s Pub in Rochester is always fun, you never know what kind of crowd is going to be there so I think that makes it really fun. As you can see there are quite a few, and I know I’m forgetting some too.
Your bio says your songs hit all the classic themes in life: love, loss, booze and broken hearts—what about shortcomings of a two-party political system and climate change?
Haha man, that gives us some ideas! We’ve actually joked before about getting political with our stuff. I say joke because my style of political writing IS a joke, and not in a fun satirical way. I always think, when I sit down to write something on the political side, that it’s going to end up being super awesome and thought provoking. Then it ends up coming out something like—“man, don’t you hate when people hate each other man?” The phrase “write what you know” couldn’t be more true with us. Don’t get me wrong, we are informed, but we tend to write more from personal experiences. So the themes tend to be heartbreak and booze, for sure. Does that make us sound real sad?
Finally, when your band is doing brunch are you having a bloody, mimosa, both or neither?
Oh Todd…that’s the toughest question. I think the perfect band brunch would start with a mimosa and end with the bloody, and then maybe have some more mimosas and bloodies in between. And if an eggs benedict needs to make an appearance I don’t think anyone would mind.
The Details:
What: Halloween Party with Ali and The Scoundrels and The Old Fashioneds
When: Saturday, October 31st at 9pm
Where: Ed’s (no name) Bar
Tickets: $5 at the door