Indie pop group Donora has fun with new sound

By John Benson

Plenty of smiles and fun indie pop is what Pittsburgh-based act Donora is planning for its Youngstown debut Friday at Cedars.

“We don’t have any rock star teeth,” laughs Donora drummer-singer-sampler Jake Hanner, calling from the Steel City. “We try to smile when we play. So you’ll get to see our teeth, which is exciting. People have said they enjoy seeing us because they can tell we’re having fun playing the songs.

“So I think that’s in general how we go about writing; we try to envision playing songs out at the bar for our friends and just try to have fun with it.”

Fun, playful and yet deep and thought-provoking are just a few descriptions of the act — Hanner, sister Casey Hanner (vocals, guitar) and Jake Churton (bass) — that recently released its self-titled debut effort on Rostrum Records. Standout tracks from the CD include the upbeat single “Shout” and the fan favorite “The Chorus.”

Comparison-wise, Donora has so much going on that it’s difficult to compartmentalize their sound. Still, Hanner gives it a shot.

“I guess because my sister is the singer and because we’re into pop music, people have compared us to The Go-Go’s and Blondie,” Hanner said. “We’re pretty much a fan of all pop music in general, but I never really listened to those bands before. So I went and bought a couple of their albums and I liked them.”

What truly makes Donora stand out is its live show, which features Hanner sampling live instruments and making montages.

“I trigger them on every downbeat, so they’re not actually loops but more like soundscapes,” Hanner said. “A lot of people have said they sound like The Cure with the layered sound, like the layered guitar effect kind of sounds. So for each chord in the progression, there will be a different sample that goes with that.”

Yikes, sounds like performing live would be a tedious if not stressful affair. “Sometimes it makes it difficult to play,” Hanner said, “but I think it’s one of the things that draws people to us is our ability to play around with those sounds.”

For Hanner and his sister, music is the family business. Their dad, Dave, is a former Nashville songwriter who in the early ’80s scored a No. 1 country hit for Don Williams with the tune “Lord, I Hope This Day is Good.”

“He’s real excited about Donora, and together we co-produced Donora’s first album, which was a lot of fun,” Hanner said. “He’s really talented. My sister and I learn so much from him every day. What he does now for a living is he produces acts and records acts around Pittsburgh.”

Alhough on the surface country music and indie pop seem like two different worlds, a sense of melody and good songwriting are common denominators. More so, Hanner jokes that if anything, his dad is more DIY or anti-establishment than he is.

“He never really talks about it,” Hanner said. “I knew he had success, but I didn’t know they were No. 1 hits until I was down in the basement and I saw these gold records in the corner. So I took them and hung them up on my wall. I’m always joking my dad is really cooler than I am because he had them just laying in the basement and I had to hang them up and put them on the wall.”