Photo by Evan James French
10) Dance, white boy, dance.
All three members of the Neighborhood— including lead vocalist and guitarist Philip Rice, bass guitarist Eric Mai, and percussionist Matt Duckworth—all boogie to different beats. Rice has the rock-star toe shuffle, Mai does the convulsing bass boogie, and Duckworth looks like he’s an angry bear swatting at bees. Or maybe one of those airdancers.
9) All three of the member's last names have loads of pun-tential.
For example, "Mai" I buy a "Duck-worth" as much as a cup of "Rice"? And so forth.
8) The coffee crooner.
You might catch Rice riding his scooter to work at the Starbucks on Campus Corner in Norman—or making his own brew with his French press at home. He says he often gets his song ideas over a good steamy cup of joe.
7) High School Music…ian.
Mai admits that watching the local Norman high school channel is one of his favorite pastimes. But don’t let his silly hobbies fool you—not only does he have a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from OU, but he’s also the man behind the band’s album design and the band’s website.
6) Multitalented and multitasking.
If Duckworth looks familiar, it may be because he has been contributed his drumming skills to Stardeath and White Dwarfs (no “the,” not “dwarves”) and Year of the Jackalope. Oh yeah, and he helps build the Lips’ UFO and shoot shit off the stage.
5) Bored games.
When they’re not performing together, you might catch The Neighborhood playing Rummikube, Sorry!, or Speed Scrabble.
4) For the first time ever, again.
Though the band has already played a CD release show in Norman, the members say they are excited to introduce the album to Stillwater, where it will be available for sale. “We’re looking at it as a CD release show itself,” Mai says.
3) The Neighborhood loves Stillwater, and Stillwater loves them.
“People come up to see us in Stillwater, and there’s not a great explanation for it,” Mai says.
“People in Stillwater seem to love to get behind things they’re excited about,” adds Duckworth. “You can see it with bands like Kunek and Colourmusic. And the people aren’t scared to have a good time.”
“They’re not too cool,” Rice concludes.
2) Their new album, Our Voices Choked with Fireworks, is that gangsta shit.
Well, maybe not literally, but to quote Derek Zoolander, "like the way black people use it."
“It’s like a live performance if we had all the instruments we wanted and the people we needed to play them,” Duckworth says. “It’s like a live show, but with the magic of computers.”
1) They’re not Hinder.
They’re not Hinder.