Origami Angel, a two-piece emo band out of Washington, D.C., is a strong supporter of local music scenes.
They’ll be in Pittsburgh on Sunday to headline the 17th birthday bash for Don’t Let the Scene Go Down on Me, a music collective that’s been booking shows since 2007 and in Pittsburgh since 2010. Also on the bill at Spirit Hall in Lawrenceville are Emperor X (Germany), Equipment (Ohio), Magazine Beach (Washington, D.C.), Innerlove (New York) and String Machine (Pittsburgh).
Guitarist/singer Ryland Heagy and drummer Pat Doherty have been prolific, with two studio albums, seven EPs and a mixtape — 2023’s “The Brightest Days” — since 2017.
Ahead of the show, Heagy discussed his favorite Pittsburgh memories and the importance of local music communities in an email interview:
It looks like you’ve played a wide variety of venues here, from the Four Chord Festival in a minor-league baseball park to Stage AE … and a couple that I’ve never heard of (like Glove World and Ba Sing Se), so what are your best Pittsburgh memories?
Haha, yeah we’ve played a ton of shows in Pittsburgh over the years. Honestly it’s one of our favorite places to play. It’s funny you mention Glove World and Ba Sing Se, because they definitely have my two favorite Pittsburgh memories. It’s actually the same place, the name just changed over the years. Our first show there was with Short Fictions, The Obsessives, Bleary Eyed and Willow Hill Motel. Lots of friends on that bill, and Sam from SF was doing a Pittsburgh-themed trivia all night in between bands. I remember getting a question right about Doc Ellis (former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher) and being stoked haha. The next time we played there, the name had changed to Glove World, and it was the final show on our “Somewhere City” release weekender. That was a special night with a lot of homies that I go back to a lot.
What’s your view/opinion on the music scene in Pittsburgh? And how does it compare to Washington, D.C.?
I love the scene in Pittsburgh, and for a while it was almost a second home to us, playing in PGH as much as we would play in DC. Our booking agent was originally from Pittsburgh, and we all became friends through DIY, so PGH DIY was a huge part of our upbringing in the scene. Comparatively to the DC/DMV area it’s definitely different, at least in my experience. In the city proper, there were always a lot more house shows in PGH (at least in the emo world in 2018-2020), whereas there was always a little more house show action in the DC suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. I think that more so just reflects the differences in the cities’ geography than anything, but it was definitely really cool to play house shows in Pittsburgh as we were coming up.
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How important is it to support local music scenes to you, like you’re doing as the headliner of the Don’t Let the Scene Go Down on Me birthday party?
I mean to be honest, local music scenes are all we’ve got. It’s why we’re here and able to continue to play shows all across the country. Most if not all of this band’s existence has been based in our own local scene, or being welcomed into other local scenes across the states. Local scenes foster an uplifting community, and allow people a space to grow, as musicians and as community participants. So it’s an honor to be playing the DLTSGDOM anniversary.
From listening, it doesn’t seem like you’re beholden to any one sound, incorporating surf, ska, bossa nova, etc. on “The Brightest Days.” What’s been most important to you in developing the band’s style?
Yeah, there’s definitely an abundance in genre influences in what we do at this point. Most of that comes from just wanting to have fun in our own music, and keep a vibe of excitement in a sequence of songs, whether that’s an album, a show, or our discography as a whole. The main reason we all love to play and listen to music is that it’s FUN, and it’s a tool of expression. I think our own personal expression, we try to expand what’s allowed in our own music to keep it as fun as possible for us.
Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.
