Washington Social Club, Measuring Indie Rock Fame by the Seconds
By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne RobertsTuesday, July 31, 2007; C03
It's not like Washington Social Club hadn't been on TV before. Snippets of the band's music made it into a Toyota commercial and an episode of "Tru Calling" ; plus, there's the time its danceable indie-rock came blasting out of a nightclub on "ER."
"For a full two seconds!" said bass player Olivia Mancini.
"No, more like 30 or 45 seconds," said guitarist Evan Featherstone, "because they ran it through the credits."
But somehow no one had ever, you know, told them in advance when they were going to be on the air. So on Sunday, four members of the D.C. quintet gathered for a viewing party with friends in Mount Pleasant to hear one of their songs on the HBO hit
"Entourage."
"We have no idea as to its use," said frontman Marty Royle. All they knew was that
"Diamond Hipster Boy" would accompany a scene of Turtle and Drama scouring Craigslist for dates.
How'd that happen? "Seriously, we just got a call one day saying, ' "Entourage" wants to use your song,' " said manager and party hostess Taylor Thompson. The producers paid $25,000 for the rights; the band would see $9,000.
Royle hoisted a Miller High Life and toasted absent drummer Randy Scope's newborn baby. Then they dimmed the lights and turned on the TV. Ten minutes in: Turtle and Drama log on at an Internet cafe as a syncopated jangle plays in the distant background . . .
"That's it," murmured Royle.
Seconds later, the scene was over, the song gone.
Thompson shrugged. "They paid a lot of money to have that song talked over." No complaints. "We will work that. We'll put stickers on the CD. We will tell everyone, 'This is the song from 'Entourage.' "
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