The Baton Rouge-based band Secret Annexe brings a new meaning to the term “lineup change.”
The band, currently made up of Rob Mulhearn, Shelby Rushing, Kevin Carbo, Phil Gallagher, Kyle Bailey and Shelby Gallagher, has been active since 2001, but not always with the same members.
Secret Annexe’s inconsistent membership sets it apart, and throughout the years, the band has switched members a number of times. There are different names in the liner notes of every collection Secret Annexe has recorded, and there are different members playing at every show. At one point, the band had seven members.
Members of the ever-changing group also lend their talents to a variety of shows. A variation of Secret Annexe has played every event from a Halloween-themed wedding to a Velvet Underground cover show, not to mention an upcoming ’90s R&B concert.
While the band plays a wide range of genres and covers, when it plays as Secret Annexe, it debuts its own material.
Even though the band categorizes its music as rock, members make a point not to classify the band exclusively as a rock band. Taking cues from grunge to metal, Secret Annexe strives to tear down the walls a genre creates. According to the band members, every album they’ve recorded has a different sound — the members aren’t out to restrict themselves.
The same goes for the band’s songwriting style.
“One person will come up with an idea and then we’ll sort of go nuts,” Mulhearn said.
Those ideas include a song based on a speech by Abraham Lincoln and a song entitled “Boris Karloff,” a nod to the actor who played Frankenstein’s monster.
In these songs, the band further breaks itself away from genre marks by using a wide range of instruments. Secret Annexe has included violas, flutes and mandolins, among other instruments in recordings. The band also frequently swaps instruments between members, further changing its dynamic. According to the band, the songs change when played live and sometimes have a different feel altogether.
The band’s name, a distinct reference to Anne Frank’s hideout, came to Mulhearn when he was reading Frank’s diary for the first time. It also came, in part, from one of Mulhearn’s influences.
“I was listening to Neutral Milk Hotel a lot,” Mulhearn said.
The band Neutral Milk Hotel references Anne Frank in the song “Holland, 1945.”
While the band plays few shows, fans can catch Secret Annexe at its “guilty pleasures night” at Chelsea’s on April 6.
“One person will come up with an idea and then we’ll sort of go nuts.”
