![The Doubleclicks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/The_Doubleclicks.jpg)
The Doubleclicks are a
nerd-folk
Nerd music (or geek music) is the overall category of music collecting the musical genres that grew from nerd culture; different styles that share the same common ground.
Origins
The earliest example was filk music, from the 1950s onwards, pl ...
musical duo based in Portland, Oregon, consisting of siblings Laser Malena-Webber (on guitar, ukulele, or cat keyboard) and Aubrey Turner. They first became known for performing nerd-friendly comedy music, including songs about Dungeons & Dragons, dinosaurs, and other geeky themes. While their later songs retain those elements, there has been a stronger focus on feminist and other social issues, and more personal themes.
History
Personal
The Webber siblings grew up in
Westford and
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts listening to the
Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers are Thomas ("Tom" – born February 2, 1937) and Richard ("Dick" – born November 20, 1938), American folk singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic gu ...
(particularly their version of "
Streets of Laredo"),
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
and
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is an American former musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, having lectured on mathematics and musical theater. He is best known for the pithy and humorous songs that he recorded in ...
.
They were part of a musical and artistic family; their father, Stephen Webber, is a music professor at
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
, and they claim to have been playing music since before they could read; their mother, Susan Webber, is a
fiber artist
Fiber art (fibre art in British spelling) refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as Cloth, fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the art ...
and former Spanish teacher.
Both attended Abbot Elementary, where they first learned to use stringed instruments, and
Westford Academy
Westford Academy is the public high school for the town of Westford, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1792 and is one of the oldest public high schools in the United States.
History
Westford Academy (WA) was founded as a ...
, with Aubrey graduating in 2003 and Laser in 2006.
They were part of a rock band in high school but had no plans to form a duo.
Laser moved to
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
to study International Affairs at
Lewis & Clark College
Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...
(with a year at the
Anglo-American University
Anglo-American University (AAU) is a private university in Prague, Czech Republic, providing courses in English. Founded in 1990, it was the first private university in the country to use English as the language of instruction.
History
Anglo ...
in 2008) and Aubrey studied classical
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
at the Berklee College of Music before moving to Portland as well.
The Doubleclicks
![-NerdNightOut- Brody (12353038103)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/-NerdNightOut-_Brody_%2812353038103%29.jpg)
The siblings performed as a duo on
open mic
An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...
nights before booking a real gig at
Mississippi Pizza.
At first, the band was a part-time endeavour. Laser worked as a freelance writer and journalist, at the ''
Beaverton Valley Times
The ''Beaverton Valley Times'', also known as the ''Valley Times'', is a weekly newspaper covering the city of Beaverton, Oregon, United States, and adjacent unincorporated areas in the northern part of the Tualatin Valley. Owned since 2000 by the ...
'' and ''
Portland Mercury
''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''.
Contributors and staff
Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven ...
'',
while Aubrey was a home-care provider for seniors.
The band started their YouTube channel in 2011 with a 6-month song-a-week project and has since been releasing songs on YouTube and CD and touring throughout the US. They write many songs that are funny and emphasize geeky topics.
Laser initially wrote most of the songs, but has described their more recent songs as a collaborative effort. They often perform at pop culture conventions, at entertainment events such as
w00tstock
w00tstock is a touring variety show billed as "3 Hours of Geeks & Music". It was created in 2009 by Wil Wheaton, Adam Savage and Paul and Storm. The first shows took place in 2009 in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and as of July 2015, a total of ...
, and in nontraditional music venues such as comic shops and game stores.
Their second album, ''
Lasers and Feelings
''Lasers and Feelings'' is the second album from the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks, released on July 9, 2013. The album debuted at #7 on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart for the week ending July 27, 2013.
Songs
" Nothing to Prove", a response ...
,'' debuted at #7 on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart. Their fourth album, ''
President Snakes
''President Snakes'' is the fourth album from the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks, released on August 11, 2015. The album was funded via Kickstarter with a goal of $30,000. The goal was achieved within the first few days of the campaign's launch. ...
,'' debuted at #4 on the same chart and moved to #2 the following week. The following albums, ''Love Problems'' and ''The Book Was Better,'' each debuted at #1 on that chart.
The Doubleclicks made a video for their song "
Nothing to Prove" about acceptance of women in geek culture.
The video featured appearances from celebrities including
Kelly Sue DeConnick
Kelly Sue DeConnick (born July 15, 1970) is an award-winning American comic book writer and editor and English–language adapter of manga.
Career
Kelly Sue DeConnick was first introduced to the comics industry by writing copy for photos in adu ...
,
Wil Wheaton
Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...
and
Adam Savage
Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and fabricator, actor, educator, and television personality and producer, best known as the former co-host (with Jamie Hyneman) of the Discovery Channel televisi ...
—and was covered in print and online media, gaining over 1 million views on YouTube.
In 2014, The Doubleclicks ran a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign to raise funds for their third album, ''Dimetrodon,'' produced by
Mike Phirman. The campaign raised over $80,000 and was the most successful Portland music Kickstarter to date.
Laser quit his day job in December 2011,
while the success of the Kickstarter campaign allowed Aubrey to quit her job as well, leaving both siblings able to work full-time on being the Doubleclicks.
Music
![-NerdNightOut- Brody (12353020513)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/-NerdNightOut-_Brody_%2812353020513%29.jpg)
Commonly the lyrics to their songs are written by Laser while Aubrey creates the music.
The Doubleclicks have described themselves as part of the
nerd-folk
Nerd music (or geek music) is the overall category of music collecting the musical genres that grew from nerd culture; different styles that share the same common ground.
Origins
The earliest example was filk music, from the 1950s onwards, pl ...
genre; which is similar to
geek rock
Geek rock (also known as nerd rock or dork rock) is a musical subgenre derived from pop rock and alternative rock within the nerd music group. It is a sister genre to the chiptune-influenced rock subgenre Nintendocore and related to other branc ...
and
nerdcore
Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term (to describe this genre) in the 2000 ...
but without either drums or rapping.
Their participation in
geek music was not originally intended; it grew naturally from their music and allowed them to tap into the
nerd community. Laser stated in 2012, "I don't know if we ever really intended to write 'geeky music'—and that's not exclusively what we do. I write songs about things I think about, which are love, depression, and games and movies"
and later, in 2014, "Everybody has self-important, sad love songs. We were doing something that was still earnest, but instead of talking about trees or nature or clubbing, we were using World of Warcraft as a metaphor for sadness."
Separately in 2014, he further explained "Our songs are essentially about feelings and about our own experiences. It just happens to be that the metaphors we are making are nerdy ones because those are the cultural touchstones we have."
With the increase in the geek demographic, the duo believes that the "geek music" distinction may be becoming redundant.
The group has toured and performed with other performers of geek-friendly music, including
Molly Lewis
Molly Lewis (aka Sweetafton23) is an American musician who is known for her ukulele playing and who rose to prominence on the Internet. She plays both covers and original songs. Her original music consists of comedic songs that deal with relevan ...
,
Danielle Ate the Sandwich
Danielle Anderson (born January 24, 1986), known by her stage name Danielle Ate the Sandwich, is a singer-songwriter from Fort Collins, Colorado.
Anderson has released seven independent albums starting with her self-titled album, ''Danielle At ...
, and
Lucia Fasano.
They have been featured performers at
Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are " Co ...
's annual JoCo Cruise, and Coulton sang on one track of their 2017 album ''Love Problems''.
Discography
Demo album
* ''Beta Testing 1-2-3'' (CD & online, March 2011)
Studio albums
* ''
Chainmail and Cello
''Chainmail and Cello'' is the debut album by nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks as The Doubleclicks. It was released on 30 April 2012. An earlier demo album, called ''Beta Testing 1-2-3'' (2010) was recorded under the more-generic band name "Angela a ...
'' (CD & online, April 2012)
* ''
Lasers and Feelings
''Lasers and Feelings'' is the second album from the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks, released on July 9, 2013. The album debuted at #7 on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart for the week ending July 27, 2013.
Songs
" Nothing to Prove", a response ...
'' (CD & online, July 2013)
* ''
Dimetrodon
''Dimetrodon'' ( or ,) meaning "two measures of teeth,” is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian), around 295–272 million years ago (Mya). It is a member of the family Sphenacodontid ...
'' (CD & online, June 2014)
* ''
President Snakes
''President Snakes'' is the fourth album from the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks, released on August 11, 2015. The album was funded via Kickstarter with a goal of $30,000. The goal was achieved within the first few days of the campaign's launch. ...
'' (CD & online, August 2015)
* ''Love Problems'' (CD & online, August 2017)
* ''The Book Was Better'' (CD & online, May 2019)
EPs
* ''Blatant Pandering'' (online only, August 2011)
* ''
Worst Superpower Ever
''Worst Superpower Ever'' is an EP for children released by the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks
The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon, consisting of siblings Laser Malena-Webber (on guitar, ukulele, or cat ke ...
'' (CD & online, April 2012)
* ''
Christmas Ain't About Me
''Christmas Ain't About Me'' is a Christmas EP released by the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks
The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon, consisting of siblings Laser Malena-Webber (on guitar, ukulele, or cat keyb ...
'' (CD & online, December 2012)
Compilation albums
* ''Song-a-week'' (Demos) (online only, February–September 2011)
* ''Song Fu 2012'' (online only, January–December 2012)
* ''Weekly Song Wednesday'' (online only, September–December 2013)
* ''Monthly Song Monday'' (online only, March 2014-?)
* ''Weekly Song Wednesday: Season Two'' (online only, May 2014-July 2014)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doubleclicks
Musical groups from Portland, Oregon
2011 establishments in Oregon
Sibling musical duos
Nerd-folk musicians
American comedy musical groups
American musical duos
Musical groups established in 2011
American comedy duos
Female musical duos