Janel & Anthony, photo by Shervin Lainez.

There are so many styles of music in which D.C. has had a major influence, it’s a shame that so few outside of the region recognize it. Of course, this city gave birth to go-go, which has inspired numerous hip-hop artists. But where would jazz be without the District’s native son, Duke Ellington, or the myriad world class artists that have come out of Howard University? And would we have had the alt-rock boom of the ’90s without Bad Brains or Fugazi?

What may be a surprise to many, is that our nation’s capital also has a rich tradition in experimental music. The growth of Sonic Circuits is just one example of how musicians and audiences from this area are pushing the boundaries at music’s cutting edge, and one of the most visible acts from this vibrant scene is Janel & Anthony. The duo uses its members’ vast talents, deep knowledge base of its members and modern electronics to create soundscapes that run the gamut from ethereal to grating, sometimes within a single composition.

The group’s sonic alchemy is a collaboration between two very skilled musicians, guitar wizard Anthony Pirog and multi-faceted cellist Janel Leppin. Each musician plays in a variety of settings, Pirog with any number of jazz groups around town, while Leppin is classically trained with a deep interest in Indian and Persian music. The two went to the same high school and became good friends while in college. They officially came together as a duo in 2005, when Pirog would visit Leppin to jam at her woodland cottage in Virginia. Their first album came out in 2006, and they have since played hundreds of shows together.

Janel & Anthony’s latest recording, Where Is Home, came out just last month on Cuneiform Records, and the pair will celebrate its release tomorrow night at Iota. Where Is Home consists mainly of written compositions with freely improvised interludes. Three years in the making, the album is beautifully recorded and establishes a mood from the opening notes. It demands the listener’s attention and offers plenty of rewards for those seeking music that is atmospheric, yet doesn’t fade into aural wallpaper.

Those who cannot make it to tomorrow night’s show will have plenty of chances to hear material from Where Is Home in coming weeks. Janel & Anthony will be performing at the Black Cat on June 16 and at Bohemian Caverns on June 24 as part of Transparent Productions‘ Sundays @ 7 series.

DCist recently interviewed Janel Leppin and Anthony Pirog about writing and recording Where Is Home.

What was the overall aesthetic you were trying to achieve with this recording?

Pirog: We were trying to make this record sound more like our live show. When we play live we play our compositions and then improvise interludes in between them. We wanted to capture the feeling of that approach on Where Is Home. We recorded short improvisations and layered them so the album would have the same kind of movement as one of our live sets.

Leppin: I was happy that Anthony was open to the idea of having short improvised pieces between each composition on this record. Initially we were going to have individual songs with pauses throughout but I really wanted to include vignettes on this album like we create in our live show. It’s more like a suite or movements within a larger work. It’s a very classical approach. They create a relaxed moment between each composition and almost cleanses the palette of the ears before heavier tracks like “Lily in the Garden” or “Leaving the Woods”. It’s interesting that these improvisations and small melodic ideas have become some of my favorite moments on the record.

We recorded these pieces on our final day of tracking right before we got it into Mell Dettmer’s hands to be mixed in Seattle. We brought some ideas to improvise off of like I brought in the koto progression and melodic idea for the guitar for “Symphony Hills” and Anthony brought some loops from a previous recording session for “Stay with Me”. Anthony wrote the beautiful fingerstyle vignette, “Auburn Road”. Several others were fully improvised as in our live show.

How did you go about recording the album? Where there any specific sonic elements that you were keen on capturing?

Pirog: We recorded this album at The Brink in Centreville, VA with Mike Reina. It’s a brilliant studio and I’m always very inspired when I’m there. We wanted a darker kind of sound for this batch of songs so we decided to record to tape. We had only ever done ProTools sessions up until then and recording to tape presented it’s own set of pros and cons. In the end we were thrilled with the sounds we laid down and will try to use the analog approach whenever we can.

Leppin: When working with the warm tone of tape and this vault of beautiful vintage gear that Mike has, its easy for us to come up with something special. There are instruments all over the studio that I gravitate toward. I had no plans to play the crazy instruments I did on this record like harpsichord, mellotron, synthesizers, bowed vibraphone, piano, or any other instruments other than the cello and cello sympathetique, but it was like something would come over me I’d sit down and the ideas were just there. Anthony is the same way he’ll be like “Cymbals!” and he’ll go record the most blissful cymbal hits or play lap harp tuned to a great scale, or gorgeous guitar work. It’s taken time to trust one another’s musical intuition in the studio, where time is of the essence. Now that we do though, the studio is where the real magic happens for us when we allow one another to explore and track what we are hearing in the moment.

We also were able to let go of some of our more perfectionist tendencies, which can be destructive if given too much energy. Allowing certain imperfections gives it a more human feel. The other times we recorded we were aiming to be perfect to a fault and the tracks were losing that breath that is present in this recording. Actually, the few moments are some of my favorite on the record. It’s much more natural this way. It’s been a very enlightening process.

How did the compositions come about? What was the writing process like?

Leppin: We tend to write songs very quickly. In fact this material was written over a very short period of time. What really took a long time for us was finding the studio with the right tones that would compliment the album. It was a miracle that we were introduced to Mike Reina and that he was interested in working on our record. Now that we have found this place to work in we will be putting out a lot of material, I think. We have a backlog of music that we would like to put out but we also would like in a way to leave that material behind so that we can write new music and focus on that. It comes down to funding most of the time. Mike is very generous with us in many ways including with his genius work in the studio. We feel very lucky to be working with him.

Pirog: We had a long time to develop the material at live shows since we took our time recording this album. We write together, or either Janel or I will bring in an idea and the two of us will work on it. Occasionally, one of us will bring in a completed idea. We each play in a lot of other projects and we both love to write. We aren’t intentionally trying to mix genres, this is just the music that we write together.

Janel and Anthony’s music often delves into the avant-garde, which is music that can be a difficult connection with the average music listener. What advice would you give to curious folks out there who might be hesitant to give a chance to more progressive music?

Pirog: Give it a chance. Give it a listen. We balance our sound explorations with melodic compositions. We love so many types of music it just makes sense for us to do what we’re doing.

Leppin: They say that beautiful experiences are even more beautiful when juxtaposed to an opposite experience. It’s a cliche, but I think its true. We like to explore improvisation and composition in a way that provides a strong dichotomy, like when colors of a painting are more vivid beside contrasting colors. We are just expanding our palette of colors to work with instead of thinking in terms of genre boundary or only whether something is radio-worthy.

The thing I’d say is perhaps new listeners could consider it like the experience of going to an art museum. Everyone is looking around at each work of art and checking out each piece for what it is. If one piece in the series isn’t to their liking, they don’t walk out of the exhibit and say they’ll never see contemporary art again or that they didn’t enjoy the exhibit because of one painting. We are exploring that music doesn’t have to have a heart pounding pulse or a gorgeous singable melody to be beautiful, but also it doesn’t really have to be beautiful at all, which is where the contrast comes from. If people can’t open up to music beyond what is on radio or TV, or what corporations are pushing, it is really a limiting experience. People are missing out on an entire world of truly brilliant music that is being created right now!

How does D.C.’s progressive/avant music scene fare with those of other cities? Who are some acts within the scene that you admire?

Pirog: We love the D.C. scene. Every city has it’s different thing going on but D.C. is definitely special. Sonic Circuits is doing a real service for the area. The annual Sonic Circuits Festival in September is something that we really look forward to. Their shows throughout the year at Pyramid Atlantic in SIlver Spring, MD are really great too. We like Violet, Insect Factory, JS Adams, Chris Videll, Blue Sausage Infant. The list could go on and on.

You and Janel also often play in more traditional settings. How do you change your approach when it comes to playing in different contexts?

Leppin: I love collaborating with people. Most of the time the other musician is working within a genre and there are particular rules within that genre that you have to adhere too. I try to do that and make something appropriate. The projects where the artist has allowed me to step outside of the genre’s norm or where there is no distinct genre is most exciting for me. I like to try to bring in elements from beyond the vocabulary of that style and create something interesting.

Pirog: I just try to play what’s appropriate for the situation I’m in. I will push boundaries but I try not to go over board. We’ve both studied so many types of music that it’s easy for us to weave in and out of different styles of playing. One night I’ll have a show where I’m playing noise improvisations and the next night I’ll have a country gig. I’m not really interested in being just one type of musician. There’s so much information out there and I just want to grab whatever excites me.

What are your thoughts on the District’s music scene as a whole?

Leppin: I love the people here and their open attitude is wonderful. I am not interested in local pride too much. It’s a form of nationalism to me, which creates problems, but the vibe at experimental concerts in D.C. is really inspiring. The scene here is very active and the artists tend toward being non-competitive, which is a pretty healthy atmosphere to develop ideas.

Pirog: It’s wonderful. You can play any type of music that you want to here. There are great players in D.C. and everyone is very kind and supportive. I really feel like I’ve been able to say whatever I want to say here. I feel very lucky to be doing what I’m doing.

Janel & Anthony will be performing at Iota on June 7, 2012 with opener Mike Reina. 9 p.m. $12.