Super Secret Cult Band performs at the Fiddle’s 50th

Back in May 2013, Dylan Rogers and his former band of buskers, the Lansing Unionized Vaudeville Spectacle, closed out the 50th annual East Lansing Art Festival.  
This weekend, Rogers’ latest group, the Super Secret Cult Band, performs at yet another milestone local event: the Ten Pound Fiddle’s 50th anniversary celebration. For $20 per ticket, the all-day party offers a packed lineup of concerts, jam sessions, workshops, dancing and community singing, all at University Lutheran Church in East Lansing.  

Among the long roster of performers are Fiddle fixtures like Kitty Donohoe, Second Opinion, Joel Mabus and Sally Rogers. Record and CD collectors may also want to attend simply for the folk, jazz and blues CD and vinyl sale. Most titles are $1 each. Rogers, 37, said he’s thrilled to be a part of the momentous bill.  
Outside of his own music, Rogers keeps busy promoting local artists and touring acts at his REO Town venue, the Robin Theatre, which often hosts Fiddle events. The guitarist and vocalist chatted with City Pulse about the Super Secret Cult Band, in which he’s known as Brother Dylan Rogers alongside bandmates Sister Abbey Hoffman (vocals) and Brother Michael McConeghy (vocals/guitar). Here’s what he had to say.  
Given you were already playing in the Lansing Unionized Vaudeville Spectacle, why did you form the Super Secret Cult Band? 
Dylan Rogers: Abbey Hoffman, Mike McConeghy and I formed Super Secret Cult Band in 2019. They’re both good friends, devout cultists and brilliant singers whom I’ve worked with for many years, including in the LUVS. The first group of songs was born out of an interest in addressing despair and nihilism in a lighthearted way. It’s also a way to lean into my interests in the occult, religion and weird fiction. Plus, it was a dream of mine to work on a project centered on lyricism and vocal harmony. We perform around a single microphone, so it’s a very portable project —especially relative to the vaudeville show, which sometimes had as many as 18 performers.  
What’s up with the LUVS these days? Any chance of a reunion show?  
We’re in deep hibernation. A reunion is unlikely. 
Super Secret Cult Band is playing the Ten Pound Fiddle anniversary show. Has the group ever played the Fiddle before?  
We haven’t played the Fiddle before. It’s an incredible opportunity to celebrate the Fiddle’s 50th in this way. That organization is an absolute gem. Lansing doesn’t know how good we have it. One interesting observation related to the Cult Band playing the Fiddle is that folk music scenes often have space for a couple of satirical or novelty acts alongside the technically brilliant traditional artists. As the Fiddle celebrates 50 years, it’s an honor that a cult band gets to play the role of court jester for this era. 
The Super Secret Cult Band has some serious throwback vibes. Do you listen to a lot of older music?  
I listen to a ton of Motown and oldies in general. The pop music of post-war and Cold War America. It’s so shiny and beautiful and pure, but there’s often something toxic beneath the surface.  

What have you been up to recently? I see you released “The Cult Cabin Tapes” back in October. 
We took a band retreat over the summer and ended up with a batch of recordings we liked. Some of them were recorded on cassette tape. I’ve always had an affinity for tape, and I used Tascam four-track recorders throughout my teens and 20s. I learned about a cassette duplicator in Brooklyn, New York, who does great work. We decided to release these recordings on a cherry red cassette tape, with a Bandcamp download code included in the case. It’s been fun.  
What’s your favorite song on “The Cult Cabin Tapes”?  

Where has the Cult band played shows over the years?  
We’ve stayed pretty close to home in Lansing. Coming up, we have appearances in Grand Rapids and Cleveland. We’ll begin traveling more in the coming years. We conduct our shows like initiation ceremonies. We invite the audience to join us in celebrating the absurdity of our time. Live performances usually involve costume changes, short sketches and lots of important information about the coming end of days. 
How is the Robin Theatre going over in REO Town?  
We’re good at the Robin! I’m staying busy and giving myself space to evolve and shift gears when necessary. We already have some incredible acts lined up for the fall, and we’ll be taking some time off over the summer to rest and recalibrate. We’ll remain open as a bookshop during this time. That has felt particularly great, giving ourselves a chance to be open to the public even when we’re not hosting shows. 

When did you first start playing music, and have you always lived in Lansing?  
This feels like a longer story, I suppose. I started writing and trying to play music in middle school. I wanted to play guitar like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. I mostly grew up in Lansing, but I also moved around a bit, living in Northern California and Midland, Michigan, as well. In fact, my childhood home is just south of REO Town.  
Listen to Super Secret Cult Band at supersecretcultband.bandcamp.com.