A Chat With: Mondo Cozmo

Recently, ANCHR caught up with Josh Ostrander, better known by the moniker Mondo Cozmo, as he and his bandmates kicked off their tour with The Airborne Toxic Event. The tour takes place during the launch of Mondo Cozmo’s third album called This Is For The Barbarians, which was written during the initial stages of the pandemic and lockdown, and follows up 2017’s Plastic Soul and 2020’s New Medicine.

The new record showcases the duality of lightness and darkness, and the importance of still finding human connection during times of isolation. Sonically, the album has tinges of Bob Dylan influence, particularly with Ostrander’s vocal inflections, and it layers intricate, experimental production styles over rock and roll roots. Tune into the conversation with Ostrander below to hear more about his approach to songwriting during lockdown, the heroes that inspired him in the process, and what you can expect from the live show. This Is For The Barbarians dropped on Friday, April 8th, and you can order your own copy here, or pick up a copy on tour. Mondo Cozmo will be playing The Vic on April 14th and 15th, and you can snag tickets here.

Photo by Travis Shinn

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ANCHR Magazine: Kicking things off, I actually interviewed you at Hangout music festival way back in June—

Josh Ostrander: Oh wow…2017?

Yeah, so it was like peak “Plastic Soul Era” and you were on all the festival circuits! So I’m sure it was all a blur, but just wanted to say it’s nice to chat with you again.

It’s nice to talk to you again!

Well since then, a lot has changed. You put out your second Mondo Cozmo record, and now you’re gearing up for the third record. Just in general, how have the past couple of years been for you?

Well it was tough when the tour got canned. New Medicine came out and we were gearing up to tour in support of it for as long as we could. I think we were one week into the tour and that’s when the world kind of went crazy. We canceled the tour, flew the band home…it was a scary time you know? I got back to LA and my wife and I decided to get out of LA, and we moved to a town called Twin Peaks up near Lake Arrowhead. We didn’t know what was happening, and we thought this was a good move for us. It turned out to be great, and I didn’t know what to do cause we couldn’t tour, so I just started recording. What would follow would be the record that’s coming out in two weeks.

I heard you dubbed the cabin you moved to and recorded in “Chateau Mondo,” which is very fitting. Is that where you wrote all the songs on the album?

Yeah everything was recorded during the pandemic and it was therapeutic for me to write that during that time. A lot of the lyrics have a lot of stuff dealing with [the pandemic]. It shows where my head was at.

Yeah totally. Do you have any favorite memories from your time retreating to the cabin?

I was always bumming that we put out the New Medicine record in the middle of the pandemic. I was bumming about that because I wrote and recorded that album to be a live record. I wanted it to translate really well to live shows, songs like “Black Cadillac” and “Come On” and then suddenly we weren’t able to tour, and I was like “Why did we put this record out?” essentially. Then one night, it all made sense to me because my phone started blowing up on a Sunday night. I was watching TV and all my friends were like “go to Twitter!” so I go on there and it was Bruce Springsteen talking about Mondo Cozmo. He did an article for the New York Times.

Oh wow, that’s amazing! 

Yeah they were like “who are you listening to?” and he said he listened to Mondo Cozmo. I was like, holy fuck. I grew up in Philly….

Yeah, he’s the Boss!

I know everything about the guy, and suddenly I was like oh my god, and I got in touch with his day to day person. I wrote her a letter and said I know you probably get a ton of these a day, but if you could forward this to Bruce, I would be so thankful. It was a really heartfelt letter to him saying sometimes with what I do, it feels like I’m screaming into the night air, but he gave me a validation that I needed.

That is like THE validation.

Yeah, it shook me, it really did. I used that excitement to craft the next record, but constantly thinking “But the boss is over my shoulder!” Like constantly thinking, is this good enough? No, it’s not…make it better. It was a healthy challenge for me I think.

Just a smidge of pressure…

Yeah, just a smidge!

I was actually listening to an interview you did where you mentioned when you were working on New Medicine that Butch Vig had mentioned he was listening to you back then.

Yeah, Rachel, it was the same thing– “go to Twitter” and I go and see that Butch Vig is saying he listens to Mondo Cozmo!

Wow, so you go from Butch Vig to Bruce Springsteen, who’s next?! You’ve gotta get Keith Richards on the next one.

That’d be amazing. The new Grammy I think is getting on Barack Obama’s playlist. That would be a big one.

That would be incredible! Well speaking of your new music, I really like both the singles you put out, “Electrify My Love” and “Meant For Livin’” and with the latter, I feel like there’s this cadence to it that’s almost like you took spoken word poetry or rap lyrics and slapped it over a rock anthem. 

Yeah that one was the first song I wrote during the pandemic. I was really proud, the lyrics came really quickly. I wrote it in about an hour and a half— I was missing one verse, but I woke up and I had it in my head and just recorded it. It’s very Dylan-y and I was like, fuck it, just go with it. The lyric “here’s to hoping that you get out alive”—In the band, we almost joke about it, but it was a pretty honest statement at that time in the pandemic. I didn’t know if my dad was going to get sick…we’re wiping down groceries…It was crazy times. It’s been nice seeing people’s reactions to that one.

Yeah. You mentioned Dylan, I definitely picked up on that. Were there any other particular influences that inspired you with that song?

When I started that one I was like I would love to make this feel like a Johnny Cash song. Whenever we go through New Orleans, I always try to see the big brass bands and stuff. I was like man if I could combine those worlds and add a little Mondo into it, I think it will come across very original.

Yeah it’s definitely its own but it sounds like you had some good influences behind it! 

That’s awesome, thank you. It’s been going over really well live too, it’s been fun. 

I’m excited to hopefully see it in Chicago! So generally with the whole album This Is For The Barbarians ,I know the title was influenced by David Lerner and the Barbarian poets of the 1980s. What was it about their work that spoke to you most?

I was reading a lot of this poetry book that’s called The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry. It’s awesome, it’s just like a selection of amazing writers and this one guy, every time I’d read it, I’d be like holy fuck…and it was always this guy David Lerner. This guy, I’m just really dialed into this guy, so I order more of his poetry books. There’s one called I Want a New Gun and it came in the mail, it’s a little poetry book. I opened it up and the preface is this blank page and in very small font, it said “This is for the Barbarians.” I was like wow, this is powerful. Whatever follows this, I’m in. It really resonated with me and I think it’s the perfect title for what I’m working on. 

That’s awesome. And the fact that you read that book and didn’t even necessarily know the poems you had a pull to were all by David Lerner seems like it was meant to be.

Exactly, yeah. He’s been a nice influence on me. I wish there was more work of his that I could find.

With the album, there’s an underlying theme that death and life can be celebrated synchronically, and lightness existing in dark times too. I think that’s been something heavily prevalent during the pandemic, and just trying to find the silver linings during these devastating times. Is that something that drove your writing on the record?

Yeah during 2020, my uncle was diagnosed with cancer and he was a huge influence on me, he was the best. He was dying of cancer and I would drive up to see him and spend time with him in Northern California. When I would go up and see him, I would always take along demos of songs and I’d work on lyrics going up and back, driving back and forth. It was heavy but it was beautiful and it was just part of the process for me. But it was beautiful to be there with him when he went. It was powerful, and it really impacted the lyrics for me. 

I’m really sorry for your loss. There’s a duality of that loss and pain and then creating art from a tragedy. I’d say that’s more productive than a lot of people who experience loss!

I also heard that “Electrify My Love” was written last for the record, but you wrote it with the intention of being the first song on the album right?

I had a record that was very much I wanted it to be fun sequencing with the songs. Everybody put a lot of work with the mixing and the guy who mastered it. The flow of the record was super important, where certain songs run into other songs…it was a wonderful task to undertake. But I wanted something, harking back to Springsteen, he always comes out one,two swinging on his albums. So I knew I wanted a big, big track to open the record. I wanted it to be a long intro with a calming sense to it, and the opening lyric to be “good evening everyone, I hope this finds you well.” Like a sincere check in on everyone after the two years we just had.

Yeah totally, well talking more about the process of bringing the record together, you recorded everything at home. Did you produce everything, or did you work with anyone else on that part?

I always record myself. Whenever I record with anyone else…it just doesn’t work for me. I’m very much best when I’m left on my own. With this one, it was cool because I could ask people to send me stems or they could record at their home and send it to me, and I could just load it in. That was beautiful and that was fun. My friend Peter Hayes helped a lot on the record, like he did with New Medicine. He’s in a band called Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, he’s been just a great wall for me to bounce things off of. 

That’s awesome! I feel like that’s one of the silver linings that came out of the pandemic as well, it’s easier to connect more remotely with people. I heard of a lot of bands recording that way during lock down. If you always prefer working alone, that’s probably your dream to just record at home rather than going into the studio!

Yeah I’m excited because we’re starting to get albums coming out that were written during the pandemic, and I think we’re going to be flooded with a bunch of great music and really powerful stuff. I’m really excited.

Yeah me too! Well as you mentioned, there’s still a pandemic, but the world is obviously opening up a bit more and there’s been more tours going on. You’re in the midst of tour with The Airborne Toxic Event now.

Yeah our third show was last night and we just started getting good! The first show I was like I don’t even know how to do this. I haven’t talked in…how long? But finally last night I was like ok, I’m good to go!

Yeah you had to dust yourself off and get back in the groove! How has it been going besides getting back into it? Any cities you’re looking forward to visiting?

I’m excited for this tour—we were going to push the record back to be honest because we wanted to be able to tour. I was like I’m not gonna be the guy who puts out two records during a pandemic, so we were going to push it because we didn’t have any tours or shows. I was scared to go out, and then Airborne invited us to do this run. So we decided to stick to the plan! The record comes out on April 8th, which is my birthday. I’m going to be in my hometown of Philly on that night, at the TLA where I used to go as a kid. So I’m really looking forward to it. 

That’ll be a highlight! Your birthday and hometown show in one night.

Oh my god there’s gonna be a grown man crying on stage, it’s going to be excellent!

You had to take that tour then! So for fans coming out to the show, will you be playing a mix of New Medicine and the third record?

Yeah it’s been challenging because I remember in 2017 when you saw us, we had ten songs, they’d be like we want you to play for 75 minutes, and we’d have had to play the set twice. Now we have forty songs and it’s fun. I would like to play longer but we are filling every second of that set up with every song that we can. We did “Come On” and “Black Cadillac” from New Medicine and then “Shine” and “Plastic Soul” from Plastic Soul and then “Electrify My Love” and “Meant For Livin’” from the new one. We have like an 8-song set and it’s something to see I think.

That’s got to be hard once you have more songs in the catalog and you only have a certain time slot. I’m glad to hear you’re fitting in a mix! Are you planning on a headline run after this one?

We’re hoping to do an East Coast run this fall, maybe another support run as well! I definitely want to go back to Philly. The phone’s starting to ring again, it’s nice to hear the phone ring. 

Yeah totally, it’s been very touch and go with touring but it seems like we’re in a good spot for it now. I’m happy to see you’re getting back out there.

Absolutely!

Anything else you’d like to mention before we wrap up?

I think just the main thing is I hope people sit down and listen to the record from front to back. That’s my goal. I guess that’s it though! 

Yes totally, I think people are barbaric (pun intended) when they don’t listen to an album in order for at least the first time!

A Chat With: Gustaf

Gustaf is a band founded on equal parts persistence and hard work, with a touch of happenstance thrown in there. The group had an impromptu inception in 2018, when Tarra Thiessen requested Lydia Gammill’s assistance to drive her van down from New York City to SXSW Festival for a tour with a different band that ended up not working out. Rather than cancel the trip, Gammill and Thiessen pulled together a new group of musicians to perform in lieu of the other project— and the rest was history. Since then, Gammill, Thiessen and their bandmates Tine Hill, Vram Kherlopian, and Melissa Lucciola have taken nearly every opportunity they’ve had to keep playing music as Gustaf, and they’ve garnered quite the reputation for their cathartic and intense live shows.

During their first two years as a band, Gustaf hadn’t released any recorded music, but they saw continued success thanks to word of mouth and their eagerness to put on incredible performances in a variety of spaces. This year, the band has graced the world with a tangible audio debut in the form of their first record, entitled Audio Drag For Ego Slobs. Released on Friday, October 1st, the debut album showcases a mix of art punk mayhem and an edge of playful performance art that they’ve become known and loved for. In celebration of the album release and Gustaf’s upcoming tour, ANCHR recently chatted with Lydia Gammill. Tune in below to hear about the series of fortunate events Gustaf has experienced, their favorite thing about the NYC music scene, who they’d love to collaborate with in the future, and more.

Photo by Juan Blanco Garcia. Gustaf is Lydia Gammill, Tine Hill, Melissa Lucciola, Vram Kherlopian, and Tarra Thiessen

ANCHR Magazine: Kicking things off, when you got into making music, what was your biggest inspiration for starting to create and write music?

Lydia Gammill: It’s kind of a dorky story. I was a teenager growing up in a preppy part of Massachusetts— this was a pre-Spotify era—and I was desperately looking for some sort of subculture or underground. I was illegally downloading songs off of Myspace, trying to find a local scene. I was a Harry Potter fan at the time, and my friend was like “Oh my gosh, this band Harry and the Potters, let’s go see them!” They would have all ages shows, so I went to one with her. This local band opened up for them and I remember sort of going to shows and watching them and being like “huh, they have a band, and they’re writing music… I think I can write songs!” My friend Casey was the one who dragged me to the show and we started this little band in high school called World Jump Day. World Jump Day is this hippie-dippie physics theory that if you got everyone in the world to jump at the same time, it might change the gravitational force of the Earth so it’s a little bit further away from the sun, to prevent global warming. So some of the first shows I was going to are these Harry and the Potter shows, and this place in Harvard Square would have open mic nights every Tuesday and I’d go and watch people. I kind of had to see someone else going for it, and be like I think I can do that! I’d always sung and acted, but I got a guitar for Christmas when I was like 15, then my twin brother got an electric guitar and I started playing his. I think when you’re starting out playing music and playing other people’s songs, you don’t think you’re allowed to write songs. Like you think there has to be some sort of fanfare or class that you’re supposed to take to be allowed to make the thing, and that realization was really fun and empowering to be like there’s no rules, you can just do it. I think when you’re a young struggling artist, hearing that advice is really frustrating because it’s like but how? I think 15 years later, I know that is what you have to do. You have to try it and not worry about the consequences. It’s easy to think something’s supposed to be perfect and fully formed before you do it, but the harsh truth is that rarely is that the case. You just learn by making more stuff.
Yeah exactly, it’s the “fake it til you make it” approach. 

Yeah there’s a famous study with pottery and I think paper airplanes— Where they take two groups of students, and one group is like to make the best paper airplane or the best clay pot, and the other group is just asked to do as many as they can. It’s always the quantity group that ends up having the best products. I’ve also heard that other studies say the amount of effort to make something really good, starting out if you’re putting more effort in, it will be better. However, with the completion of each thing, you at first will start with a lower quality with the quantity method, but every time you complete something, it makes your starting point for the next thing that much easier. So you get better and faster over time. 

Yeah that makes sense because you have more practice doing it, so it will get better over time. 

There’s something to be said about learning more and more each time you do something. But sometimes I don’t always follow that advice. 

Yeah I understand that, that struggle of revising too much. Speaking of creating, congratulations on finishing the debut album! Can you talk a little bit about your creative process with writing these songs and collaborating with the band?

The whole band started because Tarra had a van she had to get down to SXSW. She was going to take it down for another tour that ended up falling through, so she asked me if I wanted to help her drive. I was like, is there a way I could play shows on the way down? I was playing in some other bands at the time, but I was trying to do my own thing. We took the rhythm section from the band that was going to use the van at SXSW,  we took the drummer and the bassist, and Tarra’s boyfriend was along for the ride so we threw him in there, and we had Tarra on vocals and percussion. We just had to hit the ground running, so we ended up having shows booked before we had a name or before we practiced. The first get together of the original line up was taking photos in Tarra’s apartment. I’d had a couple of solo projects and mostly played in bands the first 7-10 years of my musical life in Brooklyn. It was hard to keep momentum with that and getting everyone together. It’s a weird pressure being in charge, but with Gustaf, I didn’t really have time to second guess or overthink. We just had to make it work right then. So I had to send people my demos, make a Facebook and Instagram account. We had to put it out there in a way that I hadn’t necessarily done with anything before that, and that kind of method ended up being a driving force of the first couple of years. We played live for two years before the pandemic, and it ended up being an important part of our start and how we ended up being able to put the car in neutral and shove it down the hill to get it going. 

That’s great, it sounds like it was all a right place-right time scenario. 

I also was working as the booker upstairs at Piano’s, which is a place in New York. That was a really hard room to book, I just had a lot of people be like “We’d love to play, but I don’t think we’re ready,” and I just remember being so frustrated with them being like “You’ll figure it out! Just say yes to the show.” So having that experience and this band coming together so quickly, and just seeing that you could start with a nugget of something and figure it out on stage, and kind of not thinking and doing as much as you can. Pretty much after that first tour, anyone who asked us to play a show, I would just say yes to it. If the original members couldn’t play, we’d get random friends to fill in. It was a fun and exploratory experience where every show was unique and different. We were just having fun and figuring it out, and trusting that you can make magic happen from whatever is there. My rule for Gustaf is that there’s no mistakes, only new arrangements. That’s the fun part of the live show, there wasn’t always a strict arrangement to begin with, and we were always approaching each show as its own little thing. We would just go with whatever was happening. Also, I did some improv comedy in my early 20s, which I wasn’t very good at, but that was another important lesson in learning how to be comfortable and confident with things going well or not going well onstage. Looking back, it’s little bricks that lead to this.

With the music, the songs that I wrote to get us started, I was focused on getting out of my head. I would usually make a drum loop and then find one bass line that I thought was interesting and sustaining, and then I’d do a second bass line on top of that and do some vocals. From there, the band just kind of elaborated and wrote their own parts. Now, for the second album that we’re going to start working on after this one comes out, some of the stuff we have been writing together. It’s more of a mixed approach. We also took a long time to figure out how we wanted to make this record because I wanted the first thing we put out to sound good and make a good impact, but it was hard to figure out what we’d developed onstage and what of that we wanted to keep, and what we wanted to expand upon. Music is different in a live environment than in the studio environment, so it definitely took a couple of tries just figuring out what recording method would work best for us. I have to thank the band for their patience and perseverance. We’d be on tour and we’d be like let’s get into a studio for a day and see what the set sounds like now, just as it is. You can’t really finish a record that way, so it wasn’t until we got our record deal right as the pandemic hit— Then we had pretty much a year to figure out how we wanted to record and make our formal introduction into the world of solid sounds, not just the ephemeral whiplash we were doing onstage before.

Yeah I love how there’s that improv aspect to it with performing it live, versus when recording you have to decide how you want the songs to live on.

Yeah that’s a “me problem”, too. I really love doing things differently every single time, and I realize that part of me is a little bit different than the world of recording artists and musicians who are used to being like no, we set the part, we’re going to do it that way and repeat it that way forever. Then you record it that way. I can get easily distracted, or every time I try to find a new exploration of sound. Which is fun as a performer, but when you sit down with a bunch of different takes, it’s a lot to comb through. So making these decisions earlier on will be a bigger part of the next album. Also, another part that’s difficult about the recording process, as a band in NY, as opposed to another scene, we all have backlines here so you don’t have to bring a lot of gear to a show unless you’re very specific about your sound. We travel light, and as much as we can, we’re very scrappy when we travel. Whatever we had, we would use, just so we don’t have to lug a bunch of stuff around. So we didn’t necessarily have those moments of being like this is our sound! We were always bending and being very malleable to the situation that we were in, and letting that influence how we were going to do the sonic arrangement. Also when it comes down to making the decision of how do we want the bass drum to sound, how do we want the vocal references to be, etc..those are a lot of questions we hadn’t ever set in stone. It was a fun exploration. 

Yeah, it sounds like you could really work with whatever you have available. You know you’re truly creative when you can work with what you’ve got in front of you.

Yeah I find that very inspiring too. I like using what’s in my fridge to make something. Those types of boundaries...especially for me as someone who overthinks so many possibilities, having a limited palette to make a meal or make a song with, that’s very fun and freeing because you can blow out that limited option. To see how much you can expand upon a very small amount of things, is a fun exercise, whereas if you have everything at your fingertips, there’s choice fatigue. 

Yeah there’s that Paradox of Choice that comes into play.

I had a German friend staying with me once and she went to the grocery store and she was like “I just looked at all your cereal, you have so many cereals here!”  We like choice here.

Yeah it can be daunting to have so many decisions. So circling back on the New York scene, I was going to ask what your favorite aspect about it is at the moment. Is it the fact that there’s a lot of backline?

100% that there is a backline! We’ve done tours in a minivan with five of us, and there’s no way we’re putting drums in there. So we’ve gotten very good at asking the local bands to borrow their drum set. One time we played in Houston and we were booked with an electronic act, so magical Tine knew someone in Houston who had a drum kit we could borrow, and then we showed up and we didn’t have any amps because we were flying and couldn’t have much gear. We ended up DI-ing everything, and we just had a drum kit on stage. The New York scene is great because there’s a lot happening here and it’s very expansive. You can just go to shows and hang out, and it might not feel like it, but if you look back after a year, you end up meeting a lot of people. Those connections help you get shows and get your foot in the door. There’s a lot to be said about hanging out and getting to know people. We didn’t have any recorded music until last year, but we were able to play a lot of shows in NY and outside of NY because we’ve all been musicians in the scene for the last 10 years or so and we know people. Then if you play good sets and people like you, they book you again. It’s all of those personal relationships that we’ve built up that helped us thrive while we were still figuring out how we wanted to package ourselves in the permanent realm. 

Yeah that’s awesome. I remember I was talking to Native Sun a while back and they mentioned Gustaf as a band in the NYC scene they liked, but you didn’t have music out then so I couldn’t experience your sound yet. 

We still have only played a couple of shows with music out! I’m very excited about our tour now that we have music out because before, we just had to tell people to trust us to come to our show.

I read in another interview you did that “Audio Drag” is a concept that you took from Laurie Anderson. Gustaf now uses the tagline and named the debut album Audio Drag for Ego Slobs. Can you elaborate more on that concept and what it means in your performance?

That came from the early days of Gustaf when I was sitting down and thinking about what I wanted the project to be, and working within boundaries is something that’s comforting. Having some sort of umbrella thought that things could fall under helped shape at least the theoretical world that the lyrics would live in. I wanted something that was kind of cathartic and fun, but a little funny, and I would define an ego slob as someone who does a bad job of translating the outside world within the context of themselves. I liked the idea of having songs that have this indignant and sloppy narrator or character, and just someone whose hysterics are kind of funny in a way. You know when someone’s freaking out in a movie, but it’s a little bit funny? Our strong peaks of emotions feel very intense to us, but if you step back, we’re all kind of a little bit ridiculous. I think it was a universal feeling of someone feeling like they are right, and someone’s wrong-- When in reality the person they think is wrong, thinks they’re right. So just trying to expand on those views. The songs are supposed to be from the perspective of someone who is having trouble processing their emotions and their relationships with other people, rather than an emotionally mature point of view. 

Yeah I was going to say in listening to the album, there’s definitely a theatrical element and that spoken word aspect in your delivery as well.

The pandemic kind of made the joke a little less funny, if that makes sense. Because we really are seeing people dealing with emotional extremity and intense stuff, so the idea of someone being a selfish jerk was a little less wholesomely funny in a way. So I did add that last song [“Happy”] during the pandemic. That reveals more of the sensitivities of someone, and we just want the best for everybody and that’s the most you can do. I like the idea of the “hurt brute” or the “sensitive brute.”

Yeah and sometimes all you can do is laugh through the hard times, so it’s good you can still kind of bring that humor in play during these times!

The music video for “The Motions” was recently released, can you talk a little bit about that artistic direction behind it? I really liked the cinematography of it.

Yeah that was great! For the music videos for this album cycle, there’s definitely a small thread that I wanted to be tied through all of them. So there was the process of an ego slob reprogramed. “The Motions” is a rip on the motions we go through every day, and I thought of it as someone having their inner monologue and set of rules to try to keep them on track as they go through their life, but not being able to suppress the hysteria inside. The director Araque Blanco is here doing a graduate program, and he’s from Spain. He’s done a lot of bigger productions over there. He DM’d the band, and we needed someone for the videos. I’ve been very lucky when I’ve needed someone, they end up coming to me— I’m not one to reject the offerings of life. We met up and I told him I had an idea for there to be this dance part of it with the band, and it’s about trying to do the thing or follow the rules that are set in front of you. I talked to him about this concept, and he took that and ran from there. He really is into great art design and costume, so that was fun to work with someone who has a specific aesthetic that they like. The cinematographer, Cory Fraiman-Lott, Araque actually found him on Instagram, and he has this great camera that he’s using for a feature this Fall. It all lined up that he had access to this camera and we could make it work. There were a lot of happy accidents. Also, Cory I found out on set that he’s really good friends with both of my cousins. The world is just so connected. Araque really killed it with the video though, he listened to my ideas, but was also great at taking them and elevating them with his own spin on them. His friend did all the styling. We sent her a bunch of pictures of all our clothes and she came and put stuff together. We shot at a park in Rockaway and Staten Island on two very hot days with a lot of ticks running around. I was worried about making sure the band was okay and comfortable and not getting heat stroke or being bitten by bugs. It was one of those moments where we were really tired and working through it, and I was looking around like well, this is me living my dreams, this is me in paradise! It’s very hot, people are stressed out, but I’m living the dream! I’m someone who loves that stuff, but I want better for people than I want for myself, if that makes sense. So I was like “Is everyone ok? Does anyone need water? Is everyone full?”

That’s great how everything came together with happenstance for the music video. That seems to be an ongoing theme for the Gustaf project, with starting due to the SXSW trip and up until now!

Yeah a lot of trust and going for it! It’s like fear is your friend, but you can’t let it stop you from anything.

Yeah, be fueled by the fear. Then as far as the recording process, I understand it was done in Honey Jar Studio in Brooklyn with Carlos Hernandez, and you co-produced? Can you talk about that experience and working with Carlos? 

My friend Chris who has this great band Nicholas Nicholas and works as a producer, I kept telling him I needed someone to produce this record, and he recommended Carlos and Julian [Fader] from Ava Luna. He was like they’re great, you should work with them and I was like yeah, I don’t know...and I spent another year and a half talking to a lot of people and then finally contacted Carlos again. We did the first two singles with Chris Coady in LA, which was a lot of fun. He’s such a top tier producer—he had a drum tech come in and set up the drums, there were so many microphones… For us, being scrappy people, we were like this is very nice and pro. I think for how I like to work, or how I’ve thought about this before, I definitely wanted for the album to be a little more present in the room. I like exploring every single option and figuring out how we do the best way for this and that.

For this first big project I wanted to figure out a way to be a part of the process, and Carlos is a really great and talented guy, but he’s also super wonderful in terms of working with me and sort of letting me be there for the process as well. So we could make a lot of the decisions together, which was really rewarding and not something you get with a lot of producers as well. He also works in Logic, which is what I like to demo in, so I wanted to work with someone using Logic where I could see how they like to do things and learn that way. We recorded in a couple of different bursts with the full band. We did all the initial tracking, then Carlos and I would clean stuff up, then the band came in again a month or two later to do a lot of different overdubs and stuff like that. Then we cleaned that up, and finalized the vocal takes. In terms of the band too, there was a lot of that fun, expansive sessions where we’d come, we’d lay a lot of stuff down and refine. We’d send it to everyone, get their feedback...It was a lot of sort of dumping and then cleaning, which I think was a fun way to figure out how to capture some of the lightning, while also adding a little bit more of that production element to it. 

I’m sure that will help with that process for the next album, getting that working collaboration with the band going forward.

Yeah,  and everyone is just so talented and has so much to offer, so I’m really lucky to have such great writers and collaborators in the project so that we can all kind of bring what it is that we do well to it. I think if anything it will get easier in the right ways as we go along.

For the upcoming tour with Idles, is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to or anything you can tease about your set?

I’m just so excited to be in front of an audience again, cause it’s one of the most comfortable ways that I have of expressing myself to other people. Social Media is great, but it’s sort of finicky and tough to sit down to try to write down words in the best, precise way. I think the band and I when we’re onstage, we’re in a wonderful state that is fun and fluid and directed at the people who are in that room at that moment. That’s always really rewarding to be able to crack things open and see what it is every night. I’m looking forward to that. I’ve also heard great things about the 9:30 Club, so I’m really excited to play there, and just play venues and crowds of that size. I think the most we’ve played to is 600 people opening up for someone at Elsewhere. And I love being an opener too because you start in a fun position where people don’t necessarily know what to expect. 

Yeah it’s nice to take the pressure off and get your set done so you can relax. It’s like going first in a presentation.

Wrapping up, You got to perform at a secret loft party for Beck, right?

Oh my gosh, yes! That changed our lives! We love you, Beck.

Yeah that’s amazing!  If you could connect and work with any other musician, who would it be? 

Well we’re opening up for Osees in December, which is really exciting, and John Dwyer came to one of our shows in LA in February of 2020. John Dwyer and Beck are both really nice and kind, supportive people that I’m just beyond grateful that I’ve been able to have conversations with. I really love Cate Le Bon, and just seeing her albums progress and being able to watch her style and her production approach evolve...I just really like how she produces music, so that’s one for me. Tarra’s been trying to get to David Lynch for a really long time. So if he’s up for it, we’re available!

I’ll tag him in this when I post it, you never know! 

Yeah if you could just let David Lynch know that we’re here, and any time he wants!

Besides manifesting working with David Lynch, is there anything else you’re looking forward to coming up or want to share?

I’m just excited. I want to do right by the world and make the world a better place. I’m excited to get out there and entertain people. Be safe! Be responsible. All the Gustaf good stuff. 

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You can catch Gustaf on tour with Idles this month, including a stop in Chicago on Friday, October 8th. See all of their tour dates here, and order your copy of Gustaf’s debut album Audio Drag For Ego Slobs here.

Getting Heavy with Emily Jane Powers

Photo by Rachel Winslow.

For better or worse, through all of the loss we collectively experienced in 2020 and the first half of 2021, the pandemic has undoubtedly provided us all with more perspective. For many of us, that meant reprioritizing new ways to stay connected to family and friends, or becoming more attuned to our mental health. For an artist like Emily Jane Powers, it meant the chance to go back to the drawing board and the time to be even more intentional with her artistic process.

“I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what my goals are with music and why I do certain things,” Powers says about her writing and creating during the past year and a half. With that same persistence and purposeful outlook, Powers crafted her fourteenth studio album Isometry, which debuted last month on June 18th. While Powers has always been very vulnerable with her songwriting and often opened up about mental health in the past, she set out to shift the medium in which she communicated those themes this time around. “One of the big goals of this record was to speak through the guitar, and to have that be the main voicing,” Powers says, stating that led her to tap further into the works of Thin Lizzy and Marnie Stern as a source of inspiration. “I tried to channel that and have the guitar really speak for me. With my last record Restless, I felt like I was saying things with my voice in a way that felt very vulnerable, so I was attracted to the guitar voicing in a way to sort of retreat from that.”

Despite the influence that they provided to Isometry’s focal point, Powers admits she hadn’t really listened to much of Thin Lizzy before this project took shape. “I went back to a lot of classic rock and started exploring with stuff that I sort of missed in my childhood. I got into Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne and other stuff like that and just focused on using the guitar as different voicing. I have always loved indie rock and indie pop, but the guitar is sort of in the background in a lot of that music and I wanted to listen to music that was using that guitar in a way that I didn’t know how to,” she adds.

In tracks like “Blue Black Grey White” and “None to Come,” listeners still experience a sweeping range of Powers’ vocals— from gentle and serene to raw and gritty, there’s an emotive power behind the vocals throughout the record. Yet there’s a definitive correlation between the tones and the patterns of the guitar on this record and the way the music pulls at its listeners’ emotions— something that Powers and her band set out to convey on these tracks. Powers describes the emotion that the parallel thirds used by Thin Lizzy evoke from her, stating “I get weepy! There’s something that gets me really emotional with that interval that’s used. It doesn’t really matter what instrument it is, but when it was happening with the guitars, I kept noticing it again and again.” It was that emotional reaction that caused her to tap into using specific guitar styling to express herself.

Isometry’s focus on instrumentation and the escape that music can provide shines through on three instrumental tracks that Powers recorded at home— initially intending for them to be a project of their own. The first of the three tracks, entitled “Greenish,” kicks off the entire record, enveloping us in a swirl of ambient city noises and reverie. In a similar fashion, “Yellowish” and “Bluish” also have an escapist and therapeutic sentiment to them, providing me with a sonic haven whenever I listen to them. My first instinct when I saw the colorful song names was that they were a nod to the phenomenon of synesthesia, but as it turns out, Powers has never experienced that sensation and the colorful names originated from a more unique perspective. “This is going to sound a little bit strange, but I went out with a camcorder and I filmed trash that was a particular color. I’m interested in trash as a medium in a way. So I would go on walks in the pandemic as a way to calm myself and center myself…and film trash. I’d be like ‘ok I’m gonna look for blue trash today.’ I wasn’t like rummaging through cans, it was stuff that was on the ground, so I’d film it really close up and gather all of this footage. Then go home to put the footage on a loop and just write.” Eventually, thanks to a nudge from producer Erik Hall, this project merged with the remainder of the songs on Isometry. “That was another project that I was starting and didn’t ever really think I was going to share with anyone and Erik Hall encouraged me to merge the two different halves together. That’s why it’s sort of interspersed with these big rock songs and then these sort of chaotic, instrumental tracks that I recorded at home,” Powers says.

Powers humbly credits Hall and her entire band— Alec Harryhausen, Chris Smith, and Ryan Hurnevich— with much of the finished product, even including the specific tracklist of the album. If you’re a true music fan and still understand the power of listening to a full album, front to back, then you can appreciate an impeccably assembled tracklisting. As is the case with Isometry, a great track list reads like a good book or movie plot, allowing the songs to flow into each other like a scene or chapter fading into the next. “That tracklisting is a product of so much conversation with my band and Erik. Coming to that order was very much a separate art form that I definitely didn’t do alone,” Powers states.

The group of musicians also assisted Powers with turning her intention and visions with guitar styling into reality, and she credits Ryan Hurnevich with much of that task. “I wrote pretty much all of the guitar parts, but there were some ideas that I had that i just couldn’t play it as good as Ryan could. He’s got a totally different voicing than I do, and I felt like I wanted to play to what his strengths were.” One specific example of this dynamic playing out is in the song called “None to Come.” Powers said she wrote that track about three years ago, following the 2018 release of Restless. “’I’d been playing it and playing it, so I had Ryan come in. He joined the band and I wanted him to write a solo because I felt like I had written all the things to that song that I wanted to do and it just wasn’t sticking. Ryan came in and wrote this beautiful solo for it, and so I felt like the things that I couldn’t do, I was able to do in collaboration with my band and Ryan. Or Ryan was able to just make it happen. I felt like having his voicing in the band inspired me to have a larger sound and to play things differently. It’s cool to be able to be standing next to someone playing guitar, playing things that you wrote but in different voicing. You’re like wow, I didn’t know that my ideas could exist like that.”

Although the goal of focusing more on the guitar styling over any other instrument or component of the songs certainly challenged Powers, she was able to conquer the challenge thanks to that very spirit of collaboration. Speaking of the power behind collaboration, other snippets of the record came to be from ambient recordings and thoughts of close friends and relatives that Powers collected. This style of sourcing from those close to her also acted as a nod to some of her earlier material. “In the early to mid 2000s, I would use voice messages that people would leave me, in my songs. I would cut it up and use it as part of transitions or inspiration for a song. [For this album] I asked my dad and my friends in New York, London, Minneapolis and all over the place to just record what was happening around them. It was sort of a throwback and grounding myself back into older stuff and old habits,” Powers says.

Thoughts contributed from others close to Powers came into play with the song “Instead I,” a song that’s about anxiety and depression and sort of breaking that cycle of anxious thought. “I wanted to have other people contribute to that song to share their thoughts on the subject or the ways that they interrupt that cycle. Some of them are old friends and creatives, and it was a nice way for them to reflect on their own creative process,” Powers says. Throughout our conversation, Powers and I talked about the silver lining of the pandemic being that it allowed so many to reprioritize their mental health and open up more about their struggles. “Mental health has been at the forefront of what I’ve been writing for what feels like the past decade. The conversation has opened up a lot more in the pandemic and post-pandemic life in a way that I feel really excited about. To be able to share more explicitly with people ‘hey this song is about depression and anxiety’ in a way that might not be obvious to people,” she says. Funnily enough, Powers began the process of reaching out on input for “Instead I” before the pandemic. “Then what happened, after the pandemic started, that’s when I actually started getting the responses. I started getting my friends to respond in March, which I think heightened my friends' chances of wanting to talk about it because there was a lot of anxiety in the air. I think that sharing the song now, a lot of people have connected to it in a way so there’s that pay off in the end. I still give credit to my collaborators for being vulnerable and being brave to share their thoughts,” Powers adds.

Powers and her band weaved all of these pieces together during the recording process at Decade Studio in Chicago. It was in the studio that they were able to flesh out the massive sounds of heavier guitars and hard rock drums, mostly recording in a live band setting to capture the energy. Everything culminates in the final track “Warm Void Thoughtless,” which features ethereal, harmonious vocals and a sweeping finale that calls back to former chapters of the record. With each listen of Isometry, I notice something new and further appreciate every ounce of care and nuance that Emily Jane Powers and her band poured into the project.

Tune into Isometry in full below, or be sure to order your own copy of the record here. If you’d like to hear the songs performed live, in person, don’t snooze on snagging a ticket to the release show at Schubas on August, 5th.

Finally, keep up with Emily Jane Powers on Instagram and Facebook.

Get To Know: The Aces

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with some of Utah's finest talent, The Aces, in one of the lavish greenrooms at Chicago's historic House of Blues venue. Instantly, sisters Cristal and Alisa Ramirez, Katie Henderson, and McKenna Petty proved to be as welcoming and genuine offstage as they seem onstage, greeting me with hugs and offers of the Lou Malnati's pizza resting on their dressing room table. For anyone in the band's already large (and steadily increasing) fanbase, or anyone who follows The Aces on a social media platform, their warm personalities wouldn't come as a surprise at all. During their shows, lead singer Cristal Ramirez preaches positivity and keeps the entire crowd involved by charismatically working her way up and down the entire stage, while the rest of the band boast contagious smiles the whole show. One glance at their Twitter feed, there's no shortage of fan interaction happening there. One listen to "Lovin' Is Bible" from the group's upcoming album When My Heart Felt Volcanic, and it's clear the band have a mission of keeping love alive even in some of the most tumultuous times.

The Aces have already had a whirlwind of a year, embarking on their first ever tour only months ago, having since joined COIN on a nationwide tour and received endless positive feedback on recent singles. The band's steady success proves that you get back what you put out into the world, and their 2018 is set up to only get bigger and better with the approaching release date of their debut album. Before the album comes out April 6th via Red Bull Records, get to know The Aces a bit better with these five must-know facts. 

Photo By Alexander Bortz

They've Been Making Music For Over 10 Years

In addition to the infectious positivity that radiates from The Aces while they're onstage, there's an incredible sense of chemistry between all of the band members when they perform. Their natural chemistry comes from their years of knowing each other, growing up together, and making music together from a young age. The band traces back, or tries to trace back to their original moment of interest in music, with Alisa kicking off the conversation, saying, "Cristal and I always talk about this, we genuinely can’t pin down the exact moment that we started a band, just because we were so young--" Alisa's sister Cristal interjects to say that the two of them, as well as Katie, had musical families growing up. "Our older brother was always in metal and punk bands growing up. And that was really inspiring for me. I wanted to be him. Katie has older brothers, and Kenna has family in bands."

McKenna recalls when the band actually got serious, attributing the motivation to another musician. "We did have a time as a band, when we had already been doing the band for a while, and we decided this was the time to actually pursue it. I was probably 15, they were 17. It was the night that Lorde won all her Grammys," she said.  "I drove over to Cristal’s house and we all ended up there. We just knew we had to do it," Katie adds.

Prior to the switch flip where the band decided to focus on music, Cristal says the girls all had other interests as well. "We were all kind of teetering. I always knew I wanted to do music. They all kind of had a couple different interests. Katie’s an amazing athlete. [Mc]Kenna is super good with graphic design and Alisa was super studious at the time.  But basically, we just decided we have something too special to not have an actual go at a career. We didn’t want to let that go. We had been a band at the point for almost like 10 years. As we put our hearts into it and worked super hard, it kind of all turned out," she says.

Their Influences Range from Queen to The 1975

The Aces only embarked on their first ever tour towards the end of 2017 with Joywave, but despite their limited time playing to audiences across the country, the band all possess a completely captivating stage presence. They all give nods to other performers that inspire their live performances; Katie saying, "I have a lot of different inspirations. Some that aren’t even my role in the band. Someone who I think is so inspiring onstage is Freddie Mercury from Queen. I have a live DVD of them at Wembley Stadium that my dad used to watch all the time. I used to just sit there, and still today, I’ll watch it but [Freddie] just has such a power and control over the audience and he’s so fearless. You can tell that that’s where he’s most comfortable, and that’s so inspiring."

Alisa chimes in next, adding "I feel like honestly, for me, I don’t feel like there’s anyone that I mimic on stage. I feel like I just really genuinely try to dance as much as possible and have fun. Cause I just love doing it. But I think if there is a drummer that I really love, we went to a Twenty One Pilots' show a year ago. I honestly wasn’t very into Twenty One Pilots at the time, but when we went, it totally converted me. Josh was so dope. I love the way he performs. He’s amazing."

"I have a few, I try to really watch front-men and front-women," Cristal begins, before pausing to add "screw that term" about "front-women." "It’s just frontman," she continues, adding "Hailey Williams from Paramore is a huge one for me. I’ve always looked up to her for probably 10 years, since I was 13. Her... and then I really love feminine men onstage. Like Morrisey, Jonny Pierce from the Drums--" Katie interjects to suggest Matty Healy of The 1975 as another feminine frontman. "Matty Healy! I feel like I look at like Freddie Mercury, and Mick Jagger, and they’re really kind of feminine and cheeky, and I just love that," Cristal continues. 

McKenna rounds out the conversation, saying, "I think I’m kind of similar to Al, I don’t have one specific person that I look up to or try to mimic. But I think bassists get a rep for not really moving a lot, and not dancing. That’s something I’ve had, like people say 'oh, you dance so much!' That’s something that I want to do is dance and have fun, even if I am a bassist. I don’t know if that’s a stereotype or not. I love it when people are very free and dancing on stage so that’s what I try to do." If you've ever been to one of The Aces' shows, you know that bassists can indeed have fun too...thanks to McKenna. 

They Deliver Music The Same Way They Consume It

One trademark of The Aces that you might have noticed if you've been following them is the pattern in which they release music. Leading up to the album, the band has been drip-feeding a new song to their eager fans just about every two weeks. The band credits their team behind them with helping their true vision come to light, and that includes letting them release music the same way in which they consume it. "I feel like our first experience signing to a label and making a full length debut and touring for the first time, we’re just learning. The most beautiful thing about being with Red Bull is it’s a small team, so we’re very hands on. We have full creative control of everything, so we’re just learning every element of every single part of it. From making the record to marketing it, to every little detail. We’re literally just learning how to run our business. It’s been amazing honestly," Alisa says. 

"It’s very much about choosing the right people to be on your team. Who you let in to be close. Also who you want to work with. We’ve been building our team, like our manager and people at our label, and that’s been really awesome. We’ve always felt really good about Red Bull," McKenna says, and Alisa chimes back in to mention that the band didn't sign the first deal they were offered. They instead stuck it out until they found to right fit and the right team to carry out the band's plans and their visions. 

"I think that we are very just conscious of how people digest music now. And how we digest music. We still are holding back more than half the album. It will come out when the whole album comes out. We just really didn’t want to put out like one single and then drop the entire album. It’s better to feed fans in a way that they can digest. So they get one song and have it for a couple weeks. Then they get one more and have it for a couple weeks, and then they almost have half the album. Then six more songs doesn’t feel like that much more to really get into. I feel like sometimes when people throw albums out, just a 14 song album, people are like it’s overwhelming. It’s just in our day and age we don’t digest music like that. Just get them into it and ease them into it. I mean we’re a new--we’re not new cause we’ve been around a while in our hometown and stuff, but we’re a relatively new band. This is our first record. It was a very conscious decision on our part, and sitting with our label, being like how do we digest music? We’re 22 and 20," Cristal muses, touching on the way that they have decided to release new music. 

"We’re the age of our demographic," Katie adds. Being the age of their own demographic allows for The Aces to be that much more relatable.  "It’s just so fun to put a song out, get everyone really excited, then within two weeks later, they get something else. They’re kind of starting to catch on that it’s like this quick thing and we kind of took that example from other artists that did really quick, steady roll outs like that. And just how exciting it was from a fan perspective to get that. So we wanted to do that for our fans as well," Alisa says.

They're All About Leading By Action

Just like a lot of their demographic, the ladies of The Aces are very conscious of using their platform to promote safe spaces and a powerful message. They've already touched on the subject of being an all-female band and often getting pegged a "girl band" a few times," even retweeting a tweet sarcastically calling out the fact that all male groups are not usually seen as rare, but The Aces continue to encourage their female fans with leading by a great example. "We always say that it’s leading by action. You know, so we just do it every day. We just get up on stage and we do it every single night. And we have a lot of people come up to us and be like holy shit, you guys are a great band! And it’s not always--I think when we were younger it was a lot like 'Oh my gosh, you guys are such a great girl band! I’ve never seen all girls!' We really take a lot of pride in that. We love that we’re all women. That’s a strength of ours and we don’t see it as a weakness, but at the same time, we do want to push that we are just a band. Even though we are women and we are very proud of that. [We] just normalize it. Cause we want more women in the industry. We want more all girl bands. We love girl bands. We just wanna see more women," Cristal says. In addition to getting up onstage each night, the fact that Cristal paused after saying the term "frontwomen" to correct it to just "frontman" when talking about her stage presence inspiration, shows that she continuously works to push for gender equality in the entertainment world. 

The Aces also work to keep that same inspiring presence in their fans' lives offstage, by being interactive with fans online. "We kind of just want to set a good example. We always try to engage with our fans in a really positive way. If ever fans have come to use with a bullying situation or anything negative, we’re always there for them. We just try to spread positivity through our platform," Alisa says. 

Katie also adds that their single "Lovin' is Bible" touches on that positivity. "It’s okay to love each other through the differences. It’s not hard to agree to disagree. Love is the most important thing. Always." 

"No matter what you believe. And I think us four all have---we have different views on a lot of things. But we’re best friends and it doesn’t matter. It’s okay that we disagree on certain things. Everyone’s different and that’s a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. You should learn to respect other people and love them for who they are," Cristal adds. 

Some Of Their Random Slang Inspires Their Songs

Speaking of their track "Lovin Is Bible," the tune actually came together after the girls noticed some potential in one of their own slang terms. "We always just use the phrase...to describe something as Bible," Alisa says. "Like, that shit's Bible," Cristal interjects.  "We were just being funny one night with our friends and we said that. And we were like that should be a song lyric, sarcastically almost. Then I remember I wrote it down in my notes, and then when Cristal and I went into a writing session, we were just like we really like that," Alisa continues. And the rest is history; Alisa and Cristal showed it to their producer and they decided to run with it from there. 

Although that single came together really naturally in an unexpected way, the band says their process varies drastically depending on the day. They do keep it natural and continuously bounce ideas around with each other, though. "I think we just write about a lot of things. The whole record is about tons of stuff. Just personal experiences. Like what it is to be a young adult and to be in your early 20s, and we’re going through a lot of stuff that a lot of people don’t go through. Like we’re traveling and touring all over. But also just exploring what it is to be young, and all those concepts are universal," Cristal says. 

"Every day is different. A lot of the songs we walked in day of, nothing in mind, just jammed out and let the day tell us what we were gonna write. Then there were other times when we came in and it’s like oh one of us might have had a voice memo fleshed out in our demos for melody, or we might have had a concept or poem written out. We’ve had a couple of songs where one of us has come in with a poem and gone off that. It’s just different every time," Alisa adds. 

The band also says they've learned a ton from the entire process behind their first album.  "We just learned so much about next time around. How we can make things more concise. Work a little smoother. I feel like the first time is always the learning process, and we’ve been working on this album for so long, and finally finishing up working on making it a concise, cohesive package has been such a process and journey. But it’s also been so amazing to discover our aesthetic and get to be creative that way," Katie says. 

You can hear for yourself all of The Aces' combined efforts in putting their debut record out by pre-ordering the upcoming album When My Heart Felt Volcanic from the band's website.

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The Aces at HOB Chicago with COIN

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There you have it! It's already been a busy year of live shows for The Aces, but there's plenty more chances to see them. Check out their upcoming tour dates here.

While you wait for The Aces to come to a city near you, keep up with them on social media:

Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

A Chat With: Oil Boom

In just over a week, Dallas's Oil Boom will release their new album, Terribility via Dreamy Life Records. Leading up to the October 20th release date, the group unleashed the album's lead single "Earful"....which is a total earful of goodness that emulates the sound of some of your favorite rock bands; think a hybrid of The Black Keys, Silversun Pickups and a dash of Beck. To celebrate the new music, we talked to vocalist and guitarist of the group, Ryan Taylor. In our Q&A, Taylor hilariously talks about the creative process behind the new album, the long and winding backstory of the band's origin, their favorite new artists, and even some personal milestones. If you want to know what part Chili's menus, bongos, and Craigslist played in the band's history and songwriting style, then tune in below and get to know Oil Boom!

Photo Courtesy of Oil Boom

ANCHR Magazine: When did you all start making music individually, and what brought you all together eventually?

Ryan Taylor: It’d probably take a Ken Burns length miniseries to accurately map out our weird band trajectory. But suffice it to say, it’s been a long and at times, hilarious chronology. Our situation is a bit unique in that none of us (save Zach, our new guitar player) are from Texas originally. I’m from Oklahoma City, Dugan is from St. Louis area, and Steve is from Lodi, California (zinfandel capital of the US). Dugan and I first met through Craigslist at the start of 2010. Yes, you read that correctly. Craigslist. In the "Musicians Wanted" section or "Casual Encounters", who can say really? When the group started it was just guitar and drums and we had another dude Brian that just sang. But Brian left after our first EP, at which point we enlisted Steve to play bass and I took over the vocal duties. It’s more or less been the same since about a year and a half ago when we added another guitar, first with Jordan Richardson (who engineered our album) and then Zach, starting in September of last year. You could also say FATE brought us together. And by FATE, I’m referring of course to Foghat Appreciation Team Exercises.

AM: What was the process like for writing and recording your new album Terribility?

RT: This is the longest amount of time we’ve ever spent recording an album, but that’s almost misleading, since it was spread out over basically three different periods of time, so just the amount of time involved was notable I guess... and boy I just used the word time a lot. We also tried a few new things in terms of the writing and “fleshing out of the songs.” Everyone was given a pair of bongos and a notecard and asked to come to practice with at least one hummable melody.

AM: How does Terribility differ from your last album Red Metal, in terms of songwriting and sonic structure? 

RT: I wouldn’t say it’s been all that much different of an approach. There are definitely some heavier songs on this album, which is a little bit of departure from our previous releases. Our engineer, the aforementioned Jordan Richardson, did a great job at pointing us in different directions if we landed on a particularly cool sound by accident. Just as an example, at some point during the recording, Steve purchased an 80's BC Rich Warlock bass and its tone proved to be particularly inspiring. We used it on a track called “By Degrees” and it definitely changed the whole framework of the song. Maybe not for the better, but it changed it.

AM: Where did you find yourselves drawing musical and nonmusical influences from for the newer songs? 

RT: We drew upon a lot of musical influences for this album, but I would argue that it was actually the non-musical influences that were more important. A Chili’s menu, a Facebook advertisement for Ninja Dating, a piece of gum stuck to another piece of gum. That sort of stuff is what fueled our obsession with Terribility. 

AM: What’s the biggest lessons you’ve learned about each other and yourselves in your years of being in a band?

RT: That’s a really great question. I’d say we’ve learned how to hold each other accountable without completely being overbearing assholes about it, or at least, this week we have anyways. I think most people tend to view bands as some sort of non-stop beer-fueled concert party train that doesn’t have to adhere to the structure/demands imposed by other non-creative pursuits, when the reality is, it’s no different than any other office environment. You’re going to have moments that make communication next to impossible, but you just have to fight through that in order to get things done. We all make each other mad because that’s what humans do when confined in close spaces for long periods of time, but we also love each other and root for each other and laugh at each other’s bad jokes and bad haircuts. 

AM: What are some of the best kept secrets of the Dallas music scene? Any bands or venues we should all know about? 

RT: There are so many rad bands in Dallas/Ft. Worth, I can’t even start naming them or I’ll never stop. That might seem like a copout and it totally is, but at least I’ll be able to sleep at night without the fear of some misguided local musician hurling a Squier Stratocaster through my window.

In terms of venues, there is a new one in Ft. Worth called MASS that Steve, our bass player, is part owner of. It’s a great venue that genuinely caters to musicians. And not just as an afterthought. They actually have a spot for you to load in your gear! It seems like there are fewer and fewer of those places around anymore. And in no way was I forced to write any of this.

Maybe the best-kept secret just in general is that Dallas is not Austin, but Austin is really close, so you can have it both ways or your way or whatever that Burger Hut slogan is.

“We all make each other mad because that’s what humans do when confined in close spaces for long periods of time, but we also love each other and root for each other and laugh at each other’s bad jokes and bad haircuts.”

— Ryan Taylor on the band's dynamic

AM: What are some of your favorite songs and albums of the year so far?

RT: The World’s Greatest American Band by White Reaper and Need To Feel Your Love by Sheer Mag are two incredibly good rock albums that came out this year. We all seem to be into those and feel some kinship with those groups because you can tell they also have probably listened to “The Boys Are Back In Town” probably more times than Thin Lizzy has. 

For a song, let’s go with “Get In My Car” by BRONCHO.  

AM: You’ve got a few Texas concerts coming up, but any plans for a tour once the record is out? 

RT: Yes indeed! We’ll be out there in a non-descript white rental van in front of various American Waffle Houses/Guitar Centers at some point in the very near future. Stay tuned! 

AM: You’ve had your music in some pretty big name films and TV shows. If you could have another song placed in any TV show, which show would you pick and why? 

RT: Oooh, that’s a tough one. I’m not sure how feasible it is, but I would be majorly stoked to have one of our songs in Master of None or Atlanta. The music supervision on those shows is incredible.

I’ll approach this from another angle though; what show in history we would like to have our music featured in? If that was possible, I’d have to say ALF would be a top contender. I imagine a plot line in which ALF eats what he thinks is the Tanner family cat but what is actually a stuffed animal decoy. Slowly he realizes he’s been duped so he tricks the Tanners by pretending he’s been paralyzed by eating the decoy. Gradually, the Tanners figure out he’s faking and at the end, over one of our songs, Willy explains that deceiving people is wrong, even if you were deceived first. ALF owns up to his mistake and promises never to eat another cat, real or fake. The last thing you hear before the credits though is young Brian Tanner asking from the hallway, “Hey, has anyone seen the cat?” Was that too specific?

AM: What else are you looking forward to this year besides the new record?

RT: I just had a daughter so I’m pretty pumped about that, mainly because, I finally have someone to indoctrinate with Thin Lizzy lyrics and ZZ Top inside jokes. She was born on Madonna’s birthday though, which means she’ll probably have a Madonna phase at some point, and Madonna will be 75 by then and it will just be weird for all of us.

Other than that, we’re just looking forward to still being able to play music at this age. Collectively, we’re 144. That’s older than Madonna!

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Pre-Order Terribility here and keep up with the latest updates by giving Oil Boom's Facebook Page a like. 

Slum Sociable's Melbourne Mood Boosting Guide

Melbourne based duo Edward Quinn and Miller Upchurch of Slum Sociable are on the brink of releasing their self-titled LP on November 24th. Dripping with melancholy, the twelve mellow and textured tracks blend together elements of electronic and indie music. To celebrate the release, the pair put together a guide to some of their favorite places to go to boost their mood. While you await the new album, check out Slum Sociable's mood-boosting guide to Melbourne. 

Photo Courtesy of Slum Sociable

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Vinyl Solution, Cheltenham

I grew up going to Vinyl Solution every weekend and crate-digging through everyone from Can to Miles Davis. It’s still my go-to store for vinyl in Melbourne. Owner Glen has an inimitable knowledge twice the size of this vinyl collection about so much great music and will be more than happy to lend a helping hand if you’re struggling for inspiration. 

Prudence, North Melbourne

I’m going to go on record here and say that Prudence is Melbourne’s best bar. It’s got a really nice, relaxed crowd and spins vinyl well into the early morning. We first discussed the recording of our debut album with producer Russell Fawcuss at Prudence, so it holds a dear place in our heart. If you’re hitting a wall in the studio, having a beer at Prudence is a nice way to replenish your creativity. 

Howler Bar, Brunswick

Howler’s my favorite place to go and check out live music. I caught Whitney there earlier this year and truly agree with them when they say that Howler is one of their top three favorite venues in the world. Acts that are quite established overseas and are about to break here usually play Howler before they come back and play far bigger shows, so it’s pretty motivating to catch them in an intimate setting. 

Fairhaven Beach, Fairhaven

We really enjoy getting away from the city and heading down the coast for writing sessions, especially at the start of Slum Sociable. I’m not going to be pretentious and insinuate that the air down there brings out a special lil something, but I don’t know how else to describe it. I guess it’s a lot easier to turn your phone off and really concentrate on what you want to achieve when the reception is terrible, and that’s exactly what we do in Fairhaven. 

Found Sound, Carlton

If you’re lacking inspiration, sometimes you’ve just got to treat yourself to a new toy. Found Sound is great for second hand music gear that’s been restored back to impeccable quality. The staff know a heap about what you’re looking for too, and if they don’t have it, they can usually point you in the right direction.

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Preorder the self-titled album from Slum Sociable here, and keep up with them on social media.

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A Chat With: Lola Marsh

Israeli duo Gil Landau and Yael Shoshana Cohen of Lola Marsh have just released their debut album Remember Roses on June 9th, and they'll soon be touring in America, bringing the new songs to life on the stage. The album contains a wide range of layered, dreamy indie tunes combining Cohen's lush vocals with retro vibes and addicting melodies. Prior to their show in Chicago on June 29th, we chatted with the pair about the music scene in Tel Aviv, their upcoming tour, their party playlists and more. Get to know them now in our chat with Lola Marsh. 

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Photo Courtesy of Lola Marsh

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ANCHR Magazine: Your debut album is out now! What can you tell us about the writing and recording process behind it?

Lola Marsh: Well it was a long journey. The process of recording the album, for us, brought about so many mixed feelings. It was exciting, frustrating, emotional, and stressful... and we learned so much along the way. Most of the songs were written a few years ago when we just met each other. Some on the road, and some of them were written actually during the recordings, and the last minute we decided to add them to the album.

AM: Where did you pull inspiration from for the album? Are you mostly inspired by other musical influences, or do you look to other art forms too?

LM: We get inspired by artists such as Elvis Presley, Edith Piaf, the moody blues, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Pink Floyd and many more. We love soundtracks from old and new movies, such as For a Few Dollars More, Star Track, Amelie, and all the Wes Anderson movies.

Also places, people, instruments, and new experiences are inspirations. 

AM: Which of the new songs are you most excited to play live, and have you worked out any new arrangements for the upcoming tour?

LM: A few months ago we added a new keyboard player to the band, and we made a few changes in the arrangements, so actually almost every song has a new part/sound/vibe, we're very happy about it! Also we'll play some new songs that are in the album that have never been played before. 

AM: Are there any cities on this tour that you’re most excited to play in?

LM: This tour is kinda intense! Every day we're performing in a different city in Europe and The States! We're looking forward to all of our shows! It will be our second time in the US, so we are super excited about that! 

AM: What can you tell us about the music scene in Tel Aviv? Any bands that we all need to check out?

LM: The music scene in Tel Aviv is very broad. You have everything! Folk, electronic, hip hop, pop, rock...all combine east and west colors and vibes. We really love an Israeli singer-songwriter named Evyatar Banai, his songs are deep, beautiful, and edgy. Also you should check out Israeli bands like Less Acrobats, Tzlil Danin, and Daniela Spector.

AM: Since you two met at a party, what are some tunes that are a must-have for your party playlist?

LM:  Tunes that are a must-have for our party playlist..hmm

• Tame impala: "Let It Happen"
• Electric Guests: "Troubleman"
• Kanye West: "No Church in the Wild"
• Temples:  "Move With The Seasons" 
• Chance The Rapper/ Francis and the Lights:  "May I Have This Dance"

AM: How do you stay entertained on the road? Any new books, podcasts, or shows that you’re into?

LM: Sometimes Gil likes to make new tracks on his laptop. Yaeli likes to document funny moments on the road and sometimes writes a journal. We read books, listen to music, play cards, and watch movies.

AM: What else are you looking forward to this year?

LM: We're looking forward to our new album Remember Roses! It took us some time to create it and we're thrilled that our fans can finally hold it in their hands

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Check out Lola Marsh's debut album Remember Roses below and go see them on tour in a city near you! Chicago, they'll be Schubas on 6/29. Grab tickets here.