Structure Sounds

We’re super-excited to be speaking today with rightly acclaimed Providence, Rhode Island Punk Rock band Structure Sounds; greetings and salutations, gang! Before we dive into the Q&A mosh-pit, could you each say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-inquisitive readers?

a.) Hi I’m Rob. I play bass.

b.) Hi I’m Adam I play Drums.

c.) Hello I’m Sean I play guitar and sing in Structure Sounds d.) Hey i’m Zach I play guitar and sing

Kudos and accolades on the upcoming October 20 release of the Structure Sounds mesmerizing and altogether rockin’ debut album Light Up Your Sorrow! Sean, what’s the story on how this incredible premiere LP came into being?

Sean: It actually came in two parts. 2020 gave everyone a lot of time at home. It has become a cliche, but like many other musicians this was a time to really dive into old song ideas from the past. Some of these songs date back to my teenage years. In 2021 I started getting together with Adam to flesh these ideas out and that became our first batch of songs. We recorded five songs in July of 2022 and loved the way they turned out so we felt the need to extend this into a full LP booking another session for early 2023.

Sean, Light Up Your Sorrow is being released via Wiretap Records. What makes Wiretap the perfect home for Structure Sounds and your music?

Sean: Over the years I have played with several Wiretap artists in my previous band including moonlighting as Divided Heaven’s bass player. When looking for a home for our LP I asked several friends how they felt and they had nothing but great things to say. Rob (Wiretap) has a great ear and offers the support and expertise we need to launch a new band. We are stoked to partner with them.

Adam, backtracking just for a moment: What’s the VH1-Behind the Music secret origin story on how Structure Sounds came together to form the incredibly tight band which we hear to amazing effect on Light Up Your Sorrow?

Adam: Sean and I met a long long time ago when I was playing in another band with his brother called The Down and Outs. Maybe 5-6 years after I had stopped playing in the band I was desperate to get back into music somehow. I had always wanted to be in some kind of project with Sean, so when I ran into him at a Bouncing Souls show I brought up the idea of jamming together sometime. We ended up getting together to jam a few songs he had been working on and it got pretty good fast, we just needed two more people. He had suggested that we try out his friend Zach on guitar. He thought that since Zach was an amazing guitar player and since he had a little different background musically then us, he could bring a different element to the band. Was he ever right, Zach ended up being the perfect fit, so we just needed a bass player. I had suggested asking my friend Rob who I had played in a thrash band with back in college called Shred The Past. I told him Rob was an awesome dude and great bass player too. Ironically, on our way to a Bouncing Souls show, I played a bit of what we had been working on and asked Rob if he’d be into playing even though he was already in another band. He was into the idea and we brought him on board. We became a cohesive group really quickly and were having a lot of fun with it!

Rob, do you have a favorite tune off of the Light Up Your Sorrow LP, one which you’re quite enamored with?

Rob: My favorite song keeps changing, but I always come back to 2030. It’s a really fun song to play. I love singing the back up harmony parts and the bass part is really fun too. The layered vocals at the end of the song are awesome as well. It’s just a really fun, catchy song.

A question for all of you: Who inspires you musically?

Sean: I am the biggest Bad Religion nerd. Something about the mix of energetic songs and catchy melodies gets me every time. I am always a sucker for a good hook. I am also heavily inspired from classic songwriters like Tom Petty and the Motown sound. “Don’t bore us to get to the chorus” as they say! I also pull musical inspiration from the community around us. In my last band The Scandals we opened/toured with many of my biggest influences. What made an impact on me was the realization that there is no “us and them” in the punk community. These bands opened the doors for us and held it as we entered.

Rob: I’ve always been really inspired by MxPx and their singer/bassist Mike Herrera. He’s a great songwriter and writes great bass lines too, but he also seems like a really nice guy and that is important to me, even though I don’t know him personally. MxPx has been my favorite band for like 25 years or so. They’re a hardworking band and I am continually impressed by their efforts and it’s really inspiring. The list goes on though. I draw inspiration from all sorts of bands. Bands like Bad Religion, Suicide Machines, Incubus, Skeletonwitch, AFI, Kid Dynamite, Local H, Operation Ivy, and Tegan & Sara to name a few.

Adam: My favorites are what I consider to be mostly classic skate punk bands. I love bands like NOFX, Pennywise, Good Riddance, Face To Face, The Bouncing Souls, Pulley, The Vandals, the list could go on and on. A lot of my drumming and vocals background comes from listening to and playing along with those bands. A Wilhelm Scream too, probably my favorite live band of all time.

Zach: My musical inspirations are all over the map, and before Structure Sounds I played in a lot of bands that were more on the indie side of punk, so I’m definitely channeling a lot of Replacements and Dinosaur Jr. In my playing with this band as well as some Screaming Females, Mannequin Pussy, Menzingers, and Gaslight Anthem.

Sean, with the October 20 release of the premiere LP can fans look forward to catching Structure Sounds on the performing/ touring circuit?

You can likely catch us every few months at Dusk in Providence. It has been our primordial office space! We are also looking at doing a few festivals and short runs in 2024. LIkely East Coast but would love to stick our feet in the Pacific Ocean at some point. Not ruling out renewing our passports either!

Zach, who was the producer on Light Up Your Sorrow and what did the collaboration between band and producer look like in the studio?

Zach: We recorded at No Boundaries Studios in North Kingstown, RI with Chris Piquette, who I can’t speak highly enough of. Chris was really able to help us sculpt the sound we wanted in the studio. He’s got an incredible musical sensibility, he’s one of those people who can play literally any instrument and has an incredible ear for detail in every aspect of the recording process. He gave his opinions if he thought something wasn’t working without being dictatorial, and gave constructive advice that really ended up making the record even better.

Zach, how do the Providence, Rhode Island roots inform the sound and energy of Structure Sounds?

Zach: Providence is a small city, I know it’s kind of cliche to say, but all the musicians seem to really know each other. There’s something about that familiarity that lends itself to a certain kind of collaborative sound that definitely is at the core of our energy as a band. Also, because Providence is decidedly less “cool” than bigger cities, there’s a lack of pretension we’ve absorbed that I think really informs our sound. We’re under no illusions that we’re reinventing the wheel with our music, but that gives us an element of freedom that makes our songs more spontaneous, propulsive, and just plain fun.

Rob, what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving many-a-spin to the Light Up Your Sorrow LP?

Rob: I hope people want to keep listening to the record and I hope the songs get stuck in their heads like they do mine. Maybe we’ll become someone’s new favorite band. That would be cool. We love this band and put a lot of time and energy into this record so I just hope people like it as much as we do.

Adam, what does the creative process generally look like for Structure Sounds when coming together to create new music? Is it a formal and structured process, or is it a little more freewheelin’ than all of that?

Adam: I’d say that it’s a little mix of both. Sean is the main songwriter of the group with a few Zach gems sprinkled in. We usually start with a really strong backbone and basic structure of a particular song then each add our own touches to it to make it come together. Vocally we all throw in our thoughts on harmonies and the like. I’d say Zach has the most “free reign” with his lead lines and solos since he’s great at it and pretty much the only one who can do what he does.

We’re excited to be speaking today with acclaimed Pop-Punk Rapper and multiinstrumentalist extraordinaire Mark MacDonald who is best known throughout the world by his far-famed nom de plume Hollow River; greetings and salutations, Mark!

Before we dive into the Q&A mosh-pit, how has the freshly-minted autumn of 2023 been treating you?

Autumn has been great! This is my favourite time of year - its perfect sweater weather outside. I tend to find the summer a bit too hot so spring and fall is when I thrive. I also just got back home for Canadian Thanksgiving so that got me into the spirit of the season.

Congratulations on the recent release of your newest single and music video Loved Me Like A Book! Starting from the top, what inspired this amazing gem of a tune?

I wanted to do something lyrically different. At the time I was in a songwriting class and I was having a discussion with the teacher about how I didn’t like to write love songs. I couldn’t find a way to write something that felt like a new idea until I got the idea of using a book as a allegory one day when I was reading. It was a soft cover that I had cracked the spine