photo • karlos rene ayala : interview • max ritter
Your new LP just came out on the Ghost Ramp label of Nathan Williams (WAVVES). Can you tell us a little about the band, the new album, and how you found a match for it with Ghost Ramp? Morgan: We’re just three dorks who can tolerate each other enough to play music together sometimes. I went to high school with Kenny in the foothills and I met Andy shortly after moving to Sacramento to go to college. We started playing music together because we were bored, I guess. We wrote and recorded Please Let Me Know in 2015. We just wrote songs that we all liked and that were fun to play. We recorded it with our incredibly talented friend, Pat Hills, at Earth Tone Studio here in Sacramento. It was originally supposed to come out on the label that put out our last record, The Unlawful Trade Of Greco-Roman Art, but that didn’t pan out so Patrick McDermott, who manages Ghost Ramp, said that he would be down to release it if we wanted. We already knew him because he had helped with the art and layout of Greco-Roman Art. We were all very psyched on Ghost Ramp and Patrick so it was a no-brainer for us. The first single on the new record is called “The King’s Wig.” What is it about? Morgan: I think our songs are open to interpretation so it can be about whatever you want it to be about.
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Kenny: To me, the song is about a king and a wig. The wig belongs to the king. The king is old and mostly bald, which is why he decided to get a wig. The king’s budding romance with the wig leads to an unhealthy obsession. He can hardly bear to have it leave his head. The wig must be removed periodically to undergo routine wig maintenance and cleaning. This bi-weekly ordeal of removing the wig and watching it go away to be washed really weighs down heavily on the king, but he knows that it is necessary to nourish his romance and ensure that it is long lasting. He sings, “I can’t wait, but I will” every time he watches the wig leave. It’s kind of like the movie Her, I think. I’ve never seen that movie though, only the preview. Morgan: To me, it’s about being in love and appreciating the person you love and how much cooler things are because of them. It’s about recognizing and valuing how great and exciting and lucky it is to be able to love somebody. But again, Kenny’s answer is just as right as mine or anybody else’s. What do you think it’s about? Being a band from Sacramento – the good, the bad? Kenny: I think one good thing about being in a band from Sacramento is that the river here is incredibly high right now. It’s really exciting to look at. I see it a couple times a day on my way to and from work. Morgan: I work right next to the river so I get to see it way more than Kenny, just so you know.
I think Sacramento is fine. I think the good and the bad are probably the same in Sacramento, as a lot of places that aren’t big cultural hubs or little, tiny towns. There are plenty of cool things and plenty of dumb things about the city.
Kenny: We’d be down to play with a bass player, though. If anyone reading this is interested in auditioning, just make a video that tells us a little bit about you and displays your chops and send it to us.
Kenny: If you’re in a band from Sacramento, you can go to the State Fair once a year and get a hamburger that’s stuffed with macaroni and cheese sandwiched between two glazed donuts, if you want to.
Morgan: You would have to be around our age, though, so at least 40.
Morgan: That’s true, if you want to. One thing I like about So Stressed is the three-piece with no bass player; instead you have a synth. Was that by design or did something specific inspire that? Kenny: We used to have a bass player. That was back when So Stressed was an improvisational act, before we started writing songs. I think he eventually just stopped showing up to practice. I don’t blame him. Morgan: I think the only reason it’s set up like that is because I barely know how to play music at all and I have found that pushing buttons and keys is easier for me than strumming a guitar. The only instrument I had when we started trying to write songs was a keyboard so we just tried to make it work with what was available. I don’t think it was ever a conscious decision to use keyboard instead of bass guitar for a “sound” or whatever. That’s just how it worked out and I’m too dumb and lazy to learn how to play a real instrument.
Are there any current bands out there you guys really like right now? Who are they and why? Morgan: I’m really enjoying that new Carsten Jost record. It sounds good and weird in a way that I don’t hear too often. It’s a really good balance of warm and cold. I also like 311. Kenny: I like the EP Blisters by serpentwithfeet. Do you guys have plans to tour the new album? Morgan: No Kenny: I would like to tour. I think we will. Morgan: I disagree. So Stressed’s new album Please Let Me Know will rip your head off and is available now on Ghost Ramp.