DECORATED YOUTH ISSUE 12
SIR SLY+GREAT GOOD FINE OK+NEW POLITICS+TOR MILLER PANAMA WEDDING+HAWAI+KATIE BEASLEY+VISTA KICKS BLISS KATHERINE+THE SUMMER SET+PHOTOCOMFORT+SWIMM
FALL OUT BOY
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EDITOR’S NOTE
STAFF:
I can’t remember how I first came across Fall Out Boy’s music, knowing me it was probably via TRL with the “Sugar…” video, BUT I remember very vividly the summer I found it. It was 2005 and their songs “Calm Before The Storm”, “Dead On Arrival” and of course, “Grand Theft Autumn” and “Sugar We’re Going Down Swinging” were my favorites. I found their older music through those compilation sampler albums that used to come out on a regular basis. Those samplers helped me find so many artists and songs that I had no idea about.
Heather Hawke Founder | Editor & Writer | Layout & Design | Photographer
I remember a specific day that year, where I was with my dad driving to and from Lake Tahoe (an hour away) to pick up my younger sister from summer camp, where I played From Under The Cork Tree as many times as I could in that time span. I was hooked. Those moments riding in the car, listening to that album, I felt like I was truly 100% in the moment. There were many bands that I listened to that year, but off the top of my head this band summarizes 2005 for me. To be able to feature them on the cover is definitely a dream come true. Heather Hawke
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SITES: www.decoratedyouth.com Facebook: facebook.com/DecoratedYouth Twitter & Instagram: @decoratedyouth
EMAIL:
General Info@decoratedyouth.com Press heather@decoratedyouth.com
THANK YOU’S Nicole Busch, Tim Toda, Kelsey Mitchell, Cina Nguyen, Cameron Norsworthy, Pamela Ayala, Paige Sara, Mickey Cerball, Katie Beasley, Pete Wentz, Pamela Littky, PMK BMC, The Griswolds , ASTR, Ryn Weaver, Phases, James Bay, Panama Wedding, Saamuel Richard, Great Good Fine Ok, Max Schwartz, Ceri Roberts, New Politics, This Fiction Management, Dan Croll, Press Here, Elliot In The Morning Holiday Concert, Marian Hill, Pandora Holiday, BBGun Press, City & Colour, Photocomfort, c3 Presents, Bliss Katherine, Swimm, Tor Miller, Glassnote, Hawai, Sir Sly, Katie Beasley, The Summer Set, KMGMT, Vista Kicks, and all the readers.
PHOTOS CREDITS
The Griswolds- by Mickey Cerball ASTR + Ryn Weaver - by Tim Toda Phases – by Cina Nguyen James Bay – by Nicole Busch Dan Croll - Kelsey Mitchell Elliot In The Morning Holiday Concert – by Pamela Ayala Marian Hill - by Cina Nguyen Pandora Holiday Concert - by Tim Toda City & Colour - by Cina Nguyen Photocomfort – provided by c3 Bliss Katherine + Swimm - by Bliss Katherine Hawai – by Saamuel Richard Sir Sly + The Summer Set + Tor Miler - by Heather Hawke Katie Beasley – photos by Justine Robinson and Kara Haupt designs by Katie Beasley Panama Wedding - (live and press) by Kelsey Mitchell Great Good Fine Ok (press) -Pamela Ayala, (live) Kelsey Mitchell Fall Out Boy - Pamela Littky Vista Kicks – by Paige Sara New Politics – by Max Schwartz
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The Griswolds - 4 ASTR + Ryn Weaver - 8 Phases - 12 James Bay - 16 Panama Wedding + Great Good Fine Ok - 18 Dan Croll - 22 Elliot In The Morning Holiday Concert - 26 Marian Hill - 32 Pandora Holiday - 34 City & Colour - 38
40 - Photocomfort 48 - Bliss Katherine 60 - Swimm 70 - Tor Miller 76 - Hawai 82 - Sir Sly 90 - Katie Beasley 98 - Vista Kicks 108 - Panama Wedding 120 - Great Good Fine Ok 120 - The Summer Set 130 - New Politics
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Featuring; New Politics 路 The Struts 路 Bastille 路 AWOLNATION 路 Fall Out Boy
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Featuring; Cash Cash 路 G-Eazy 路 Panic! At The Disco 路 Fall Out Boy
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Interview with Justine Bowe and Gabe Goodman
Since they’re an unsigned band and there’s no one telling them what they can or can’t release, they had the liberty of going in a pop friendly direction that they wanted to explore for their debut single. The later song they say is more true to their usual form. They want their music to reflect their dynamic interests and be fun to create and also be an intellectual challenge. The only rule they have for their songs are that they have to stand up for themselves if they play them acoustically without any fancy production or frills. The trio’s LP is slated to be released sometime this year.
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GROWING UP I think that until I understood that creativity could be an outlet for me I was a difficult child and then an angsty teen. And when I figured out that I could play piano and put my energy into writing music things started to change for me. - Justine Bowe Apparently when I was very young, I used to sit in front of this closet in my house and cry for hours. At some point my parents realized it was because my dad kept his guitar in the closet and I wanted him to play it for me. For my fourth birthday they got me a guitar of my own and I immediately started writing songs with it. When I wasn’t playing that guitar I was finding ways to make my other toys into guitars - generally unsuccessful endeavors. I can’t remember a time when creativity / music / songwriting weren’t, like, the ONLY things I cared about, which is kind of insane…sad, even maybe?! - Gabe Goodman
WHERE THEY GREW UP AND HOW IT IMPACTED THEIR CREATIVITY I grew up in an old house with a backyard and some of my favorite memories from childhood are of being outdoors and playing in trees and wondering about who used to live in my house before me. - Justine Bowe My parents were very supportive of my interest in music at an early age - we really didn’t have very much money but they made sure I had guitar lessons and stuff which I feel very fortunate about. Along with that, I grew up in this town called Newton, which had a well-funded arts education program and a lot of kids who were similarly passionate about music. Being in bands in high school with kids I really admired gave me a lot of confidence and inspiration. - Gabe Goodman
THE FIRST TIME THEY FELT INSPIRED BY MUSIC Honestly probably the first time I heard Hanson. My three fish when I was tiny man were named Isaac, Taylor and Zak. They died quickly. - Gabe Goodman Hanson, yes. Mmbop was the first time I had a cassette and had the power to rewind and listen to a song over and over. - Justine Bowe
GETTING INTO THE MUSIC SCENE I was in college at Brandeis University and my friends in the band Magic Man needed a bass player. Long story short, I ended up getting the job; I got a call from the band’s manager as I was walking into a financial accounting exam, auditioned a few days later and then was on tour like a week after that. Music has been a full-time thing for me since, both with Magic Man and now with Photocomfort. I spent a lot of energy denying or being uncomfortable with the fact that I wanted to be a musician. Now that it’s my reality, I’m not sure I can see myself doing anything else, as cliche as that is. - Gabe Goodman I also toured for a few years as a keyboardist and vocalist, most of it without another job, and I found myself becoming familiar with the industry landscape and the people in it. - Justine Bowe
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ART- EXPOSE, PROTECT OR HEAL THEM? I think it sort of depends on the project. When I was writing more music by myself, and lyrically it was coming solely from my experience or my brain I think the healing or exposing thing was more a component of it. With Photocomfort, Justine usually writes the lyrics and even though I’m a part of that process it’s a different thing. The deep emotional shifts that happen for me often come from feeling really good and excited about what we’re doing, and when I’m feelin’ good it’s easier for me to feel healed, protected, etc. etc. etc. - Gabe Goodman Yeah I agree with Gabe there. If I were just alone in the world writing these tunes and offering them up to people I would feel probably exclusively exposed. Now I just feel exposed when I'm sharing demos with Gabe. But since my writing partner is also my best friend I feel very protected. The healing comes in when we see something come together as a team. Writing, arranging, and recording music is probably our greatest joy. And the joy is extreme. Sometimes we just hug each other and jump up and down. - Justine Bowe
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THE START OF WRITING MUSIC At first I was just an intense and frustrated music fan (thanks for NOTHIN Conor Oberst), and then I figured out how to do it myself around the time I was discovering lady musicians like Fiona Apple and Jenny Lewis. - Justine Bowe Definitely been something I’ve always had to do, or not known how to not do. - Gabe Goodman
BAND FORMATION Justine was looking to start playing shows as Photocomfort. Our mutual friend thought I might be around to play guitar so he hit me up - Justine and I had known of each other for a long time but were not really buds. We had a few practices and then it just sort of evolved into me working on writing with Justine to eventually the project becoming the two of us. We both had been working on music as solo artists for years, but when we started writing together our visions lined up in this way that just kind of made a lot of sense. - Gabe Goodman
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GETTING INSPIRED WHILE OUT AND ABOUT – VOICE MEMOS & NOTES I write almost exclusively using the notes and voice recording apps on my phone. I just come up with a lot of disjointed ideas at first over the course of a few weeks, and then often come to realize that they're all ideas elaborating on the same theme. - Justine Bowe I’ve come up with a lot of ideas while waiting tables, just hummin’ along while waiting at the line for food to come out. - Gabe Goodman
WRITING PROCESS – COLLECTIVE EFFORT VS INDIVIDUAL
It sort of varies, but most of the time Justine will have a chord progression and a melody or some song pieces and then she will bring it to me and we will make it into a song together. But there have also been songs that have worked the other way around - like “Slowdance,” which we put out in October, was a beat that I showed Justine that was already somewhat fleshed out. How it starts can be different but it always ends up with the two of us sitting in front of a computer moving stuff around until we feel it works. - Gabe Goodman
LYRICS –WHERE, TIMPERIOD & PHYSICALLY, THEY WERE THOUGHT UP
Often the weirdest lyrical ideas will just come out fully formed when I'm playing piano. Those are the bits I love to build songs around. A lot of times I'll just start singing and playing and wondering if I've written this particular song already or heard it somewhere. The answer to that question is no, but since it came from me it feels like I've been hearing it for forever, like a thing that always existed in the world waiting for me to find it. I usually fill in the rest with lines from poems that I write, or notes I've jotted down in my phone. - Justine Bowe
LYRICS – INTENTIONALLY SITTING DOWN TO WRITE VS HAVING IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD AND THEN THEY COMES SPILLING OUT A lot of times nothing good comes out when you say, I'm going to write a song now. But you can train yourself to be inspired, so I read a lot, take a lot of notes about my friends and the people I love, and reflect on those to get ideas. Discipline usually comes in not in starting songs, but in finishing them. You definitely have to be intentional about bringing them to the finish line. - Justine Bowe
I always have trouble making it happen when I go with the “today I’m gonna write a song” approach, but I’m getting better at that. I’ve had ideas kicking around for years that I still can’t work out, some songs come out in a few minutes. Songwriting is a muscle like any other muscle - you have to exercise it so it will be more robust, and that can’t really come from sitting around and waiting to be inspired (which I am often guilty of). Working hard makes it that much easier to make a really great thing once you DO have that moment of pure inspiration and it all kinda comes to you. - Gabe Goodman
WRITING, SOMETHING THEY ENJOY? Yes, I love writing. I love words, and I love manipulating their meaning and inventing lyrical concepts. Lyrically I'll usually have a bunch of words and ideas rattling around for a while, like a picture puzzle in a box, and I just have to put the pieces together in a way that creates a meaningful picture. That challenge is addictive. - Justine Bowe
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A SHIFT IN THE WRITING PROCESS Our writing process feels like it’s always evolving. I think we are getting better at taking something from start to finish and not spending TOO much time obsessing over it. There’s a lot of value in that but there’s also a lot of value in trusting your instincts and having a finished product you can talk about and grow from. - Gabe Goodman Yup! Also part of settling into our process has been figuring out how to work with one another and be generous with both contributing ideas and giving good feedback to one another. - Justine Bowe
THEIR ARTWORK – CONTRIBUTE IDEAS OR REMAIN HANDS OFF
To this point the cover art has been pictures of Justine’s ceiling from her iPhone, so interaction with the designer has actually been real smooth! - Gabe Goodman
My iPhone is v low maintenance. - Justine Bowe
MAKING THE MOST OF A MOMENT We just happened to be working on some tunes with our drummer when we got we got a call from our manager, asking if we could play a show that night. We had not yet played a show as a group yet, and we didn't really have a set together. It wasn't gonna be in a teeny club or a house show, either, it was to a sold out crowd at one of our favorite venues in Boston, The Sinclair in Cambridge. I suppose it's hard to actually feel prepared for a weird illogical inhuman thing like performing for the first time. So we weren't prepared. But we just had to say yes to that experience to show ourselves what that was like, and that it was a thing we wanted more of. - Justine Bowe
MENTORS Our manager Lindsay has been a big inspiration to us, and having her to guide us through this sort of bizarre process of coming up as a young band has been amazing. I also feel like everyone I met through touring with Magic Man really changed my life - learning how to tour, how to play shows, how to be professional, how to run a band. Without being able to watch them do it, and do it well, I shudder to think where I would be now. - Gabe Goodman
WHO/ WHAT CHANGED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY The concept of the “playlist” is a game-changer, and it really challenges the way I have always consumed music. It’s not a new concept by any means but the ubiquity of it has reassigned a lot of values in the industry it seems. I have always loved and appreciated the album as an artform and as a part of being a fan of a band, but the focus is more and more on the single. - Gabe Goodman Yeah, I think the playlist (and streaming the playlist, for that matter) is almost dismantling the idea of bands themselves. In the playlist world, songs are made to stand in for entire albums. Single songs are really made to speak for a band's whole body of work in a way that seems detrimental to the growth of an artist. 30 seconds into discovering a new song on a playlist we feel like we have enough information about a band to say to ourselves, "Oh, this is what they sound like," and then "I like this," or, "I don't like this." I think that's a reductive and dangerous power. Plus, the fact that that streaming platforms have really opaque monetizing systems and do shady back room deals with record labels means that those bands that are already reduced to songs don't really get paid, and instead have to form a lot of brand partnerships to make ends meet. And so like, thank god for big brands like Red Bull and Taco Bell or Chipotle for doing stuff with and for bands, and for feeding them sometimes (which would be the most "sellout" thing for me to say in 1995, but is totally acceptable now, don't worry about it). - Justine Bowe
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BLISS KATHERINE
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Since living in a small beach town, she didn’t grow up knowing many local photographers that inspired her. She self-taught herself by studying up on tutorials about camera settings, editing programs, and lenses and got her daily inspiration by browsing fashion magazines. She began to create and edited images through her own vision and by the age of 16 her fashion photography opportunities started. She was photographing her beautiful friends which led to her being booked by signed models out of state. By 17, her photographs were featured in magazines, on book covers, and in album art.
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THE BEGINNING – CHILDHOOD AND CREATIVITY Perfect. I miss being young every day, probably because I was raised so well and everyday was so much fun. I lived in a huge pastel pink house my dad had built for my mother and in a beautiful town next to Atlanta, Georgia. My mom was an artist in her youth and wanted to be a photographer as well. She always pushed me to do something artistic since day 1.
WHERE SHE GREW UP / WHERE SHE LIVES IMPACTING CREATIVITY
I was raised to be adventurous, polite and careful. For years I sat by the creek behind our home watching animals, and on weekends hiked hills and did ballet. My dad often had the opportunity to bring my mother and I on trips with him so early on I got the chance to see the world. In my younger days I always picked up my dad's film camera and took terrible photos of grass and the ocean but he never stopped me. I felt the happiest in the sea and on mountain tops, and that's still the same today. In my early teens we moved to a little surfer town in Florida, and anytime I needed a change Chicago has been my second home. Growing up I was always artistic, never really into sports or group events. I think because I grew up around beautiful scenery and time in nature I couldn't keep my hands off of paintbrushes and cameras. I believe my unknown interest in photography started around age 8 with piles of National Geographic magazines surrounding me while waiting for my mom to get done working. I looked through them in amazement of the colors and emotions the pages had. As I got older all I desired was fashion and band magazines for inspiration. At fourteen I was gifted my very own camera and didn't stop creating, I'm now 25.
ART – EXPOSE, PROTECT OR HEAL? It's always healed me, I feel when I have a camera in my hands all my anxieties vanish and everything makes sense.
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AHA MOMENT When I was around 16 I was told to write down all of my prayer requests/dreams on paper, testing to see what comes of them. 2 years later I could cross off almost every single thing I wrote down except get married and swim with a whale. I made a new list two years ago and almost all of those goals are achieved, including shooting for multiple magazine editorials and musicians that I never thought would contact me. Both of those realizations just humbled me and reminded me I'm not in control and that my dreams are valid.
CAPTIVATED AUDIENCE- FEELING PRESSURE AND STAYING INSPIRED At times, yes. I want my photography to expose me but I feel I'm having to live up to some unrealistic reality of photographers in the generation. I live in fear of blending in or being mistaken as another bragging artist. I started my work so young, before "Instagram" sounded like a real word. I've had a hard time with social media lately because it's turned passion into pride, when all I've ever wanted to do was photography and share it because I love it, not to get famous off of the letter K or big numbers. I'm working on letting go of my bitterness with it and being all-in with sharing my work as much as I did and much more. I stay inspired by traveling and clearing my head, coming back to the real me by reminding myself daily that this generation is a bit disheveled but I don't have to be and that it's okay.
VISION OF PHOTOGRAPHY EVOLVED Fortunately, yes. Since I picked up my own camera at 14, oversaturated pictures of palm trees and angsty teens vanished in time. My passion for photographing people has always been the strongest. I think what has changed most is the raw emotion I love to capture. I've always admired film and worked with it, so filmy tones stuck with me the whole time. I'm coming to find my real editing structure after all these years. I love when people tell me, "I saw a photo and I knew right away it was yours."
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TAKING MANY FRAMES VS A FEW FRAMES I take way too many frames for my own good but I believe it's better that way. I've tried to be -that- photographer who takes 20 photos and acts pleased. It's not me, and I just enjoy shooting too much to rush my time with my subject. The in-between moments are what make my work.
FAVORITE STORY BEHIND A PHOTO
The black and white photograph of band, The Neighbourhood, leaning in a tiny hallway in Chicago. I had worked with them a few times but this day I got to the show and their manager told me my photographs wanted to be shared by Rolling Stone, so I smiled and then had to step out of the room to mildly cry because one of my dreams was happening.
MAKING THE MOST OF A MOMENT It took plenty of experience to help me to learn to get it right. Lighting is always my biggest issue, but thankfully most of the bands I work with fulfill my needs and help the experience. I shoot moments that not everybody wants, but it creates a memory of what really was and everyone seems to agree that is what makes a photograph special.
BIGGEST HURDLE & OVERCOMING IT
Helping people see what I see. I love people so much and see qualities most don't, and the people I photograph don't quite understand how special they are, even the most beautiful models. I overcome this by helping them overcome it. I direct calmly and give examples to help them understand my eye, speaking compliments to them. By the end of the shoot they are impressed with themselves and hopefully more confident.
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MAKING PORTRAITS LOOK NATURAL I shoot very low key, direct. I don't have a team of people standing around. I do all of the makeup, hair, styling and directing. I like to have one on one moments with my muses and in that they open up, and I love it. Authentic human interaction breaks down walls, and it can make all the difference in a photo.
NEWEST THING SHE’S LEARNED ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY The color editing isn't everything. The emotion of the photo is what makes a photographer's work theirs.
MENTORS
Somehow just myself. I never had any photography schooling besides two simple classes I took in my senior year of high school, at a community college. My teacher approached me and whispered that I was above her teaching level and I could shoot how I wanted. After that semester I never went to school again. My biggest influencer was my mother, she still keeps me driven to this day.
PERFECT STORM OF PHOTOGRAPHY SCENARIOS (one artist/band, one venue/ studio/ location, gear, one city) Paul McCartney in Italy, dressed up in one of his psychedelic Beatles outfits, probably in some sort of a field. The Beatles has been in my life forever, and I feel an ache when I hear their songs. I have all of their records from my dad’s collection. I just believe Paul has changed the world with love through music, and that's what I hope to do through photography.
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Interview with Chris Hess
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SWIMM isn’t the first time the two have collaborated on music together. Back in 2008 they started creating music under the moniker Bastard Lovechild of Rock ‘n’ Roll, which was shortened to BLORR and, after releasing an EP in 2010 titled Bim Bom, was then changed to Le Blorr. The two have been working on music together for so long that Chris mentions he could probably count on one hand the number of weeks they’ve been apart in the last five years. Their song ‘All the Time’ off their newly released Beverly Hells EP (released last August) is about that. At the end of their first tour as SWIMM when (touring in support of their debut EP Feel in spring of 2013) they were deciding whether to move to NYC or LA, a spot in Downtown LA at a warehouse called the Cube opened up. They decided to stay in LA and aside from now having separate beds, after sharing one for the first 6 months, they most enjoy being in the city and being able to be surround by people constantly hustling and creating. They are currently writing and demoing songs for their first full length album.
GROWING UP
My childhood was splendid. Parents got divorced and all that but who doesn't go through that as a kid. Lived at my grandparents with my mom and sisters for half and then just my mom and I lived in a townhouse for my teen years. Always close with my Dad and older sister though. I was more into surfing than anything during those years. I was always into poetry because my mom has always been passionate about writing and is an amazing writer/poet herself. My Dad can kind of play any instrument well, but never does so it wasn't like I was a part of the Jacksons where we would spend our evenings harmonizing classics around a fire. Also grew up in Florida so we didn't have a need for fireplaces. I started playing guitar when I was sixteen and immediately started writing songs but kept it super secret. I got a hold of a tape recorder and recorded myself singing the first song I wrote on acoustic guitar. I listened back and had mild PTSD for years from how awful I sounded. Really though it was shocking and I wouldn't show anybody songs or sing in front of anyone for probably 5 to 6 years after I had started.
WHERE HE GREW UP AND HOW IT IMPACTED HIS CREATIVITY Florida cultivated a love for warm and ethereal sounds. Growing up in the water you, maybe even sub-consciously, gain appreciation for certain omnipresent themes like fluidity and weightlessness. That has a lot to do with the sonic element of the music. Living in LA now has had wonderfully devastating effect on what weight I put on the lyrical side of the music. Living your whole life a walk away from the beach in a chill town to then moving into a warehouse on the outskirts of Downtown LA amongst every side of city culture you could ask for wasn't necessarily a culture shock to me but a culture burst. I have really loved it and have learned a lot. Not to mention fucking Hollywood is a hop, skip and a jump away.
MUSIC EDUCATION Well formally I had none. I don't think Adam did either. I just picked up whatever I could from the older friends that would let me come 'jam' with them. As far as learning what music was worth diving into... I learned a lot from the older dudes who would play our youth groups. Which was interesting because on Monday nights I would go to Youth Group and hear them play covers and someone else would talk about God for like 10 minutes and then you would just kinda play random games with your friends. And then because I started to really seek out any music I could (which was sparse in Satellite Beach) I would go to bars they would be playing shows at in their actual bands and they would be boozing and cursing and playing rad music. Sometimes they would have to delicately ask me to leave because I was under age. Luckily I had an innate resistance to being in a white dude rasta band because Jah knows that's a thing in Florida.
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THE FIRST TIME HE FELT INSPIRED BY MUSIC Well since I just spoke about those guys I will say there was a band called Dialect. One of the guys that would occasionally play Youth Group sang for that band. His name was Byron. Those were some of the first live shows I ever saw and I feel pretty lucky about that cause Byron was an absolute animal with an incredible voice. He would totally do the transform thing from soft spoken, genteel Byron to rock god the second they started playing. I remember not even being able to comprehend the feeling I would get watching them play cause I was so new to playing music and the idea of ever singing in a band was so far from my mind. But I know that watching him instilled in me early the idea that if you are gonna be on stage you have the choice to really go for it if you want to.
THE START OF WRITING MUSIC Once I started showing songs to people I had a really strong pull to but have always felt like I wasn't supposed to be so I was never vocal about it. When I started it was kinda like "well I'm not like a good musician or singer so why the hell do I have such a strong pull towards doing this and maybe some weird feeling that I am supposed to and maybe will someday be good?" I don't know you are making me get all existential and shit now. This is for dear diary.
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GETTING INSPIRED WHILE OUT AND ABOUT – VOICE MEMOS & NOTES That happens a lot. I have become pretty vigilant about the 'Notes' and 'voice memo' option in my phone. The best voice memo moments are when you wake up from a dream with an idea and whisper it into your phone in the middle of the night. Then having totally forgotten about it you listen back and it sounds like some weird drunk ASMR fetish recording.
LYRICS – INTENTIONALLY SITTING DOWN TO WRITE VS HAVING IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD AND THEN THEY COMES SPILLING OUT
It is usually sparked by one line or one melody. Sometimes it does come spilling out. And that is lovely when it happens that easily. Most of the time I am lucky to get one solid start or spark of something and have to really work it out. It has become like solving a puzzle. Kinda feel that it is already there and you just have to take the time to put it together.
WRITING, SOMETHING HE ENJOYS? Yea I really love it. I usually will write 4 times the amount of lyrics for an idea that is necessary to complete a song. That is the fun part. Then the editing down is the bummer part. Cause of course if you are narcissistic enough to write your own songs and lyrics you are not gonna want to leave any of your precious ideas out.
SONG BACKSTORIES They have been written in different stages. Some immediately after we moved to California after a long tour holed up in a cabin in Topanga trying to feel like a normal person again. But mostly in our home the Cube which has become a wellspring of inspiration. Trickling in from the exterior aesthetic and pace of east LA and also from within our home. Our roommates are Spencer and Tom from an amazing band Sego and our neighbors are amazing visual artists named Brandon Lomax and Davey Hawkins.
FAVORITE PART OF THE ALBUM CREATION PROCESS The first stages is always the most exciting part of the writing process. The songs are your sweet little babies and have the potential to be anything and go anywhere.
THEIR ARTWORK – CONTRIBUTE IDEAS OR REMAIN HANDS OFF
I had the idea for the artwork and was lucky enough that our friend Marcello Ambriz is talented enough to fully realize those ideas. I wanted the idea of Adam and I being handed flowers as sort of a satirical nod to the abundance of disingenuous validation we all seek being in the entertainment industry and of course living in LA. It is basically a visual representation of the line from "Beverly Hells" that says "Aren't you happy, can't you see? How well things are going for me?"
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THEIR ARTWORK – AESTHETICALLY COOL PACKAGE VS COVERSATION BETWEEN LYRICS AND ART
It is very important to us. Having friends that do such rad visual art is a constant reminder of how much that aspect can add to the music. Now I'd be lying if I said I didn't want that to also translate into an aesthetically cool package. But cool takes the backseat to authentic. That may sound redundant but I wouldn't say it isn't an overwhelming theme amongst bands these days. Is that controversial to say? Did I just make my first controversial statement?
PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS Some balance between realizing you are essentially a product to consumers and also wanting them to speak to who we actually are. Band photos suck. It is almost impossible not to look like a douche canoe when you are just a dude posing for a picture. We just try to have fun playing dress up. I had two older sisters. I was dressed up as a girl ALL THE TIME.
MAKING THE MOST OF A MOMENT We had the pleasure of opening for Dr. Dog a couple months ago for a few shows. It was the end of our set on the first night. During the first part of the last song my guitar went out. No volume. I had the decision of stopping and grabbing the spare guitar or just continuing the song. It would have been too anti-climactic to stop there and restart just for one more song so instead of standing on stage with a dud guitar I took it off and decided to climb into the crowd. In part because I simply felt too exposed standing there on stage looking panicked. Luckily the audience lifted me up and I sang the last chorus while crowd surfing. It ended up being the raddest moment of that little run with them. I also told Dr. Dog I had no intention of being such a juice hog but more so it was out of necessity. They were very gracious and simply replied, "it seemed to work quite well".
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MENTORS I don't say this purely for the sake of schmaltz but pretty much all of my friends are ridiculously talented in one way or another. Because SWIMM has been somewhat of an open door since the beginning with who we have play shows with... I always try to get my talent-vampire on and suck as much of their soul and abilities as possible.
WHO/ WHAT CHANGED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Steve Jobs? Napster? Myspace? Download Cards? "Streaming"? Garageband (Steve Jobs again)? I constantly vacillate between appreciating how easy it is for people to hear our music and how much of a bummer it is to spend as much on making an album as we do knowing full well people don't buy albums anymore. I make music first and foremost because of the existential reasons stated above but hey sometimes you want to order the guac on Taco Tuesday ya know?
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As a kid he reluctantly took piano lessons, but started taking it seriously after meeting his piano teacher Anthony Rufo, who taught him basic song composition and encouraged him to sing. He played his first New York show at the age of fifteen while doing the synths in a pop-punk band. After his parents separated, he and his mom moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey where she introduced him to the aforementioned music artist’s while driving to and from the city where he continued to attend school. After he graduated, he made a deal with his parents in which if he was going to pursue music he had to get a degree while doing it. After he was noticed by Daniel Glass of Glassnote Records, who signed him in early 2014, he soon left NYU to pursue music full time. His debut EP, Headlights, was released on Feb 03, 2015 via Glassnote Recordings.
GROWING UP As a child I went to an art school in the Village and we were heavily encouraged to pursue and funnel our creativity in a variety of artistic endeavors. We learned many different medians, such as painting, drawing, and sculpting. It was a very cool school. So I was exploring my creativity at a very young age.
THE FIRST TIME HE FELT INSPIRED BY MUSIC When I was about 10 or 11 years old my mother bought me 'Ziggy Stardust' and it completely changed my life. After that first listen through, I started taking my piano lessons seriously, and with the encouragement of my teacher, started writing music veraciously.
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THE BEGINNING I started a band in high school and we rehearsed all the time, played shows in our area in New Jersey as well as New York City. I was the manager, booking agent, writer of the whole project. So I learned a lot. When high school came to an end and as the band broke up and I started attending NYU, where I had several residencies around the Lower East Side. I had met my manager right before college and soon enough labels were showing up to my residencies. From the first moment I played a show I knew I wanted to do it for a living, it was the only thing I did at the time that didn't make me miserable
ART- EXPOSE, PROTECT OR HEAL HIM? I feel I expose a lot of myself in my music and through that process I get a lot of feelings, resentments and whatever it may be off of my chest, which in turn is a healing process.
CREATING / FINDING INSPIRATION IN NYC
There is really so much to observe around every corner of the City. You can watch a group of Crust Punks go by and wonder 'how did those kids end up living on the streets?' The City as a whole has my imagination swimming. I find a certain calm in the storm that is NYC. My closest form of meditation is walking aimlessly down the streets and taking it all in.
FAVORITE VENUE TO PLAY / WATCH A SHOW IN THE NYC AREA I love playing Rockwood Music Hall. I remember back to about four years ago when I would struggle to draw a single person out to see my shows there. And now I've been able to pack out my last few shows and it has me thinking back to the days of playing for just the bartenders, and that makes me smile.
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GETTING INSPIRED WHILE OUT AND ABOUT – VOICE MEMOS & NOTES I have no shame in busting out the iPhone to put down a voice memo and many a song has spawned from a whisper in a crowded room! There is a song called "The Dirt" where I had the entire verse melody come to me while on vacation in Barcelona. It’s always interesting when you get inspired while in bed and you have that important decision to act upon your idea or whether to go to sleep.
LYRICS –WHERE, MENTALLY & PHYSICALLY
My lyrics come from my experiences over the last three years and they came steadily as I traveled the world. Many of them have to do with a specific person I shared a lot with and spent even more time away from.
LYRICS – INTENTIONALLY SITTING DOWN TO WRITE VS HAVING IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD AND THEN THEY COMES SPILLING OUT
It really varies. I've had moments where I know by the end of the day a song will be written and other times when I was just noodling around on the piano and a whole song formed itself in front of my eyes.
A SHIFT IN THE WRITING PROCESS
I've kept it pretty much the same, writing around the piano and putting it all down on voice memo. I like it that way. It gives the song space and lets my imagination soar as I think of arrangements down the line.
ARTWORK – CONTRIBUTE IDEAS OR REMAIN HANDS OFF
I certainly have a big part in the artwork. I have album covers I love and want to emulate and bring those ideas to the photographers and graphic designers I work with. It's massively important to have the artwork portray the music in the proper way.
PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS I don't want to look like a dick in my press shots essentially. And it's not happy music so I don't want to come across overly joyous, there's a bit of a dower, pensive thing going on.
MAKING THE MOST OF A MOMENT
There's always something going wrong at a live show. That's part of the excitement I guess. I have had bad crowds and will repeat songs to see if they even care. I will call people out who are acting up or seem uninterested. There have been shows where you can't hear the other instruments in your monitors. You've just gotta role with it and move on to the next show.
MENTORS I have had loads of mentors! Anthony Rufo, one of my first music teacher, who pushed me to start singing and writing. Emery Dobyns was there when I first moved back to NYC and we wrote a lot of music together and was one of my first guiding lights through this obscure industry. Chris and Daniel my managers have taken care of me and always been there to prop me up and keep me going. I'm grateful for all of them and everyone I've worked with. Jon green has been a great friend, collaborator and inspiration. Daniel Glass has had me believing we can achieve anything. There's loads more.
WHO/ WHAT CHANGED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Bob Dylan, really just the steps he took during his time period were revolutionary. He was one of the first of the west village folk scene to start writing his music, of course there were Phil Ochs and others but Dylan was at the forefront. He betrayed folk purists and went electric. He had a song on the radio which was 8 minutes long. He did so many things for himself and not to appease those around him and it was a massive inspiration to generations of artists.
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Interview with Jake Pappas and Matt Gillen
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WHERE THEY GREW UP AND HOW IT IMPACTED THEIR CREATIVITY The fact that we all grew up in the same town and met through being in bands started our relationship off on the foundation of playing music. It has been the center of all our relationships. The location of where we grew up could have been anywhere, but the proximity to each other is what has kept us close, literally and figuratively.
MUSIC EDUCATION
For the most part, our musicianship has been developed through years and years of messing around on instruments and learning as much as we could on our own. Since we grew up learning our instruments together, I think our sound is a collective of us pushing each other to create and progress. Each of us has had lessons on some level, but I the majority of our education comes from each other.
THE FIRST TIME THEY FELT INSPIRED BY MUSIC There are a handful of bands that we have all naturally gravitated to and have been inspired by from early on. Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens are just a few that come to mind when I think of really early influences. I would say that these groups lit a fire for us when we were in our formative years. I’m sure I could probably make a huge list, but those three are probably the most comprehensive.
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BAND FORMATION We grew up as friends from an early age and naturally picked up instruments. Playing music has always been the center of our friendship and has what has brought us back together if we drifted too far apart. Being in a band today seems like the most natural outcome of growing up together. It would be weirder if we didn't still play together in some way.
BIGGEST HARDSHIP THAT’S INSPIRED THE WRITING
At one point, we had a practice space that we were renting out in LA for about a year. It was basically the size of a closet and was loud, and hot, and miserable. We locked ourselves in that room for several days a week and for hours at a time. We struggled to write to the point of basically banging our head into the wall, trying to be creative. We realized it was just a terrible process for writing and for the general morale of our band. We took desperate measures to change, and through that met Lars Stalfors, who inspired us and taught us better songwriting techniques. Even though that time in LA was hard on all of us, we can look back and see the path pretty clearly.
GETTING INSPIRED WHILE OUT AND ABOUT – VOICE MEMOS & NOTES
LYRICS –WHERE, TIMPERIOD & PHYSICALLY, THEY WERE THOUGHT UP
Jake got into the habit of voice memo-ing melodies and lyrics any time he would think of something throughout the day. He has tons of ideas that we look back on regularly. Some ideas are silly, but some turn out to be really great for an added inspiration. While working with Lars, he told us that he loved using demo tracks because a lot of the time the raw demos contain the most energy or emotion. In the studio, on several occasions, we literally used some of Jake's voice memos that are now part of the finished product.
At the time the EP was being pieced together, I had just moved to Los Angeles and found out my wife was pregnant. I think that had a big part in the emotional state of my lyrical direction. Not entirely, but it definitely gave me a new perspective. I've always loved poetry too, so a lot of it is fictional narratives, stories, and other people's experiences rather than my own. I like writing what first comes to mind and seeing where that takes me. Almost like letting the lyrics lead themselves instead of thinking so hard about what to say.
WRITING PROCESS – COLLECTIVE EFFORT VS INDIVIDUAL
LYRICS – INTENTIONALLY SITTING DOWN TO WRITE VS HAVING IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD AND THEN THEY COMES SPILLING OUT
We have tried just about every angle of songwriting there is. It’s hard to say some definitely work and some definitely don't, because we have gotten things out of each process and learned a lot along the way. Even locking ourselves in the practice room in LA, although not the best way for us, still came out with good material on the other side. We've tried to sit down in front of a computer and record track by track and we have had some success that way as well. Right now, we are mostly going with the approach of Jake providing us with the skeleton and the rest of us building off of that. Sometimes we come up with ideas while just jamming or messing around, other times its very methodical. It has definitely been a learning process for us that we still have yet to fully pinpoint.
I think there's a definite mix of the two, but as of lately, we're much more intentional about sitting down and writing a song. I used to think it wasn't possible to just sit down and crank out a song....I was a big advocate for needing inspiration before you begin writing. But now I think we've all gotten to a place of realizing that if you sit down to write, and literally write...to put away your phone, cut out all distractions....then you are opening up opportunity for something to be created. Maybe it won't be great, maybe it will terrible, or maybe it will be the best song you've ever written. Who knows? But you need to sit down and write to find out.
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A SHIFT IN THE WRITING PROCESS Yeah 100%. We used to have myself (Jake) do almost all of the writing before bringing it to the band, and now we are much more of a team when it comes to ideas and piecing together a full song. It's way more fun now! Our process has shifted over time trying to find what works best. Who knows maybe it will shift back at some point too? We're comfortable with doing what's best for the song.
SONG BACKSTORIES A lot of the songs started as one thing and ended up as something entirely different. It's weird listening back to original versions of some of them. They sound like different songs. We'll play old versions randomly in the car to get a good laugh.
FAVORITE PART OF THE ALBUM CREATION PROCESS We worked with an awesome producer named Lars Stalfors that helped a lot with bringing out the best version of each song. It was cool to watch it all come together with him. It was also fun to dive into the synth world more than we have in the past. It was like learning a new language...super fascinating!
HOW AND WHEN THE EP TITLE “WORKING ALL NIGHT” CAME ABOUT It's a lyrical line from one of the songs off the EP, and we felt it kinda encompassed the story of the songs as a whole.
HOW THEY WANT TO BE REPRESENTED THROUGH THEIR BAND’S VISUALS We want to be represented as human beings. We try not to get sucked into over-glamorizing our social media, photos, etc... We strongly dislike when people falsify their life through social media. Very few things are more frustrating... We mainly try to have a good time without over thinking any of the other stuff. But we understand the business side of things and how that often interferes with simply being yourself and getting away with it. It's a hard line to walk, but we try our best to be ourselves.
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Interview with Hayden Coplen
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GROWING UP We were all kids of the suburbs—free to roam, play in lame bands at various community centers, make noise in our garage, etc. I think there’s a simplicity and innocence to that. It was low pressure for me, so I learned to really enjoy and experiment. My parents endlessly supported me, but I don’t think anyone thought this would actually become my career.
FIRST TIME FEELING SUPER INSPIRED BY MUSIC I remember long car rides with my Dad in 5th grade listening to Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out.” Admittedly, that record can be a little sanitary, a little breezy…but overall it’s really tasteful West Coast jazz. I was absolutely transfixed by the loads of different, strange time signatures on that album. We would listen…and then I’d call out each time signature change before it would happen. I think he won a high school jazz competition with “Blue Rondo A La Turk” or something like that…so he knew the chart inside and out. That was fun.
AHA MOMENT I remember sitting outside of Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia on our first tour, about one week after we had been signed. I was on the phone with my Mom and she was telling me about a few bills that came in the mail for me, etc, etc and I was kinda wondering how I would go about paying them…when I realized the band was a bit of a moneymaking entity now. That, by definition, made me a professional musician. The literalness provided, and provides, a great security.
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WHEN / HOW THE ALBUM TITLE ‘YOU HAUNT ME’ CAME ABOUT We were probably about ¾ of the way done with the album—and it became really obvious that lyric summed up the entire album thematically. At the time, the song “You Haunt Me” was actually called Step 4 or something like that—it was a reference to the fourth step of the AA recovery program.
WRITING PROCESS – COLLECTIVE EFFORT VS INDIVIDUAL
It’s a healthy mix. There’s tons of value in us three getting together inside a studio, but there’s also a necessary freedom in writing individually. Now that we’ve been doing this for a few years, there’s a tendency to fall into our roles in the studio, as opposed to trying something completely different. I think the individual time helps stimulate different songwriting muscles that don’t get exercised when we’re all together.
FAVORITE PART OF THE ALBUM CREATION PROCESS The day it came out was insane. Gratification like I’ve never known. We did the whole thing ourselves, so there’s not really anyone else to blame if everyone thinks it sucks. That did not appear to be the case.
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THEIR ARTWORK – CONTRIBUTE IDEAS OR REMAIN HANDS OFF
Samuel Burgess Johnson is really dialed-in and did a fantastic job on the artwork. I’m still proud of it to this day. Because we’re used to handling most band duties ourselves…when we collaborate it tends to be with someone we implicitly trust. With Samuel, there was some minor revision, but ultimately we had him run with it.
PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS My favorite photos are really forthright and simple. We’re all guilty of doing it at some point, of course, but it’s so lame to pretend you’re candid or unaware of the camera. Like, come on man, you’re in a band and someone wants to take a photo of your mug. Own that shit.
MENTORS Loads and loads of mentors since my youth, of course—but in terms of the past few years since Sir Sly has existed, I give a lot of credit to our manager. John Michael has been a best friend, an advice-giver, a listener, and a miracle-maker. Early on, we had a manager named Brent who was also a major factor in our mindset.
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She moved to Portland for college and went to school for design, but being immersed in such a creative environment stifled her at first. Since she saw so much talent around her she was worried that she’d never find her own voice and in turn would never become a good designer. Through her classmates she eventually found her voice and started to get positive feedback, which gave her confidence to dive deeper into the process and start experimenting.
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GETTING INVOLVED WITH LETTERING I had one lecture class my junior year of college that was SO boring. The mundane topics made me turn my head down to a sketchbook during the 3 hour class period. I didn't just draw letters. I drew creepy lanky creatures, patterns, etc. As the year went on, my doodles turned into strictly words. I was terrible at first. So terrible. But I was also obsessed with getting better. I latched onto the idea of lettering for months, and slowly started improving. But then I became stuck. I was using a few simple lettering styles - drawing what had become easy. One night, I was sitting in my tiny studio apartment with my roommate (we had bunk beds) and my cat. It was a week night, I had an insane amount of homework, but we poured ourselves some wine. Before starting my assignments, I started a new page in my sketchbook. I drew for a while, drank more wine, and repeated this a few times. I finished the page, and was astonished that I had just created something so different from what I had done in the past. Since this night, I have really tried to push myself to try new, weird things with what I make. That drawing can be seen here (https://www.instagram.com/p/zhIhkDpauv/).
MENTORS My list of mentors is probably endless. My stepdad gave me my first micron pen. His encouragement has been game changing - even though I roll my eyes sometimes. My god mother, Andrea is the one to really push education onto me, helping me to get the most out of my time at school. My close group of friends is so incredibly creative, supportive and ridiculous. Justine, Taylor, Carrinne, all my classmates from PNCA. They all have given me feedback, critique and brilliant insights these past few years. Also, shouts to M. French.
FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT DESIGN AND LETTERING
There is this moment in design where things start to fall into place. Maybe I FINALLY landed on a perfect color way, or I didn't fuck up the "O" in a really intense lettering project. That moment gets me SO hyped. Sometimes there is a struggle to find the perfect visual voice for a project, but when you break through that wall, it's magic. Another favorite. I had a friend that I hadn't seen in years send me a message a few months ago. It was a picture of some letters she had drawn after seeing the stuff I had been posting on Instagram, telling me that I inspired her to try it out, and it looked fun. A few other instances such as this have happened. That shit is rad.
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ASPECT OF DEISGN THAT ARE TRENDING Handlettering is trending. It's a blessing and a curse. On one hand, so many people are creating really awesome hand-done letters, so there is a lot of competition. At the same time, it's a very sought after skill so people are looking to hire. A lot of what people are creating looks alike, so it's important to really find your own niche within it.
BIGGEST MISCONSEPTION OF DESIGN People tend to think that since it's a creative and "fun" profession, that designers will be willing to work for free. I have seen a surge of my acquaintances begin to appreciate my design work as being worthy of payment. When I was a student, people would come to me, asking for posters, business cards and other such things. "It'll look great in your portfolio!" was their reasoning for not offering a small amount of money, or trade. Yes, design is fun for me but it's also time consuming, difficult, and I have a to-do list 3 pages long. No one usually has time for pro-bono. Unless I really like you or if it's an awesome project/cause.
MOST MEMORABLE DESIGN JOB Right now I'm working a 9-5 at Nike. It's memorable just because of how insane that place is. A giant campus, SO many people working towards the success of one company. SO many people exercising and eating salads. Ya know, It's cool. I never saw myself working for such a giant, I hope to migrate into more freelance work, or a smaller agency eventually.
MOMENT SHE REALZIED THIS IS THE PERFECT JOB FOR HER I remember shortly after starting to letter, I woke up on a Saturday morning and was really excited to go sit in a coffee shop and draw. It felt ridiculous. It was a hobby at the time, and I didn't even think about getting paid for it. I still crave entire days with my sketchbook, and am thankful that I can pay some of my bills while indulging in that time.
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BIGGEST HURDLE THROUGH THE DEISGN/ ART DIRECTION PROCESS Personally: I need to remind myself to keep playing. Sometimes I get focused on a style of design or lettering and have so much fun with it. But in order to grow and create cool new content, I need to keep experimenting. It's easy once I remind myself, but difficult to keep in check at times. Professionally: Getting noticed! I want to make SO much work for SO many amazing companies (big and small). I have professional goals and aspirations, but need to get my work out there in order to be noticed.
LATEST PROJECTS
Lately I have been trying to stay really busy with freelance projects to keep my head sane from the pixel pushing at Nike. I recently finished some lettering for a rapper's mixtape, and have been finishing up some logos for a few different bands. In the next few months I'll be working on getting a product line out with a friend. I am also collaborating on a series of prints with my OG BFF Taylor Partee (www.taylorpartee.com).
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DESIGNERS
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Ah man, I feel like I'm still aspiring myself! If you love to create, immerse yourself in the community. Talk to people (I need to get better at this). Professionals are stoked when a student approaches them for an informational interview, and you can get so much out of it! Also, use processes in your work that allow the projects to feel like you're playing, not working. Construct things, use your hands, and throw paint around. Whateva.
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VISTA
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KICKS
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Paige: I want to start from the beginning. What was your childhood like? Was creativity a part of your childhood? Derek: We’re lucky because we all grew up together. Trevor: We all got inspired by music pretty young. Sam: My first CD was a Nirvana CD and a portable CD Player and Derek got me into playing music because I didn’t think that could actually happen for a kid. Derek: I tricked him into being a bass player. Sam: My mom took both of us to see School of Rock and I was like okay kids can actually do it. Trevor: It’s funny; we’ve all talked about that because when we first saw that movie, we we’re like “we wanna be rockstars!” Sam: As far as parents being creative, mine weren’t very creative. Nolan: My dad is a plumber. He showed me the best music, though. He grew up in LA and he was a surf bum for ten years and he had the best taste in music so I can thank him for that for sure. Derek: My dad wanted me to be a singer. He always made me perform in front of him and his parents and stuff. Paige: How does where you grew up / where you live impact your creativity? Nolan: There was the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee. Sam: I think our sound was a result of being so bored of where we lived. Nolan: It’s the most boring place, everything is super sheltered. They don’t want you to do anything different. All the streets are well-paved and three lanes. Suburban flats… Past 8:00 p.m. there’s no one on the street. Sam: People probably look at our music pages now like “what do you mean you dropped out of college and you play rock and roll music?” Because we used to play jazz, too. That’s when we were clean-cut suburb boys. Nolan: Me and Sam started playing together because we were practicing for the Jazz Jubilee in Sacramento. Sam played banjo and I played drums. Paige: What was your (formal / not formal) music education like growing up? Nolan: I played saxophone for a while and I learned how to read music and all that stuff. Trevor: Nolan and I met each other in high school band and I used to play drums with him and that’s kind of how I got started with musical training. But I think we’re both pretty self-taught. Sam: Yeah, pretty self-taught. I used to get guitar lessons from this guy named Drew and he was pretty cool. Derek: I learned everything by ear, but I have a large music background in my family. My mom’s dad was a singer his whole life and a vocal teacher and then my dad’s brother is a guitar player. I was always a big, avid Decorated Youth Magazine | 101 music listener.
Paige: When was the first time you felt super inspired by music? Derek: [The Beatles’] Hard Day’s Night. That song “working like a dog, should be sleeping like a log” as a little kid, I just remember I fucking loved that song. Nolan: I used to listen to [Led Zeppelin’s] Houses of the Holy every night before bed from like 10-14 years old. That was a turning point for me. When I heard Led Zeppelin, I was like holy fuck this is crazy. Sam: Led Zeppelin was one of those for me, but back again to Nirvana because my dad was really big on the 90s grunge sounding bands. For my birthday, I got a CD player, and he gave me his Nevermind album, and Smells Like Teen Spirit being the first song as a kid, I was like holy shit this is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. That was what really got me going on music. My mom used to jam Counting Crows a bunch and she loved Lenny Kravitz. Trevor: My dad was always a big Metallica fan and I think I was in second grade. I used to have friends over they’d listen to The Black Album with me and we’d have little concerts in my room and I used to play guitar with a book. Paige: So, you’ve all known you wanted to be a musicians for a long time then, huh? Derek: Yeah, there was a time definitely for me where I didn’t see it as a future but then it came back again and it was like yeah no this is good. Sam: I either wanted to be a pro skateboarder or a musician, then I broke my arm really badly and I was like nuh-uh. Music. Derek: I was studying horticulture so I was dead-set on being a gardener. I was lovin that. Nolan: One of my friend’s dads added me on Facebook from middle school and he sent me a picture of a broken cymbal because I used to play his sons drum set all the time, and I broke one of the cymbals and I signed it, and I said, “when I’m famous, you can put this on your wall,” … I totally forgot I did that, but I guess I’ve always been on that path so that’s good. Paige: What’s the writing process like? Is it something where you all come together, or is it individual? Derek: Most of it is us together, sitting in our studio and Sam will come up with the lick and we’ll vibe it out, play to it. Sometimes it’s Trevor with the lick... Sam: It starts riff-based and we all just build off of it. Very rarely does it start vocally but sometimes it does. Nolan: The latest song we’re writing started off of piano and vocals.
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Paige: Are you ever intentional when you sit down to write? Is there ever a “I’m going to write a song now” moment or is it more ephemeral, like you’ve been kicking something around in your head for days, weeks, months, and then suddenly it comes spilling out? Derek: Yeah. We’re definitely like, “okay now it’s time to write. Everybody shut up.” Then, we’ll get a little taste of something we like and then it’ll be like alright we’ll write lyrics to it. I’ll basically be trying to write lyrics to it while they’re trying to figure out the song. Paige: Of course musicians are proud and enjoy the finished product of lyrics, but when you first start writing is writing something you enjoy doing? Derek: Well, lately it has been great. Well, we have a few shows coming up and we now have to rehearse. We’ll go into rehearsal and like be writing a song and be like dammit! Sam: Playing live is a lot of fun too, but writing is where it’s at for all of us, we love writing. It’s not a chore. Paige: With your artwork, how did you interact with the artist/designer? Did you contribute ideas or remain hands-off? Was there a revision process? Nolan: We have a neighbor named Orpheus and he’s a graphic artist. He does comics for graphic novels. He does some really good shit. He lives across the way, we go outside and we go “Orpheus!” and he walks out and he always has some wild shit that he’s up to. Then, we’ll party with him and he’ll make awesome art. We’ll throw ideas at him. Sam: Yeah, it is a collaboration.
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Paige: How important is it to you for the art that accompanies your music to represent the sound and the lyrics? Do you aim for a conversation between the two, or are you more interested in an aesthetically cool package? Derek: We’ve always been lucky in that our image has not been the driving force of the band. It has always been the music, and we worked really hard on making our image cool and accessible to people, but we’re not very good at it. We’re better at making music. Sam: But, if we were to get fans from artwork, I think that’s great. Any way you can get a fan or somebody listening, that’s great, so I think that strong art is important. Nolan: If you think too much about it, I don’t think it comes across how you want it to. This is our first chunk of music that we’re making with artwork that makes sense with it. Paige: Have you had any mentors along the way? Derek: Of course. Many individually, but as a band… There’s always people with bands who want to get involved and help. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s bad. You learn a lot from the people you work with almost every time. Sam: John Stevenson. Who else? For me, this guy who helps us produce our music and he records it: Sean Stack. He was my big-brother-type figure… I looked up to him heavy and now we work with him closely so I’m very glad about that. He believes in us and it’s cool to have him on the team. We learn a lot from him. Paige: New music soon? Any release date? Album title, song title announcements? Derek: It’s really good. It’s going to be called Chasing Waves; five song EP. Out this Spring. (April, May?)
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WEDDING
PANAMA
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Interview with Peter Kirk
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GROWING UP My childhood was great. Creativity wasn’t a part of it in any formal way. I believe kids are creative in general. I was no different.
WHERE HE GREW UP AND HOW IT IMPACTED HIS CREATIVITY
Maybe. For me it was simply a matter of having friends around the neighborhood that took listening to music seriously. Some were a big influence on me.
MUSIC EDUCATION My family had a baby grand piano in the living room. I taught myself how to play piano up until a certain point, and then I took private lessons. I also taught myself how to play guitar around 5th grade.
GETTING INTO THE MUSIC SCENE The short version goes like this: I was working a day job in finance when I decided to use my free time and energy to create music on the side. So I rented a studio in midtown where I would go almost every night after work. I kept getting better and better at it. When I released ‘All of the People’ that song really exploded, and then I had offers from different labels to pursue music full-time. And that’s basically where I’m at right now.
THE START OF WRITING MUSIC
I literally just started one day when I was really young. It was never a conscious decision. I write because it’s simply how my mind works.
SUCCESS OF THE PREVIOUS RELEASES POSE ANY BARRIERS FOR NEW MUSIC? That’s a really good question. There’s always inevitably some level of pressure when you put out new music. For me, the fact that the first two EPs were so well received among fans simply means that those same fans are excited for new music.
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And that’s encouraging. At the same time, however, the process of writing and arranging newer songs that sound fresh & unique while still maintaining some feel and character of the older songs that fans know & love can be challenging. It’s a delicate balance to strike. I don’t really have a set of rules. I wish it were that simple. A rule of thumb for me is to boil the arrangements down to their simplest form and cut out as much as I can. They’ll always be easier to mix that way and almost always sound better live.
GETTING INSPIRED WHILE OUT AND ABOUT – VOICE MEMOS & NOTES Honestly - ideas hit me all the time. In fact, I’m often trying to deflect new ideas so I can focus and finish whatever it is I’m working on. But yes I will record them in my voice recorder or iPhone. I remember listening to the first mix of ‘All of the People’ and then taking a walk on the beach. The chorus for ‘Trust’ just popped into my head right then & there.
LYRICS – INTENTIONALLY SITTING DOWN TO WRITE VS HAVING IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD AND THEN THEY COMES SPILLING OUT
The latter is almost always the case. The only time I get intentional about songwriting is when there is a specific type of song or vibe I’m aiming for. Sometimes I’ll think, “Our live show is missing X type of song.” And then I’ll just put that idea in the back of my head. Eventually, there might be a song that fits into that mold.
WRITING, SOMETHING HE ENJOYS? I’d be lying if I said I truly enjoyed writing lyrics. Honestly, I don’t know that many writers who do. Lyrics are hard. Finding words & phrases that not only hold meaning, but rhyme and most importantly sound great is a tricky puzzle to solve.
A SHIFT IN THE WRITING PROCESS
PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS
No. And to say that I have a process to begin with would be false. I don’t. In fact, I suspect that if I had a rigid process the songs would start sounding boring & similar over time. Key is to change it up all the time and keep things exciting and fresh.
Just speaking for myself, a rule of thumb is to keep things clean, simple, elegant, and most importantly not let it distract too much from the artwork and music. I know some people might think that statement is insane because so much of artist “branding” comes from how one presents themselves publicly. To be honest, I’m just a really boring guy who lives on the Upper West Side with a handful of close friends. I wear mostly clothes from Uniqlo because they fit me the best. Levi’s gave me some free jackets and things which was really cool of them… Adidas too. That’s about it! I just feel like if my press shots were of me in a leather jacket in some dark club or something that would be disingenuous and sad on some level.
SONG BACKSTORIES Not really. Most come up while I’m working on other songs. I was working on a song called ‘Waiting in the Wings’ singing into a harmonizer when I stumbled on the chorus idea for ‘Uma.’
FAVORITE PART OF THE ALBUM CREATION PROCESS Finishing songs and hearing them sound great! Lol. It’s like some primal level of validation that A) you’re not insane & B) all those hours were not in vain.
THEIR ARTWORK – CONTRIBUTE IDEAS OR REMAIN HANDS OFF
Steve Wilson is the designer behind all of Panama Wedding’s artwork. He’s incredible. I was as handsoff as I could be. I suppose the perspective I would offer was the fan’s point of view. i.e. - Is the art simple yet interesting? Is it modern and colorful? Does it look & feel like all of the other pieces? I think that voice was helpful for Steve as he was creating the artwork. Hopefully, I wasn’t too annoying…
THEIR ARTWORK – AESTHETICALLY COOL PACKAGE VS COVERSATION BETWEEN LYRICS AND ART
It’s very important. There’s a very clean, angular but also sexy feel & colorful aesthetic to Panama Wedding. I think Steve Wilson captured that brilliantly in the artwork.
WHO/ WHAT CHANGED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY People love to talk about change in the music business. Fundamentally, I don’t think it’s changed a whole lot over time at its core: fan’s still want to hear new music & see live shows and there is money to be made. That's never gone away, and until we are literally replaced by robots in the future it will remain so. Sure, people’s listening habits fluctuate over time relative to the state of technology, but that’s always been the case! Monetization almost always lags behind technology. The music industry is no different. This might sound like wishful thinking but I’m actually quite bullish on the music industry in that we have faced our biggest challenges to monetize music in the face of piracy and the decline of digital downloads. And while we haven’t quite completely figured it out yet, we’re at least honest about it and face it head on. It’ll be interesting to see how other industries that hide behind paywalls will be able to cope when bandwidth speeds inevitably increase significantly five years down the line.
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Interview with Jon Sandler
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After a while they eventually ran into each other on the streets of Brooklyn. It was then they talked about collaborating again and that night saw them complete their first song together. The song, “You’re The One For Me”, was one that Luke had been working on in his free time for a few months prior, the night Jon received it he was immediately inspired and wrote the lyrics and melody that night. They got together soon after to polish it up and began to send it off to people. Since the listener reaction was so great they decided to continue collaborating. They kept creating material mostly in the same pattern in which Luke, who creates the music, would send a track to Jon, who writes the words and the topline melody, and it would be passed back and forth. They’ve since released two EP’s, Body Diamond (October 2014) and 2M2H (March 2015). Their initial release actually featured songs that were written after songs on 2M2H were written. At the time they weren’t thinking too hard about the big picture direction and it was simply what they were coming up with. As the proceeding EP had more of a “funk” flair to it, it all worked out.
GROWING UP
I started writing songs and playing guitar when I was about 9 years old. My mom is an artist and my dad played guitar and they both always encouraged me to be creative.
WHERE THEY GREW UP AND HOW IT IMPACTED THEIR CREATIVITY As a songwriter, I am not only inspired by everything that happens me, and the way It makes me feel, but also very much by my surroundings. I grew up in Upstate NY, went to college in Boston and then moved to Brooklyn. Each place has had a huge impact on my writing at the time. Luke and I often go to the beach in NJ to write and those songs feel different than those we write in NYC.
GETTING INTO THE MUSIC SCENE I've known I wanted to be a musician pretty much my whole life. I think if you are meant to be an artist, you don’t feel like you have a choice. I've worked in different fields and studied different things, but the pull towards making music was always very strong. When I was about 23 I decided to do it full time.
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THE START OF WRITING MUSIC Definitely something I had to do. It always came very naturally to me as the way to deal with things, and it was just a bonus that other people liked what I was creating. It is both my therapy and what makes me the happiest.
AHA MOMENT
I’ve had several "aha" moments in my life, but a big one was the first time I ever performed an original song in front of a crowd. I never got nervous. Instead, I felt an overwhelming sense of comfort.
WRITING PROCESS – COLLECTIVE EFFORT VS INDIVIDUAL
Luke creates the music, sends it to me and I write the lyrics and the melodies. After that initial step, we go back and forth and polish up everything together but it works for us to separately do the things that we are best at, and that we love the most.
LYRICS –WHERE, TIMPERIOD & PHYSICALLY, THEY WERE THOUGHT UP
The lyrics come from being inspired by everything and anything in my life. I write almost every day so my mental state is always different.
LYRICS – INTENTIONALLY SITTING DOWN TO WRITE VS HAVING IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD AND THEN THEY COMES SPILLING OUT
Sometimes I'll sit down to write, and sometimes I feel like I need to write at a certain time. I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and needed to write. I follow the inspiration and try not to ever force it.
WRITING - SOMETHING THEY ENJOY? I enjoy it more than anything. A finished product is cool, but the journey to get there is just as cool.
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PLAYING NEW SONGS LIVE We’ve been playing all of the released songs, and a few that are unreleased. We always discover new things about the songs when we play them live. It’s fun to see a different side of a song that only a live performance and audience interaction can unveil.
THEIR ARTWORK – CONTRIBUTE IDEAS OR REMAIN HANDS OFF We are pretty hands on with every artistic decision with the band, but when we hire an artist we definitely want to give them freedom to be themselves. We’ve been very lucky so far to find artists who combine their skills with our vision to make something amazing.
THEIR ARTWORK – AESTHETICALLY COOL PACKAGE VS COVERSATION BETWEEN LYRICS AND ART
Very important. From the art to the things we wear, we strive for it to be the perfect visual representation of the music.
PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS
We want different photographers to capture us in different ways. It’s also important that the photos feel genuine and match our overall aesthetic.
MENTORS There are definitely a few musicians/friends who I look to for advice. People who have been where I am. I think it’s important to have those friends.
VISION OF MUSIC EVOLVED I have become more knowledgable/jaded about the industry and certainly become a better songwriter and performer, but my intentions and my love for the art have remained the same.
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Interview with Brian Dales
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The band channeled other musicians who were also Arizona natives including Jimmy Eat World and the Format, while composing their own material. After they had gathered a modest audience on MySpace, the Summer Set began booking and playing local shows some of which were with bands like; The Cab, Sing It Loud, We Shot the Moon, Everybody Else, and Mercy Mercedes. They released several EPs while still in high school, eventually signing with Razor & Tie shortly after graduation. Their first EP ...In Color was released in June of 2009 and their first LP Love Like This was released that October via Razor & Tie in 2009. They followed that up with a sophomore album Everything's Fine via Razor & Tie in 2011, and their third album Legendary (Fearless Records) in early 2013.
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In the years since, they have been featured on TV shows from the likes of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars to Good Morning America, have done partnerships with companies from Taco Bell to Fender, and have embarked on sold-out world tours from South America to Asia. In 2013, they won the iHeartRadio Rising Star Competition, appearing in Macy's "Back To School" TV, online and radio ad campaign, performing at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, and performing a song during the 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The band also did a full summer on the Main Stage of the Vans Warped Tour 2014. Their fourth album 'Stories For Monday' will be released on April 1 via Fearless Records.
GROWING UP My childhood was wonderful. I have very supportive parents, with incredible music taste, who stood behind me throughout every adventure; whether it was wanting to be a drummer, or thinking I could play professional basketball someday (no chance). It’s amazing that I landed on being a singer/songwriter. My dad is an incredible writer in his own right, and my mom is probably the most creative person I know. She teaches yoga, she paints, draws, and has even now written a young adult novel. She also has to be making something. My creativity definitely stems from them and the freedom of my childhood.
WHERE HE GREW UP AND HOW IT IMPACTED HIS CREATIVITY
I think my creativity has always been most impacted by where I live. When I was younger my family lived outside of Detroit, and I had the wildest imagination of any kid on the block. In my impressionable teenage years I lived in Phoenix, where we started The Summer Set. Most of the first songs I had written were about just wanting to make it out of Phoenix and make it to 21. Now I live in LA, and I’m surrounded by artistic friends who are always trying to make me better at what I do. I really love it here. The heartbeat of Los Angeles is loud as hell. I’m inspired by everyone I meet.
MUSIC EDUCATION I took piano lessons when I was very young, but other than that I’ve mostly learned the instruments I can play on my own. I guess most of my music education comes from being a great listener, and better imitator. I learned how to sing by listening to my idols and trying to sound like them. Over the years I guess I just figured out what sounded like me. I get told I have a unique tone of voice and I think it stems the subconsciousness of wanting to learn from everyone I love.
THE FIRST TIME HE FELT INSPIRED BY MUSIC My dad is one of the biggest Bruce Springsteen fans I know. "Born to Run" was always on in my house, and the amount of joy it would give my Dad made me realize that someday I wanted to create something that would hopefully make people feel the same way. It was alive and it was inviting. It was religion for me.
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SUCCESS OF THE THIRD ALBUM POSE ANY BARRIERS FOR THE FOURTH? Our third album, Legendary, opened a lot of new doors for us. However, we didn’t get to stay at the party as long as we wanted to. Getting a brief taste of some of the finer things in music made me hungrier than ever. We had a very small amount of success on the radio with “Boomerang” and “Lightning In A Bottle,” so when it came time to start working on LP4, I was convinced I needed to write a bigger and better song. I was doing it wrong. The album wasn’t getting anywhere and nothing felt cohesive. We hit such a wall last September that we almost broke up as a band. In theory it was the best thing that’s ever happened to us, because it allowed us to stop giving so much of a fuck, it helped me get out of my own way, and we ended up making the best album we’ve ever made. It’s hard to predict a hit song. I think you just have to be so in tune with yourself that people start to pay attention to the art you’ve made. I’m very proud of this album.
BIGGEST HARDSHIP THAT HAS INSPIRED THEIR WRITING That’s varied with every album, but with Stories For Monday, facing the fear of growing older and hoping I haven’t let anyone down ended up being the biggest inspiration. Ironically, I turned 26 a few days after finishing the album back in November, and I feel the youngest I’ve ever been. 2015 was a dark year for me, but I’m really happy lately.
GETTING INSPIRED WHILE OUT AND ABOUT – VOICE MEMOS & NOTES There’s pretty much no situation where I won’t pause what I’m doing and make a note in my phone or a voice recording. I’m completely unabashed and unashamed by it. I could be at Disneyland or on a date, but if I get an idea I don’t hesitate to put it down. I’m most inspired when I’m in conversation with other people.
WRITING PROCESS – COLLECTIVE EFFORT VS INDIVIDUAL
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Every LP has been a little different. With Stories For Monday, I think a lot of the process came from finally taking a well-deserved break. We were apprehensive about making another album, and what it would even be. I lost my mind for a little bit and put way too much pressure on myself. I ran away from making this album a handful of times; to New York, Nashville, Mexico (okay, I went to Mexico three times), to Bali. I even took a solo mission to Alaska just to clear my head. The beautiful thing was that songs came to fruition on every step on the journey. Fortunately for us, while I was running around the world trying to “find myself,” John and Stephen Gomez relocated to Los Angeles and got very good at their craft: producing records. I was able to start sending them song ideas from wherever I was, and they would start working on the music and the production. This album came together in a very different way for us, but I think it’s the most true to The Summer Set sound we have ever found.
LYRICS –WHERE, MENTALLY & PHYSICALLY Stories For Monday is the most honest album we’ve ever written. I think you can tell with “Figure Me Out” that I have had a lot to say that I’ve been afraid to spill. The lyrical content of this album is absolutely my most genuine. You have no idea how good it feels to get it off my chest. I stopped writing about what other people wanted to hear, and started writing about what I actually had to say.
LYRICS –TIMEFRAME The major turning point was when I wrote "Figure Me Out." We had just finished a tour that I was pretty depressed on, so I called my mom and told her I was gonna come to Arizona for a few weeks after tour. I told her I wasn’t sure I wanted to make music anymore. I had no intention of writing a single song while I was there, until late one night I started kicking around the “I’m a bit too pop for the punk kids, too punk for the pop kids” lyrics. It all just sort of spilled out from there. Then I sat down at my parent’s piano in the house I grew up in and wrote the lyric “I believe there’s more to life than all my problems.” That’s when it all started to make sense. We were having a hard time seeing the big picture with this album, and I think "Figure Me Out" was the missing piece that helped make all the other songs come together.
LYRICS – INTENTIONALLY SITTING DOWN TO WRITE VS HAVING IDEAS IN YOUR HEAD AND THEN THEY COMES SPILLING OUT
A little bit of both. "Figure Me Out" was certainly ephemeral, along with a few others. However, I also moved to LA a few years ago so I could start session writing and collaborating/pitching songs for other artists. Most of my friends are songwriters. There is a world out here where people are getting together on a schedule and writing songs every day. I certainly learned how to do it and I learned a lot about my creative self in the process. I stopped thinking that a song has to come to me, and I just sought out to do it. Songs on the album like “Jean Jacket” and ‘Wonder Years” were byproducts of material I had written a few years ago that I had pitched to other artists. I’m so happy that they ended up on our album. “Jean Jacket” is probably one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.
WRITING, SOMETHING HE ENJOYS? Every single time. It’s magic. I’m certainly a hyperbolist, but I convinced what I’m working on is the GREATEST THING I’VE EVER DONE, every single time (it usually isn’t). The trick is getting it to last the test of time.
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A SHIFT IN THE WRITING PROCESS I think I’ve just gotten better at it. I work really hard and write a lot of songs. For every 10 bad ones there is 1 really great one, and that ratio is absolutely worth it for me. I’m just trying to make the ratio a lot smaller.
SONG BACKSTORIES - REVISED LYRICS
Yes and no. I’ve revised songs dozens of times. But, I’ve found when I’m truly being honest with myself and not holding back, it never needs a revision. Most of these songs were either byproducts of me losing my mind and running around the world trying to hide from making this album, or songs like “Jean Jacket” I had been holding onto for years until the time was right.
FAVORITE PART OF THE ALBUM CREATION PROCESS Taking our time. It was a weird, sometimes scary year, but we were really patient and I believe the outcome is so much better because of it.
WHEN / HOW THE ALBUM TITLE STORIES FOR MONDAY CAME ABOUT
Stories For Monday was a phrase I had been holding in my back pocket for a while. It refers to Monday morning coffee room talk in the office after having a big weekend, but to me it also feels like the beginning of something new. This album is not just a new chapter, but a whole new book for us. I think everything from when we started this band in ’07 up until we finished touring Legendary in the summer of 2014 felt like one really, really long weekend. Making this album really tested us, and we grew up a lot. Stories For Monday represents the start of a whole new week.
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THEIR ARTWORK – CONTRIBUTE IDEAS OR REMAIN HANDS OFF
My roommate, Randall Jenkins, designed the artwork for Stories For Monday, and my friend Jesse Deflorio took the photos. It was a very collaborative, hands on process. Definitely the most hands on we’ve ever been with the artwork. John and I sat down over breakfast with Randall and Jesse and discussed this concept of having a house party where it looks like everyone is having a ton of fun except for us. Randall and Jesse really brought it to life.
THEIR ARTWORK – AESTHETICALLY COOL PACKAGE VS COVERSATION BETWEEN LYRICS AND ART
To be honest, I wish we cared more in the past. I think my newfound exploration in art in general over the past two years helped me understand how important it is, the marriage between artwork and music. The cover and layout of this whole album looks the way the album sounds. You can feel everything and that’s how it should be.
PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS
Jesse Deflorio also took all of our press photos for this album, and I think it’s far and beyond the best we’ve ever looked as a band. We wanted to look like a classic rock & roll band and drop all the gimmicks. I want people to look at us and know that we aren’t fucking around.
MENTORS More than I can count. My parents, obviously. My bandmates. Crystal Lauderdale. My friends. Bruce Springsteen. Justin Timberlake. And other songwriters I’ve met and worked with who’ve made me better at what I do: Matt Beckley, Matt Rad, David Hodges, Emily Wright, Ben Romans, Spencer Peterson, etc. The list goes on. I know who to call when I need to be inspired.
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politics Interview with David Boyd
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New Politics is synonymous with energy. Imagine Green Day’s pop-punk without most of the moping. There’s a subtle edge to their young, “nobody-quiteunderstands-me” quirk, but the band throws that away in favor of more sweat and sound. They echo the Beastie Boys, RHCP, Blink-182. “We’re not that cool,” assures David Boyd, frontman. “We’re not running around naked on stage like the Red Hot Chili Peppers.” Their self-described “fun and crazy” persona gives the impression that the three bandmates just happened into music haphazardly. Watch any of their gritty yet colorful music videos and it seems as if they take nothing seriously, like they’re just here to have a good time while they can. So chatting with Boyd was not at all what I’d expected it to be. Rather than talk about recreation, we discussed hustle. Instead of an if-it-feels-gooddo-it approach, Boyd, along with fellow Dane and bandmate, Søren Hansen and American drummer Louis Vecchio, have worked hard for this--and they’re not stopping now. Well, technically, they are taking a break. They’ve just finished a fall tour, playing shows across America and, aside from some festival gigs, have been granted a breather.
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New Politics shows aren’t cut-and-dry. Boyd integrates his background in breakdancing not just to embellish, but to generate more energy as a vital component to the show. For him, dancing and music making aren’t separate, as “every aspect of performing is similar at its core.” He concedes, though, that “all art has its differences.” His approach to these varied mediums requires equal parts self-assurance and confidence to promote the intended message. This message, to Boyd, emerges first as a “nugget of truth” while songwriting. This truth is then “spun” with respective “sarcasm,” or “flair,” and “dressed up or down,” accordingly. He likens this process to preparing a cake: you have the bare, undressed center that’s the foundation of a song. Icing and decorations are then applied: think cheekiness, wit, intensity. Boyd collects these “nuggets” constantly: recorded bits of non-melodic sound on his phone, scrawled dialogue, a tune. When the bandmates are united, then the pieces can coalesce. But this process isn’t calculated, nor is it simple. In relation to A Bad Girl in Harlem (2013), Vikings (2015), their most recent album, was a “completely different process,” albeit an “equally challenging” one. New Politics used this third LP as a challenge to become “better musicians and writers,” experimenting with new instruments and tempos. Rather than be bogged down by it, Harlem served as “inspiration,” to Boyd, not intimidation. New Politics implores you to forget how bad things seem in the moment because music motivates and, as their single “Everywhere I Go (Kings and Queens)” insists, just “roll with it.” Replete with headbanging and handstands, they project a forsaken 90’s alt rock optimism that you don’t hear much on the radio anymore.
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Interview with Pete Wentz
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Decorated Youth: Three shows into the tour now, how have the first few shows been? Pete: Well, they've been great. The first show was in Puerto Rico, which was awesome because we never did Puerto Rico before and the kids were insane but it being an island, we weren't able to bring our full stage there. Just because it's just impossible to do really. The first one with the full stage and what not was actually in Florida. Then the next day we weren't able to bring our full setup into Universal Studios so we're still trying to figure out the staging a little bit. Yeah, it's insane. As far as the staging and set list’s and stuff, we spent a lot of time kind of trying to figure it out or how it can be different than the last tour. How is it different than the last one? I know that you switched it up last year for the Wiz tour. How's it different this year? Yeah. I think we did, but the interesting thing about even when we switched it from the Paramore tour is your scope is limited when you're playing outdoors in an amphitheater because they're just designed certain ways. You're limited from the beginning. Doing this tour in arenas, we were able to create completely different stage. Also in arenas, you're able to control the environment a little bit more than before. When we were getting this tour together and we were calling in WinTour (I don't want to give too much away) but we were going to like turn it into winter in the arenas. You're able to do that in a way that you can't outside. We're at an interesting spot with our live touring because there's a whole group of people that know us from different eras.
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There's people that know us from our old singles and there's people that know us from our old albums and there's people that know us from our new albums, there's people that know us from our new singles and they all kind of come together and we've got to kind of appease everyone. For this tour we really switched the set list up and I think that there's stuff in there kind of for everybody, more so than maybe on the Wiz Tour. Where I think on the Wiz Tour, we were playing in front of a lot of Wiz fans as well and you're like, we really just needed to earn the crowd. This time I think we're playing in front of a lot of Fall Out Boy fans and a lot of people who maybe came to the tour before. I think that we switched the set list up in an interesting enough way. That sounds really fun. What is it like for you guys putting together the set list with all of the diverse albums? It’s interesting. Now it takes a lot of finessing. We'll start writing the set list in an email and then we rehearse the set list and when we rehearse the set list, you can really see, "Oh, this song doesn't fit next to this song at all" or, "This song would make complete sense in the transition from this song to this song. Maybe we do this one acoustic or this one on a piano." You try stuff and sometimes it doesn't work. Honestly, we started recording songs fifteen, sixteen years ago and music sonically is different now. That's one of the challenges for us is making it feel somewhat seamless. It's going to sound different because they're different eras but we still want the show to feel seamless so that somebody came to the show is like, "I'm not listening to two different bands" or whatever. That's a big thing that we work on.
That's really cool. The support for the tour is AWOLNATION and PVRIS. How did you go about picking the support? I think that our job as artists and whatnot is to push our audience and that means often you get pushed into areas that are slightly uncomfortable. Sometimes we tour with artists where people are like, "Oh my God, I don't even really understand why this is happening". Then you're pleasantly surprised or you're not. Then I think that we went out and Wiz really made sense for last summer. Then we were like, "Oh, I love AWOLNATION." I think that having an up and coming band like PVRIS is great to support that kind of band. I mean that's kind of how we came up with it this time. Every time it's just a different thing I guess. I loved that Paramore tour lineup. I didn't get to attend, but with having New Politics as the support, I feel that they are kind of a baby brother to you guys, kind of like Panic! At The Disco. Even PVRIS now. They could really grow into something like you guys have, and I think it's really cool. Oh thank you. Yeah, I don't know that we really had that many bands that came up to us when we were younger and were like, "Yo, come out on tour and we'll kind of like show you the way we tour", and that kind of thing. It's like you've got to learn it. There's so much logistical stuff that when you put together a big arena / theater tour that you need to know about. Stuff that is boring like lighting rigs fitting in truck space and that kind of stuff. I think that as a band you either have one of two routes. You either try to figure it out on your own and fuck up a bunch of times, which is what we did. With our first early tour when we were on TRL and stuff, we didn't know how to tour as a big band so we mis-spent money and didn't know what to do. There's little tricks and stuff like that. The other way is you can go out with a band who's doing it and doing it right and you can kind of see the way they're doing it.
What is like being one of the only rock alternative bands on top 40 radio? Lonely. It's weird because we get it from both sides a little bit. When we go and we play these Jingle Ball things, which is like the Christmas top 40 rock shows, we're like literally the equivalent of Slayer when we play sometimes because there's just no other band’s on it at all. Then we feel a little strange there but then sometimes we'll talk to our friends who are in rock bands and they're like, "It just seems really easy for you guys at top 40 radio." I'm like, "It's just not. The songs are still weird and they're a bit of a struggle and we fight, literally, pretty much every time." I feel good about it. I feel like there are bands that are very cool that really, really press the boundaries of where they're at. I think that a band like us is really like a gateway to other bands. I feel like that’s important. I feel like it's important for there to be a weird band at pop radio for kids who are like, "Oh yeah, like I can relate to that", and there's one band that they can relate to or whatever, which is cool. Yeah, I think it's also cool how bands, how they would find you on the radio and then maybe dig into the people who influence you all growing up, so they can get a broader range of music education. Totally. Totally. Totally. That's the hope. How was working with Demi Lovato on Irresistible? It was cool. Honestly, she is the coolest. We've just known her for a long time. Then, that song always just seemed like it could use, or it could benefit from, a female perspective and in hitting Demi up, it kind of just made sense. Then she sang it in like a half hour or something like that, so fast. It was crazy.
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That's awesome. Who thought of working with her? Was it unanimous? I think so. I talked to Patrick about it and then I reached out to her. I think that that's the best way any of those collaborations happen when it's artistto-artist. When you have management calling and stuff it just never seems to work as an authentic of a way. That's really cool. The music video for it, who's idea was the NSYNC spin off? I don't remember whose it was exactly, it might've been mine. We kind of came up with this idea that there could be another story within that video and so we talked to this guy Wayne who directed the original video and it was his concept. If you're going to do a video like that, you want to get the guy who wrote the original treatment to write the next treatment. Yet, me and him wrote the treatment for the video and then we went to the guys at NSYNC and made sure that they were going to be cool with it as well. A couple of them wanted to be in it or were open to being in it. Then the video happened, which is awesome. How did the title American Beauty, American Psycho come about in the album creation process? We hadn't had a title. We had some ideas, some basic ideas. Then we wrote the song “American Beauty, American Psycho” and it just seemed like it captured the idea of where or what the album meant. In some ways it captured the idea of what the world is to be. To me, the album's this idea that we have these romantic love affairs, but we have a computer screen or an iPhone shining under us at all times. It's kind of this modern romance, which is clunky and weird and strange.
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That's kind of what it meant to me. It's obviously, clearly like a, an adjusted position of two ideas as well and two movies and a book and a Grateful Dead album. That's so awesome. I know you guys released “Centuries” before you even had the album done or written. What was it like working on the album under that much pressure? It was good for us in some ways because it's like you lit the wick in the bomb and then you had to really get it done. You didn't have an option. By writing and putting “Centuries” out it's like, "Okay, now we got to get something else done." It was an interesting kind of pressure because it was pressure we put on ourselves in the way that all of a sudden we were having to record in new ways. We were recording backstage at festivals and that kind of stuff. Do you think you'd record that way again? Yeah. I think it was interesting and a cool experiment. Would we do it again? Probably. I don't think we would do it again like right now but I think we would theoretically do it again in general. Was there a specific moment when you finished a song and you knew that the record was done? I think that when we finished “American Beauty”, the song, we were like, "All right". It wasn't the last song we worked on but I think that song was like, "All right, so we have the basis for the record. We have the skeleton and now we really only need to finish off the other stuff." We knew how to do all that.
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That's so cool. How did the topic of sampling music come into what you guys create now? I think it happened because we have a sincere love for hip hop and sampling has been part of that hip hop culture for so long that it's not really even talked about anymore so much. It really began on, truly began on Save Rock and Roll when we sampled ourselves. We sampled in Save Rock and Roll, we sampled “Chicago Two Years Ago” and it was like, "Well, why don't we take that a step further and see what other things we can kind of manipulate." Then it came down with the Centuries sample and the Mel’s Diner sample and the Munster sample, there was a Motley Crue sample. Yeah, it was just like an interesting process and in some ways super Intuitive and some ways really counter intuitive, I think. I think it was really smart that you guys did that because no one in the rock industry is doing that. They all think it's lazy. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, honestly, there's examples of it where to me it would've been easier to have just done a similar part than the sample. Like the Munsters scene, sampling that and then getting that on pop radio was just an insane process; probably the opposite of lazy. That's cool. With your album artwork for American Beauty, American Psycho, how did you interact with the artist and designer? Did you contribute ideas? For pretty much any photo album, photo cover we've had from Under the Cork Tree on, we used this photographer, Pamela Littky. She's awesome. I feel like we have a really good rapport with her. A lot of times I think you'll tell somebody a vision you have and since you're not a photographer or you're not a designer or whatever, they'll be like, "Oh, that vision is not going to work. I'm going to do my vision." They'll just tell you why it can't work.
With Pamela it's never like about why it can't, it's like how do we get this to work? In “Save Rock and Roll” we used this photograph of the monk and his brother and she found a way to get that to work. With this cover we were in Los Angeles but we kind of wanted it to feel like just the suburbs anywhere. The palm trees are the giveaway but we wanted it to feel super suburban and threatening but innocent at the same time and strange but really, really suburban. She was able to capture it with this kid Jake. He was this middle school kid who's famous in his middle school now because he's on the cover of the album. We collaborated with the makeup artist who was there at the last minute because she had this idea for this face paint and it just all kind of came together in a really cool way. I think it's so brilliant. I know she does your press photos, too. What is your perspective, the band's perspective on how you want to be represented through your press photos that are seen everywhere? Some of it we really care about. I want all the visuals to make sense. I want it to be seamless with the rest of the imagery and the music, so the pictures should feel like the music and that kind of stuff. At the same time, I'm interested in trusting photographers and their visions for that kind of stuff. Sometimes it'll be like, "All right, you stand here and do this" or whatever. We just want to do stuff as long as it's authentic to who we are. There is certain stuff where it's just like, "Oh, do this in the picture" and it's like, "Ah, it's not really us but whatever."
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