Happy Birthday, Zach Toporek of Young Mothers!

Caught on Tape: Soda Sun find a home in the heat on their debut Stay Here

[Repost from Tucson Weekly; by Jeff Gardner, July 8, 2021]

The story of the band Soda Sun begins with guitarist and vocalist John Goraj moving to Tucson from Los Angeles in 2017. But the story of the band's debut release begins with a return trip to California to pick up a vintage tape machine. Though there is room for all four band members on the mellow debut, the tape machine almost serves as a fifth member, maintaining a warm pleasance throughout Stay Here's runtime.

Goraj originally left "the Los Angeles hustle for Tucson's contemplative desert beauty," and both of these cities hold an influence on the album, which sees a combination of folk and rock. Though the lyrics range from personal reflections to observations, the consistently tight performances and guitar tones maintain a style throughout.

"There was an ethos that came out of being in Tucson. Even though there's not a Western thing going on in the music, or any major clues about the Southwest, I think you can feel the desert's influence," Goraj said. "There's a way the music talks about the desert, but not necessarily with words."

Although the album is titled Stay Here and was recorded throughout 2020, there are few references to the pandemic. The album title instead refers to Goraj finding a kind of home in Tucson after years of travels. The sentiment makes for a pensive and beautiful title track based around a calm wall of guitar and quiet drums with grateful lyrics: "Let's stay here awhile / Just naked and laughing / the world's gone to hell / So I'm holding your brave hands / Let's always stay wild / In this ocean of creosote."

"I spent a lot of time taking it all in and reflecting, especially the first two years that I lived in Tucson," Goraj said. "I was jotting down a lot of thoughts and writing what I was experiencing. It's a pretty unique place, with a lot of special and hard aspects. To me, one of the most interesting things is how Tucson has this dynamic culture of half-hippie-art and half people driving around with Trump flags. You don't find that much... But beyond that, I was taking in the culture and celebrating that we have venues like the Rialto and Club Congress. There are really high quality places to perform and record music."

These observations are clear on "Junkies," which Goraj explains is one of the most political songs he's ever written, although it comments on the occasional pointlessness of political conversations. Reflecting on sights around town, the lead guitar has a fitting twang and warmth to celebrate Tucson.

In contrast, Goraj explains the track "Gitchie" is about the boredom and need for imagination while growing up in South Dakota. The song is a clear standout, with an energetic central rhythm and mildly psychedelic guitar paired with Goraj's hushed yet passionate singing.

"The tape machine was a huge part of how the album turned out," Goraj said. "There were maybe four or six things that we had to add after. But if you were to look at it statistically, maybe 98% of it is analog. There were just some things we ran out of space to be able to do. There are only eight tracks, so we had some limitations and couldn't get super surgical. Everyone had to play their part and play it well until it was filled up."

Aside from Goraj, Soda Sun includes Johny Vargas on guitar, Derek Cerretani on bass and vocals, and David Foley on drums. For a standard rock band lineup, Soda Sun's music contains ample space for reflection: guitar tones linger, the drums just balance on being submerged, and even acoustic passages feel atmospheric.

"The fuzzy guitar tones really have to do with how wonderful of a player and how good of an ear Johny has," Goraj said. "He's such a great guitarist, and we were so happy when he joined. Me, Dave and Derek started the band as a three-piece, and Johny came on about a year later, and we were so pumped."

The band started recording in December 2019, but soon had to adapt their recording sessions to often be isolated. By summer 2020 most of the music was ready to mix. All of the songs were recorded in their own studio in Tucson, but mixed and mastered in other states.

"A lot of it had to be recorded in the middle of when everything was going on, so it was a little bit tricky," Goraj said. "But we were motivated to get it done."

The performances work well filtered through their 35-year-old reel-to-reel Tascam 388. Although the band rarely strays far from standard folk/rock structures, the production gives the music a nice sun-bleached feel perfect for listening in both the desert and the beach.

"I don't think there's an overarching theme. They go across huge time spans of when I wrote them. So some of them were written as a solo artist and then were transmuted for Soda Sun," Goraj said. "I'm a huge fan of allusion, like bringing in references from across time periods and putting them in the same song, so you can make up fantasies about what these people might be doing."

This style is best exemplified on the track "Hildegard," named after the medieval Christian mystic Hildegard of Bingen. Despite the concept, it's a carefree ballad and arguably the closest to country Soda Sun gets, with sharp guitar and Goraj delivering "Where's everyone? Where's Hildegard?" with a slight drawl. But of course, the whole song is browned at the edges like only analog tape can do.

"To me, it was never about being puritanical," Goraj said. "It was more about it being the main instrument we were using to record the album. It was really cool to make a record that had almost no screens involved. It was just us and this hundred-pound machine."

"Let's Dance' at this Sunday at The Opera Room, Wilmington NC

Fort Lowell Records presents Let's Dance -- An Indie / Alterntive / Underground Vinyl DJ Night -- at The Opera Room in Wilmington NC, this coming Sunday, July 11th, starting at 8:00pm.  For this specific event, our good friends at Eccentric Pop Records -- who brought you Evening Shadow's debut album -- are going to takeover the turntables and kick-off the night by spinning some of their own favorite jams for the first hour.  Then, yours truly will jump back on the wheels-of-steel to shake up the dance floor, all while the fine folks from The Fuzzy Needle will be slinging drinks behind the bar and vinyl records for you to take home. See you Sunday!

Happy Birthday, Johnnie Munger of Dead Western Plains!

Soda Sun: Stay Here

[Repost from Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, July 1, 2021]

For those with a craving for some top shelf folk-tinged Americana meets indie rock music, the debut album by Tucson, AZ quartet Soda Sun is an essential addition to their collection. On Stay Here melancholy and recently found happiness are playing catch. Songwriter John Goraj makes every word count and the ringing of Johny Vargas' guitar offers comfort. Derek Cerretani (bass) and David Foley (drums) keep it all together, weaving a gentle swaying backdrop.

Setting up shop in their home studio they captured the songs on a trusty, 35-year-old reel-to-reel 8-Track Tascam 388, a cherished piece of recording equipment with superb specs. This is a band that allows the songs to breathe. There won't be many albums where 12th Century German mysticist St. Hildegard of Bingen rubs shoulders with a song about Junkies or looks back on growing up in South Dakota (Horse and Home). The common ground on Stay Here is that each song is a story that needs to be told. Serious listeners with an open mind might even learn something.

Soda Sun:
John Goraj: vocals
Derek Cerretani: bass, vocals
Johny Vargas: guitar
David Foley: drums

Stay Here is released via Fort Lowell Records. It will be released on vinyl on October 1.

Tracks:

1. Horse and Home
2. Beachwood
3. Junkies
4. Stay Here
5. Hildegard
6. Gitchie
7. Blood
8. Birds of Paradise

SODA SUN · Beachwood

SODA SUN · Blood

The Coastal Collective killed it at the Riverfront Park Amphitheater [Wilmington NC]

The Coastal Collective; July 4, 2021

Four new songs from Lauds, coming soon!

On the heals of their song "Don't Mind" being featured on Fort Lowell Records' GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter... Wilmington, North Carolina's dreamiest of indie pop / shoegaze / nugaze groups -- Lauds -- is releasing a self-titled Digital EP at the end of July with four brand new bangers sure to make your summer that much hotter! 🔥  Pre-order Lauds Lauds now, and receive an advance copy of the song "Wasted Hours".

PRE-ORDER HERE

Lauds

Soda Sun 'Stay Here' [Digital LP] Out Now!

Today is the today!  The debut album Stay Here for Tucson AZ's Soda Sun is officially out on all digital music platforms! Listen now:

Soda Sun's Interview + “Stay Here” Video Premiere

[Repost from PopMatters; by Jonathan Frahm, June 14, 2021]

Soda Sun's “Stay Here” is Textured, Reflective Indie Rock (Premiere)

Indie pop’s Soda Sun debut their latest single, “Stay Here”, with PopMatters, and we chat with them about their careers so far.

Soda Sun’s “Stay Here” reflects frontman John Goraj’s loves. Looking to recent memories made with his family, such as their move to Tucson from Los Angeles, it’s a sweetly contemplative track. Comprised of Goraj, David Foley, Johny Vargas, and—until recently—Derek Cerretani, Soda Sun have focused on developing organic, meditative moments in their music. The band worked with mixing engineer Larry Crane (Sleater-Kinney, Elliott Smith) to produce their brand of emotive indie pop, recording almost entirely on a reel-to-reel Tascam 388.

Matching the vintage sentiments of their tape machine, Soda Sun’s Foley pieced together recordings from the Prelinger Archives to develop its music video. Altogether, the band foster nostalgia in their contemporary music, creating ample space for the mind to ruminate. Ascending guitar and bass melodies complement one another agelessly, completed by Foley’s understatedly rich percussion and Goraj’s stirring, emotive vocal performance.

“Stay Here” comes nearly two years to the date that their debut single, “Gitchie”, had made its premiere. Now, Soda Sun is in its final stretch towards the release of their first LP, also titled Stay Here. The album is set to release digitally on 2 July and physically on 1 October via Fort Lowell. Soda Sun’s “Stay Here” is available now via Bandcamp.

Celebrating [the "Stay Here"] single release, and in anticipation of the forthcoming LP, PopMatters chats with Soda Sun’s Goraj, Foley, and Vargas about the time they have spent together so far.

 

John, what fueled your move to Tucson and forming Soda Sun?

John Goraj: My wife’s from Tucson, and she’s always wanted to come back. We were living in California at the time, and I had a job that was falling through, and the housing market was looking pretty ridiculous. She was just like, “What do you think about going to Tucson now?” I was totally down and already knew how great of a place it was.

In terms of wanting to start Soda Sun, I’d been playing folk music solo for so long, like over ten years in LA. It was a rough place to be trying to do that, and in Nashville, too, where I just got drowned out by the country scene. I couldn’t find my place.

I have a really close friend named Matt who, before we moved to Tucson, said, “Why don’t you form a really great group of people and make awesome music, and really just have fun with it and make it a bigger thing?” I thought to myself, “Why haven’t I done that? Why have I resisted that?” I still don’t have an answer, but Matt’s words were stuck in my mind by the time I got here. So once I got here, I knew what I needed to do.

Then, I met Dave, and he was super into the idea of starting this band, and then Derek and Johnny. Suddenly, it was happening!

David Foley: It’s nice to be part of the band. I like how the creative situation breaks apart your striving ego, contributing to something as a group and seeing it become something bigger.

JG: For me, too. I’d recorded albums myself where I’d play all of the parts, and there was a real intense control aspect with the music. I made a conscious effort to let go of control. I wanted other people to speak their minds about it.

DF: There came a time in my life where I began to realize that everyone around me had a talent. Maybe I was around 32. There was a time when I was younger, and I think this is true for many of us, where I felt like I was the most talented guy in the world. It seems like when you involve more people in what you do, that is what makes you greater—not just musically but devoting your energy like a fuel cell to any creative process. You need to give up the controlling aspects of your nature to grasp that full energy.

How about you, Johnny? Do you love these guys, or hate them?

Johny Vargas: Which side do I start with? [laughs]

I’ve been a part of a lot of different musical projects. When I first started playing music, I had the best experience playing with my best friends. It’s a brotherhood, a camaraderie, where you show up to rehearsal, and it’s like a family reunion and not a job. After college, my gigs became more like work, and no one really talked to each other in rehearsals or performances. I’d miss the friendship aspect and be like, “What the hell?”

When John reached out to me, my first thought was, “They have magnificent beards and I think I can contribute to this.” [laughs]

I loved “Gitchie” when I heard it. I let my wife and my family listen to every project that I’m a part of, and they really liked Soda Sun, which doesn’t always happen. So, I thought, “This must be a good thing.”

Sure enough, these guys are awesome and loving and have let me be free to be who I want to be. I’m able to bounce ideas off them and ask what they think. I’m a high school teacher; part of my mantra is to be okay with failure. Our creative process is super healthy. It’s not like, “Oh, you don’t like my sweet guitar solo? Fuck you.”

I was listening to “Blood” today and wondering, “What was I thinking, putting that raging guitar part at the end?” Our mixer put it pretty high in the mix. Still, the band let me do that. Sorry, but not sorry.

JG: No! I was just telling Felicia, my wife, it’s been really cool to reflect on the story behind every single in this release process. This might especially be the case with “Blood”, where Johnny had this awesome idea at the last second.

I really like how the guitar part fights with the vocal. It’s cool. I know that it is loud, but there’s a whole tension that’s awesome. The guitar is like, “Hey man, shut up!” and the vocals are like, “No man, you shut the fuck up!” [laughs]

DF: Recording the tracks often came from these sudden moments of inspiration. We recorded most of these in just a few takes. So, Johnny will probably never play it the same way again. He tends to be very free on stage during our live shows.

What a blessing it was, too, that you were able to get together to record these singles in the same room.

JG: A big chunk of it was done just before everything started going down. There were little things that were done later, but it was done safely. A big part of what we did in 2020 was the mixing.

JV: We had such a good momentum with live shows right before the lockdown.

DF: We were really getting tight at that point.

You’re missing a bandmate, since Derek Cerretani has moved to Florida. Let’s eulogize his contributions to Soda Sun a bit.

JV: Derek was so cool, and so smooth. My father-in-law even said, “When I go to see you guys live, all I ever do is watch Derek,” which I get. He’s so melodic. He plays bass like a guitar player. It was fun to be on stage with him.

JG: Derek was, and is, amazing to play with. He was super even keel, always. He never got stressed out about anything. He was just ready to go.

DF: He always had a groove to him, a bop to him.

JG: It’s super sad that he’s gone. Me and Dave can get really heady and geek out about stuff. In a way that could be annoying.

JV: Yeah, it’s annoying. [laughs]

JG: That’s how we are. That’s one of our dynamics. I’ll call him regularly at like 11pm or midnight and we’ll talk about our songs. Derek is the opposite—super chill, never gets stressed out. He really balanced us out that way.

DF: We were thinking about that the other day, as we’ve been meeting new bassists.

JG: Even though he’s more of a guitarist, he jumped into our bass role immediately and fucking killed it.

DF: Man, I love his bass lines.

JG: It was also really cool with Larry Crane, our mixer, to mix this record with the bass front-and-center. It’s really crisp. We never had emails about keeping Derek upfront, but I knew he was doing it, and I love it. He’s a bassist too, Larry. Even on phone speakers, you can hear that bass right upfront.

JV: It’s almost like two lead guitar players playing together. Derek had amazing bass lines. I’m not trying to outshine him, so sometimes I take a chiller role to let those bass lines shine.

JG: I think a great example of that is in “Birds of Paradise”. In the instrumental breaks, Johnny and Derek are like these two birds of paradise dropping from the sky like actual birds, and they start dancing together.

JV: That’s interesting. [laughs]

JG: Both of their parts are so cool. Johnny’s doing a guitar solo, and Derek’s doing a bass solo at the same time. It’s some magnificent stuff.

We’re premiering the music video for “Stay Here” on PopMatters.

DF: “Stay Here” does, out of all of our songs, feel timeless for me. I always listen to “Stay Here” and I don’t have any criticisms about it. There’s something about it that really feels perfect to me.

JG: I remember that that was one of the recording sessions that we did at night. It was pretty cold, like in January or December, and late at night. Dave played this sweet pitter-patter on the drums, and I played this sweet guitar part, and we both just thought it sounded really cool.

That song’s special to me because it’s about my family, about moving here, and about loving Tucson and the wilderness that surrounds us. The parts that Johnny and Derek put on the song, too, are super beautiful.

DF: I feel like the emotion in the track is really present. I can imagine falling in love to that song, or making love to that song. [laughs]

JG: There’s some really specific desert references in there too, which I love. I love putting those direct references and symbols in there.

This was one of the songs where we did some extra recording during the pandemic. Dave took on the task of taking our Tascam to Johnny so he could record his parts.

DF: I actually feel bad about that, still, dropping off this thing the size of a table at his front door. [laughs]

JV: During the pandemic, a lot of musicians, I feel, were forced into learning how to record themselves—myself being one. I had known a little about digital recording, but doing tape was really cool. I wouldn’t take it back at all, but learning how to do it on my own was so frustrating.

JG: Dave had actually written this whole manual for Johnny to learn how to use the Tascam with.

DF: I should have known while writing this four-page manual that dropping it off a tape machine wasn’t going to be easy.

JV: It was really cool to learn, though. I still have the manual, too. I’m going to frame that.

JG: The manual’s awesome. It has little drawings and stuff. Dave’s a great artist.

DF: I had to make sure to keep him interested. [laughs]

The Tascam has been interesting. I question whether it’s the best thing to be recording on, sometimes. At the same time, it’s the most interesting thing to be recording on. The power that you feel recording on it is sometimes all you need to get yourself through the more frustrating ends of that process. You’re not just recording—you’re discovering.

JV: And there’s only eight tracks. Most music these days, they layer the shit out of their recordings, like a minimum of 50 tracks. And we have seven! Sometimes eight. Is there any digital?

DF: I recorded some bass drums.

JG: And we recorded some harmonies on “Blood”. That was digital because we had already went past eight on it.

DF: For the purists out there, though, all of our songs are almost entirely Tascam.

JG: “Birds of Paradise” was entirely Tascam.

DF: I think a lot of the tracks are recorded over an old Mr. Rogers episode from the guy we bought it from, as well as over an album that his band had made on it. Tape is reusable!

Let’s talk about the music video.

JG: For all of our music videos, we went to this archival site called the Prelinger Archives. There’s this guy, Rick Prelinger, and he takes anything you can imagine under the sun and has compiled it into this amazing library. The one that Dave used for “Stay Here” was Natalie Wood’s vacation footage.

DF: I like that one a lot. I put a lot of effort into “Stay Here”.

JG: “Blood” used a lot of cool animations from that site.

DF: There’s a lot of educational films on that site. I don’t know what happens with your brain when you look at a certain image and think of it in terms of the song, but there’s a resonance that happens. Sometimes, it’s just an odd thing.

JG: Dave put a ton of work into those. I’m really glad that we made them.

What are Soda Sun’s aspirations looking forward?

JV: I want to play more live shows. When you’re on stage, that’s the moment where all of the things you’ve been working hard on come to life. You’re there, sharing that moment with them, and not just listening to your record at home.

JG: We were having so much fun playing live. Everybody has the time of their lives. I’m super looking forward to that, too, and super looking forward to recording more. We were thinking of really focusing on one song at a time, and then another one, and another one. The “whole album” thing is kind of disappearing, anyway, with the way the world is.

DF: Yeah, I’d like to play more, play more throughout the southwest, and keep making recordings that we’re proud of.

Closing thoughts?

JG: We love you, Derek. Thank you for all that you did for our album. We’re bummed that you’re not here right now.

JV: I hope you all love our music.

DF: And if you do, let us know. It keeps us going!

Happy Birthday, Tasha Bundy of Kiss & The Tells!

Kicking Bird, live at Satellite Bar & Lounge; June 25, 2021

Tracy Shedd played a 'secret show' in Wilmington NC last night

If you knew, then you know... yesterday [Thursday, June 24th] local Wilmington NC record store -- The Fuzzy Needle -- hosted a super secret show for Fort Lowell Records' own Tracy Shedd.  She performed five songs on acoustic guitar: "Catching the Breeze", "Encourage Me", "Broken Arrows", "Tear it Up", and "Brighton".

Tracy Shedd, live at The Fuzzy Needle

6 super-fun things to do for Wilmington's first full weekend of summer

[Repost from StarNews Online; by John Staton, June 24, 2021]

Friday: Tracy Shedd and Kicking Bird

Presented by the vinyl and gift shop Modern Legend, it's a great double bill of music to get your weekend started.

The Wilmington-based singer, songwriter and Fort Lowell Records artist Tracy Shedd will be making her first local appearance since 2019 with this show. Shedd, whose career spans more than 20 years, is a master of deeply groovy indie pop that sounds supremely sweet yet often hints at darkness. Shedd's band will feature a special appearance by longtime Wilmington musician Brian Weeks (De La Noche, Summer Set) on keys.

Also on the bill is the Wilmington garage rock band Kicking Bird, which played an incendiary show outdoors at the Palate bar and restaurant back in April. Some songs have a grungy, girl-group vibe, while others are full-on rockers.

Both acts have songs on the Fort Lowell release "GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter," which is a great collection of Wilmington acts past and present. Sales of the record benefit the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP.

Details: 9 p.m. June 25 at Satellite Bar and Lounge, 120 Greenfield St., Wilmington.

Happy Birthday, Jessica Gelt of Wet & Reckless + Death Kit!

Neon Belly inaugural performance at The Opera Room in Wilmington NC; June 21, 2021

Neon Belly: [L/R] PMattitude, Derek Gude, Lacie Jay, and Kevin Earl

Tracy Shedd + Kicking Bird live in concert at Satellite!

One week from today (June 25th), Tracy Shedd + Kicking Bird will be playing live in concert at Satellite Bar & Lounge, and special guest -- Brian Weeks -- of De La Noche / Summer Set will be making an exclusive appearance on the Minimoog with Tracy Shedd. Show starts at 9:00pm. You won't want to miss it!

Photo by Jake Thomas

Soda Sun "Stay Here" [Digital Single], OUT NOW!

CLICK HERE to PRE-ORDER Soda Sun's debut album, Stay Here, and receive a copy of their forth single, "Stay Here".

Happy Birthday, Kelly Crisp of The Rosebuds!

Thank you, Kelly, for your contributions to and support of GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter!

Happy Birthday, Kim Ware of the Good Graces!

[Attention all Sarah Records fans:] Fort Lowell Records is superduperexcited to share with you that on August 27th we will be releasing a brand new song titled "capital R" from North Carolina's own the Good Graces... moniker for our Birthday Girl, Kim Ware!  Let's wish Kim a Happy Birthday today, and stay tuned to hear her sweet new indie pop gem, fitting for a Summer release!

'GROW' Album Sales Provide Scholarships to New Hanover County Students

On October 30, 2020, Fort Lowell Records released the album GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter as a fundraiser for the New Hanover County NAACP.  After only eight months of sales, a total of five students from the Cape Fear Region have been awarded scholarships, made possible from the sale of GROW.  Below is a picture of three of those students holding their checks issued to them on June 6, 2021.

On Saturday, June 19th, Fort Lowell Records will be hosting our Vinyl DJ Dance Night -- Let's Dance -- at Satellite Bar & Lounge in The South Front District of Wilmington NC, where will have GROW available for sale for $30.00.  To help raise more money for additional scholarships to be given to other students from within The Port City, both Satellite Bar & Lounge + The South Front District together will * MATCH * all $30.00 donations for GROW, ultimately providing the New Hanover County NAACP with $60.00 in total per record sold at Let's Dance that evening.

Join us at Let's Dance on Saturday, June 19th at Satellite Bar & Lounge!  Let's GROW!