Friday, June 30, 2023
Tracy Shedd / MoeSOS DC / Blab School live in concert at The Place
Wilmington, North Carolina / Saturday, July 15th / 7:00pm / $10.00
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
LET'S TUESDAY at Satellite Bar & Lounge
Join us at Satellite Bar & Lounge in Wilmington, North Carolina every Tuesday after work from 6:00-8:30pm as Fort Lowell Records hosts an evening filled with an eclectic mix of music deejayed by Tracy + James Tritten from their own person vinyl record collection, while patrons enjoy time with friends, a classic movie in the back courtyard, and dinner from Block Taco!
Monday, June 19, 2023
Kicking Bird - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
[Repost from I Don't Hear a Single; by Don Valentine, June 16, 2023]
There is a big apology to the excellent Fort Lowell Records label as I've had this for a while and been waiting for its release. But that coincided with a manic period here, but I note that some of our peers have thankfully covered it.
Kicking Bird are a five piece from Wilmington North Carolina have fashioned up one a hell of a debut album. I suppose you would call this Indie Rock as a starting point, but the Pop content is high and the album is wonderfully Guitar driven.
With three vocalists, the scope to take the music into multi directions and the band do just that. Talking To Girls (On The Internet) is fabulous Garage Fuzz, all attitude, but Just To Be Here With You is splendid first half of the 60s Girl Pop enhanced by being rocked up part way through.
Yet, Names Are Changing is like a new generations' Cheap Trick and Stuck is great urgent Power Pop and 238 is CBGBs Guitar Pop at its very best. Impermanent Assistant is 80s New Wave Indie Guitar joy with a killer riff.
The riffs across the album are very Power Pop, even if the songs necessarily aren't. Talking To Ghosts edges towards Stadium Rock, big sounding and built around a weeping Guitar riff. Hickory River could be a torch song, if the awesome Guitar and keyboards would allow it.
Rip Off is an epic closer, beautifully sung and phrased. Very 60s and another gobsmacking solo, this time all twang with a surprise addition at the end. The talent on show here is amazing. I remember a big argument with a label head a few years ago who said the Guitar was dead. Well chummy, it isn't and Kicking Bird are here to demonstrate why. What a magnificent album!
Sunday, June 18, 2023
LET'S DANCE at Palate Bottle Shop
Join us at Palate Bottle Shop in Wilmington, North Carolina on Saturday, June 24th from 7:00-10:00pm as Fort Lowell Records hosts a Vinyl DJ Night of dance-centric Alternative / Indie / Underground music deejayed by James Tritten!
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Monsoon Twilight Amid a Wave of Destruction: Forest Fallows’s “Lightly Down”
[Repost from Bandcamp; by Nick Prevenas, Illustrations by Joey Yu, June 13, 2023]
Each year, just after the scalding convection oven summers of Tucson break, but before we drift into autumn—which is just “Summer Part 2” and, like most sequels, less intense—Tucson, AZ experiences an alternately gorgeous and terrifying series of rainstorms that soak the sandpapery Sonoran landscape. Monsoon season is responsible for the vast majority of Tucson’s annual precipitation, and the locals greet it with open arms, knowing that we will surely perish without it. We are running out of water. Monsoon season is essential to our survival.
Yet monsoon season is also an unpredictable destructive force that brings flash flooding, downed power lines, and inevitably dozens of stranded vehicles caught tempting fate near Tucson’s underpasses.
Monsoon season is simultaneously beautiful and humbling. It’s our annual reminder that we are all at the mercy of Mother Nature. She will save your life and tear it apart on a whim.
Mike Barnett and Alex Morton formed Forest Fallows as a side band for songs that didn’t fit into their main projects. As of this writing, Barnett serves as the frontman for Mute Swan, one of Tucson’s most popular psychedelic-influenced bands that has more than a few songs that compare favorably to Tame Impala or King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Their Locals Only set was among the highlights of the Matt Milner-hosted era on KXCI, Tucson’s listener-supported radio station.
Mute Swan shares a certain haziness with Forest Fallows, but Barnett’s songcraft truly shines alongside Morton’s folkier/poppier sensibilities. It’s as if the wooziness of a Kurt Vile record was superimposed on top of Real Estate’s jangly hooks.
It’s the kind of record that could have sold a few thousand copies in an era when people still regularly purchased physical media. With the right record label and promotional push, Forest Fallows could have earned a respectable font size on several summer festival lineups. As it stands, it’s a low key gem that will surprise crate-digging freaks who find themselves in Tucson-area record shops such as Wooden Tooth or Old Paint with cash to burn and curiosity to quench.
It’s also a record that almost never saw the light of day.
After finishing the bulk of the recording, Barnett and Morton hooked up with Mike Dixon of People In A Position to Know (PIAPTK) and Joyful Noise Recordings. In addition to his endlessly inventive forays into lathe cutting that test the boundaries of what a record can actually look/sound like (he has released recorded music on slabs of chocolate and tortillas), Dixon always keeps his ear to the ground for interesting songs to share with his friends. His mixtapes and PIAPTK samples are required listening, and his partnerships with countless local artists have generated compelling music packaged in the strangest ways. A scene the size of Tucson’s needs a few enterprising, hard-working people to keep the lifeblood pumping. We’re lucky to have Mike.
As fate would have it, Dixon lived next door to Barnett and Morton when they were laying down the demos for what would become their debut record At Home. Dixon offered to hook them up with distribution through Joyful Noise and help press 350 hand-stamped records on “Comfort Lime”-colored vinyl.
I was lucky enough to hear the record before it went through test pressing hell. Initial pressings were rejected no less than four times before the recording was finally reproduced at the proper speed. The initial run of colored vinyl wasn’t right, either. Dixon went back and forth with a Dallas pressing plant that shall remain nameless, as it had neither the time nor the inclination to give this album the respect it deserved.
While At Home was floating in purgatory, my digital copy kept me company throughout the first half of 2015. Sam Fader, drummer for the late, lamented Wight Lhite, is Forest Fallows’s number one super fan; he told me that he was proud to live in a town and play in a scene that could produce a record like At Home. It’s a master class in how sequencing can enhance mood, as the fully-fleshed pop songs drift seamlessly into wordless instrumentals and back again into harmonies that could make one’s eyes well up involuntarily.
In June 2016, it appeared as if this record would finally exist in its physical form. No more test pressings. No more nightmarish phone calls with the pressing plant. No more problems. All that was left was some great music and green vinyl.
Monsoon season didn’t have any idea what Forest Fallows and Mike Dixon had gone through to make this record a reality. Monsoon season didn’t care about the year and a half of hassle and headache. Monsoon season just exists.
A summer storm hit PIAPTK’s headquarters—the “lathe cave”—with full force. A chunk of its roof became saturated and collapsed. Green vinyl, much like standard black vinyl, is vulnerable to overhead attacks from torrential rain and water-logged chunks of roofing. Only a handful of copies of the “Comfort Lime” survived. Tucson’s musical history is better for it.
Monsoons typically hit just before sundown during rush-hour traffic in order to wreak as much havoc as possible. It’s a calamitous cacophony of wind and water, swirling and slamming into sunbaked pavement. And just as quickly as it arrives, it fades into a gentle drizzle, almost as if it’s apologizing for breaking anything. When that drizzle coincides with a Sonoran sunset, I call it “monsoon twilight.” It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.
The next-to-last song on the vinyl edition of At Home is called “Lightly Down.” It’s the only song that sounds like monsoon twilight. These storms don’t end abruptly. They tail off. They let out a sigh of relief, almost to signify a sense of physical exhaustion after inflicting so much destruction—exactly like the opening vocal harmony on “Lightly Down.” After a few leftover sprinkles drop to the ground, the creosote bushes unleash their distinct after-rain smell, the clouds dissipate, and the remaining hour of sunlight slowly evaporates into a pink-and-purple sunset that hangs in the air like a painting. We all stop and stare, slack-jawed and awestruck. And then it’s gone. “Lightly Down,” with its gently ascending choruses and sparse arrangements, captures that beautiful stillness that exists between the storm and the darkness.
Everyone’s life has a small, scattered handful of perfect moments, when everything lines up as if it was part of a dream. Most of our lives are spent dodging the monsoon. It lets up often enough to deliver scattered moments of unshakable beauty. You just have to know when to look and when to listen.
[END FORM]
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Fort Lowell Records is excited to share with you that we will be releasing Forest Fallows' stunning sophomore album At Best. Stay tuned here for more information to come! For now, enjoy At Home:
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Kicking Bird - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
[Repost from Faster and Louder; by Lord Rutledge, June 1, 2023]
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, the debut album from Wilmington, North Carolina's Kicking Bird, is one of those albums that can't be assigned to any one genre of music. I might loosely describe it as indie rock with a power pop heart, but such an oversimplification still falls woefully short. On this release, Kicking Bird really owns its lack of originality. This is ironic because Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is one of the most unique and fresh-sounding records I've heard in quite some time. Influences are sometimes palpable, but they're all over the place and all-encompassing. Most of the time, I'm sure a song sounds familiar but can't for the life of me pinpoint the specific influence. And when I can, I'm pleased as punch (Yay! I'm not the only one who realizes that Hefner's "The Hymn for the Cigarettes" is one of the greatest songs ever written!). The delightful "Stuck" manages to be discernibly Weezer-ish without succumbing to the shortcomings of almost every other discernibly Weezer-ish song in the universe. There's a real skill in stealing from so many places and with such a personalized spin that it all comes out sounding like something that hasn't been done before. Husband-and-wife songwriters Shaun and Shaylah Paul have contrasting yet wonderfully complementary styles that contribute greatly to Original Motion Picture Soundtrack's engaging flow. This album literally plays like the soundtrack to a trip to the beach. More than anything else, this is a fun record. These songs are clever and quirky and musically playful without one hint of pretension, and the hooks are always front and center. This is a truly stellar collection of songs from a band that's blessed with considerable talent and just as much charm. If you want to hear one of the best records of the year, hit up Ft. Lowell Records and get your paws on Original Motion Picture Soundtrack!
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Pressing Concerns: Kicking Bird
[Repost from Rosy Overdrive; May 30, 2023]
Kicking Bird – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Release date: May 19th
Record label: Fort Lowell
Genre: Pop rock, power pop, indie pop
Formats: Vinyl, digital
Pull Track: Talking to Girls (On the Internet)
While I’ve written about plenty of East Coast bands in Pressing Concerns before, Wilmington, North Carolina’s Kicking Bird hail from a part of the Atlantic shoreline I believe I’ve yet to touch on. Released on local label Fort Lowell, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the five-piece band’s full-length debut, following a handful of singles and an EP in 2021. The first Kicking Bird album is a big old guitar pop record, an overstuffed collection of songs that feature three different vocalists (guitarist/bassists Shaun Paul and Tom Michels and keyboardist Shaylah Paul) and makes itself home in the world of vintage college rock, jangle pop, power pop, and wide-eyed indie rock.
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack knows how to make a good first impression–the roaring “Names Are Changing”, the smooth and persistent “Lauren”, and breezy surf-garage-pop of “Talking to Girls (On the Internet)” are all Pixies-as-straight-power-popper classics. The opening trio is hard to beat, but Kicking Bird toss out more rock-solid pop rock throughout the rest of the album– “Stuck” anchors the midsection of Original Motion Picture Soundtrack quite gamely, “238” chugs and handclaps its way into the heads of anyone who would hear it, and the fluffy “Rip Off” closes things out with a track that really underlines Kicking Bird’s 60s girl-group influences. It’s a commendable, hot-out-of-the-gate debut from a quite likable band. (Bandcamp link)
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
How the couple behind a growing record label is putting Wilmington music on the map
[Repost from StarNews; by John Staton, May 14, 2023]
Over the past five years, arguably no one has done more for Wilmington's indie music scene than Tracy Shedd and James Tritten.
A regular presence at area concerts and other happenings — they share a DJ set every Tuesday evening at the Satellite Bar & Lounge on Greenfield Street, during which they spin, on vinyl, everything from classic hits to obscure bangers — the married couple has helped highlight Wilmington music in a way few others have.
Since moving to town in 2018 with Fort Lowell Records, the independent label they started in Tucson, Arizona, in 2009, the couple has released a steady and diverse stream of music by Wilmington acts, from indie rock and dream pop to punk and hip-hop.
Consider this stat: Since October of 2020, when Fort Lowell released the Wilmington music compendium "GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter," the label has issued nearly 30 albums and singles, over half of them by Wilmington acts.
And the hits keep coming. May 12 saw the release of "The Time Space Continuum Redux," a lush remix of a 2006 album from Wilmington hip-hop group MindsOne by Port City DJ and producer RizzyBeats. (There's a listening party for the album May 18 at Flytrap Brewing.)
May 19 marks the release of "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack," the incendiary new album from Wilmington sweat-pop rockers Kicking Bird. (Album release show is May 19 at Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern.)
Indie rock mainstay Shedd's new single comes out in June, and July 21 will see the release of "Colors," a new EP from veteran Wilmington songwriter James Sardone. Coming later this year will be the first official album release from iconic Wilmington indie rockers Summer Set. And that's just for starters.
Brian Weeks, the guitarist and songwriter for Summer Set and for the moody electro-pop act De La Noche, has been playing in various Wilmington bands since the '90s.
"There's been other local labels before, but not like this," Weeks said of Fort Lowell. "One of the strengths they have, especially James, he's just relentless and he's got the business side down."
RizzyBeats, the Wilmington DJ and producer who can often be found behind the counter at Gravity Records on Castle Street or spinning at various venues around town, said Fort Lowell has helped push artists to the next level.
"As creators, it's nice to be able to focus on the work," Rizzy said. "James is good about getting all the things together, taking it off our plates," including getting crucial publicity for new releases by Wilmington artists.
Both the MindsOne and Kicking Bird releases have gotten attention from national music sites, and Fort Lowell artists Lauds, who released the throwback shoegaze album "Imitation Life" in January, are featured in the current issue of national music magazine The Big Takeover.
Tritten and Shedd say it's a labor of love for Wilmington and its music.
"I already have a full-time day job," Tritten said, working for Kwipped, an online equipment rental marketplace.
"Honestly, I think I'm so obsessed as a record collector, that's the only reason I run a label. I just fall in love with a band and it's like, 'All right, I'll put your music on vinyl, just because I want it,'" Tritten said recently from he and Shedd's super-sweet downtown Wilmington apartment, which comes complete with a low-ceilinged, noggin-bruising recording studio space replete with music equipment. "It just boils down to, I'm a fan of it. It's really that simple. And it's never just me, it's me and Tracy, both of us together. That's the key part."
James Sardone, who's been part of the Wilmington scene for 30 years (aside from a decade-long stint in New York, where he earned a write-up in the Village Voice as the rockabilly act Jimmy Nations), said that "Fort Lowell is important to Wilmington ... They've given a boost to the music scene by participating and promoting, as well as providing a voice and label support for local artists."
Tom Michels of Wilmington rockers Kicking Bird said Tritten will "send you a song or tell you about something you'd be into, and he's always right. He's got this amazing, encyclopedic musical knowledge."
Wilmington on their minds
Natives of Jacksonville, Florida, Shedd and Tritten have known each other since the early '90s when they played in a band called Sella. Later, Tritten would form the band Audio Explorations and back up Shedd, now his wife of 23 years, during her long career as a solo artist. The couple toured relentlessly for years, with Tritten also serving as a booking agent for dozens of acts.
Ask most anyone in Wilmington who knows them, and you'll probably hear the word "supportive." Tritten, often clad in a trucker cap, is loquacious and has an easy smile, while Shedd has a shock of wavy gray hair and a winning laugh, with a friendly manner that immediately puts folks at ease.
And even though they've only lived in Wilmington since 2018, they've got deep roots in the Port City.
"In 1996 we got invested and tied into the Wilmington scene very deeply and very quickly," Tritten said. That was when Audio Explorations played its first show here, and he and Shedd met Wilmington folks that they're friends with to this day. "All through the late '90s, all through the early 2000s, we were coming here multiple times per year."
In 2006 the couple moved to Tucson, Arizona, for what they thought would be forever. There, in 2009, they started Fort Lowell Records, named after a U.S. Army fort in Tucson that later became an artists' colony.
Then in 2013, Tritten got a job offer to be the general manager of the legendary Cat's Cradle music venue in Carrboro, and the couple moved to Chapel Hill.
That job didn't work out long-term, but it did lead the couple to Wilmington in 2018, where the scene here reinvigorated Fort Lowell, which had gone largely dormant in the Triangle. Shedd completed her 2019 album "The Carolinas" at their home studio downtown and they played a release party at downtown venue Bourgie Nights that same year. It's been on ever since.
You'll often find them at local "makers" markets, with stacks of vinyl next to the apothecary concoctions Shedd makes. The couple created an even deeper connection to their new hometown with "Water Is Life," a blend of photography, music and environmental activism that adds up to an ongoing series of vinyl and digital releases split between Wilmington indie rock and hip-hop acts. The the third release in the series (with rocker cydaddy and rapper Sheme of Gold) is coming soon, with two more in the works.
At the same time, Fort Lowell continues to work with national artists. Upcoming albums include solo projects from Coley Dennis of Athens, Georgia, psyche-rock act Maserati, and from Neko Case guitarist Jon Rauhouse.
Fort Lowell band Lauds is starting to make some ripples nationally, and there's a rising wave of younger Wilmington acts like Pleasure Island (probably the most popular band in town), Doggy Daycare and Lawn Enforcement, all of whom regularly play at Cargo District hotspot The Place and are represented by Wilmington's newest label, the Gen-Z-centric Suck Rock Records, a label Tritten and Shedd both praise.
"I put blinders on with that kind of stuff," Tritten said, when asked whether Wilmington music is ready to step into the national spotlight. "We're just releasing music we like. It's really that simple."
 |
| All photos by Mary Riley; StarNews |
Saturday, May 27, 2023
FEATURE: Wilmington's Lauds Debut with 'Imitation Life,' a Reflective, Shadowy, & Uplifting Dream Pop Reckoning
[Repost from Atwood Magazine; by Mitch Mosk, May 18, 2023]
A collection of radiant reckonings set to a soaring dream pop soundtrack, Lauds’ debut album ‘Imitation Life’ is a spirited record of self-reflection and discovery on the road to cathartic enlightenment.
Listening to Lauds’ debut album is a bit like running a marathon, and after 26 miles, finally seeing the finish line up ahead on the horizon. You’re still in the thick of it – mind focused on each breath, body dripping with sweat, legs pretty much working on autopilot at this point – but relief is coming. You’ve found that beacon of light in the darkness, and it’s getting closer and closer with every passing second. Soon, you’ll be free. Soon, you’ll be at peace.
In Lauds’ case, the marathon is the stretch of time known as our 20s, and the finish line is a sense of place, belonging, comfort, and contentment in the world. Most of us are still figuring out what it means to be, let alone what it means to be here now, but it’s easy to feel like everyone else has their lives figured out while you’re only pretending. Even so, the Wilmington, North Carolina-based band seems to trust that things will work out for the best; that we all eventually sort out these rhetorical, nagging questions of purpose and identity, make peace with our inner demons, and find our own personal meanings for being alive. There is a light in this darkness… There is a light that never goes out.
A collection of radiant reckonings set to a soaring dream pop soundtrack, Lauds’ Imitation Life is a spirited record of self-reflection and discovery on the road to cathartic enlightenment. We may or may not ever find true nirvana, but at least we’re trying – asking the questions, searching our souls for answers, and putting in the work.
Released January 20, 2023 via Wilmington-based indie label Fort Lowell Records, Imitation Life is a soaring, stunning, and utterly soul-stirring deep dive into life itself. Marrying dazzling dream pop with visceral post-punk, jangle-pop, and noughties indie rock, Lauds’ debut album is as dazzling as it is dynamic and as enchanting as it is exhilarating: A rollercoaster ride of emotionally-charged sonics and sonically-charged emotion.
Active since 2023, the five-piece of co-songwriters J. Holt Evans III and James McKay Glasgow, bassist Gavin Campbell, multi-instrumentalist Boyce S. Evans, and drummer Ross Page have found their niche in a lush, blissed-out sound that recalls such alternative greats as The Cure, The Smiths, Slowdive, and The Chameleons. The found that strong footing over the past few years, releasing two EPs EPs (2021’s Lauds and 2022’s II) that effectively set the scene for what would ultimately result in their first LP (select tracks off both EPs are also present on the album as well).
“I think that each of the EPs we put out kind of showcased different aspects of our sound,” Lauds’ J. Holt Evans explains. “We wanted the record to capture all of those elements, while also highlighting the advances me and McKay felt like we were making as songwriters and collaborators… After the release of our second EP on Fort Lowell we really wanted to push ourselves to make a cohesive artistic statement as a band, and thought that putting out a record was the way to do that.”
“Part of the reason we used earlier releases on the album was because it made the album feel more cohesive sonically and thematically,” McKay Glasgow adds. “A lot of the songs on this record were written at a similar time but recorded or reworked over longer periods. We wanted the songs to be different enough from each other where it didn’t feel monotonous but, like many of our favorite albums, we wanted them to have an overall sonic landscape that is recognizable from song to song. Some people don’t like that similarity in a bands music, but we do.”
Imitation Life arrived at the top of this year on the heels of a singles campaign that saw Lauds teasing out the songs “24” and “Somehow” – two standouts that highlight Lauds’ musical spark and their lyrical prowess.
“Are we up? Know what’s recommended. hit the pavement, sparks contended, but I’m not sure that I’m who I was before,” Evans sings, his voice a seductive hush complemented by glistening guitar riffs, driving drums, and immersive, spellbinding synth work. “Just fake it, you’ll make it, I know what to say,” he goes on to sing in the chorus. “I trusted you, but I can’t see it written in the sky.“
“It’s about overcoming anxiety and self-doubt and showcases a haunting keyboard line that chases along throughout the song,” Evans says. “I wrote it in grad school a few weeks before my 25th birthday and now looking back on the lyrics at 27 I hear myself expressing frustration about trying to break free from the vices that kept pulling me down at the time. Musically ’24’ features jangly interwoven guitar melodies and a pulsing rhythm section characteristic of the Lauds sound. My inspiration for the track was to sound like New Order covering ‘Boys of Summer’ by Don Henley. I’m not sure we got there but I’m proud of where we ended up.”
Glasgow even goes so far as to call “24” his all-time favorite Lauds song. “To me this song captures the emotional vibe of the album,” he shares. “There’s a determination to figure things out even with all the internal insecurity. I think it’s relatable, even though the lyrics are at times pretty abstract. It’s somber but uplifting and the synth and guitar parts really vibe with those themes.”
Of equal note is the album’s beautifully cathartic and captivating finale, “Misplace a Night,” a tender harmony-laden exhale whose Tristan Turner-directed music video is premiering today on Atwood Magazine. “I think it’s about feeling warm and safe holding someone you care about the next morning,” says Evans. “You still have the feelings of anxiety and regret but they’re overwhelmed by a feeling of peace and belonging.”
If this album really is all about finding our personal guiding lights and coming to terms with life’s ambiguity and emotional turmoil, then “Misplace a Night” concludes the record with a breathtaking moment of that long-sought after peace of mind. Tranquility is temporary and serenity is fleeting, but for a second – or rather, for four minutes – it feels like Lauds have finally found what they’ve been looking for all along.
Of course, those goalposts shift quickly and our inner voice never shuts up entirely, so there’s plenty more existential introspection and reckoning to be done, but with their debut album, Lauds have truly lit an intimate, resonant, and reverb-drenched fire. From its bookends “Parallel” and “Misplace a Night” to the charmingly contemplative “Rust,” the propulsive, pulsing “Don’t Mind,” and of course the utterly intoxicating and absorptive “24,” Imitation Life is an endlessly inspiring and invigorating listen.
Get lost in Lauds’ debut album below, and get to know the band even better in our intimate interview with McKay Glasgow and J. Holt Evans III where we discuss the genesis of Imitation Life, the music scene in Wilmington, the benefits of brooding music, and more!
A CONVERSATION WITH LAUDS
ATWOOD MAGAZINE: LAUDS, CAN YOU SHARE A LITTLE ABOUT THE STORY BEHIND THIS RECORD?
McKay Glasgow: Lauds started when Holt and I met because I had recorded an album with his dad before. We roped Holt’s youngest brother, Boyce into the mix on drums. Short term he also played third guitar and strings for some shows and then we got our buddy Gavin to play bass even though he’s still the best guitar player in our band. That’s always a hard sell. We also recruited Color Temperature’s Ross Langdon Paige to play drums at one point but he moved to Brooklyn and we went back and have stuck with the four piece of me, Holt, Boyce, and Gavin. Other friends have filled in for shows at points and our pal Jeff Corkery, aka Dulce Hombre, co-wrote the song Distant Images on the album and has been a big collaborator with artwork etc. It’s been a labor of friendship and a lot of Holt and I arguing. At points other people have gotten involved arguing. Holt’s dad engineered the record and helped when the arguments were going nowhere.
J. Holt Evans III: Would agree with that. Lauds started as an outlet for me and McKay’s songs and has become a real band I guess over time. We put out some singles while I was back and forth between Chapel Hill and Wilmington for grad school and were excited when James Tritten approached us about releasing an EP with his label Fort Lowell Records. After the release of our second EP on Fort Lowell we really wanted to push ourselves to make a cohesive artistic statement as a band and thought that putting out a record was the way to do that.
WHAT WAS YOUR VISION GOING INTO THIS RECORD, AND DID THAT CHANGE OVER THE COURSE OF RECORDING THIS?
Glasgow: We definitely didn’t want to rush. We took our time with all of the stuff we have put out. Part of the reason we used earlier releases on the album was because it made the album feel more cohesive sonically and thematically. A lot of the songs on this record were written at a similar time but recorded or reworked over longer periods. We wanted the songs to be different enough from each other where it didn’t feel monotonous but, like many of our favorite albums, we wanted them to have an overall sonic landscape that is recognizable from song to song. Some people don’t like that similarity in a bands music, but we do.
Evans: I think that each of the EPs we put out kind of showcased different aspects of our sound and we wanted the record to capture all of those elements while also highlighting the advances me and McKay felt like we were making as songwriters and collaborators.
WHAT'S THE MUSIC SCENE IN WILMINGTON LIKE, AND HAS IT IMPACTED YOUR SOUND OR SONGS IN ANY WAY?
Glasgow: The music scene in Wilmington is really fun right now. Bands on SUCK ROCK Records are great: Doggy Day Care, Lawn Enforcement, Ridgewood etc. and some new venues have opened up that have brought renewed energy and excitement to the scene. There is definitely a punk/ DIY ethos to a lot of the younger bands. We like our friend Colin’s band Spiral alot. Similar songwriting to us but spikier and more abrasive.
I definitely think the coastal scenery makes its way into our songs, most obviously on songs like “Sandpiper” (from the Lauds EP), but even on this record on tracks like “Somehow.” The music isn’t beachy to us, but we all grew up by the ocean and have a lot of experiences around the ocean so it makes its way into the music. I love to surf and fish and I got Holt pretty into surfing while he was living in Wilmington. I like to think that some elements of surf rock on the track “Distant Images” may have been influenced by that.
Evans: To me “Distant Images” sounds more like Lauds on a carnival cruise excursion… Wilmington has a unique energy to it that I feel like made its way onto the record. Downtown is old and cobble-stoney and sits right on the river. It really comes alive at night and definitely becomes the go-to haunt for everyone in our band on weekends. The city lake is a wild place that’s essentially a gator-infested swamp and I did a lot of my writing for the album while house sitting for a buddy who lives next to it. The back cover of the record is a picture I took of algae and moss on the lake.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE DREAM POP / SHOEGAZE / POST-PUNK GENRES THAT INITIALLY ATTRACTED YOU TO THEM?
Evans: My dad played the first two U2 records too many times for me in the car on the way to basketball practice as a kid and probably created a monster. I think I always loved the way the guitars and drums seemed to be propelling those songs without necessarily being like distorted classic rock. Getting older and starting to play guitar I realized it wasn’t much of a stretch to learn how to play some of my favorite Joy Division, Bauhaus, Swell Maps riffs etc. I think it was always an energy thing though. I’ve always wanted to write upbeat songs and we’ve always wanted to be an upbeat band.
WERE ANY BANDS FROM THAT SPACE YOUR 'GUIDING LIGHT' OR AN INSPIRATION AS YOU WENT ABOUT FINDING LAUDS' OWN SOUND THESE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS?
Evans: For sure. I didn’t get obsessed with shoegaze until like my late teens but the combination of noise and pretty melodies created by bands like Ride really appealed to me when I was first starting to write what would become some Lauds songs in grad school. Honestly that band is a massive influence on us. A record like Going Blank Again is a pinnacle of rock music to me. Noisy but immediate and irresistible songwriting. Awesome rhythm section with two incredible songwriters in Andy Bell and Mark Gardener. Deerhunter have that as well with Bradford and Lockett Pundt. It’s definitely something McKay and I aspire to.
NOW SPEAKING ABOUT THE ALBUM SPECIFICALLY, WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT THE SOUNDS YOU WERE ABLE TO ACHIEVE ON THIS RECORD? WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT THE LAUDS LISTENING EXPERIENCE?
Evans: I think we are really proud of just the vibe that we were able to capture with the production on Imitation Life. We love chorus and reverb and probably always will but I think with the help of Holt II in the studio we were able to find a balance to where the guitar melodies and vocals can carry the songs without over-reliance on effects. Sometimes we get labeled as a “retro” band or whatever and I can’t stand that. We really wanted to avoid cliches like adding crazy compressed snares, warbly chorus, etc. that are hot right now and focus on the strength of riffs and songwriting to make the album a cohesive experience for the listener that doesn’t sound dated.
WHY THE TITLE “IMITATION LIFE”?
Evans: It’s a line that I sing on the song “Distant Images.” I didn’t have a lot of direction in my life when we were recording the album and had a lot of decisions ahead of me regarding my future and too much free time. I think the phrase came about from hours scrolling posts/stories and seeing friends that looked like they already had their lives figured out in their 20s. It’s a totally ridiculous and cynical response, kind of lashing out and (unfairly) ascribing their happiness to just making choices that imitate what society says is a “good life.” I pitched it to the guys and they liked it, but in hindsight I realize it was just an expression of pure jealousy. [laughs]
HOW DO YOU FEEL IMITATION LIFE INTRODUCES LAUDS AND CAPTURES YOUR ARTISTRY?
Glasgow: This album is something we feel really proud about. It took a long time to finish but we were able to put a lot of thought into every part of these songs. We definitely overthought some of it too! haha. But often doubt and disagreement are part of the process to make it good. We sifted material and let go of some songs, but we found a shared vision for these 10. It captures the best of where we’ve been as a band so far.
“MISPLACE A NIGHT” IS THE LAST TRACK ON THE ALBUM. WHAT IS THIS SONG ABOUT TO YOU, AND WHY END THE ALBUM WITH IT?
Glasgow: To me the song is about staying out too late and then overthinking about how one spends their time to the point of toxicity. It’s about ‘wasting’ time doing something that probably isn’t going to pay the bills but is often fun or challenging. It’s also about being nervous before shows, wondering if anyone is coming, and realizing that people really don’t care that much about you but they do want a good time from you. When we were all living in town, we had many nights out, drinking beers and wondering why we fill the time out of our busy lives to stay up this late. And we had a blast doing it and are still very much at it although things get more complicated as we seem to keep accruing more and more responsibilities.
HOW DO YOU FEEL THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “MISPLACE A NIGHT” ELEVATES THE TRACK? HOW, TO YOU, DOES IT ADD TO THE SONG'S EXPERIENCE?
Glasgow: This video essentially shows us misplacing several nights around Wilmington, haha, sometimes in rather unfavorable weather. There is also some footage from shows scattered in there and practices in our space. We really let the videographer, Tristan Turner, have free reign to just come hang with us in different places we enjoy. We threw out a couple words, ‘southern’, ‘gothic’, “shadowy” and Tristan nailed it while tying in some of his own themes with the overlays and cool framing. We didn’t want it to focus on who we are as much as the places and vibe. Watching it feels like you are sort of getting lost in the night with this random cast of characters. That’s what shows felt like, especially during the period when we wrote this song.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO OPEN THE RECORD WITH “PARALLEL”?
Glasgow: I feel like the conventional wisdom is that the American attention span dictates that you put your catchiest pop song first on an album, but figured if we were going to lose people on the slow build up to the intro of this track, we had to live with it. It just felt like the opener to us. It eases in and goes out with a bang. The following track picks up the pace quickly from there.
I KNOW A LOT OF THESE SONGS WERE ORIGINALLY RELEASED ON YOUR PREVIOUS EPS; WHICH OF THESE ARE YOU PROUDEST TO HAVE ON YOUR FULL-LENGTH ALBUM?
Glasgow: We chose the 5 previous releases strategically, largely based on when they were written and how they meshed with the 5 “new” tracks. I personally feel proud that “Cedee Lamb” made the cut because it was a song we had to rework and even considered dropping at one point. We finally got it right and it fits well as a darker track instrumentally and thematically.
On the sunnier side, we really thought about not including our first single “Don’t Mind” because it was the pop song people who came to our shows really knew and were ‘too familiar with,’ but some older, wiser heads were basically like, “in reality, no one has heard your music and that song should be on there.” And that was the right call.
AT THE SAME TIME, WHICH OF YOUR NEWEST SONGS ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO HAVE OUT THERE?
Glasgow: I really love “24.” To me this song captures the emotional vibe of the album. There’s a determination to figure things out even with all the internal insecurity. I think it’s relatable, even though the lyrics are at times pretty abstract. It’s somber but uplifting and the synth and guitar parts really vibe with those themes.
AS A LYRICALLY FORWARD BAND, DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE LYRICS IN THESE SONGS?
Glasgow: I really like Holt’s verses on “24,” particularly the one that starts, “I wake up and taste the sun outside…” When I heard that lyric I knew what he meant and it gave a good feeling. I also have grown to appreciate verse 2 of “Ceedee Lamb,” “a sudden tugging on the dusty strings. There a mad dog wild and running off his leash.” That kind of imagery appeals to me because those images are rather benign but with that instrumentation you get a sense of the desperation of someone’s fragile self image coming unhinged. I feel like we had a pretty good grasp on the language we used on the album and didn’t try to overstep lyrically. We like psychology and we wrote about our own small experiences in an honest way.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE LISTENERS TAKE AWAY FROM IMITATION LIFE? WHAT HAVE YOU TAKEN AWAY FROM CREATING IT AND NOW PUTTING IT OUT?
Glasgow: I hope they enjoy the experience of listening to it. I hope there are some moments in the songs that give them a good feeling or maybe even remind them of something in themselves they want to think on. The album is brooding, but there are many uplifting moments. It’s full of generally optimistic reflections.
LASTLY, WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO THESE DAYS THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND TO OUR READERS?
Evans: We are loving new music out of North Carolina right now. Wednesday and MJ Lenderman’s rise has been fun to watch. The entire band really loves Rat Saw God. We’re also really looking forward to the upcoming record from Truth Club, as well. On my end l’ve just been listening to a lot of heavier shoegaze stuff and a lot of extreme metal.
My girlfriend lives in Denver, CO right now and I’ve just been freebasing Denver bands most days: Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, Primitive Man etc. Primitive Man, and Full of Hell’s split record has been my AOTY so far. Would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the Extra Life EP by that band Crushed. Has gotten A TON of plays from me. The song “Milksugar” is an absolute banger.
— —
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
