On the night of August 15th, I went to The Anthem in DC to see the band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. If you’re unfamiliar with them, they’re an incredibly popular Australian rock band made up of talented multi-instrumentalists Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Cook Craig, Joey Walker, Lucas Harwood, and Michael Cavanagh. One of their main appeals is their approach to genre and exploring as many sounds in their work as they can. Since forming in 2010, they’ve put out 26 studio albums (not to mention 16 live albums) that have ranged from psychedelia, various kinds of metal, progressive rock, synth-pop, sunshine pop, folk, and many more. Despite this, they still have a consistent “King Gizzard” sound that’s rooted in vintage psychedelic rock. Flight b741, which was released on August 9th, is another new musical avenue for them: an early 70s-inspired blues rock album with obvious references to The Rolling Stones and T. Rex. My brief review is that it captures the sound perfectly, with heaps of nostalgia to boot, but still provides plenty of hooks and fuzzy guitar riffs to keep it a consistently entertaining listen. Give it a whirl when on a road trip. You won’t regret it.
Okay, now back to the concert. This was the first show for their tour to support Flight b741, with the opener at this show being Brooklyn-based indie-punk band Geese. They proved to be a fitting match for King Gizzard, as their newest LP 3D Country features a classic rock sound similar to Flight b741, albeit with more country influence. I enjoyed their performance, though, with only the core members of the band, their sound was more alternative rock that doesn’t capture the roots-based atmosphere of the album. Still, they were fun despite the more stripped-back aesthetic. There were occasional unique touches like hand drums and smooth keyboard playing, and I gotta give props to their frontman Cameron Winter. He’s a very interesting and captivating presence, with an oddball southern yodel-ish twang in his vocals that stood out to me.
After Geese’s set, there was a 30-minute break so King Gizzard’s crew could set up. Right before their performance started, a message appeared on screen reminding the audience to have fun in the mosh pit but to look after each other and report anyone dangerous to security. I didn’t get close enough to mosh, but I’ve heard enough horror stories of audience injuries to know that the message was responsible on the band’s part. I should also note the atmosphere and the crowd of the show. There were lots of young people at the show, (more men than women, though still a decent mixture) around their 20s and early 30s. With the band’s decade-spanning influences, it also made sense that there were also some middle-aged and older people that were likely fans of similar bands such as Phish or The Grateful Dead. All the concert tickets sold out quickly, so the general audience pit on the main floor had to be packed tightly to accommodate everyone. From my firsthand experience, it smelled of sweat, pot, and alcohol the entire time. Still, that was to be expected from a crowd made up mainly of stoners wanting to mosh or get zonked out on hallucinogens.
King Gizzard’s main ethos seems to be that not only do they never repeat an album, they also never repeat a show. The band’s live performances feature lots of extensive jamming, allowing for the musicians to ride a groove and riff off one another with improvisations, giving the songs a different feel from their studio counterparts. While the jams of earlier shows may have focused more on heavier metal riffs (according to my friend, anyway. Shoutout Nayeli!), the ones this one had fit more with the influences on the new album and are more bluesy (featuring harmonicas!) with some fuzzy psychedelia and touches of funk. I’m a fan of extended performances of songs to ride out a groove to its fullest, but admittedly some improvisations could be too aimless and lengthy. They were fun, but it got to a point where I nodded off before things kicked back into gear. However, these jams are a staple of their concerts, and it may not entirely matter to you if you enjoy watching talented performers work their craft (or if you’re super high). I’ll also give the band jams credit for being more inviting to new fans that may not have listened to all of King Gizzard’s albums and giving them something entirely distinctive to their concert.
The band’s setlist was very diverse and featured 14 songs from their catalog within 2+ hours. This included three of the new songs from Flight b741, and songs from Omnium Gatherum, Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava, Nonagon Infinity, and others. Despite each album representing a new era and sound, they all fit well together and never appeared too different from each other while still being distinctive. The funk grooves of “Iron Lung”, the raw acid flavoring of “The Dripping Tap”, and the last 30 minutes of the show with back-to-back metal songs (featuring fan favorites “Mars for the Rich” and “Supercell”) all shine brightly. What I admire about the band is their democratic approach to playing, with no member seeming more important than the other. Sure, Stu Mackenzie is their designated “frontman”, but each member gets time to solo, time to speak to the crowd, and opportunities to do what they’re good at. The concert closes on an intense and completely hypnotic drum solo by Michael Cavanagh at the end of “Gaia”.
King Gizzard provided and continues to provide wonderful concerts that rock out, all the while showcasing the band’s chemistry and never-ending talents as they continue being one of the best live acts around. I can’t recommend seeing them enough, whether it’s once or multiple times.
Despite their recognition being mainly limited to the UK, I love Glasgow-based rock band Primal Scream. Part of the group’s appeal is their wide range of playing styles and music genres. Starting out as an indie-pop band with almost no traction, they reached massive levels of success with 1991’s Screamadelica, which broke musical boundaries by combining their sound with dub, psychedelia, and acid house into something entirely their own. It’s still considered their magnum opus and remains a cultural landmark in both the UK’s indie-rock and rave scenes. Despite their huge new audience, they still continued to push themselves in wildly new directions with their following releases. These include 1994’s blues pastiche Give Out But Don’t Give Up, 1997’s experimental Vanishing Point, and 2000’s blaring industrial-noise-dance epic XTRMNTR. Recently, Primal Scream put out the lead single for their upcoming 12th LP, Come Ahead, titled “Love Insurrection”. This comes eight years after their last release, 2016’s Chaosmosis.
“Love Insurrection” is based on nostalgia in a few ways. The cover for both the single and album is a vintage photograph of Robert Gillespie Sr., father of lead vocalist Bobby Gillespie. I believe this is to relate to the 60s both visually and lyrically, as the lyrics talk about political and social turmoil. Musically, it’s a bit of a throwback to the sound that Primal Had on Screamadelica, featuring a funky “Madchester” shuffle beat, psychedelic wah-wah guitars, and breezy percussion and flutes. However, it keeps the sound fresh by adding influences from 70s soul, with a lush string section reminiscent of seminal artists like Curtis Mayfield who also addressed social consciousness in their work. As usual, the backing vocalists provided by the band give the music a soulful, almost gospel-type feel, not unlike previous Screamadelica singles “Movin’ On Up” or “Come Together”.
The single’s release comes with both a 6-minute full version and a shortened edit at 3 ½ minutes. Both versions are perfectly adequate depending on the type of listener you are, but I definitely recommend the longer cut if you’re willing to ride the groove as the song climaxes in a way that’s both beautiful and groovy. As it stands, “Love Insurrection” is a perfect song for psychedelic raves or summer beach parties, and signals a possible return to form from Primal Scream.
On Thursday, July 18th, pop-punk outfit Bowling For Soup hit up The Truman in Kansas City, Missouri to an eagerly-awaiting, sold-out crowd for the second stop on the 20th Anniversary tour of A Hangover You Don’t Deserve. The band is expertly comprised of original members Jaret Reddick, Chris Burney, and Gary Wiseman, joined by Rob Felicetti of The Ataris fame. Noting that it was the first time they’ve completely sold out a show in Kansas City ever, the band seemed very down-to-earth and super grateful, as always. Jaret recounted some great memories around the city from previous passings through and launched us right into the madness of A Hangover You Don’t Deserve.
To note, Chris Burney is currently out of the live lineup to heal from a leg/foot injury. They added his jersey to a mannequin for the duration of the set, which was wildly decorated to call back to the bright, funky ambiance of the album for which the tour exists.
The venue staffed multiple ASL interpreters for the performance, and their presence at the corner of the stage distracted the guys multiple times. They engaged in conversation as best they could, and asked some absurd questions while they took some time to remember the track list and keep a pace for the evening.
While Bowling For Soup aimed to play the 17 songs from the album in order, they did blank a couple of times and got things slightly out of order. Not enough for the crowd to fault them, and it made the set even more charming. With the help of a big wheel on stage, they chose “My Wena” as a mid-set track to shake it up a bit. And once they finished the album in its entirety, they encored with three fan favorites.
“High School Never Ends,” “Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day,” and “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” were the last songs echoing in our heads as elder millennial after elder millennial exited The Truman, joints popping and earplugs falling out. The evening was temperate and beautiful, keeping us in a cozy cocoon of nostalgia as we drifted home.
Chamber-rock indie band Cloud Cult from St. Cloud, Minnesota has just released their newest song “The Universe Woke Up As You” and it is a philosophical masterpiece. The song consists of Craig Minowa as the band’s lead vocalist and songwriter, Jeremy Harvey on the drums, Shannon Frid-Rubin on the violin, Sarah Perbix and Aurora Minowa as backup vocals, and Daniel Zamzow on the cello. Minowa recorded the song in the midst of a divorce, in the Wisconsin woods. Minowa was able to process his grief through music and regain control over his perspective on life with this song.
“The Universe Woke Up As You” came out as part of their Alchemy Creek album, due to come out on August 8th. This full-length studio album is made possible by Earthology Records, the band’s own record label created by Minowa himself. A really interesting fact is that Cloud Cult’s efforts to create music, advertise their band, and tour in the most sustainable ways possible have earned them a spot in “Top 10 Green Bands” by Rolling Stone in 2009.
Both the melody and lyrics of the song are melancholic and very reminiscent of the past. The feminine background vocals provide wonderful harmony to Minowa’s soft-spoken singing. In the end, a beautiful violin solo pulls the song to a close. In my opinion, the musicality of this song reminds me of Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”, mirroring its soothing vocals which convey a surprisingly depressing message. This 5-minute song is a great way to wind down after a long, hard day.
At the beginning of the song, Minowa can be heard whispering the intro, which makes the intended audience and all who listen feel small. The lyrics tell a story of hopeless nostalgia. Minowa reminisces about simpler times when he was a kid, and implies that things are much more difficult now as an adult having to deal with this “skull-sized hell.” Personally, my favorite verse of the song is:
Gonna draw myself a picture of the way things were What is real and what is fantasy? Well, I really can’t be sure There’s so much here to feel, well, it’s all just a blur Gonna draw myself a picture of the way things were
By the end, Minowa explodes into something bigger as he yells the title of the song “Today the universe woke up as you!” This piece depicts an interesting message of how one can control one’s own perception of time, space, and reality.
The accompanying music video starts with Minowa in front of a camcorder. It is apparent that the set takes place in some type of storage unit, giving the video a quickly-made unplanned feel. Behind him is the back of a garage door; on the camcorder screen, however, it is clear that the video editors have added a green screen to the background. The family-friendly vibe of the song is enforced by children acting as a film crew. For what seems low-budget, this video is a perfect visual for the song. “The Universe Woke Up As You” can be watched on YouTube here.
You can follow Cloud Cult on their own well-cultivated website. You can also subscribe to their Patreon, where they rank as one of the top content creators on the platform. Cloud Cult will be touring later this summer, headlining at the People Fest in Yuba, WI on August 9th. Be sure to catch them live before their last performance on September 28th at the Palace Theater in St. Paul, MN.
As a music journalist (at least, until my internship ends), it’s always a delight to write about something super offbeat. Case in point, a weird and entirely distinct artist like DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ. The pseudonymous London-based producer has an identity entirely their own, with their persona and pixel art imagery based on the late 90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Their musical style has its roots in lo-fi produced outsider house music but with wall-to-wall samples of the sitcom and other music/media sources from the 90s. It’s easily comparable to other house music that’s heavy with samples like Daft Punk and The Avalanches.
While DJ Sabrina has been releasing music since 2017, her breakthrough came with the monumental 3-hour-long album Charmed in 2020. As a pandemic release, its success strangely makes sense: her work has a trippy, transportive sense of nostalgia that whisks you away into a dreamy soundscape, a sentiment that appealed to people stuck in their homes. While her work is currently unknown outside of niche music circles, she’s been slowly but steadily gaining high-profile collaborations such as remixes for Porter Robinson and Nelly, as well as a co-writing credit on the single “Happiness” by The 1975.
This brings me to her newest single, “In Silence”, a teaser for an upcoming album due to be released this summer. Part of the fun of following DJ Sabrina is her wildly consistent work ethic, with a new single(s) per month, an album or two per year with 2-3 hours of quality tracks each, as well as professionally curated DJ mixes online. Yet despite being one of many in an endless sea of songs, “In Silence” still exemplifies DJ Sabrina’s strengths as a house producer who focuses on songs as wide-ranging experiences rather than just individual moments. It functions as a song you can still dance to in a club setting but has its sights on emphasizing feeling, atmosphere, and texture in a way that other house producers don’t aim for.
The cover art and music video have dreamlike imagery with various shades of purple and seems to be a clear reference to Kate Bush’s seminal 1985 album Hounds of Love (aka the one with “Running Up That Hill” from Stranger Things). “In Silence” earns this comparison by functioning in a similar mold as Bush’s work: kaleidoscopic synth-scapes that feel like their own little world. It’s layered with a lush atmosphere from pulsating synthesizers, and despite being entirely electronic, it still feels entirely warm and human. DJ Sabrina has always focused more on vibes and melody over dance beats (though the electro-funk here is still good) in a way that lulls you into the song’s hypnotic sense of surrealism. The vocals and songwriting here are more in a typical songwriting structure, though the sweet but sultry pitch that Sabrina sings at well matches the production.
“In Silence” isn’t one of her very best singles, and I would recommend listening to something from Charmed as an introduction to her work for newcomers. However, it’s still a memorable slice of danceable psychedelia from one of music’s most offbeat but original rising producers. With her upcoming album likely being very eclectic, based on every single released so far, it makes DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ worth having a close eye on.
As a music nerd, it’s fun to listen to new releases and try to figure out where an artist’s influences come from. However, it takes talent and real musical ambition to not just seem like an admirer of certain inspirations with nothing original to say. Inside Out, the...
If you didn’t know who Goose was already, then you could have gotten the full run-down from any man found within a 4 block radius of The Midland on Tuesday evening. “Do you know who Goose is?” a man in a gray tie dyed shirt excitedly asked me as I walked up to the box office to nab my photo pass. “Yes, I’m photographing them.” (And I do know their music. And they’re fantastic.) “Oh.”
But I didn’t have to worry about taking this man’s shine for too long. Almost immediately, he turned to a woman walking from the other direction and excitedly asked, “Do you know who Goose is?” She didn’t, and he was aghast. Immediately he launched into a tale about a young jam band that he and his friends championed from the beginning. I laughed at her expression, got my pass, and went inside.
But that’s what Goose does – they fire up the crowd. They are, in essence, a feel good band with an open, excitable fan base. Walking in, it felt like I was headed to camp. Everyone was complimenting each other’s shirts and looks, asking about strangers’ favorite songs, taking photos with signs and posters.
And that’s another thing… I’ve never seen so many banners and posters in this venue before. I’ve never felt the nostalgia of summer camp inside a venue in Kansas City. In my life. And I’m a native.
That was the vibe they brought. With an enchanting stage set, some quirky accessories (hello stuffed Luigi on a keyboard), and a crowd that was ready to be best friends, Goose brought everyone together on a perfect 70 something degree evening in the midwest.
As more nostalgia topics have cropped up since the beginning of the – let’s admit it at this point – ongoing pandemic, PBS has been top of mind for so many people who were able to grow up – or raise their children – with its expanse of knowledge ringing throughout their homes. Having educational experiences accessible to many different demographics – and on public access television – is an important resource for many.
Searching for Augusta Savage is the first film in a new series from PBS called American Masters Shorts. Augusta Savage was a Harlem Renaissance sculptor and art educator, whose work largely reflected the joy and expression in the Black community. She overcame numerous obstacles to further her own education and get her work seen. She captivated audiences long before her death, and her art stood to progress the inclusion of Black artists in spaces they had otherwise been excluded from.
A curious thing is that many pieces of Augusta’s work have gone missing, and her name is not as well-known as it once was, or should be. Why is that? Why has her legacy not been salvaged and taught as widely as other artists of her time?
This 22-minute episode is a deep dive into what history can tell us about this incredible black artist’s life and work.
Emo children of the aughts rejoice, because one of our favorite live bands is making the rounds again, and they’re bigger than ever before. Pop-punk bad boys Yellowcard delivered a kiss of surf pop, a hint of nostalgia, and a whole lot of energy every time they took the stage. So when I had the opportunity to interview Ryan Key, Yellowcard’s lead singer, Star Wars aficionado, podcast host, and content creator extraordinaire – I snapped it up.
One of the first things I say, after promising myself not to bring it up? “I spoke to you in 2006 and it was to ask you to sign a t-shirt for my friend and I was too nervous to say anything else.” Cool. Word vomit.
“Oh, I was such a little shit in 2006 too,” Key immediately admitted, laughing. “So, it should be a way better encounter this time, I promise.”
Key’s self-awareness eased us into a conversation that ran the gamut. From our shared love of Star Wars (Though I haven’t quite expanded into podcast territory yet), being driven by bitterness through some tough times, how it feels coming off the biggest tour Yellowcard has ever experienced, and reflecting on 20 years of Ocean Avenue.
Yellowcard’s rapid-fire return fueled a “Celebrating 20 Years of Ocean Avenue” tour that took on bigger venues than they’ve ever played. The band’s welcome back was far from polite, with screaming fans more dedicated to the art form, acceptance of the music, and enjoyment during shows to fuel the energy.
From theatrical beginnings…
Admittedly, Ryan didn’t do much with music growing up. He took piano lessons for a couple of months, hated it, and quit. He wasn’t much for musicals, either. He was much more attached to the idea of the theater. An idea – it seems – that may have stemmed from his first role as Tiny Tim in none other than A Christmas Carol.
“It’s two lines,” Key admits, laughing. “But being on stage at 6 years old in front of enough people, I can only imagine shaped me, changed me forever. Having that moment happen on your impressionable little 1st-grade mind. It’s like, yeah I want more of this. You get that dopamine hit of being on stage and the adrenaline of that, you want more of that. And you don’t know why but I think as a kid, after that, I was just dead set on being on stage however I could.”
In 10th grade, Key was accepted to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville and his pursuit of acting and theater got really serious. He was super involved at school in the shows and the deep, specific education. “We were studying Stanslovsky and real heavy stuff for high school kids,” Key says.
…to stress-reducing hobbies.
To help blow off steam in his -very limited – free time? “I had a band on the weekends,” he explains. “I got my first guitar when I was 11 or 12 years old and I played it and I wrote really crappy songs and had some friends that I played with but that was never gonna be something that I did professionally. I never even had it in my mind. I didn’t really enjoy singing, to be honest, very much. It’s still not my favorite part of my job. I was the lead singer of the band but I think that comes from that sense of wanting to be an entertainer, wanting to be a performer.”
This fact can be hard to believe, as Key’s vocal range is impressive and wide-ranging in its pop-punk glory. And his life performance tactics? Energetic to this day, at a level most people aren’t entirely capable of even at their peak. “It was never in my mind as something I wanted to pursue as a career,” he shrugs. “I just didn’t get into college where I wanted to go.”
When one door closes…
Ryan never let his rejection to the Theater Program at Boston University – twice, unfortunately – go. “I got into school in Boston but I didn’t get into their BFA program. My parents were like, ‘We’re not going to spend all that money for you to go to a private school in Boston if you’re not in the program that you want to be in.'”
While reasonable, it can be difficult to recover from something like that so early on in one’s career. From that bitterness was born a focus. Admittedly – and fairly – Ryan was spiteful about what had happened and chose not to complete the BFA program he started in Florida. He dropped out of school, leaned hard into music, and eventually began singing in Yellowcard.
To hear an artist admit to leaning into something in that anger is very refreshing. You often hear about heartache and heartbreak in everyone’s work, but it can be difficult to address the times of anger and instances when you feel things didn’t go the way they perhaps should have. Having a creative outlet to pour himself into was clearly the way to go, and is something so many of us should embrace as a healing mechanism in times of trouble.
Celebrating 20 Years of Ocean Avenue
Ryan says the band really appreciates the fact that the fans have weathered the storms alongside them. He credits this grand musical journey to the fact that fans have been patient and forgiving.
I have, personally, been a fan of Yellowcard’s since I was an adolescent, so getting a peek into their tour dynamic was ideal. When asked about the “Celebrating 20 Years of Ocean Avenue” tour, Key was almost gushing. “I feel like my favorite part of the tour was the energy between the band itself. I don’t think we’ve ever gone on a tour that was so lacking in negativity as this one. This tour was so full of happiness and positivity that it felt like an alien world, almost, compared to the Yellowcard that I’ve known for the past 20+ years.”
What Key refers to – this feeling of a more in-sync crew and better touring environment and experience – has been echoed by artists the world over since the pandemic triggered larger conversations around mental health and balance in the music industry. Tours are being approached in a more holistic manner, and it’s been a reinvigorating time in the music industry. He went on:
I think we all felt that way. Which compounded each other aspect of the tour. The shows and interaction with fans, on-stage and off, and the support I think that we had from our crew every day felt stronger and better. I think that’s because there was a sense of peace and calm on the road.
We’ve never had that. Yellowcard has historically been a bit of a chaotic and tumultuous bag of personalities that have not created the best environment to work in. So this was, you know, jarring in the best possible way, to get out there and get a couple weeks in and realize, Oh, everything is just OK. And we can just let that be.
Pausing to reflect
It was almost spiritual, the way that he described it. Key’s acute awareness of the dynamic of the band made me wonder, aloud, how long it took in his career to come to this acceptance of who he is and his identity in the band.
I think it started, for me personally, during the final chapter of it all, at the end. You know, in 2016, 2017. Realizing that I was going to lose it forever because, at the time, it truly felt like that was going to be the case. It started with, I think, just a simple idea of really wanting to enjoy that tour in 2016 and 2017 and the international stuff we did.
That whole experience, as much as I tried, was sort of tinged with the reasons we were stepping away from it. The metrics that you use to quantify success, right, started to say “This is on the way down. We’re on the backslide.” Let’s end this before it goes too far so we can end it on our own terms and make it something special for fans and for ourselves.
It went a lot deeper than that because it did go into the personalities and the inner workings of the band and things that we keep pretty close to the chest. So, as much as I tried to really enjoy it all, there was still an air of sadness and kind of negativity that had carried into that from all of the reasons we decided to step away in the first place.
It wasn’t until I got home and started to have to figure out how to make my own way [that the self-awareness set in.] And the pandemic, really, was huge. A good friend of mine from high school was stopping through to stay with me. I had moved back to Los Angeles – which didn’t work out because the pandemic hit and we couldn’t tour or work so I was only there for about 6 or 8 months and then I left to come back east – but I had gone out there to kind of re-establish myself there and start working on film and tv music and things I want to do, too, as I get older.
My friend stopped through and it was only going to be for a week but it was the week that the lockdown happened in California. So he ended up staying with me for an entire month. During that time, he sort of opened my mind to meditating and starting to truly figure out what was going on with myself and work on the reasons why I had ended up where I was. I had never taken a minute to look that far inward, I don’t think. So it really wasn’t until 2020 that I started to kind of forge the path that has led me back here, now, where I am.
As if to echo this spiritual, self-reflective sentiment, he notably wrapped the tour wielding a lightsaber, a symbol that the force is strong. While he claims that he brought the saber to make his nephew happy, we know there were probably additional motives here. (Because, really, who doesn’t want to have a lightsaber on tour with them?) For those of you wondering, yes, he does have a lightsaber lying around. In fact, he has multiple.
Embracing creative outlets
Besides his lifetime love of the franchise, Key has had the opportunity to connect with the franchise on a different level since the pandemic. “I’ve been really lucky the last 3 or 4 years to intensify my connection with Star Wars through hosting the Thank The Maker podcast with my friends,” he almost gushes. “I think Star Wars reminds you, at 43 years old, if you just give in and let yourself love it the way that I do, it reminds you how to play. That’s something that adults just don’t do.”
At this point, Key doesn’t realize he has hit a home run and we dive into a conversation about what being a “Disney adult” means in certain circles and some of the symbolism involved in Star Wars. We agreed that a certain level of play is encouraged to truly live a full life, especially as we age. “I’m a big fan of my wife for allowing me to just embrace that side, that childhood side of me, and letting me dress up in costumes with my friends and swing lightsabers around, you know?” he says, almost in amazement. “It’s really been a beneficial thing.”
Embracing change
As for if anything has changed for the band over the years – aside from the deep, self-realizations and occasional weaponry – Ryan says writing with everyone has become much more simplified. Explaining that the technology just wasn’t there to support quick changes to tracks and production fixes when they recorded their first albums, Key said the process now is just so much more accessible. “We can get right into ProTools, create the demo, program the drums so that we can change those around – we can try all the different options.”
The great part about having home studios is being able to control the sound as you build it. This way, you have more of an actualized recording that more than likely will sound much more similar to the final product. “It’s way more inspiring to have a good-sounding, ripping demo to steer the direction of the melody and the lyric that I’m going to put over the music.”
But the way Yellowcard writes? Pretty much the same. And super focused on the instrumentals. “It’ll start with usually a guitar riff. Shawn also has brought plenty of ideas on the violin or ideas for the structure of a whole song. He’ll have like a motif or a chord progression he will bring in that we will then build riffs and things around that.”
But you have to remember, Ryan is one with The Force. “I get middle-of-the-night ideas sometimes. I’ll wake up or I’ll not be able to sleep, one or the other. And it’ll just happen and I’ll take out my notes app on my phone and start plugging stuff in.
The title track from their latest release, “Childhood Eyes,” actually came to be that way. “I woke up with that chorus melody in my head and I started to put words to it. I could hear it happening in my head. And when I got to Austin for pre-production, I had an idea for the verse and the chorus in my notepad but I had never picked up a guitar to put music to it. So I just said, ‘Hey I have these lyrics and I have sort of a cadence and a rhythm for them.’ And we wrote the whole song in 15 minutes.”
Looking forward…
In the coming weeks, Key will be working from his new home studio. When asked about his plans for the space, he perks up immediately. “I’m doing the whole room black,” he says. “Ceiling, walls, floor. A lot of wood grain and a lot of green pops in the room. The vibe is super Scandinavian, and I love that. I’m a big fan of Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. I love that part of the world so much. So we have a lot of this [look] in our house.”
Even more than the initial planning and execution of the project, this room will hold so much more meaning for Ryan as an artist, as he explores new podcast-related projects, and films content, pursues long-term goals (like music supervision and composition), and writes new Yellowcard songs for us to enjoy. It will also hold space for Ryan as a new father, viewing movies and creating art in this space with his family.
You mentioned we met in 2006. I wouldn’t want to meet me in 2006, you know? It’s just not even comparable, the headspace I’m in now and the tools that I have now to kind of prove my reactivity and try to stay positive. Things I was just incapable of doing for the better part of my career in Yellowcard until now. So, in the end, stepping away from the band and having that time was probably the best possible thing that could happen to me, personally. Because the perspective that I’ve come back to the band with is just so wildly different than it’s ever been before.
Yellowcard has, once again, taken a front seat in Ryan’s life. Check out an upcoming performance near you throughout 2024.
