THE SKINNY: I sat down with Blake Martin, scream machine from Where The Ocean Meets the Sky, to talk about a few things; namely their latest album. They've digitally released their first EP: Sexy! and are getting ready to push out a fully pressed, physical, tangible version in less than a month. Blake told me all about how the album came to be, and what's on the horizon for the band who's name literally means "horizon".
PraiseForWallflower: Tell me how you managed to book a slot at the studio you recorded at, and tell me a little bit about it and its history.
Blake Martin: Well basically, we got booked through a MySpace message from Matt "Debris" Menafro. He sent us a message, asking us to come up and record with them, as he was an up and coming producer in their ranks and wanted to work with us. At first I was kind of like "Who the hell is Big Blue Meenie Studios?" but Freddie conversed with Matt and looked into the studio. Upon finding out that one of my favorite albums of all time "Tell All Your Friends" was recorded there, along with a bunch of Thursday albums, and a laundry list of huge names, I was sold. At first we thought it might be too expensive, but they worked us a good deal and we went up there for 6 days. We were produced by Debris, and the proprietor of the establishment, Tim Gilles and it was one of the greatest experiences of our lives. Also, seeing the tell all your friends gold record on the wall when we walked in was kind of surreal.
PFW: That would've been surreal for anyone who's not a robot. So now that you've got this pro new record at your disposal, what are your promotion plans - how are you getting this CD out there?
Blake: Well we have some digital distribution going down with iTunes, Napster, Amazon, and E-music. We are getting it pressed as we speak and it will be physically released On July 3rd at a show at 7@7 with a bunch of awesome bands from South Jersey. We are [also] going on a 10 day tour from July 10th thru 20th culminating in a show at Hangar 84 on July 20th with Emarosa, In Fear and Faith, Burden of a Day, Our Last Night, I See Stars, and Broadway. Outside of that tour we will be playing anywhere for anyone who is willing to listen, to promote the album.
PFW: You mentioned to me that there are new songs in the works already, and that your set is ever-growing. And, since this release is an EP (and quite short at only 5 songs), how long do you intend on waiting before you jump into the FULL LENGTH album biz?
Blake: That's actually something we've all talked about at great length. We are debating whether to go with another EP in the late fall/winter. We are shopping labels right now, and we've talked to several so far but as of now that has to stay pretty under wraps - so, the timetable for a full length is unknown. Regardless, you'll be hearing new tracks in their recorded form by winter time. We may even record a couple tracks towards the end of the summer just to satisfy everyone's appetites. We are just looking for any and all opportunities to get our music out there into the world. We feel that our band has a strong audience out there in the scene. We are just trying to figure out how to get to that audience.
PFW: The Sexy! EP is 5 tracks of music that has very little front-and-center-lead type of stuff, with the exception of the Singing vocals which take the stage maybe half the time. With that said, it seems that the songwriting would have to be a community writing process, what can you say to that?
Blake: Well the songwriting is a community process. As far as the music itself, Marc or Freddie will come up with a piece of music, a riff, a lead, something [then] Kenny and Matt will build off of that - sometimes one member will take the lead, but it is by no means a dictatorship. As far as lyrics go on Sexy! I wrote a large amount of the lyrics as a whole but it was a community process, again. We all build off of each other's parts, and suggest melodies to one another. If you listen closely to the songs you'll notice we tend to write songs as stories. Each vocalist having their own role in the story.
So, the best example of that story telling would be found in "I'm your Huckleberry" where I took a conflict/dislike I had for a certain individual and placed that into an old western setting. If you listen to my parts, I'm the antagonist of the story, trying to duel this guy, etc. Kenny and Marc are the onlookers, kind of commenting on the scene: "Undertaker, undertaker, this man must be mistaken for, a pinebox and a funeral." Basically, they are saying that this guy doesn't have a chance, and if you've ever watched a western, they are insinuating that he's being measured up for a casket. We don't try to be overly poetic or anything. We just want to write what we feel, what we know. Now sometimes we will take our lyrics, stories, experiences, and place them into a different setting - such as the case with Huckleberry.
Listen to "I'm Your Huckleberry" here, and see what he's talking about...
PFW: Lots of bands tend to be overly cryptic. There's [apparently] something "indie" about saying certain words certain ways, using cliches - and there's a common trend where lyricists write the most vague prose on earth and call it art - when in reality it might not even mean anything to them. That style is fine if the artist intends it to be that way, sort of like the Beatle's "Come Together" but its rubbish if they're regarded as DEEP for doing that. So, seeing a band put time and effort into all facets of the writing - melodic, rhythmic, and lyrical - is refreshing.
Blake: That's exactly how we feel as well. Personally I wouldn't write something if it didn't evoke some emotion from me - how can I pour my heart into a song that I can't feel? I'm not Shakespeare: I write what I feel, I write from the heart, and I leave it all on stage. Every member of this band is the same way.
MYSPACE: http://myspace.com/wheretheoceanmeetsthesky
PURCHASE: Amazon MP3
Blake Martin: Well basically, we got booked through a MySpace message from Matt "Debris" Menafro. He sent us a message, asking us to come up and record with them, as he was an up and coming producer in their ranks and wanted to work with us. At first I was kind of like "Who the hell is Big Blue Meenie Studios?" but Freddie conversed with Matt and looked into the studio. Upon finding out that one of my favorite albums of all time "Tell All Your Friends" was recorded there, along with a bunch of Thursday albums, and a laundry list of huge names, I was sold. At first we thought it might be too expensive, but they worked us a good deal and we went up there for 6 days. We were produced by Debris, and the proprietor of the establishment, Tim Gilles and it was one of the greatest experiences of our lives. Also, seeing the tell all your friends gold record on the wall when we walked in was kind of surreal.
PFW: That would've been surreal for anyone who's not a robot. So now that you've got this pro new record at your disposal, what are your promotion plans - how are you getting this CD out there?
Blake: Well we have some digital distribution going down with iTunes, Napster, Amazon, and E-music. We are getting it pressed as we speak and it will be physically released On July 3rd at a show at 7@7 with a bunch of awesome bands from South Jersey. We are [also] going on a 10 day tour from July 10th thru 20th culminating in a show at Hangar 84 on July 20th with Emarosa, In Fear and Faith, Burden of a Day, Our Last Night, I See Stars, and Broadway. Outside of that tour we will be playing anywhere for anyone who is willing to listen, to promote the album.
PFW: You mentioned to me that there are new songs in the works already, and that your set is ever-growing. And, since this release is an EP (and quite short at only 5 songs), how long do you intend on waiting before you jump into the FULL LENGTH album biz?
Blake: That's actually something we've all talked about at great length. We are debating whether to go with another EP in the late fall/winter. We are shopping labels right now, and we've talked to several so far but as of now that has to stay pretty under wraps - so, the timetable for a full length is unknown. Regardless, you'll be hearing new tracks in their recorded form by winter time. We may even record a couple tracks towards the end of the summer just to satisfy everyone's appetites. We are just looking for any and all opportunities to get our music out there into the world. We feel that our band has a strong audience out there in the scene. We are just trying to figure out how to get to that audience.
PFW: The Sexy! EP is 5 tracks of music that has very little front-and-center-lead type of stuff, with the exception of the Singing vocals which take the stage maybe half the time. With that said, it seems that the songwriting would have to be a community writing process, what can you say to that?
Blake: Well the songwriting is a community process. As far as the music itself, Marc or Freddie will come up with a piece of music, a riff, a lead, something [then] Kenny and Matt will build off of that - sometimes one member will take the lead, but it is by no means a dictatorship. As far as lyrics go on Sexy! I wrote a large amount of the lyrics as a whole but it was a community process, again. We all build off of each other's parts, and suggest melodies to one another. If you listen closely to the songs you'll notice we tend to write songs as stories. Each vocalist having their own role in the story.
So, the best example of that story telling would be found in "I'm your Huckleberry" where I took a conflict/dislike I had for a certain individual and placed that into an old western setting. If you listen to my parts, I'm the antagonist of the story, trying to duel this guy, etc. Kenny and Marc are the onlookers, kind of commenting on the scene: "Undertaker, undertaker, this man must be mistaken for, a pinebox and a funeral." Basically, they are saying that this guy doesn't have a chance, and if you've ever watched a western, they are insinuating that he's being measured up for a casket. We don't try to be overly poetic or anything. We just want to write what we feel, what we know. Now sometimes we will take our lyrics, stories, experiences, and place them into a different setting - such as the case with Huckleberry.
Listen to "I'm Your Huckleberry" here, and see what he's talking about...
PFW: Lots of bands tend to be overly cryptic. There's [apparently] something "indie" about saying certain words certain ways, using cliches - and there's a common trend where lyricists write the most vague prose on earth and call it art - when in reality it might not even mean anything to them. That style is fine if the artist intends it to be that way, sort of like the Beatle's "Come Together" but its rubbish if they're regarded as DEEP for doing that. So, seeing a band put time and effort into all facets of the writing - melodic, rhythmic, and lyrical - is refreshing.
Blake: That's exactly how we feel as well. Personally I wouldn't write something if it didn't evoke some emotion from me - how can I pour my heart into a song that I can't feel? I'm not Shakespeare: I write what I feel, I write from the heart, and I leave it all on stage. Every member of this band is the same way.
MYSPACE: http://myspace.com/wheretheoceanmeetsthesky
PURCHASE: Amazon MP3
0 of you said...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
