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Unsigned518 - Episode 176 - Architrave · Unsigned518

• 0:01
  Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73 he loves punk rock music fighting the 13 cabin in the dazzle jazz rock now on the beat guitar with a short with radio back his motherfucking envy scrolling look at motherfucker cuz here he comes Andy Sculling wearing his orange.
• 0:26
  Speaker B: Hat welcome to unsigned 518. I'm here with Architrave. How's it going?
• 0:32
  Speaker C: Good.
• 0:32
  Speaker D: Great. Thank you for having us back.
• 0:34
  Speaker B: Yeah, and we, you know, we were saying before we got rolling, if anybody wants to hear the origin story, they can go back and listen to the first episode that we did because now we're moving on with what's been happening basically since the last time you're on the show. And I probably should have researched what episode number it was, but you know.
• 0:56
  Speaker D: Whatever, people can Google Architrave and unsigned.
• 0:59
  Speaker B: 518, it will absolutely show up. But so I guess what's been going on in the last year and a half, two years?
• 1:10
  Speaker D: Well, we just put out our fourth album. I guess that's kind of a lot of albums since 2020. Yeah, we really just keep pumping them out.
• 1:19
  Speaker C: But this almost one a year, but not, not quite, quite. Yeah, so.
• 1:23
  Speaker D: So this is our fourth one and we're gonna be doing a little sort of touring as we do just like one day here, one day there this summer. I'm trying to get it heard, get it around the northeast at any rate. And we're really excited about this one.
• 1:36
  Speaker B: And when you say like the tour, is that something you're just booking yourself?
• 1:40
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:41
  Speaker B: And how far does it go?
• 1:42
  Speaker C: It's usually just weekenders. This actually has our first furthest shows are coming up in the next two months. We're playing Richmond. Richmond, Virginia and Pittsburgh.
• 1:55
  Speaker B: So. And how was that like, you know, to go that far away from. From home to play shows like. Like, because I get, I mean I get nervous playing shows where I'm like, I can look out and be like, I know 20 people in the audience, like, how is it?
• 2:12
  Speaker D: I love the, the best part to me is playing with these other artists and meeting them and getting to hear their music and getting to know. We've met so many amazing people just on these sort of like, you know, a few hours away kind of gigs, you know, finding like minded people who make music with synthesizers and electronic beats. There's not much of that happening here, to be honest. And so like really having to like reach out to network to find other people who are making music that's sort of aligned with what we're doing is is, you know, it's challenging but like finding them is such a rewarding thing. They're such wonderful people usually and it's just great to connect about the art. And then, you know, we all sort of like help each other find shows with other people who are in that same kind of network. And it's just kind of an awesome community that's sort of loose but small around the Northeast. I think that we're finding we're making sort of synth based music and I love it.
• 3:12
  Speaker B: And you know, and when I think of, you know, I'm not someone who has like a electronic music background, but like, you know, when you say synth or electronic, like what you guys are putting out is not what I would expect when I hear electronic because I almost don't even think of it as electronic music, if that makes sense. It's just fantastic music.
• 3:35
  Speaker D: We're kind of getting more comfortable this. I think one thing that's been happening with us recently is we're really leaning into the fact that we are kind of genreless. Yeah, we are coming from a bunch of different kinds of music and it's all still there. Like, I'm a DJ. I've been making electronic music, DJing electronic music for decades. So that's in there. We're both coming from like new wave, 80s stuff because we're old and we were there for the same and both liked that stuff. And then Paul was in all kinds of indie rock bands. So there's definitely the guitar, bass element, live kind of a live organic analog element that's also there. And so I think we're not trying to pigeonhole ourselves into any particular genre that might have been. I don't know if that was ever a goal for us.
• 4:22
  Speaker C: No, I don't think that was.
• 4:23
  Speaker D: But it's becoming apparent that that's just going to be what we are.
• 4:26
  Speaker B: Right.
• 4:26
  Speaker D: So what's cool is that means we can hang on all kinds of bills and it'll make sense. Maybe sort of. But it means that we get to meet all kinds of different bands, play with all different kinds of bands and. And be sort of an element to any bill. That's kind of interesting because we're not really aligned with any of it. We get on a lot of goth bills and I don't think we're particularly goth, but it seems.
• 4:51
  Speaker B: But it works. Like as soon as you said that, like, you know, that could work.
• 4:55
  Speaker C: We don't, we don't, we don't dress up though.
• 4:57
  Speaker B: You should, you should once in a while.
• 5:00
  Speaker C: I mean, We, Yeah, we. We. We try and present ourselves well, but we're not loading on the.
• 5:07
  Speaker B: The makeup and black fingernail polish and corpse paint.
• 5:11
  Speaker D: But this year we've played several events that were sort of modular synth showcases where it was, you know, mostly about sort of noise or improvisational electronic stuff that would feature like one synth pop kind of act. And we got to be the. That for a couple of shows. I love that kind of stuff. Like, I really love that there's this range where we're playing with these kind of, like, really arty kind of shows all the way to, you know, goth nights around, you know, and.
• 5:42
  Speaker C: Yeah, because we. The. The one that she's talking about, we played at the Clark Art Museum, which was fantastic.
• 5:47
  Speaker D: Oh, my gosh, that was absolutely amazing.
• 5:50
  Speaker B: Yeah, because, like, when, again, it's just like my personal whatever, but, like, a lot of the times when I think of electronic music, I think of something that kind of repeats a lot.
• 6:00
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 6:00
  Speaker C: And I like Philip Glass type thing or even, like.
• 6:04
  Speaker B: Even like a techno. But, yeah, a Philip Glass thing. You know, something that, like, lulls you in with this repeating thing.
• 6:10
  Speaker D: No, we. We write songs.
• 6:12
  Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Like they're. They're songs. And. Which is why I said, you know, because I have a five on a playlist I listen to all the time. And it's not like I'm like, oh, here's an electronic song. You know, it just fits right in with everything, which is a.
• 6:29
  Speaker C: Which is great.
• 6:29
  Speaker B: Yeah, it's totally.
• 6:30
  Speaker D: I think the electronic element with us is like we program the beats right, you know, and electronic instrumentation, like synthesizers. But you're right, it's not electronic as a genre. You're correct. Absolutely.
• 6:43
  Speaker B: There are electronic elements, I guess, but it's. It's certainly. I mean, in my opinion, it's very songwriter centric.
• 6:50
  Speaker D: Like, for the Eddies, the first time we were nominated for an Eddie, it was electronic was the category, I think so. And then they moved us to alt indie the next year. And I actually do think that that is more appropriate for us.
• 7:03
  Speaker B: And again, I think it's kind of optics, you know, because a lot of people are probably like me when they hear electronic music. They're thinking techno or.
• 7:12
  Speaker D: Yeah, it is. It is more specific than maybe we would like to think.
• 7:17
  Speaker C: And I mean, I think that how we actually play with just the two of us, and we are using a lot of electronics to do what we do. But, you know, if we had unlimited budget and whatever, like, we could have. We could easily have a full band.
• 7:33
  Speaker D: Oh, for sure. We just don't. Because it's too convenient for us to be able to work just together, you know, and steal a few minutes to practice or whatever. And touring is so easy with the two of us.
• 7:43
  Speaker C: Yeah. Because I mean, we're just like. Did you check the calendar? Yeah, we can do it. Okay, let's go. You probably know the struggle of having a band.
• 7:53
  Speaker B: I mean, we've got five of us, so.
• 7:55
  Speaker C: Yeah, that's hard.
• 7:55
  Speaker B: And three of them have teenagers, so it's like, it's very tough. Especially like in the summer when like. Yeah, yeah.
• 8:02
  Speaker C: With Haley Moly, we had five and. And you know, Haley Moly is just kind of on hiatus because there's. There's a lot of new babies, so.
• 8:12
  Speaker D: Yeah. And we could never really tour with them. It was just too. It's like herding cats when you have that many people. There's no way.
• 8:19
  Speaker B: Yeah. And I mean, even if everybody wants to do it, like, it's so many. You know, if you're in this game, you have stuff to do, and then you also have a life outside of the music thing. Like, it's. It's so hard to like. And I'm kind of in the position where we don't have kids or whatever, so I'm always the one that's like, yeah, I can do it, you know.
• 8:39
  Speaker D: But it's like you need a solo act.
• 8:42
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I'll just get up there and play, like, my bass. There you go.
• 8:48
  Speaker C: We have kids that are now driving, so it's. The game has changed for us a little bit.
• 8:52
  Speaker B: So you got. So you have roadies now?
• 8:58
  Speaker C: Well, I guess last night counts, but that wasn't an architrave show.
• 9:01
  Speaker D: Yeah, Sonia. Sonia has played. Our kids have contributed saxophone to some of our recordings and live performances, but their interests are diverging.
• 9:12
  Speaker B: Gotcha.
• 9:13
  Speaker D: To put it mildly. They're not into what we do.
• 9:16
  Speaker B: Mom and dad aren't cool anymore.
• 9:19
  Speaker D: How do you rebel against parents who do their. This kind of music? You focus on classical and jazz. That's what.
• 9:26
  Speaker B: Okay. So. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I had a friend in. In high school. His parents were, you know, the coolest people that we knew. You know, they were like. They wrote Harley's. They were like, really? And. And he was very studious and very preppy, and that was his way of rebellion. He was like, I'm gonna rebel by following every rule, you know?
• 9:45
  Speaker D: Yeah. It just goes back and forth, generation to generation. Probably their kids will be wild rock and rollers.
• 9:52
  Speaker B: Right. It just bounces back and forth. That's awesome. So I do want to talk about the new album, but I think before we get into it, one thing that I was thinking, like, as this conversation was coming up, I was kind of wondering, like, how you write this. Like, you know, how do you approach the songwriting? Like, is it something that comes as, like, an idea in your head and it starts small? Do you both sit down together? Like, I guess a little insight into that.
• 10:19
  Speaker C: I think it can vary. For the most part, I would say it is all Jen. There. There are times where I have, like, been playing in the back, building a beat or something, and. And she's like, can I use that? And I'm like, okay. And then there's other times where.
• 10:35
  Speaker D: Or you'll do, like, a bass riff and I'll be like, hold that thought, you know?
• 10:39
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 10:40
  Speaker D: But mostly it's me writing stuff first and then bringing it to Paul for him to elaborate on with the bass.
• 10:49
  Speaker C: Yeah. I guess I have a lot of my own other projects, so, yeah, this.
• 10:55
  Speaker D: One is mainly my. Where everybody has to humor me and my vision.
• 11:00
  Speaker C: I'm everybody.
• 11:01
  Speaker B: Right. But it's. You know, when you say an idea, like, once it becomes that idea, do you both kind of attack that one song or. Or do you throw out an idea, give a little idea, and then put it on the back burner until you revisit it?
• 11:20
  Speaker D: Like, I guess it's different from song to song. Mostly I will mock the whole thing up with beats and get everything into logic and even down to the vocals and everything. But probably along that way, you're adding to it with the bass.
• 11:36
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 11:37
  Speaker D: I don't know.
• 11:39
  Speaker C: I think if. Of anybody I've ever known and worked with musically, Jen is. Has the. The Brian Wilson thing going on where she can, like, picture exactly what she wants it to sound like.
• 11:51
  Speaker B: Like, the composition's already there.
• 11:53
  Speaker D: Yeah. The whole thing kind of comes to me all at once. It might start with, like, a. I'll hear a vocal melody or, like, a little snippet of something, but from that it all kind of rushes in and I can hear the whole thing. And then, you know, this band has been kind of a revelation for me because this is the first context where I've been able to, like, actually make things sound exactly how I picture it, because I have all the resources. Paul's been really instrumental in helping me or facilitating that in the sense of, like, he has a lot of technical knowledge about how to, like, make things happen electronically or, like, recording and. And you know what we need to make a certain thing Happen. I can describe it. And he'll be like, we need this machine or we need to do this, or, you know, and, like, from there, suddenly I have a new tool in my palette, you know, that I can make it. And so now I can basically picture something and it's out in the world.
• 12:52
  Speaker B: That's cool because, like, I can. You know, a lot of times I'll hear, like, a song in my head that I'll be like, ooh, I can hear a whole song in my head. But it's like, I don't know how to. I don't know how to pick it apart and, like, translate it and get it out. You know what I mean? So it just was there for such a small time.
• 13:09
  Speaker D: Yeah. I mean, the reason this happened so late in life for me is because when I started out getting interested in music, I mean, I've always been interested in music. I've always sung. But my thing that I would do as a young person was I had an acoustic guitar and I would do, like, coffee shop stuff and sing and play the acoustic guitar and. And it did not sound how I wanted it. I was picturing big, panoramic, you know, cinematic, synthesizer drenched, you know, bassy, you know, songs that had atmosphere. And I couldn't do it with an electric guitar. And I was like, oh, how do I do this? And, like, it didn't occur to me to just get a band together or, like, try to get the right instruments. So I just started DJing and just abandoned it. And, like, so now when I met Paul and came together with him, he was like, oh, we can do this, you know, like, we can make these songs sound the way you want them to. And we started with Haley Moly and definitely got somewhere. But the very specific things that I want to hear are coming out in Architrave.
• 14:15
  Speaker B: So that's really cool.
• 14:17
  Speaker D: Took a long time, but we're doing it awesome.
• 14:20
  Speaker B: Well, do we want to play a song?
• 14:22
  Speaker D: Yeah, definitely.
• 14:23
  Speaker B: Which one were we going to play first?
• 14:25
  Speaker D: Well, we just put a video out for a song called Parthenogenesis, which is kind of slightly different from what we normally do. It has, like a vocoder effect and it's kind of minimal in terms of lyrics, and it's more sort of ebm, dancey, like, industrial almost. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, like, everything else with us, it's not really that categorizable, but those are some elements of it. And it's kind of funny because the only lyrics are Parthenogenesis. Be your own man, somebody's got to do it. And so it sort of came out of the idea of parthenogenesis as a scientific thing, but then the idea that that's almost like a feminist thing, you know, like drawing a feminist thing from it. Like, you know, wouldn't it be great if you could just do it yourself and didn't need any help and, you know, what would. What would the world be like? So we put out a real sort of absurdist video that's out there on YouTube now, sort of drawing on that idea. It's a really funny video to me.
• 15:29
  Speaker B: And your videos were always awesome.
• 15:32
  Speaker D: Yeah, I love making videos. But anyway, so that's the newest thing that's happening from the album, and that might be the best one to play.
• 15:39
  Speaker B: Cool. All right, well, let's listen to parthenogenesis. Did I pronounce that right?
• 15:43
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 15:43
  Speaker B: Oh, hell yeah. Mark and Drave. And then we'll be right back.
• 17:52
  Speaker A: Somebody's got Sam. It's.
• 19:35
  Speaker B: All right. That was Parthenogenesis Architrave, and that one is on the new album. So I guess I. I would love to hear more about the. The new album. Although, I mean, I actually have. Have heard it. Yes, I reviewed it.
• 19:49
  Speaker D: Yeah. Great review. We really appreciated you, really, actually listening and commenting on individual songs. That was a real treat to read. So thank you.
• 19:57
  Speaker B: Yeah, no, I thought it was great. And it's. It's. It's. It's just really cool being able to get my. My first impression of. Of an album out, especially from bands that, like, I know that I have a history of liking, like, so I was really excited to be able to review that one.
• 20:13
  Speaker D: Thank you. Well, like all our albums, this one is coming out of probably a lot of anxiety about the world, so the political climate and. And just general decay of society. So there's a lot of anxiety in the album, but a lot of, like, searching for, you know, hope. Hope and positivity in the world. So, like, there's a song about AI and how scary it is, and then a key song that we already did put out was called Seen Enough, and that one was about, you know, like, wow, I just want to check out. I don't like this anymore, but I really should try to be grateful for the one life I've been given and how can I balance these two feelings that I have just totally had it with this planet and. But I should really just like, enjoy my life, you know, and so that's what that song was about. And I think that's kind of the Whole. The vibe of the whole album is like, screw this. But I love being here, you know, like, it's just, it's.
• 21:16
  Speaker B: I feel both of those things, like multiple times every single day.
• 21:20
  Speaker C: You know, Sometimes I wonder if that's middle age and sometimes I wonder if it's just now.
• 21:25
  Speaker D: There is a lot about middle age in the album because here we are.
• 21:29
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 21:30
  Speaker D: I would say Cruel Tsunami is the key song about being middle aged for probably reasons that should remain mysterious, but I'm gonna say that. But like, so. But the name of the album Panic Joy came from a key moment last year when the solar eclipse happened. We drove to be in totality to experience it. I didn't care about it at all, but our kids were like, let's go. So we went. And I can't even tell you how shook I was by the solar eclipse. Like, it freaked me out to my core. Just looking up at that. I. It was so insanely significant for me. And it really did turn out to be a moment like that that sort of reaffirmed my interest in living. Like, I just was like, I can still experience this level of like absolute awe for life and. And just like the universe and everything, you know.
• 22:30
  Speaker B: Right.
• 22:31
  Speaker D: And so, and you know, we. It had been, you know, a tough year. I mean, it's been a tough life and for everybody. And to have a moment like that every once in a while where you're just like focused on something that's truly amazing is important. And it's really important to like focus on those moments and. And be affected by them and like put them back out through art. And so that's what I think I was hoping to do with this title, with this album is like the song that's called Panic Joy. The phrase panic joy came to me that day as like the only way I could describe what I felt. It was like joy, but like, what the hell is happening? You know? Like, it was just so disconcerting and like amazing and earth shattering. So.
• 23:16
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 23:17
  Speaker C: Did you. Did you catch the eclipse?
• 23:19
  Speaker B: Well, I was literally just going to say, like, I gave you a copy of our new album and I wrote a lyric about the eclipse.
• 23:26
  Speaker D: No way.
• 23:27
  Speaker B: That I had a crazy middle aged moment. My. My lyric is, I never thought this day would come, but here I am, still dumbfounded and staring at the sun.
• 23:38
  Speaker D: Get out.
• 23:39
  Speaker B: Because I was sitting in my backyard and after mocking the shit out of my band for caring about the eclipse my guitarist drove to see. And I was like, you fucking nerds. Like, you know, like, this is like so dumb. Like, whatever. And I just happened to be home alone. And, like, as it started happening, I grabbed a lawn chair and a joint and I sat down in the middle of my lawn and smoked a joint and had the little special song and watch the eclipse and had a moment where I was like, this is wild. That I could be. You know, at the time I was 51. I'm like, I can be 51 years old. And so that's why. I don't know if you noticed the looks when you were saying that. I kept going, oh, my God. Like, I have chills. Like, on the same day at the exact same time. Like.
• 24:26
  Speaker D: Well, I mean, so many people had that. Like, we were with a lot of people.
• 24:31
  Speaker C: Yeah. It was like we went up to.
• 24:32
  Speaker D: Fort Henry and we were standing on a. Fort Henry, standing on a beach with, like, a bazillion people we didn't know. And, like, the roar of everyone just reacting.
• 24:43
  Speaker C: It was like a gasp. Yeah.
• 24:45
  Speaker B: Yeah. Because, like, what you're seeing, you know.
• 24:47
  Speaker D: You think of it having this primal, like, what the heck? Experience, you know?
• 24:51
  Speaker B: Yeah. You feel so insignificant. And, like, you read.
• 24:54
  Speaker C: You read those stories about, like, how cultures, way back in time would, you know, they. They were afraid of the eclipse and, like. And. And you don't really understand it until. Yeah.
• 25:07
  Speaker B: And can you imagine not having any idea what was. Like, what is even going on? Like, the same with, like, Earth. Like, I don't know if you've ever been in an earthquake.
• 25:17
  Speaker C: Yeah. Just little ones around here.
• 25:19
  Speaker B: I was out in LA for a.
• 25:20
  Speaker C: Like, a real one.
• 25:22
  Speaker B: For, like, a real one. And I moved home. Like, I was so shocked. I was. It was the most. And I couldn't get it out of my head. I was like, at any moment, I could just die. Like, I mean, we had, like, you know, all of our dishes flying out of the cupboards and, like, car alarms going off, and you could hear explosions in the background. And, like, you couldn't stand. Like, I felt like I was, like, hammered drunk. Like, you couldn't stand up. And I was. And literally the next day, I began my plans to head back to Vermont because I was like, every single bit of this. That's the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. And I. I felt like an ant.
• 26:03
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 26:03
  Speaker B: Like, I was. Like, the earth could just swallow you up and be done with you. Yeah. Yeah, I get it.
• 26:10
  Speaker D: I can imagine. It was the same level of, like, experience of just.
• 26:14
  Speaker C: Well, we had that. We had the benefit of knowing that we weren't going to die with yeah.
• 26:20
  Speaker B: Mine wasn't Panic Joy. Mine was Panic Panic. I hate and I'm going home. And whenever anybody, like, complains about, like, the Northeast winters.
• 26:32
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
• 26:33
  Speaker D: What song is it on here?
• 26:35
  Speaker B: It's on. Don't sink.
• 26:36
  Speaker D: Okay, now I want to, like, compile all the songs people have written about.
• 26:42
  Speaker B: At that particular moment. And like, I said, I was just sitting in my back lawn, and I was like, oh, I get it now. And I literally was like. It was. It was a thing where at band practice, I was like, who fucking cares? It's an eclipse. Whatever. It's gonna get dark. Like, stop talking about it.
• 26:58
  Speaker D: That's exactly the attitude I had. I was like, I can't believe we're going to deal with all this.
• 27:02
  Speaker B: Yeah. And then after, like, I was, like, crying going, it's beautiful, man.
• 27:07
  Speaker C: I had a lot of co workers that, like, went a little more west and north, and, like, it was cloudy for them.
• 27:14
  Speaker D: We got real lucky.
• 27:15
  Speaker C: Yeah, we got real lucky.
• 27:17
  Speaker D: But anyway, the COVID of our album is a painting by Bassam Gaetani. He's a Lebanese painter. And it, like, went by in my Facebook feed or something, and I was like, I get a lot of art in my Facebook feed. That there's just random. And I was like, that painting, it. It. It's the eclipse. Like, it reminded me so much of the eclipse. It was like a perfect piece of art depicting it. But it's not like a painting of an eclipse. It's like this radiating spiral of gold against a red background. And I was like, I don't know why, but this is giving me the panic joy feeling, like. So I wrote to this artist and I was like, oh, wow, can I please use this on my album cover? And, like, we paid him a little bit, and he. But he really got invested and, like, actually really likes the record. And so that was kind of a cool connection that came out of it to sort of get connected with this artist across the world.
• 28:12
  Speaker B: That'd be cool as. As an artist, like, yeah.
• 28:16
  Speaker D: I explained what the painting had evoked for me, and he loved that. And so that was kind of neat. So, yeah, I. I'm trying to think what else I can say about that. But definitely the. The eclipse was, like, became the focal point of the album for the art and for, like, the song about it, and just sort of the key moment where that sort of ties you to the will to live or to really, really live, like, really enjoy living and.
• 28:41
  Speaker B: Ties you do so many other human beings, you know, because there's very few things like, when you think about it, like, you could say, like, you know, everybody witnessed one thing, but, like, people were witnessing this thing in real time, not looking at a screen, you know, they were witnessing it together. And, like.
• 28:59
  Speaker D: Yeah, amazing, amazing experience. There's going to be another one in Spain when I kind of want to go in a couple of years. Right. Well, I don't know.
• 29:07
  Speaker C: Maybe the kids are out of college. Maybe we can go.
• 29:10
  Speaker B: There you go. That's not that. That's dedication.
• 29:12
  Speaker D: Yeah, definitely.
• 29:15
  Speaker B: So, you know, the album, you know, Panic, Joy out now, what other, like, I guess what other highlights do you feel are on the. On the album?
• 29:29
  Speaker C: Well, for me, it's tough. I love all the songs.
• 29:33
  Speaker D: I'm pretty invested in all of them, I would say.
• 29:36
  Speaker C: I. Well, live. I love playing Cruel Tsunami because I. There's a section at the end where Jen is, like, manipulating the synth and it gets kind of noisy and interesting.
• 29:49
  Speaker D: Yeah, that is fun to do. We should do more of that.
• 29:52
  Speaker C: Yeah, I agree with that.
• 29:54
  Speaker D: Paul loves to improvise.
• 29:55
  Speaker C: Oh, I love. Yeah, I just. I don't, you know, as playing bass, I'm not going to be doing that.
• 30:01
  Speaker D: But you like to have improvisation going on.
• 30:04
  Speaker C: Yeah, I like a nice, steady, like, baseline something, and then craziness over top of it.
• 30:11
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 30:12
  Speaker B: And when. When you're playing live, like, what are. You know, I know there's a lot, like, going on. Like, what, I guess are each of your individual duties. Like, are you doing a lot of.
• 30:22
  Speaker C: Loops or are you not? I mean, earlier on in the band, I did. Now it's really just playing bass and triggering some things. You know, for the most part, I think it's. For me, it's mostly just playing bass at this point.
• 30:37
  Speaker D: We have two synthesizers that I'm playing. We have live beats going on that we turn things on and off. We have a sampler to sort of add texture tracks.
• 30:47
  Speaker B: And. Is that like a pad sampler?
• 30:50
  Speaker D: Same thing with four big buttons. And we have them programmed to play certain things on each track. It'll bring up different samples for us.
• 30:57
  Speaker B: Cool.
• 30:57
  Speaker C: But we have it locked in with our groove box so that sometimes, you know, you trigger it there and it kicks off there and, you know, everything's locked together.
• 31:07
  Speaker D: It's a lot. I mean, there's so many things that can.
• 31:11
  Speaker C: I'm the technician in the band, so, yeah, it's. It's my job to make sure all that works.
• 31:15
  Speaker D: Sometimes I do want to go back to the acoustic guitar just because there's only one thing that can go wrong.
• 31:21
  Speaker C: Strings break.
• 31:22
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 31:23
  Speaker C: Use six things.
• 31:24
  Speaker D: Six things go wrong.
• 31:26
  Speaker B: Yeah. And any one of those things happen, and everything's gone to.
• 31:30
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 31:31
  Speaker B: Doesn't matter what string that breaks.
• 31:33
  Speaker C: The whole thing falls out of tune and you're done.
• 31:36
  Speaker D: A lot of wires, a lot of cables.
• 31:38
  Speaker C: I've. I've gotten it very. I've become very efficient with how everything's hooked up, though. So it's like. It's a system so we can get set up in, like, less than 10 minutes.
• 31:48
  Speaker B: Oh, wow.
• 31:49
  Speaker D: I'm trying to find ways to break away from what I'm doing for parts of each song and, like, perform, you know, like, actually interact, you know, like, dance around and actually, you know, emote. Because I'm so busy doing. Playing all the things, but, like, it's a hard balance to strike.
• 32:07
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 32:07
  Speaker D: You want to be able to engage with the audience, but you also want to be playing and not just listening to. Playing a backing track and just singing along. I don't want to do that either.
• 32:17
  Speaker C: Yeah. We try and stay away from having a computer on stage.
• 32:20
  Speaker D: Yeah. So we're really playing most of the stuff.
• 32:23
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 32:24
  Speaker D: It's all live, but it's. It's. It's a juggling act, for sure.
• 32:27
  Speaker B: Yeah. And again, that's, I think, what sets you apart from what a lot of people would consider an electronic act, because you're playing stuff. You're not just.
• 32:36
  Speaker D: I don't want to run it off people who use back.
• 32:38
  Speaker B: No, no, no, no.
• 32:39
  Speaker D: There's. If. If you're. If the value to your act is the person performing and singing, then you need a way to do that. So. I mean.
• 32:49
  Speaker C: Yeah, and we know artists that, like, they. They're very engaging as a. A singer, and, like, they couldn't do what they were doing if they were playing everything live.
• 33:00
  Speaker B: Right.
• 33:00
  Speaker C: They could bring in a whole band, but it gets expensive to tour that way.
• 33:04
  Speaker B: Yeah. I used to do. I've got the pedal around here because I used to play acoustically, but I did with some gadgets, and I had this thing called the beat buddy.
• 33:12
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah, those are cool.
• 33:13
  Speaker B: Yeah. You could program midi bass lines and string arrangements and drums, and, like, you could trigger it all just with a. With a foot, you know? So you press it once, and it'll do a little drum fill. You press it and hold it, and it'll go from part one to part two to part three.
• 33:31
  Speaker D: Oh, so you do have a solo act.
• 33:33
  Speaker B: I. I did 10 years ago. Well, not quite 10 years ago, but it. It was. It was really fun to do. And that was only one pedal and I used to it up all the time. I can't even imagine having all that stuff. Like.
• 33:48
  Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I do. I still do live looping now and then with. With the solo thing that I do. And I just have learned that when I make. When I up that like, I will essentially I. I either play into the up.
• 34:01
  Speaker B: There you go. Because nobody's gonna know.
• 34:04
  Speaker C: No, I, you know, sometimes I'm like, okay, I made that mistake. I better make that mistake again.
• 34:08
  Speaker D: It's art.
• 34:09
  Speaker B: Yeah, that's right. And that's sync. Charmer. Right?
• 34:11
  Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. I'm also in another thing, but a lot of other things which I'll talk to you about after.
• 34:16
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 34:17
  Speaker C: Cave and Bloom. But we're, we're. We're heavier rock.
• 34:20
  Speaker B: Oh yeah. I've definitely heard of Cave and Bloom.
• 34:22
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 34:24
  Speaker B: Cool.
• 34:24
  Speaker C: Not super active, but we're active. Just finished a record.
• 34:28
  Speaker D: It's very good.
• 34:29
  Speaker B: Nice. I'll check it out. Maybe I'll review it.
• 34:32
  Speaker C: Well, it'll be a while before it's out.
• 34:34
  Speaker B: Okay. Maybe I'll still be reviewing.
• 34:37
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 34:37
  Speaker B: Maybe I'll even be good at it by the time you are good at it. Well, thank you. But it's, it's, it's fun to do, but I never thought I would write.
• 34:45
  Speaker D: It's great that the Metroland is doing all this. It's just packed.
• 34:49
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 34:49
  Speaker D: Stuff.
• 34:50
  Speaker B: Yeah. And the team is constantly growing and there's always like, you know, different angles coming in, you know, like, because every time we get a new team member, it's like, oh, well, I'd like to cover the hip hop scene a little more. Let's go to the art scene a little more. And like, Aaron's just like, yeah, go with it.
• 35:07
  Speaker C: You know, like, I love that it's like so music centric. I mean, I know old Metroland was too, but it, it gives it more of a focus, I think.
• 35:17
  Speaker B: And I mean, you know, certainly like the arts and, and we're trying to get like more film, you know, because there's a huge local filmmaker scene. So we're trying to tap to that. But I think what ties like everybody at the Metroland together is music, definitely. So it's, it's probably always going to be a very music centric thing.
• 35:37
  Speaker D: Yeah.
• 35:38
  Speaker B: Although I like, I like the film.
• 35:41
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah. And there's amazing stuff happening around here.
• 35:44
  Speaker B: I. And I didn't realize that until very recently. Like, you know, talking to Corey Dempsey at Metroland. He does a lot of stuff with film and he's like talking about all these, like, you know, great films, and I'm like, I had no idea that there was a.
• 35:59
  Speaker C: Didn't they just win an Oscar? People who came out of Glens Falls that was.
• 36:04
  Speaker B: I don't know if they. It was either one or was not were nominated. But yeah, I had heard something like that of a filmmaker.
• 36:11
  Speaker C: I should know more, but I can't remember right now.
• 36:13
  Speaker B: But it's. It's really cool and like a lot of indie. Indie shit happening.
• 36:16
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 36:17
  Speaker B: Which is. Which is great. So I think we should play another song. Unless there's anything you want to add about the album.
• 36:26
  Speaker D: No, that's definitely.
• 36:27
  Speaker C: We should play a song, give some context to this one.
• 36:31
  Speaker D: Yeah, there's the song called Verrell on the album. I wrote that one about my great aunt. My dad's aunt. He wrote. My dad wrote an autobiography a couple years ago, and when I was scrambling to find lyrics for an instrument instrumental, I had already written I needed a seed, you know, And I was flipping through the biography and the autobiography, and he had written some really interesting stuff about his aunt, who was this woman who was a real loner but social. Like, she had a very interesting life and a very interesting character. And she used to just like show up on his doorstep and be like, let's go drive in. And. And when he was in college, I guess, and they would just drive around the Midwest and go to, like St. Louis or Chicago. And she knew everybody everywhere and was just this sort of well loved kind of character around the Midwest, I guess. She just had some interesting details about her life that I put into the song. And. Yeah, I think that's a good one to listen to.
• 37:38
  Speaker B: And it's called Varel Vell.
• 37:39
  Speaker D: That was her name.
• 37:40
  Speaker B: Oh, nice. Awesome. All right, well, let's check out Vell Architrave and then we'll be right back to wrap it up.
• 38:01
  Speaker A: Like every child she was in you when she was grown she chose to be alone her st. Baker cruise across the plains and in her bag was half a dozen diamond rain she put everywhere and all the women friends she gathered in the pride working factories in the brass for a time.
• 39:38
  Speaker D: And though.
• 39:38
  Speaker A: They all agreed that war is not the way she f she driven it Sam missionary dream when she died she left all the diamond rings.
• 40:53
  Speaker D: Too much.
• 41:00
  Speaker A: Live on, live on it live on I get forever like every child she was in.
• 42:34
  Speaker B: All right, that was Pharrell Architrave and Jen and Paul. I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come. Out here and do this with me. It's always cool to talk to you. And before we go, I want to give you the chance to say what I refer to as your gratitudes.
• 42:48
  Speaker C: Well, first of all, thank you.
• 42:50
  Speaker D: Yes. Thank you for having us back. Well, I guess thank you to Super Dark Collective and no Fun and all the places we get to showcase this stuff.
• 43:03
  Speaker C: Yep.
• 43:04
  Speaker D: We're really grateful to have such an awesome scene here that's supportive of this kind of music. Let's see. Hellseeker Club.
• 43:12
  Speaker C: Yep. Yeah, we just played one of those.
• 43:15
  Speaker D: So our kids.
• 43:17
  Speaker C: Yeah, our kids. And we should mention that we are speaking of Super Dark Collective for anybody who's familiar with Gary Zaroli. His whole catalog is out there on Bandcamp now. Shane from Super Dark put it up and he. He passed away last March. He was from cancer. Cancer. But finally we're. The tribute show is happening to him on the 30th of June at DA's. So it's. It'll probably be kind of. Kind of a loose night, like people showing up with guitars and just singing. It's kind of free form. But one of Gary's old bands, we're actually going to be performing with what's left of. With Thinner Friends, essentially, which was Gary, Sarah, Darby and Shane and Rachel. So we're going to do our level best to fill in for Gary and Sarah.
• 44:18
  Speaker D: So yeah, definitely come out to that one. We can all share together about our.
• 44:24
  Speaker C: Memories of Gary and plus, Gary was a fantastic photographer, so he there. I guess some of his photography books are going to be there. His sister's coming and probably going to be giving those away what he had left in his stock.
• 44:37
  Speaker D: So I'm looking forward to that night.
• 44:40
  Speaker C: I think that's gratitude.
• 44:44
  Speaker B: All right, so they are Architrave. I am Andy scullin. This is unsigned 518. I'll see you on the road. Unsigned 518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullin. New episodes are available every week wherever you stream podcasts. If you'd like to help support the show, please like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a coffee@buymeacoffee.com if you would like to advertise on the show, send me an email at unsigned518mail.com and to be a guest on the show, reach out to me through Instagram at unsigned518. Take care of one another and I'll see you next week. Andy Sculling.