Flamingo Interview
Q: Can you give us some history on your musical background?
A: I started playing guitar in 6th or 7th grade, and I had this
history teacher who held an after school guitar class for any student that wanted to come and learn a few chords. So I just remember begging my parents to get me an electric guitar so I could go learn to play, and soon after that I joined my first band and music just started spiraling from there. In 2012 I went on my first tour playing guitar for my good friends in Seahaven. Shortly after that tour I became an official member and continued touring with them.
Q: Flamingo is an emotionally heavy album. Can you talk about some of specific themes that run through the album and why you chose to write about them?
A: On April 5th 2013 my mother passed away of liver cancer, and at the time I just tried to pretend like it wasn’t really happening. So I became a very cold person and shut everyone I loved out, and that was just my way of coping. Eventually the feelings I ignored hit me like a freight train and writing it down was my only way of understanding it. So I guess I didn't really choose to write about these themes of sickness, and death - those were just the themes of my life at the time. It was what I was surrounded by.
Q: What is the creative process like for you. Lyrics first? Music? Can you give us some insight?
A:It depends, some days I come up with a random melody, or drum beat in my head and don’t pick up a guitar at all, but traditionally I sit in my room with an acoustic guitar and noodle around until I come across a progression or riff that my ear wants to hear, and from there I try and build on the vibe and feeling of the guitar. Lyrics usually come last for me because I have to put myself into a certain type of head space to write them.
Q: Have you played the music on Flamingo live? If not are you planning to?
A: No not yet, but eventually I'd like to.
Q: I thought the production was very impressive and it’s completely DIY. Can you give our audience some pointers on how to get such a professional sound?
A: First off thank you for the compliment. I guess the only pointer I could give is to use the method of trial and error. I don’t know a lot about recording, or mixing and mastering. I just kept fiddling around in Logic until I got it to sound close to the way I heard it in my head. I also had help from my friend Matteo Russo who helped me track the album in his living room. He knows a lot more about recording than I do, and I think without him the record would've sounded way worse.
Q: What are your musical plans for 2017 and beyond? Do you have any ideas of what your next album will sound like?
I plan on releasing a new single or a B side in the near future, but other than that I haven’t really thought about the beyond. I think I might have an idea of what the next album will sound like, but ultimately it’s too early to tell. So who knows what it will sound like.
Q: Can you give us some history on your musical background?
A: I started playing guitar in 6th or 7th grade, and I had this
history teacher who held an after school guitar class for any student that wanted to come and learn a few chords. So I just remember begging my parents to get me an electric guitar so I could go learn to play, and soon after that I joined my first band and music just started spiraling from there. In 2012 I went on my first tour playing guitar for my good friends in Seahaven. Shortly after that tour I became an official member and continued touring with them.
Q: Flamingo is an emotionally heavy album. Can you talk about some of specific themes that run through the album and why you chose to write about them?
A: On April 5th 2013 my mother passed away of liver cancer, and at the time I just tried to pretend like it wasn’t really happening. So I became a very cold person and shut everyone I loved out, and that was just my way of coping. Eventually the feelings I ignored hit me like a freight train and writing it down was my only way of understanding it. So I guess I didn't really choose to write about these themes of sickness, and death - those were just the themes of my life at the time. It was what I was surrounded by.
Q: What is the creative process like for you. Lyrics first? Music? Can you give us some insight?
A:It depends, some days I come up with a random melody, or drum beat in my head and don’t pick up a guitar at all, but traditionally I sit in my room with an acoustic guitar and noodle around until I come across a progression or riff that my ear wants to hear, and from there I try and build on the vibe and feeling of the guitar. Lyrics usually come last for me because I have to put myself into a certain type of head space to write them.
Q: Have you played the music on Flamingo live? If not are you planning to?
A: No not yet, but eventually I'd like to.
Q: I thought the production was very impressive and it’s completely DIY. Can you give our audience some pointers on how to get such a professional sound?
A: First off thank you for the compliment. I guess the only pointer I could give is to use the method of trial and error. I don’t know a lot about recording, or mixing and mastering. I just kept fiddling around in Logic until I got it to sound close to the way I heard it in my head. I also had help from my friend Matteo Russo who helped me track the album in his living room. He knows a lot more about recording than I do, and I think without him the record would've sounded way worse.
Q: What are your musical plans for 2017 and beyond? Do you have any ideas of what your next album will sound like?
I plan on releasing a new single or a B side in the near future, but other than that I haven’t really thought about the beyond. I think I might have an idea of what the next album will sound like, but ultimately it’s too early to tell. So who knows what it will sound like.