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Hi Vince, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hi there. Thanks for having me and honored to have the opportunity to be interviewed. Really appreciate it and very grateful for your support. All things considered with the pandemic and all, was doing well, but I’ve been down the past couple of weeks with the war in Ukraine. Those poor people. It’s utterly heart breaking. Helps to have music to work on with the horrible news coming out on a daily, if not hourly, basis from that part of the world, although my mind can’t help drifting back to all the suffering taking place. It’s just devastating to see.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Oceans”?
It’s the first single off a new nine song album. Thought it would be a good song to give the listener a taste of what’s to come on the new record. It also features background vocals from Marisa Shirar, which is the first time I’ve had a guest vocalist on a track. The new album will be coming out this spring as a follow up to the debut album.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
Not any particular event, but there was a woman I was attracted to at the time who inspired the song and have a distinct memory of writing it. Came home on a Friday and while playing guitar had the realization that I was being emotionally drawn towards her. Felt compelled to write about it in order to better explore the depth of my feelings. Writing often helps me get a clearer picture and understanding of my emotional landscape. Know I wrote most of the lyrics that Friday night and if memory serves me think they were finished by the end of the weekend.
The single comes off your new EP by the same name, which is a follow up to 2020’sself-titled release. How was the recording and writing process for this new EP and was itsimilar to the previous album?
In some ways the recording process for the new EP was similar to the 2020 self-titled debut album. Chris King was once again at the helm as the producer, we used the same studio, and he mixed the EP, which is what he did on the previous album. The process was also similar in that I would bring in a song and we would first record an acoustic version of it. Once that was done, we would then build the song together using the acoustic track as a template, which is how we did the first release in 2020. There were some considerable differences though. One major difference in the recording process for this new EP was that Chris and I were six feet apart at all times while wearing masks due to the pandemic. The only time one of us was not wearing a mask was when I was doing vocals. The social distancing we maintained and strict mask policy we adhered to definitely made recording the EP a different experience.
Another difference was when the first album was recorded, we didn’t originally set out with the intention of recording a full-length album. At first, we were only going to record a single together. Two songs. Those songs came out so well I then asked Chris if he’d be interested in doing an EP. He was into the idea, so we recorded three more songs together for a five song EP. When we were finished with the EP, I was so happy with how the recording turned out, I approached Chris and asked what he thought about continuing to record more songs to have an album’s worth of material. Once again, he liked the idea and we recorded three additional songs, ending up with an eight-song album.
While the first album came about organically without any pre-conceived plan, when we got together to record this time, we knew we were going to record a nine-song album, so we approached it differently. One big change was Chris heard all the material before we began recording. This enabled us to do some planning in advance. Discuss our approach in a more informed way about how we wanted things to sound and have an idea where we were musically headed. Unlike the first album, we had a sonic concept in mind for this new record beforehand. We were striving for a more coherent overall sound, so that it sounds more like an album rather than a collection of singles recorded over time, which is basically what the first album is. The four songs on the EP came about during this recording process and will be a part of the new nine song album.
As far as the writing process goes, it was basically the same for both the debut album and the new EP. I write the songs and when I feel they’re finished show them to Chris. I bring him completed songs, but we always talk about things before we start recording a song, particularly the arrangement. Sometimes I’ll have a few different ideas for a certain part or different versions of how the song could go and he’s a great sounding board. I really value his knowledge and insight as a producer, and I’m always open to any idea he may have to possibly improve the song. There were even a few songs where I had different lines for a lyrical phrase and I would ask him which one he preferred. In a few cases it was only be two words I couldn’t decide between, so I’d seek out his opinion. He is an excellent producer and I completely trust his advice.
The new album was produced by Chris King and features drum programming byBrandon Pierce. How did this working relationship come together?
Honestly, thought my days of being in bands or recording were over and I was solely writing songs for my own personal fulfillment. Then one day I was on Craigslist looking for a new guitar instructor because my teacher had moved out of state and I ran across an ad from a producer saying, “If you’re a shoegaze, goth, post-punk, synthpop, darkwave, dream pop or similar genre artist looking for someone to produce or record your music that understands the genre, I would love to get in contact to discuss how we could possibly work together.” The ad went on to list a number of my all-time favorite bands such as The Cure, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Chameleons, etc. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d never read an ad that ran so similar to my tastes. As I previously mentioned, at the time recording was the furthest thing from my mind but was so curious to meet this person I decided to get in contact and we arranged to meet. Turns out it was Chris King from Cold Showers. I’m a huge fan of his band and think the first thing I said to Chris on meeting him was, “I’ve got songs of yours on my playlists!” One thing that really impressed me about Chris was he didn’t mention Cold Showers in his ad or in talking with me before we met. Felt Chris wasn’t relying on his musical success to get clients, which I really respected. Our initial meeting went great and as an added bonus Chris said he likes to use Brandon Pierce of Glaare to do drums. I was thrilled at this news, as I’d seen Brandon play live a couple of times and thought he was a phenomenal drummer. Still wasn’t sure about recording when I left the meeting, but the next day Chris sent me an email saying whether I chose to record or not he’d like to hear any songs I was working on, so I sent him acoustic versions of some songs and Chris really liked the material. We talked further and decided on doing a single together.
Brandon did the drum programming on the first album, and it was an amazing experience collaborating with him. Besides being immensely talented, he’s a super nice guy and incredibly easy to work with. He always seemed to want to do what was best for the song and never displayed any ego. Due to his attitude the working environment really allowed creative ideas to flow. The way we worked was Chris and I would record an acoustic version of the song and email it to Brandon. He’d send us back a drum track and then Chris and I would proceed to build the song from there. The first acoustic version we sent Brandon, he wrote me back one line, “Do you like Killing Joke?” I said definitely and in almost no time he sent back this incredible drum track. It was just perfect. On another song we sent he wrote us back, “I’m feeling New Order/Manchester vibes on this one.” I said go for it and once again he sent back a killer drum track. You can see how easy it was to work with Brandon. I absolutely love all his drum tracks on the debut.
On the new album Chris did the drum programming. He had been doing a lot of the drum programming on his own material and for other clients, so he asked if he could do the initial programming with the caveat if I didn’t like them or if he felt the need, we would get Brandon involved again. I had no idea while recording the first album that among his many talents Chris is highly skilled at drum programming and we ended up using all his drum tracks. I was also a lot more involved with the drums on the new album. Chris would play me the parts he came up with, which were always awesome to begin with, and then he’d ask for my input, so I had a more active role in the creative input and editing the drums and on the new EP.
What role does Los Angeles play in your music?
Well that’s a good question. I suppose the weather plays a big role. I love to be outside in nature, which is endlessly inspirational to me, and there is pretty much everything on offer here in Southern California, ocean, mountains, desert all within driving distance. Get inspired hiking in the mountains, walking along the ocean and really like going out to the desert around the Joshua Tree area in wintertime. It’s not too hot, you can go hiking and the stars at night are amazing. It’s really something to witness. I’m not a lay out at the beach sort of person, but I love to go to the ocean in the winter and at night when there are few people around. Sometimes it feels like you have the whole ocean to yourself, which can be a powerful experience. Really enjoy when it’s stormy along and out on the ocean. Being from Chicago I like a little weather instead of endless sunshine. Also, being on the West coast the sunsets are amazing and the afterglow and twilight can be spectacular. There are a lot of references to nature in my lyrics, the moon, sun, stars and being in such close proximity to the ocean I tend towards water imagery attimes in my lyrics such as with the latest single.
Some of the reviews we’ve seen so far reference bands such as The Cure and JoyDivision. Who would you say are your biggest influences?
I really do love all different styles of music, but admittedly have a fondness for the postpunk pioneers like The Cure, Joy Division, the Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Order, etc. Also am a huge fan of shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Cocteau Twins, Swervedriver, Catherine Wheel, Alcest, Slowdive. Think the first few REM albums are magical. Like some Britpop too. Hard to beat the first few Oasis records and the first Stone Roses album is utter brilliance. I like EDM and EBM music as well. It’s impossible for me to resist a good dance track. Also, since my music fits into the dark scene I keep up with a lot of the new postpunk / darkwave / coldwave / shoegaze / goth releases.
Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
A lot of the lyrical inspiration in the songs comes from my struggles with alcohol and drug addiction and coping with depression. Sometimes a song will deal with all those themes. As I said previously, I do draw inspiration from nature and make references to different aspects of it, often in a metaphorical sense. Many times, people have asked me where the songs come from, and truth be told I have no idea. They literally seem to come out of nowhere. Maybe it’s just a line or a riff at first, which plants the seed, but all the originating ideas whether they are musical or lyrical will suddenly appear out of the ether. I’m not sure when that happens where the inspiration stems from. It seems weird at times to even take credit for writing them. Do sit down with my guitar a lot and try to compose, but you can wait a long time for inspiration to strike. When it does you have to do your best to capture the lightening in a bottle. Then it’s just a matter if I’m actually inspired to keep working on what I’ve initially come up with. It has to move me to persevere and try to shape the idea into a finished song.
I see a number of radio stations are spinning the new track. Are there any plans for anupcoming live performance or tour?
Actually, going to play live for the very first time at the Darkness Calling Festival here in Los Angeles on March 26th. Was scheduled to play another festival in Portland the following weekend, but that got cancelled because of financial difficulties due to the pandemic. At the time I released my first single in January 2020 had plans to put together a live band, but then the pandemic happened and there really wasn’t a need for a band as there were no shows to play. Would love to tour one day and hopefully I’ll be asked to play some more shows and/or festivals in the future.
What else is happening next in the world of The Sea at Midnight?
At the moment, I’m preparing the new album for release at some point in the next couple of months. Had videos made for two of the songs, so trying to figure out when to release them as well and if I’m going to put out any more singles before the full album. There’s always a lot to do when releasing a new album. Also, I’m busy with getting a live band ready for the first ever show in less than two weeks. Chris is going to play guitar, Brandon is going to play drums and my nephew from Chicago, Michael Baron, is going to play bass. Couldn’t ask for a better group of musicians to be playing with for the first show. It’s my dream lineup. Between getting ready for the album release and the show it’s been a busy time. Also have been in the studio recording new songs that I’m hoping to put out sometime in the fall. We’re working on five new songs, so as it stands now it would be another EP, but who knows? If I write some more material between now and then I feel are worthy to record it may end up being another full-length album. One thing is for sure, there is new The Sea At Midnight music on the way this year.
