Fleece – So Long

By starrymag | August 11, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

Jameson: Psychedelic ice-cream truck

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

Megan: Adrianne Lenker, Bon Iver, James Blake

Matt: Some of my faves…Whitney, Loving, Chloe x Hallie, The Beatles

Ethan: Jameson doesn’t listen to music

Jameson: C’mon!!! I echo Megan, am loving Adrianne Lenker these days. But, the biggest influence is always Erykah Badu.

Matt: Hard to think of all the musical influences off the top of my head, but right now I’m listening to Mono Neon, Harriet Tubman, and fucking Kacey Musgraves! Oh and Lady Gaga.

Q) Talk about the story behind your newest single “So Long.”

Megan: We wrote the song about a year ago when all the world’s worries were about technology becoming so distracting and ever-present that it was so easy to lose sight of ourselves and our communities and our environment because we were always so locked into our screens. Then, COVID swept right in and suddenly gave us a whole new set of crises to think about, which added meaning to the song that we couldn’t have anticipated! Either way, the world is urging us forward into a new paradigm, one where we change what “normal” looks like, where we actually talk to each other and actively care for our communities, whether it’s through screens or not (when we can actually hang out again). [winks] We want to wish “so long” to the old world, out with the bad and in with the shiny, stunning, communicative new!

Q) This song was written before the current COVID crisis, but how is it still so relevant to our times?

Megan: That was a MISTAKE. Or Matt is actually a prophet and can tell the future?

Q) This is your second release in a three-part series. How did you decide on the order they would be shared?

Ethan: They’re just the ones we had recorded! [laughs]

Megan: But really, we chose “Love Song” first because it felt the most different from our old sound and the process of writing and recording it was so smooth and comfortable that we wanted to share that feeling and showcase that sound as soon as possible. And working with our dear friend Dylan Mitro on the music video was also so fun and comfortable that it just made sense! And then “So Long” came in time to showcase full frontal Fleece energy, despite having been locked indoors for forever at that point and it was really quite convenient that the lyrics were scarily relevant to the time we released it in. Again, I’m 99% sure that Matt can tell the future…

Ethan: And the third one is gonna be a BANGER, perfect in time to sell out!

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

Ethan: The YouTube comments tell us that people are into it for the sunshine-y, bouncy vibe, for its happy energy.

Megan: And I think a lot of people are thinking about all the things they want to change about their lives or their world right now, which is awesome cause a lot should change! Or they just wanna see our weird sick dance moves!

Q) It’s incredible that you are donating proceeds to various causes like Native Women’s Association of Canada and Black Youth Helpline. Why is this cause so close to your hearts?

Ethan: All North American musical innovations originally came out of black communities and we all feel it’s important to not only acknowledge how lucky we are to play this music, but we recognize the need to give back to these communities.

Megan: We benefit every day from living on the traditional unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka, “Mohawk,” and the Anishinabeg, “Algonquin,” peoples. Tiohtià:ke/Montreal has been the place where we’ve written most of our material and built our band that we love together and we recognize the need to give back to the indigenous keepers of the island, especially the native women who are suffering under the white supremacist colonial patriarchy that they simply don’t deserve and who instead deserve safety and comfort and love. Simple as that.

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

A) We wanted to put a feel good, dancey vibe to add to the more cathartic message of the song. I feel like Fleece is dancing and having fun while talking about dark stuff. The fun quarantine vibe adds to the sinister reminder that we’ll never live in a world without technology like social media.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

Ethan: For the most part, we just jam in our rehearsal space and record it on one of our phones. Then, we revisit the recordings and turn the best jams into songs. Matt usually writes the lyrics on his own after the song is finished with occasional help from Meg and Jamo.

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

Ethan: The first two albums were mixed and engineered by Patrick McDowell but produced by us. We have been experimenting with different engineers/producers/mixers for all of the new material. Some of it is 100% us!

Q) Will there be a full album or EP coming in the near future?

Megan: OH yeah there SURE will be! Stay tuned, stay stoked, get ready, get wiggling.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

Megan: A definite favorite is a friend’s farmhouse venue in Lyme, Connecticut, the birthplace of Lyme disease [laughs] with audience members sitting comfortably on the barn floor, folks hanging from the cross beams and beautiful nature around! Even some deer come to check out the music sometimes! And ticks too probably, but we like them less! The place brings the whole performance to a super personal comfy level, which is so rad.

Jameson: I love playing in Montreal and Toronto because the audiences there have watched us grow over time. It feels like there’s an artistic threshold to surpass every time we play. Like people may expect a certain sound from our albums, but when we play live the songs are always changing and evolving. So, it’s fun to play for people who are anticipating some of that metamorphosis.

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

Ethan: Tough question! I usually just like working with my friends!!

Jameson: Let’s dream big! I wanna collab with Tierra Whack, Adrianne Lenker and Kaytranada…all on one track… [laughs] Maybe another one with Kendrick?

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

Megan: Adrianne Lenker has been a huge favorite amongst many of us these days. Her lyrics are full to the BRIM with emotion and honesty and nuance and it feels like she tells her truth in a new true way in every line.

Jameson: Adrianne’s getting a big shoutout from me and Megan today. But she really deserves it. Hours Were the Birds album is so, so deep down good.

Ethan: I have been listening to the new skullcrusher a lot. Also a lot of Mono Neon and the new Khruangbin.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

Ethan: It’s important to us because it lets us directly talk to the people who listen to our music! It’s also a fun way to share who we all are as people! PS. If you want to talk, DM us.

Megan: Also, it’s a great way for fleece fans to find each other and connect! We LIVE to hear stories of flans becoming friends with each other by bonding over us. There’s nothing better tbh.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

Meg: Drink water, we love you, call your people and tell them something nice, take care of yourself and talk to each other. <3

Thank you for caring about us! And we have lots of new things coming SOOON!!!