Night Drive – Position II

By starrymag | September 18, 2023

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your most recent single “Cover Your Eyes.”

 

A) The main riff came out of a previous song idea we decided to speed up. Once that set in, the vocal melody, the mood, the arrangement all changed dramatically. The music immediately felt urgent and intense. Lyrically we knew what we wanted to say but left it open for interpretation. However, there’s definitely an uneasy feeling of society backsliding as bad actors run amuck in the modern world.

 

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

 

A) The video represents a large-scale disaster unfolding and its effects on different people. It’s twisted into a more fantastical sci-fi/horror aesthetic, but it still gets a similar point across.

 

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

 

A) We have a stone that we painted five different colors. These represent the five moods or tones that we vibe with the most. We’ll sometimes roll that stone and write an instrumental that matches the mood that comes up, this triggers lyrical ideas and melodies which can then take the song in any number of directions.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) We’ve been influenced by the first wave of post-punk artists (before everything became cartoonish) but by plenty of modern artists as well. Anyone who’s making interesting emotional compositions that tend to be a little darker and are slightly outside of easy categorization are immediately appealing to us because that’s where we find ourselves as well.

 

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

 

A) Up until this most recent EP, we produced everything from start to finish. For this last album we were working with an outside producer, so our process changed a bit. We would complete the composition and mix it to a level where we were happy with it, and then pass the tracks along to Philip. Our mix was mainly used as a reference, and he would go in with our various parts and create his own mix. It was a fun and different process for us.

Q) Your new EP Position II will be released shortly. Talik about some of the themes that you explore on it.

 

A) We explore some themes that have been previously explored, but maybe focused a little more heavily on reflecting the strange times we’re currently living in, largely dystopian with a slight tinge of hope and potential.

 

Q) Is there a certain track on this release that challenged you the most creatively?

 

A) “White Lights” was a challenge, not so much creatively as it was a challenge in learning how best to collaborate with an outside producer. The song had a LOT of tracks and layers of guitar and synth, so there were a lot of stops and starts in the process, but we all ended up happy with the final product so the stress was worth it.

 

Q) How do you plan to celebrate your new release? 

 

A) We’re playing some Texas dates right now to support the release, and then some California dates in about a month. We’re not limited to those locations alone, but those are the states we tend to frequent. I guess we only like states with an overabundance of water or states with none at all.

 

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

 

A) There’s a ton of artists we could think of. Off the top of my head, we’d love to collab with Roosevelt or Black Marble or Drab Majesty.

Q) What artist/musician are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

 

A) Along with the artists we mentioned in the previous question, we’re also listening to Theus Mago and Wild Nothing and Steve Moore. The first one for the dance beats, the second one for the melancholy compositions and the third one for the excellent analog synth arrangements.

 

Q) Why do you feel that social media is such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) We wouldn’t consider social media our area of expertise, but it definitely seems fans want to have a peek beyond the songs and ads and make a more personal connection. There’s no better way to do that than via social media.

 

Q) What do you hope lingers with audiences who explore Position II?

 

A) We want the feelings to keep swirling around, like a movie that you can’t shake and keep thinking about long after you’ve left the theater.

 

 

All Questions Answered By Rodney Connell

 

 

Watch The Video For “Cover Your Eyes”