Ottawa’s Those Gulls soar into House of Targ this Thursday to belt out tunes at their Forevermore album-release party. Sharing the bill with the band are Kings Quest and Saint Clare. Gulls members Andrew Grosvenor and Peter Zachar took some time with us to share thoughts on the album, home-recording, and Katy Perry.
Your very-soon-to-be-released album is called, Forevermore? How did you decide on this name?
AG: The word ‘forevermore’ is actually featured in the song “Alternate Exit.” In that context, and in the overall context of the album, it speaks to the idea of having something be able to last indefinitely. Whether that something is memories, relationships, legacies – what is it that will outlive you? What is something positive that you will leave behind?
What do you think is the principal force behind Forevermore’s creation? Is it a cathartic release of emotions? Is it a reflection on certain environments? Is it an experiment with sound?
AG: For me it’s at least the first two! There are several songs on Forevermore that I have a strong personal attachment to, like “Cliffside,” “Carry On,” and “Tiger” – and every time we play them live I am in that emotional headspace. Others are better seen as commentaries and narratives about the world we live in; misgivings with and reflections on modern life – not as emotional as they are critical and subversive.
Listening to “Company Kept” I had a feeling that it was going to be much longer? Based on nothing more than a hunch, did it get trimmed down from something more massive and sprawling?
PZ: Nope, that’s all folks! If you go through our previous releases, you’ll see that unconventional song structure is (or at least was) our bread and butter.
AG: The basic idea for “Company Kept” was actually a holdover from our 2011 self-titled album. I think it could have worked on that record as well – fitting in with songs like “Zeros and Ones” and “Your Politics” – but I like how it fits on Forevermore. It stands out for its brevity and slightly harder edge, especially where it’s placed in the track order.
What inspired the stereo-trickery that the bass and synth weave on the track “Carry on”?
PZ: Honestly, from the first time Kate played that synth part, it just demanded to be put through a stereo panner. It’s cool on its own, it’s cooler in stereo… sometimes you just have to go for what sounds cool.
Many of the tracks on Forevermore have touches of pop sensibilities cloaked in distorted tones. What’s the bands relationship to full-fledged pop acts like Taylor Swift or Katy Perry? Are they geniuses or philistine sloth?
PZ: I think it’s safe to say that, at the very least, we all have some level of respect for top-40 artists. Listen to a song like “Firework” by Katy Perry, with that huge vocal climb through the pre-chorus, and tell me she’s not a brilliant singer. Everyone plays within their genre, and we’re all trying to do the same thing: communicate, evoke an emotion, connect.
AG: Uh… next question.
Was Forevermore recorded at home? What would you say was the biggest challenge in recording the record?
PZ: It was recorded in our own studio, which happens to live in a fairly large, sprawling, unused part of my parents’ basement. While working on our own affords a lot of benefits, I think maybe the biggest challenge was putting the time aside from our lives to actually get together and record. I did the math recently, and if we had just done it in one go it would have taken about two weeks… instead of eight months.
AG: And it’s not that we’re procrastinating! We all went into every recording session super excited and anxious to hear the songs taking shape. It was just, as Peter says, finding the time. I think, even though it would have been cool to have the album out there earlier this year, ultimately the ‘slow cook’ approach allowed us to get each song just how we wanted it without feeling rushed.
Did you design and create sounds primarily with analog gear or digital technologies?
PZ: I suppose most of what we do is analogue, with the exception of Kate’s synth. I actually came up against this question when deciding which direction to take our studio moving forward, and with the quality of some of the analogue emulation available from the major manufacturers, I think I see us going in a digital direction in the future. Ultimately, it comes down to how we’d like our workflow to look… not to mention that the $2K I’d spend on one piece of outboard gear would go much farther on the digital side of things. In general, it’s not what you own but how you use it.
There are some nifty under/over vocal harmonies on the album? Did these come about more through feel or careful orchestration?
PZ: Our harmonies pretty much all come together during recording. Often times we’ll have an idea of where we’d like there to be harmonies or group vocals, but we leave it until we’re recording the vocals to flesh them out. Luckily we have Kate, who’s a bit of a secret weapon when it comes to harmonies.
Lyrically, Forevermore suggests something dire, detached, something laced with a sense of urgency, and yet the sounds/melodies are typically lighter, more uplifting? Any thoughts on this?
PZ: A lot of that was very intentional. One of the major themes of the record is mistrust of the people and institutions meant to protect you and the sugar-coating of all the under-handed things that they get up to… and so you get a song like “After The Storm” that instrumentally sounds like it should be about a walk in the park, but lyrically tells a much different story.
Alternatively, a song like “Friday Night” doesn’t hide anything, it’s just about a boy and a girl trying to get together to hang out. With all the shitty things that go on around you, what are you going to do? Hopefully not give up, but you have to live your life… so I’ll pick you up after work and we’ll watch some TV.
AG: I know I have a penchant for writing lyrics that have a darker edge to them or that may be introspective and analytical – and that’s true of our previous albums as well. But, what’s interesting on Forevermore is that almost half the lyrics were penned by Kate, which means she was either already in a similar mindset or was quickly assimilated!
Do you think about the live performances when recording an album, or do you see them as somewhat separate expressions?
PZ: In the past, the album and the live show were fairly distinct because of our limited numbers. Now that we have Kate and Jake (and Dave Pierce from Ornaments for the release show!), we can definitely approach the recording process with a view to translating it live. For the most part, the songs were recorded as we play them live… with a few flourishes here and there.
AG: Also, since we were playing shows over the course of 2014 while still in the studio, we had the flexibility to throw new ideas into the recording that may have come out of a specific live performance, and vice versa.
What albums have really caught your eye production-wise of the past year?
PZ: My bandmates will tell you that I will not shut the fuck up about the METZ album. There’s an art to making a recording sound kinda crappy and lo-fi while keeping it compelling and full of energy. That record sounds exactly like they do live, visceral ear-crushing distortion and all. I’m also in love with Sunbather by Deafheaven. Whenever it makes its way into my CD player, it doesn’t come out for a week. They’ve truly pioneered a sound within their genre.
AG: Peter’s lying, those are my answers. His actual pick is Katy Perry’s Prism.
Here’s a teaser from Forevermore:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trC6NxmPba0[/youtube]
Those Gulls play House of Targ (1077 Bank Street) on Thursday, December 18, 2014. Doors at 9pm. Show starts at 10pm. $7 cover.
