Q&A: Surfliner 'Psychic Blues'
A SIGNATURE SOUND WITH ENDLESS ELEMENTS - Surfliner seems to have no problem keeping their sound fresh with each project. Their sophomore LP, Psychic Blues, explores honesty and vulnerability through a more matured sound, with enough of a gritty edge to keep you hooked. Written, recorded, mixed and mastered entirely by the duo Tyler Wyatt and Sam Worley themselves, Psychic Blues was created over a two-year span highlighting their thoughts and lives over a duration of change and evolution, concluding with quarantine. Showcasing an array of sounds the duo adores, the LP serves as a testament to their talents with each soundscape the project explores.
A time capsule of sorts, Psychic Blues provides the listener with a soundtrack fit for a variety of moods, from the more edgy “Sinking Heart" to the sweet sounds of “Swell”. Listen to Psychic Blues and read below to learn more about the making of the LP, their inspirations and more.
LUNA: Y’all played a huge role in the development of the DIY scene in your hometown in Massachusetts. Why was creating this space important to you?
SURFLINER: Where we come from in Duxbury, there really wasn't much of a local scene at the high school level. There wasn't really a comfortable place for us to perform, so we started playing shows out in Sam's backyard barn. We think that because this was a space that was free from school, where kids are already dealing with so much socially and internally, that other kids gradually moved towards the barn as a creative outlet. We got so many of our friends to play music for the first time, and to be able to give people a low-stakes, accepting environment to perform became a really special thing for us. We even got to the point where we were just excited to put on a show for people playing and attending as we were to actually play as Surfliner.
LUNA: Sonically, what are some of the main ways you’ve seen your sound evolve with Psychic Blues?
SURFLINER: When making Kiska in 2019, we were shooting to sound as close to "perfect" as we could get, and really labored over songs and mixes to a point where that original spark was obscured. This time around, we stopped focusing so much on "perfection" and really emphasized trying to develop a unique, signature sound. Whatever we have now is a bit less clean and polished than Kiska; with Psychic Blues it feels like we're throwing big ideas against the wall and seeing what sticks.
LUNA: Can you share a favorite memory from the making of the album?
SURFLINER: In January, the two of us packed up our entire recording rig and hauled it out over frozen sand to this remote beach peninsula in our town called Saquish. It was freezing cold and we only had a few hours of sunshine to charge up the solar-powered battery each day. Pretty stark contrast to Kiska, where we were comfortable in the heated barn working at all hours of the night. We would sleep in this bunk-bed in the pitch black every night with massive comforters in this tiny room where we had crammed our drum kit recording setup, it was hilarious. One night we were trying to remake this Haroumi Hosono song for fun when this massive barge pulled up right on the beach in front of the house and beamed this massive spotlight right into the studio area. Being totally isolated for miles, with literally nobody around, it was surreal and kinda freaky. Occasionally, we'd bring out a bunch of friends to cook some food and hang out in the recording space with us. It was a total blast! Everyone would bring some food, we'd crack open some beers, and Sam and I would work on tunes while others would either hang out or come by and listen/contribute. Those were great days.
LUNA: The songs of the album were all pretty much written in different locations/times, so what brings all of the tracks together?
SURFLINER: We see these songs as sort of a grab-bag of different sounds we'd fallen in love with at various points across the past few years, and that scattered nature really is what brings all the tracks together. "Coasting", the song we made with Coolhand Jax, an old UMass buddy, was started on a beautiful Tuscan fall night while Tyler was abroad in Italy in the Fall. Meanwhile, "Danny Webster" was cranked out deep into quarantine by Sam in the barn, in cold, grey Duxbury weather. The songwriting is really all over the place, but what ultimately brings the sound together is that sweet musical marinade of quarantine. Sitting on these tracks for months, physically isolated from each other and our musical community, these tracks all slowly took on some flavors of yearning, desperation, optimism, and frustration.
LUNA: Which track means the most to you and why?
SURFLINER: We each have different answers to this question! For me, Sam, it's "Sinking Heart". That track came very easily to us. Tyler sent over the instrumental late one night with only the hook, and I wrote around that. It helped capture the feeling of being apart from the people I love, a theme that extends outside of quarantine with my girlfriend Sam living in Boston and Tyler living in Amherst. I felt like I was sort of just ranting in the second verse, it's definitely not meant to be interpreted as holier-than-thou because I'm really digging into myself as well.
For me, Tyler, the song "Mahfouz" has such a close meaning for me. It's the oldest song on the album by far, written in the summer of 2018. I have a great friend named Max Kalil who I've been close with for years, but he's never been into making music. He has such an amazing sense of style and loves a lot of great old jazz and funk music from around the world. One night, we decided to try to make a track together, and I sort of served as Max's "interpreter". He would tell me what kind of musical idea he would want and I'd grab a guitar or a bass and make it happen. It was such a novel songwriting experience and it wound up sounding a lot like our relationship feels: adventurous, organic, and fun. The track is named after Max's great-grandfather, who immigrated from Lebanon with the name Kalil Mahfouz. Some immigration agent swapped his names around, and Max's family name became Kalil. We love Mahfouz and it fits him perfectly.
LUNA: Musically or not, what’s been inspiring you lately?
SURFLINER: Sam has been spending the past few weeks out on the road, driving across the country to California in his van. It can be hard to stay inspired during this period of time, and even though everything has been said about covid it still just hits on a personal level. Tyler recently moved to NYC and has been DJing with a close friend named Aidan Hobbs, who is a member of the band Wendy Lane. Exploring music in that interactive medium has really opened up ideas for something new.
LUNA: Sky is the limit for this one - if you could collaborate with anyone for a track, who would you pick and why?
SURFLINER: Dan Auerbach. His sound is irreplicable, and we are massive fans of him and the artists that come through Easy Eye Studio. 'Waiting On a Song' is one of both of our favorite records ever. We feel like his ears and style choices could compliment our sound nicely. He’s got an insane studio down in Nashville where many older session musicians who have been on many, many records will sit in on recordings, feel like it would be cool to gather their expertise. The place is outfitted with all sorts of vintage gear that he’s been collecting and we’d nerd out about that. Very cool stuff.
LUNA: If you could pass on any words of wisdom to anyone who wants to get into music but don’t know where to start or don’t feel there’s a place for it in their community, what would you share?
SURFLINER: Just start, people come out of the woodwork and will want to get involved. You never know who is working on stuff behind the scenes, and who you may inspire to share their art. This covid situation sucks for so many reasons, but not having that in-person scene is really a bummer right now. Once we are back and firing on all cylinders, get out there and put on a show! Please also feel free to reach out to us if you wanna talk more in detail about music or anything.
LUNA: Now that Psychic Blues is out, what do you hope the rest of 2020 will bring?
SURFLINER: With this album, we are launching North By South Records, an independent label. We really just want a way to help out artists we love, and to cultivate a new culture of music releasing. So many of our friends make songs behind the scenes and never put them out, so we want this to be a channel for our community to reach an audience. Our first non-Surfliner release is coming later this year, a double-single from an artist we love named Lunder. Keep an eye out!
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