Q&A: Twang Clark
VOICE MEMOS AND A GUITAR - are the tools of his trade. After experience in various bands, Evan Rasch talks about his most recent collaboration, Twang Clark. The close knit group of friends join forces with melodic guitar runs and dreamy lyrics to make a perfect car drive listen. From more upbeat songs such as "Do I", to more personal songs including horns like "Control", Twang Clark is off to a solid start.
In their most recent and passionate project, Semester IX, the band complies a short and sweet EP that makes you feel like you're driving down PCH. Read on to learn about the development of Twang Clark, producing from the bedroom and their latest EP.
LUNA: What made you want to pursue a solo career outside of Harvey Trisdale and Runnner? Did you always know you wanted to have a solo career?
EVAN: I have always written songs on my own. I would sporadically release EPs throughout high school and college, but this project feels like a more serious attempt. I only brought some of them to Harvey Trisdale. Most of my material ended up sitting on my computer or iPhone voice memos. Eventually, I got the hang of recording my songs and producing them in my bedroom which brought me to doing a solo project.
LUNA: How have your experiences in your previous bands shaped this current project?
EVAN: I think collaboration always leads to a more interesting final product in music. On the other hand, several creative voices in a band can make things happen a lot slower compared to doing it on my own. In general, I enjoy music that captures a fleeting moment or feeling and it can be difficult to do so when you have to filter an idea through several people and their sensibilities. But striking healthy balance between collaboration and a solitary process is important to me. Twang Clark was my opportunity to flesh out my songs on my own while still collaborating a bit with some of my close friends.
LUNA: Can you take a little bit through what making this EP was like? Is there anything you would do differently looking back?
EVAN: Making the Semester IX EP was definitely a learning experience for me. I chose between a lot of different songs I’ve written in the past 2 years or so. The hardest part was picking material that encapsulated the post-college transition I had been going through but also had some sonic cohesion.
I recorded a handful of demos as drafts, then picked the five songs that seemed worthy and made more formal recordings of those. All the instruments were recorded in my bedroom except for the drums, keyboards and horns.
In the future I plan to release songs that are more personal lyrically. I was very much pursuing a “vibe” more-so than sentiments that have more personal significance to me. I think people connect with the latter more.
LUNA: Lyrically, is there a theme that you’re most drawn to writing about?
EVAN: I'm the most comfortable when writing about what I know. I am a very introspective, self critical person (to a fault often times) and songwriting has always been a process of reconciliation with my personal struggles. I enjoy a lot of narrative songwriting but I tend to gravitate towards self examination and writing about relationships.
LUNA: What’s your elevator pitch as for the type of music you’re making?
EVAN: This is always difficult for me. But a close friend and collaborator told me whilst I was making this record that I make “folkadelia.” Generally, I like energetic, songwriting driven music with psychedelic elements and emotional honesty behind it.
LUNA: Now that you’ve got this EP under your belt, what’s next for you?
EVAN: Going forward I plan on playing some shows to promote this EP and putting out another EP in late Summer/Fall. So stay tuned!
