An alternative pop-rock trio hailing from Los Angeles, debuted their first EP, Someday in 2014, which gained heavy airplay on College, NPR, and commercial radio in the US and Canada. Its success inspired the band to tour the East Coast, during which time they began piecing together their first full-length album, Moodswings.
The LP veered away from today’s single-driven musical climate with a well-rounded, full-length story intended to be heard from the beginning to the end; with a theme that echoes the band’s name, a positive spin on the phrase “That ship has sailed,” as it meditates on change’s ability to impact one’s life at any moment.
Describe your sound in one ramble-on sentence.
We blend influences from all over the genre-map to create catchy, inspiring alternative pop that is thought provoking, but simultaneously light-hearted!
What inspires you to make music?
We draw our inspiration from the world around us, contemplating life in all its mystery, human interaction, and of course our musical influences.
What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?
The opportunities right now for musical artists are endless! With social media at our fingertips, we can gain exposure to huge numbers of music fans almost instantly, and the genre-mold is opening up for a lot of cross-pollination of fans who like many different types of music. What this means for us is that we can really explore different types of sounds and blend different types of music within a single album or song and that almost works in your favor these days as an artist. Whereas historically, once you establish "your sound" people really expected more of the same with each release, today's musical climate allows us to be really creative, and we love that!
What are the biggest challenges you face as a musician?
Well obviously in any creative industry you will have folks that appreciate your style, those that don't, and those who just plain like something different! I think with any artistic medium, music included, the most difficult thing is to block out the "noise" so to speak and focus on what your mind and your heart are telling you...if it resonates, there's a reason for that, and one or two opinions otherwise shouldn't stifle progress...
What's one of your all-time favorite recordings?
Myself personally, I would have to say Pink Floyd's "The Wall". It was really the birth of the concept album as a widely accepted format, and one of the very early full-length videos to accompany an album. Add in stellar songwriting, excellent production and musical talent that is undeniable, and you have an instant favorite in my book...but man that's a tough question - how do you pick one of millions??
Name three people who have influenced your music, and tell us why- Living or dead.
Hmm...I think I would have to say Kurt Cobain for his knack for finding beauty in simplicity, Chris Martin for obvious musical genius and his ability to both stay in a lane musically while simultaneously switching it up (really amazing actually if you think about it) and John Lennon for his ability to work world views into his music, but in a fairly non-abrasive way.
Do you have any recent or upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? Tell us about it.
Absolutely! Our album 'Moodswings' was released in March of this year...we are extremely proud of what we created, and would love people to check it out! We are about to get back into the studio and start the next project, but what it is...well, that's a surprise.. ;-)
What is your ideal or target audience?
Simply put: we love people who love music! :-)
Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process..
Yes, I do most of our songwriting with help from Dan and sometimes with various co-writers. One of my favorite people to co-write with is a very good friend Morgan Taylor Reid, who has co-written several songs both on our first release 'Someday' and our most recent album 'Moodswings'. He's great to write with because it's almost effortless - like we're finishing each other's sentences (musically speaking). The exact process varies greatly; sometimes it's true you might deliberately sit down and say: "I want to write a song about [blank]" and write one, but for me more often than not I'll be either asleep or in an inconvenient location and something will just pop into my head! I try to keep a voice recorder close by at all times, and can be seen singing softly into it wherever I may be...hotel rooms, planes, restaurants...haha. Can't lose that great idea, so best to get it down any way you can while it's still swirling around in your brain!
What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
Well like all online platforms it's a tool that can help to gain exposure, but Radio Airplay in particular gives an artist the ability to showcase your best work in front of people who are most likely to appreciate it. The controls to target song exposure are pretty stellar, and have recently gotten even better! I'm really happy to be able to use Radio Airplay as part of the Ships Have Sailed online strategy.
'Drive' off of 'Moodswings'
Our latest album 'Moodswings' is available on iTunes and anywhere online music can be streamed or purchased here