(Photo Credit - Roy Zheng)
We have an interview with up-and-coming Canadian two-piece Funeral Lakes. Their new EP 'Redeemer' just dropped yesterday. Check it out here and check out what they had to say in our interview!
1. How did you come to pursue music and how long have you been at it?
"We started Funeral Lakes back in 2018 as our first project together, but we met in school years before that. Writing music has always been a cathartic process in both of our lives, so it’s something we each felt drawn to. We both started playing music during our high school days, learning/teaching ourselves along the way, and that’s something we still embrace as an independent group today."
2. You are releasing your new EP Redeemer on August 20, 2021. Can you tell us a little about the writing and recording process of the project?
"We recorded the songs at home this past winter, during a period in which we were spending a lot of time with our own thoughts and reexamining memories. Some of the songs are older but have been reworked several times over. We recorded most of our previous EP, Golden Season, live off the floor with the help of friends, whereas this time around, the recording process was more insular much like our first record. We spent a lot of time overdubbing and, given the limitations of the space we were in, all the drums were programmed originally. They weren’t sounding quite how we wanted, so we reached out to Andrew McLeod (Sunnsetter), who provided remote drumming on the tracks Solstice and Place I Stay. Our friend Colin Spratt, who has worked on all our previous releases, also mixed and mastered the EP."
3. Could you walk us through your process of writing music?
"The writing process is a bit different for every song, but usually it starts with a chord progression on acoustic guitar. We’ll start humming a melody or think of a phrase that sticks, and kind of go from there. We try to pack a lot into our lyrics, so that’s typically where we spend a lot of our time. We like to revisit and rework things, so each song usually changes up until the point that it’s recorded."
4. What artists have inspired you in your career?
"We draw inspiration from lots of different places, but a few of the artists who inspire us are Saintseneca, Typhoon, Arcade Fire, and Pixies. With this release, we were also listening to a lot of New Order and Cocteau Twins." 5. Do you have any favorite music gear (guitars, amps, effects pedals, keyboards, etc.) that you love to use? If so, what’s the story on them?
"The most prominent guitar on this EP would be our Loar archtop, which is a copy of an old Gibson model. It has a super thick and distinct sound that can get really interesting once it’s put through a bunch of pedals. It can be a bit unruly, but it has a great character to it. We got it from one of our favourite music stores in Toronto called Paul’s Boutique about 5 years ago. Another favourite piece of gear would be our trusty microKORG. It’s the first synth we ever got and has been on pretty much every release of ours, so it holds a lot of sentimental value for us."
6. Can you describe the vibe at your live shows? Also, what do you enjoy most about a venue when you do a show?
"It has been quite a while since we played our last live show, so it’s a bit hard to say. We like when there’s not too much separation between the audience and the stage - the less amount of disconnect the better. It’s something we value when we’re seeing shows, so that’s something we’re mindful of when we’re the ones performing."
7. What is one thing that you want the public to know about your music?
"There isn’t one thing that we want people to know, but our hope is that these songs can resonate with folks in some way."
8. What’s next for you?
"Our EP comes out August 20th and with live music returning, our time will be spent promoting and hopefully performing in front of folks if it’s safe to do so. We’re always writing and recording, so there’s lots of new music we hope to share sometime soon."
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