We’ve got a quick Q+A with Nashville’s only Beatles-inspired psychedelic, rock / pop band; Sweettalker.
Check out the new single, “Tomorrow” below!
Q+A
YOU RECENTLY RELEASED A SINGLE CALLED ‘TOMORROW’ TELL US A BIT ABOUT THAT.
RYAN: Tomorrow was such a fun song to write and record. One of my favorite studio memories while making the EP happened while recording this song. We had been working at Columbia Studio and Quonset Hut that day, tracking the cello and violin for different songs. At one point, our engineer tells me about a friend he’d run into in the hallway outside, and insists that if there are any remaining piano parts to be tracked, that we should meet this guy Rocco. About that time I hear pawing at the studio door, it opens and we are met with the sweetest little seeing eye dog “Gidget” and Rocco in tow. She leads him into the studio and lays down next to him as he sits down at the piano. The rest of the day was filled with the joyous and infectious sounds of a man with perfect pitch with his perfect pup adding their magic to our music. I remember at one point while recording the intro for Tomorrow, we were all running around the piano in a circle making random noises and stomping our feet while he was playing. It was just so random and fun that day. And we made some great friends while we were at it.
YOU HAVE SUCH A COOL AND ECLECTIC SOUND - TALK ABOUR YOUR INSPIRATIONS AND INFLUENCES AS A BAND.
DAVID: We love ELO, The Beatles, Queen, The Beach Boys. They were a huge inspiration with this new stuff, especially Jeff Lynne / ELO. I’d say we were also influenced by a wide range of others like Jellyfish, Kacey Musgraves, Daft Punk, Stevie Nicks, and Randy Newman, to name a few. There are just so many artists, big and small, doing their thing so well, and we admire that. I think that’s just it though, the hope is to listen back to something you made with all the heart you have, and with your favorite influences in mind, but hear something that stands on its own and has its own thing. That was certainly our mission going into this, and we hope it translates.
TALK ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING A ROCK BAND IN MUSIC CITY. ANYTHING YOU CAN SPEAK ON THE COMMUNITY, FAVORITE VENUES, OR OTHER GREAT ACTS IN TOWN?
RYAN: Yeah, a lot of people maybe don’t realize how rock n roll plays a big part of the actual local culture of Nashville. With big name rockers in town like Jack White and Dan Auerbach still recording and putting out cool shit, and the East Nashville rock n roll scene being full of great independent bands like The Minks, Microwave Mountain, Quiet Oaks, Okey Dokey, and Deeohgee, there’s a lot to hear and talk about in terms of “rock music” in Nashville, I think.
Regarding great ‘rock’ outlets and venues, as if the tornado didn’t screw us up enough, destroying some of our favorite east side spots like The Basement East and severely damaging others; the ongoing lockdowns have caused so many great local spots to close down or suffer tremendously as well. It’s all just really sad to think about. Places where we shared our music and creative energy with others now sit empty and closed or worse, while most of us lose our minds at home, waiting for things to get better. I’m trying to remain hopeful; and in the meantime, extend support and love to the local spots that are able to be open now. We all need each other now more than ever.
YOU’RE GEARING UP TO RELEASE A PROJECT CALLED “PARADISE,” OF WHICH WAS CO-PRODUCED BY GRAMMY NOMINATED, MATT GOLDMAN. WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT?
RYAN: After touring and putting out singles for a few years, we had a growing sense that there was something yet to be desired creatively from the group. We had written a few songs we thought to be promising, but knew we needed to stop everything else and get to work on something bigger. Every moment from then on was focused on writing and refining music, building the right production team, and facilitating the fruition of the project as best we could. It was an experience like one we had only dreamed about before and it was finally happening. Anyone could tell we were all as nervous AND as excited as we had ever been before.
Our Producer, Matt Goldman was a pivotal acquisition for the project. His experience and passion for music and production made him an obvious candidate, but specifically our personal respect for him and his work put him at the top of our dream team list. Nashville local Joel Parks was also an invaluable ally throughout the whole process. He’s been a close friend since before either of us lived in Nashville and one that commands my full respect when it comes to the subjective matters of music and taste. -
Everyone on the team had either met, or were already friends but had never worked together on a project, so it was special for everyone, I think. We all felt like we were making music with people we liked, so the ideas flowed and seemed to come naturally. Even since recording this EP together, other collaborations have been spawned from the working relationships formed throughout the process. In my perfect world, Paradise will not have been one great work completed, but a branching journey into many great works begun.
ANYTHING WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO FROM THE BAND?
DAVID: Yes! We’re releasing our first EP titled Paradise on August 28th and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
CHECK OUT THE NEW SINGLE, “TOMORROW”
