Band Of The Week #141 - Couch Prints
This week’s Band of the Week are NYC based trio Couch Prints - who have just released their synth fueled debut EP ‘Tell U’ - which is proof that pop music doesn't have to be simple to be great. They took a moment to talk to us about growing up with iPods and how the whole EP came together.
Hey there Couch Prints, how are you? How does it feel to be putting out an EP during a strange time for the creative industry?
Hey there, thanks for speaking with us! Doing well all considered. Truthfully, it’s been quite daunting! We’ve had to come to terms with the fact that there are larger forces at work than the plans we’d made for the project and ourselves. Everything comes with an asterisk now, and it’s difficult to see a lot of creative energy trapped with nowhere to go. That said, we’re still really excited about the music on the ep, and happy that there’s still infrastructure to share it, even if it is minimal right now.
It is titled ‘Tell U’ - does that hold any certain meaning to you?
Much of the writing on the EP is a reflection on the strange serendipity of our lives, especially since we came together a few years back. We found that the true beauty of all of our experience is something that completely evades language and can only be referenced in a fragmented, abstract way. The song Tell U and eventually the name of the ep, were referencing that idea, “How can I tell u about the cold sweet ground, held so firm with my toes fanned out” etc. The songs have the ability to portray these experiences in a way that’s impossible with words alone.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the recording process you are happy to share with us?
As an effect of our songwriting process as well as the constant migrations in our lives, we ended up recording this ep in a lot of different places. Some in Denver, some in Paris, various studios around New York: Greenpoint, Gowanus, DUMBO, Financial District, Brandon’s room, Bushwick. Our favorite story is just about us coming together: Jake came to visit Brandon in New York and made the intro with Jayanna, who Jake met in Paris. We then rented this 90sf rehearsal space with a mini fridge and drew all over the walls. We spent the whole summer in this tiny room making songs and talking about what we wanted to do with the project, where we wanted it to take us. That summer was an incredible foundation for our music and our interpersonal relationships to be built on. On one of the last nights at the space we sat outside on this abandoned trailer hitch and talked about how no matter what the future held, we were so happy that we had come together and gone far enough to record some songs that truly meant something special to us.
This EP was written in numerous cities, do you feel the constant changes in location had any impact on the final tracks?
Yes absolutely!! Mostly because what you’re into or referencing is a function of the city you’re in at the time. Like we were exposed to different music and different scenes in all of those different cities, so they definitely influenced the decisions we made in writing the music.
Jake and Brandon met during a gym class in the seventh grade, obviously you remained friends since then, but what music did you bond over during your younger years?
So much!! When we were growing up, the iPod and pre-downloaded music was still the norm, so there was a lot more of listening to the same set of songs over and over and over than there is now. Some of our biggest artists we both loved were The Sounds, Shiny Toy Guns, Justice, Frou Frou, Crystal Castles, Daft Punk, a lot of electro pop stuff.
Jayanna joined the band after Jake heard her playing the ukulele and singing in the courtyard of his Paris college - what drew you to her voice?
I mean, you’ve heard it. It’s incredible: soft and light and deep and so unique, she just has amazing tone and it’s difficult to ignore.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
Key themes would be internal contradictions, the passage of time, and infinite desire. Biggest influences would be 80’s new pop, experimental, and dance music.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
Hmm, Brandon wrote the majority of the lyrics on the EP, and they’re all very powerful and unique in their own way! Would say that the lyric in Faces: “Changes on a Friday, who is here and free of any blame, I can hear the laughter, rolling over every window pane” is the favorite. It’s referencing this internal and perceived external laughter at the situation the singer is in, and the empty, hollow-ness of the relationship they keep returning to, in the same way you would hear a noise echoing across an empty house.