Having already established themselves with a string of impactful offerings recently, US duo Local Phonies are back at it once again with their breezy new single 'Rat-level.'
Lifted from their newly released studio album 'Static Prismatic', which is available to stream now, 'Rat-level' elevates that warm and shimmering indie-rock aesthetic they are known for. With its rich and breezy textures, lofty atmosphere, and sweeping vocals layered throughout, they continue to shine as one of the more exciting names on the rise right now.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with them to find out more about their origins and what has been inspiring them most lately.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Conor Garrison: Drums! Sam Fogarino, John Bonham, Glenn Kotche, and Phil Selway all definitely fostered my interest.
Jon Fricchione: Guitar. I was absolutely obsessed with the Beatles as a very young kid and part of that was because of the guitar as an object. I must have been attracted to the colors and shapes of the Rickenbackers, the Casinos, the Gretsch Country Gentleman, the rosewood tele. I used to cut guitar shapes out of construction paper and pretend to play along with them. My mom still made me do a year of piano before even considering *renting* a guitar…she’s smart like that.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
CG: The earliest was Neil Young, The Clash, Modest Mouse, Nick Drake, Dylan, Wilco, Radiohead, Jens Lekman, Sigur Ros, and anything my family played in the car, whether that be Dixie Chicks or The Mars Volta.
JF: The Beatles and Radiohead were obsessions for me at a very young age. I also listened to a lot of Beastie Boys, Weezer’s Blue Album, Beck, Gorillaz. By the time I was a teenager, Conor and I were listening to pretty much all the same stuff. I also loved DJ Shadow, Mos Def, Interpol, The Strokes, J Dilla, and A Tribe Called Quest.
What was the first album you remember owning?
CG: I think it was either The Story of the Clash Vol 1 by The Clash or Maroon by The Barenaked Ladies. BNL was my first concert!
JF: It’s tough to say because I stole so many of my older sisters’ CDs. I do distinctly remember going into a Best Buy and buying Gorillaz’s first album when it came out… oOooo “parental advisory explicit content.”
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
CG: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart by Wilco
JF: The Old Man’s Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime) by Scott Walker…and yes, that includes the “dwee dubba dub” scatting at the end…
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
CG: Watching TV on mute or a walk (sans headphones).
JF: An aimless walk. Emphasis on “aimless”.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
CG: Blake Mills, Father John Misty, Jamie XX, Jonathan Richman, Remi Wolf, Japanese House, Mk.gee, JD McPherson.
JF: Loma, Father John Misty, Four Tet, Scott Walker, Nadine Shah. A lot of soundtrack stuff, for example Nicholas Britell’s Andor Soundtrack is fantastic, Francois de Roubaix, Riz Ortolani, and other old Italian movie soundtracks…
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
CG: Living - Wilco, dead - Harry Nilsson
JF: ooh Wilco would be fun wouldn’t it?
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
CG: The most rewarding for me is probably reading/writing lyrics. Or revisiting an idea and hearing something completely new…
JF: Discovering the meaning of what you wrote or the coolness of what you recorded way after the fact. For example, on the opening track of our new album, the climax of Conor’s drum take was hidden for much of the mixing process because I made a mistake with how I recorded it. The two overhead mics must have been somewhat out of phase and cancelling each other out to a certain degree. I happened to mute one of them one day and all of a sudden his ride cymbal started blooming like Ringo’s would have on Abbey Road. Those discoveries and realisations are intoxicating and make the headaches worthwhile.
And what is the most frustrating part?
CG: For me, song structure can be a headache at times, but we try to keep things simple. Also mastering. Freakin’ mastering…
JF: Yeah it is probably the stage you reach hearing a track so many times that it begins to sound like white noise when you listen to it. It’s taken a lot of practice to work through that challenge. I still almost lost my mind when mixing and mastering this album.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
CG: “if you’re gonna fail, fail hard” I learned this from doing comedy, but it applies to music too. Perfectionism is such a buzzkill.
JF: Finish your songs. If you hear potential in a song, see it through to the end. You may realise halfway through your process that it isn’t what you set out to make, but make a point of finishing it, because that’s how you learn.
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Local Phonies' new single 'Rat-level' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.