Kial Fournier, bass (KF)

SIGT: So, tonight is your EP release party. Talk about the process of, “how did this record finally get made?” I know it didn’t get made for a good while, so what happened and how did it go down?

GC: I’d say right off the bat, amongst the story arc of changing the band name, having new members join, come and go, and all of the crazy things that life has to put you through every once in a while, that’s kind of what delayed everything in the long run. But on a more specific note, I had all these songs. Some of them made the cut, some of them didn’t but I wanted all of them to be around and I was kind of holding on to songs that I was like: “Oh, we recorded it and I put in all this work, it has to go out.” But it took a long time to leave that in the cutting room. Maybe it’ll have a place at some future record or something.  And then just taking these five songs that go together and make something cohesive as an EP. It’s our debut release that we’ve put out that I’ve been comfortable with at all really.

SIGT: Which is awesome. What is the thread of cohesiveness then? What’s the tie that binds for all of the material?

G: I would say, in a technical sense, maybe it’s the mode of the songs. But in an aesthetic sense, I think it has to do with rhythm. It has to do with feel.

K: The emotion in it, right? That it evokes?

G: Yeah, they blend together to create a picture. I think something in our bio talks about using sound to paint a picture. That’s like a synesthesia type of idea, but trying to make that real. A lot of the songs lyrically kind of bind the record and the message of the record together.

SIGT: What would you say is the message of the record?

S: To me, because it’s [Greyson’s] vision, from an outside perspective I see it as just leading from one emotion to another. But I think it [has] a very cohesive sound by the end of it, it’s hopefully a happy emotion you get …

G: I think overall the idea of this record, and where Someday River even started, is it’s kind of accepting things for how they are. Moving forward. Not swimming against the stream, so to speak. And that’s the imagery I had in my head for the name Someday River in the first place. You can kind of go with the flow and eventually you’ll reach the sea. Which is whatever your goal might be.

K: Not so much as drifting, but following your intuition and going wherever it takes you.

G: Exactly.

SIGT: So here’s a question largely directed at Sean. Cause Greyson talks a lot, cause it’s Greyson’s baby. *Laughter*

G: My mouth is loud.

SIGT: From the drummer’s perspective, what is the impact on you as a drummer — and on the music as a whole — with Kial’s presence in the band?

S: Uh, could not … do … without him. The songs are Greyson’s babies, and Kial and I do our part to make those songs as good as they can be …

K: Stepdaddies.

S: Kial is the man.

G: A lot of these songs started on acoustic guitar. And if I go back to that, I have to redefine what the song is for me on the acoustic guitar. Because now having jammed it with these two, it’s not the same. I’m sitting back, playing very differently than I would if they weren’t there. And I realize how much, whoa, this song doesn’t even translate anymore because of how it’s evolved with the rhythm section.

SIGT: We’ve been talking about the EP and the songs, so let’s divert from that very quickly.  For people who don’t know Someday River, or didn’t know Bellows either [Bellows was the previous band name], and for people outside of Orlando, what are your biggest personal hobbies out of music for each of you?  Kyle?

K: Outside of music, right now it’s probably surfing because I just bought a new board and I’m psyched on that.

SIGT:  You got the new car smell of the surfboard … Sean?

S: Super tacky answer: skateboarding has been my hobby for the past … longer than I care to share. The problem is I don’t have the time as much as I used to, but any chance I get, I just love it so I mostly try not to break my ankles nowadays. For me, it’s more fun and working out rather than trying to get better at it.

G: When I’m not playing music I just sit around thinking about it [everybody laughs]. Seriously though, I work part-time at a couple different art galleries and museums. So I’m constantly surrounded by people who are making me think about the creative process. I hang artwork and I’d say it’s really cool to be around artists all the time. So my other thing is just creating art. I make it at home too when I can.

SIGT: When you say art, can you be a little more specific?

G: Painting, drawing, a lot of design work. A lot of the stuff I do actually ends up coming back and being for the band nowadays, which is cool. I think I’m kind of exposed to a lot of stuff I would miss …

SIGT: I’d say from the outside, to consider that a major blessing. That you get to live your psychological existence in the realm of art. 

G: I can tell you, I feel incredibly lucky that I’m working at an art gallery and the fact that it’s part time is perfect because I can do what I want with the band. But at the same time, it still feels like a double life. We go on a four-day run on the weekend and I am in a different world. Then I go back to the art gallery and it’s like, whoa, whole other world of existence.

SIGT: What is your intent for this record? Are there touring plans? Do you have plans to make another record?

G: We do … the plans are — it’s taken a long time to get to this point, like we started out talking about — just because of outside environmental factors. Things that are just life. But we already have the new record in pre-production. The new material is all there. Now it’s just about putting it together and creating a clear idea for it and figuring out which songs belong on the record again.

SIGT: Makin’ the cut.

G: Right. And it’s good to cut songs out. It’s the best position you can be in. But yeah, we’re gonna tour on this record. We’re doing all around Florida. Harvey Milk Festival, Ybor, St. Augustine, Melbourne, Savannah, Georgia.

SIGT: Last question about Sleeping Sideways: where was it recorded? Who did mixing and mastering? Talk about the technical aspect.

G: We did it all at home. I recorded and mixed and mastered and produced this record.

SIGT: Can you tell me anything about your gear?

G: I’ll tell you that I use Logic 9. I have Logic 10 and ProTools 7. I use Logic 9 because I like it. It’s been a learning process. I’ve been recording music for almost 10 years. I started out with Garage Band and my first computer that I got when I moved to college and sort of discovered the idea of even recording in the first place. But now it’s all I do. I’m working my way up. But because of having to put out all of the metadata and technical things with this record, I had to choose a label because you can’t write “Unsigned” for iTunes. You have to say, like, “Someday River Music.” So, I actually went with something I’ve had in mind for a while, which is Old Familiar Records. I’m producing DayJoy’s next record and I might be working with some other groups in the future …

We wrapped up the conversation and headed inside so they could get ready to go on stage.  

Almost as if the liquidity of our conversation from minutes before had flowed inside the room and to the stage, these guys bathed the audience in soothing tones right off the bat.  Their song “Day Changer” is a good representation of what I would consider to be a chill, summer vibe. Pleasant, easy-to-listen-to melody with surprising and noticeable vocal harmonies, enhanced by complementary drumming and a very warm bass presence.

The song “Window” is a shuffle-beat oriented, ever-so-slightly-dancey tune that has lots of seemingly frantic movements that eventually settle into more patient tempos and emphasized folk rhythms. The performance of the song this particular night emphasized much of the rhythmic punctuation that the song displays.

“Path” is a fan favorite and is frequently a set closer. There’s an unmistakable groove overlaid with psychedelic trails of vocal play. I’d dare say that this song has some build-ups and maybe rocks a little harder than most of the band’s catalog.  Hence it’s role as a closer.

My personal favorite of the songs played at this show was the EP’s title track: “Sleeping Sideways.” From the first notes, this song is weird, and in a way I love. The rhythm is odd, almost plucked from some sort of trippy hoe-down. But, inexplicably there’s this really pretty and pungent vocal melody sung over it in a manner one would not expect. Which ultimately is the hook. I hear throwbacks to Bobby Darin and Del Shannon. The rhythm section doesn’t come in for a bit, but when it does the song takes a very boogie-oriented feel on. The full house was all shakin’ it to this one, and I was definitely participating.

Someday River’s music can be difficult to define. Downtempo psychedelic indie folk is a way I’ve heard of describing their sound. While I think labels are a bit overdone these days, a description of a band’s sound can be important in a world that demands instant data to provide immediate snap-judgments of interest. I’d recommend that you listen to Sleeping Sideways for yourself and make up your own way of describing what you hear. If you like good music, you’ll be happy you did.

Someday River Interview & Live Review by Josh Jauz, edited by Matthew Weller.

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• The Commission Beer Chamber
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• Nora's Sugar Shack!
• Park Ave CDs 
• Montgomery Drive Presents
• RT-Art Printing
• The Mary Jane 'High-Quality' Art Gallery
• The Owl's Attic Vintage Shop
• Broken Strings Brewery
• American Combat Club
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