A Few Words from Lowercase Roses on Ordinary Terror
“The older I get, the more I’m learning to let certain things fall away and it feels good to just make music that I wanna make and reevaluate, or even get rid of, my expectations.”
“All in all, it feels really good to share new songs,” reflected Matt Scheuermann of Philadelphia, PA project Lowercase Roses, three months after releasing their latest album Ordinary Terror, through self-imprint Slush Unlimited. Released late in December 2022, Ordinary Terror is a neat ten tracks of all killer no filler alt-pop, unexpectedly dropped after indie blog yearend list season and more than 2.5 years since Lowercase Roses’ most recent record prior. “I feel like it’s a genuine offering. I think they’re my best songs to date and I’m happy with the amount of work I put into them. The whole process, potential mistakes and all, makes me excited to continue to write songs.”
“I’d been working on this album off and on for 2 years. I think I felt like how most people probably feel before releasing something they care about — nervous but excited,” Scheuermann shared with Wormbrain. “I think I deliberately didn’t do things how you’re ‘supposed’ to do them — singles, music vids etc. — which probably worked to my detriment, but that’s ok. In a way, I feel great about it because I had control over when and how it was released. Pretty much as soon as it was mastered [by the wonderful Heather Jones], I put it online. I’d like to release it on vinyl sometime soon.”
“I think the biggest difference between Ordinary Terror and Titanic Planet is that with Ordinary Terror I was just so much more involved in the entire process,” he told Wormbrain when asked about how the project has changed between albums.
“I recorded everything except the vocals — which were recorded at the Bunk by the wonderful Matt Schimelfenig — on my own. I did most of the mixing myself as well, so I was much much more meticulous with every aspect of the sounds. With previous albums, I could only really work on them when I had enough money to go to a studio and work on them. I bought my first computer during the thick of the pandemic, which was a game changer. I could finally work on songs intensively and had a lot of time to do so,” he continued, “so I think it shows. I think with Titanic Planet, I just had like phone recordings of acoustic guitar ideas, which I would listen to over and over & then expound on them when I saved up enough to go work on them. Money is a hell of a thing.”
Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Lowercase Roses can be all lowercase or with the proper capitalization!” stated Scheuermann on the band’s often ambiguous name formatting, despite having the word “lowercase” in it. “Honestly I’d prefer it capitalized. I know it’s a weird name.”
Beyond capitalization, Wormbrain also asked about the band name itself, to which Scheuermann offered the full Lowercase Roses origin story.
“Initially, I chose the name ‘roses’. I wanted it to be spelled lowercase because I liked the way it looked. I like the way the s’s sound like z’s — and I just kinda think it’s a beautiful word to say and look at. I think it was a word I kept seeing a lot during my life at that point too. After about a year or so of ‘roses’, I realized that there were like nine thousand bands called Roses. So, I jokingly thought that if I ever changed the name, I’d call it Lowercase Roses — and so one day I was just like fuck it, I’m gonna change it to Lowercase Roses. It makes no sense at all & means nothing but I still kinda love it. I like how it has this kinda connotation of something that is stifled, in a sense — like a muffled explosion or like a really shy person with a great idea.”
Even more, Matt Scheuermann also divulged the dirt on the record label Slush Unlimited that has released both Lowercase Roses albums, two efforts working hand-in-hand because they are the same set of hands!
Anyone interested in Lowercase Roses lore is going to want to read this one. “Slush Unlimited is a ‘record label’ I made up. I just release my own stuff. Slush is the first band name I ever thought of as a kid. I was getting onto the school bus & was stepping over some slush & I thought ‘that is a cool name for a band’ and it stayed back there in my brain throughout my life. Never used it as a band name but figured it’d be cool as a song name (Slush is the name of one of my songs from a record called Titanic Planet) & then as a label name. I put ‘Unlimited’ next to it to make it sound legitimate or cool or something.”
“After all, the world is full of unlimited slush.”
To us, slush and roses seem like a perfect combination.
“Money is a hell of a thing.”
Wormbrain World had the chance to ask Matthew Scheuermann of Lowercase Roses to say a few words about their album Ordinary Terror, each of the songs on it, and the record label that helped them to bring it into the physical world. Here is what he said:
W.W: Ordinary Terror
MS: Two words I saw in a book
W.W: 1. Under a Million Moons
MS: Inside for years, I love the Mellotron
W.W: 2. California Everywhere
MS: Capitalism hums our death knell, sing along
W.W: 3. Give
MS: The attention we pay while walking away
W.W: 4. Invisible Angel
MS: My mother leaving the church its promises
W.W: 5. Custodians
MS: Is someone getting the best of you?
W.W: 6. Marigold & Moon
MS: My two daughters from a different dimension
W.W: 7. Green Light in the Echo Chamber
MS: Embrace singing ‘want’, the Internet’s open mouth
W.W: 8. Salt the Sea
MS: Since you died, every single thing’s absurd
W.W: 9. Someone Else’s Voice
MS: Only you can prevent the forest fire
W.W: 10. Apples
MS: Am I a real person? Who loves?
W.W: Slush Unlimited
MS: The first band name I ever thought
W.W: What is Wormbrain?
MS: It’s where our thoughts come from. It’s the chicken AND the egg.
W.W: Thank you for sharing with Wormbrain.
Lowercase Roses’ latest album Ordinary Terror is out now everywhere on Philadelphia, PA label Slush Unlimted.
