Surfing Miserable Waves with Golden Apples on “Across the Ocean” [Single Premiere]
“The ocean. Ooh la la. The ocean is wild. I say this a lot when I talk about the ocean, but that sound of the water and all that. Been happening forever — Earth's skipping record,” waxed Russell Edling of Philadelphia-based indie rock band Golden Apples, going long on his admiration for the briny deep. “I am imagining a big lake. I know the song says ‘ocean’ but what the fuck is an ocean, really? Do oceans exist? Are oceans flat? Lately I have been playing a lot of Final Fantasy 7.”
“Please cut any of this that you want,” Edling reassured Wormbrain, knowing we’d covered a lot already over the course of our conversation. Later, he reminded us, “Also, you can cut all of this stuff I am saying” and again before wrapping, “Like I said, cut it all for all I care.” Rest assured though, dear Wormbrain World reader, we cut almost nothing.
Wormbrain and Edling got on the oceanic tangent while discussing the project’s latest single “Across the Ocean” and its place in the band’s discography. The track, which Golden Apples are sharing exclusively on W.W today, comes from their upcoming self-titled LP releasing at the end of the month on PA hometown heroes label Lame-O Records. “Across the Ocean” is, unsurprisingly, not about the ocean. Listen below:
“I think most directly [the song] is about accountability,” Edling told us, when asked about “Across the Ocean” and its creative core. “Generally, themes of isolation, depression, regret, nostalgia, whatever, end up first in line. Accountability though? Not usually.”
Photo by Emily Burtner
“When I start writing a song, I really don't do a lot of filtering and I never start a song thinking ‘I am gonna write about X.’ All that is to say whatever is on my mind in that initial writing moment tends to find its way into the records. I don't usually write songs about stuff like that, optimism or joy or happiness or anything like that. It makes me feel uncomfortable and dishonest.”
“There are maybe one or two other songs on the record that are like ‘Wait! I am maybe not totally hopeless. Hehe!’” explained Edling on the emotional ebb and flow influencing the Golden Apples self-titled, amongst the project’s discography. “Shadowland as a whole is kind of exclusively about feeling completely buried by horror. Dumbness dealt with reconciling dreams with reality. The self-titled record is about all of that in some ways, but I think mostly the record is just like ‘Yo, at least I exist!’” A crashing of vigor in a pelagic existential void.
Like the titular ocean though, as can be feelings of apathy. On making “Across the Ocean” originally, he recalled, “I was writing about all the same miserable nonsense as usual, but this time I was thinking about waves — like, how it comes in waves. Waves of mutilation, but also waves of joy. There you get the Pixies and the Beatles at once. That's the song.”
“I wrote these songs by myself mostly but recorded them with people I trust in a quick two-week session. That is also different than any of the other records — maybe any record I've ever been a part of.” Golden Apples is an outlet for Russell Edling, largely a quote-unquote solo project on their previous releases, but as some say “misery loves company” and this new miserable lovely company certainly left its mark on their self-titled GA record. “Going into it I had no idea what the hell was going to come out at the end. I remember driving back to Philly from the Poconos with Matt Scheuermann being like, ‘Well shit, now there's a record.’”
“I know the song says ‘Ocean’ but what the fuck is an ocean, really? Do oceans exist? Are oceans flat? Lately I have been playing a lot of Final Fantasy 7. ”
Looking to see Golden Apples live soon? Get your flotation device ready, because the only dates they have coming up are accessible only by swimming. Not really, but Wormbrain prompted the band to book an “Across the Ocean” weekender waterways tour in which the bands had to get venue-to-venue butterfly stroking it the whole way, gear and all.
“Okay, so the route would for sure start in Costa Del Sol, because Mimi (Gallagher) would like it there for surfing and the kids would probably buy merch. No, I don’t know what I mean by that,” Edling plotted, before immediately shifting realities to what are apparently Final Fantasy 7 locations. [CORRECTION: apparently Costa Del Sol is also a FF7 location.] “Then we would go all the way to Icicle Area and that would be interesting because it is cold and there is snowboarding and it is where Aeris’ parents died — sad. While we’re there, I’d love to bop into those crazy mushroom houses at the Forgotten Capital. So, that is three definitely sold out shows. And then, maybe finally we’d wrap it up at Corel.”
As for who they’re taking on this swimming-only tour, he imagined, “Definitely the band from Star Wars in that very seedy bar in the first old movie — looks like they're called Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. Other than them, I think it would be cool to play with Marge. We were supposed to do that back in January. ”
Image courtesy of the artist.
For now though, Edling bids, “We have no shows — except for our release show May 15th, 2022 at Johnny Brenda’s with Marge.” Go ahead and set it up, because Golden Apples realistically may come. “If you are reading this, please book us a show. We would love to play.”
W.W: What is Wormbrain?
RE: Oh, its perfect (**rolls eyes** **dies**): The golden apple has a hole with a worm in it and the apple is also your head.
W.W: Thank you for sharing with Wormbrain.
Golden Apples’ Golden Apples is out April 29th, 2022 through Philadelphia, PA label Lame-O Records.
