Finding Natural Inspiration with Laveda on “Surprise” and “F***”
“I think I’ve found a lot of inspiration in movies and video games,” shared Jake Brooks of Albany, NY dream pop duo Laveda. “I love how some films and video games are able to really incapsulate a specific feeling or energy. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind and Twin Peaks were on a lot while we were recording this album. I think the inspiration from those films specifically helped us get through some blocks. I feel like Square Enix games do that pretty well too.”
Wormbrain recently spoke with Brooks and project co-founder / co-conspirator Ali Genevich about what kind of impression they’re trying to make with their latest singles, about what inspires them both sonically and spiritually, plus their upcoming sophomore album A Place We Grew Up In due out Spring 2023 via Burlington, VT and Brooklyn, NY group PaperCup Music.
“I feel like nature really inspires me,” Genevich told Wormbrain. “Being out in Los Angeles while recording was super cool because I had never been. There was this whole new energy and naturally it found it’s way into the music. I think we hit a new level of nostalgia-evoking music. Everything about the new record feels very real to me. It’s as if each song is an old household object or personal item with its own unique story.”
The pair have shifted post-punk and post-apocalyptic following their 2020 debut full length What Happens After with a tease at a Laveda LP2 with recent singles “Surprise” and “F***.” While the departure in sound isn’t vast, clearly still the collaboration of Genevich and Brooks, there is clear maturation and evolution in the songs they’re making — a solid stroke of raw humanity over the band’s established brand of polished somber pop sounds.
“For our first record we used a lot of drum machines and heavy handed production,” reflected Brooks on the process of making What Happens After. “We wanted to create this big distorted pop dystopia.”
“This time around we wanted it to sound a bit more organic,” they told us. “We started the record with live tracking — Joe playing the kit, Dan playing bass, and Ali and I on guitars. The record definitely has a live band sound throughout. After the live tracking we did still add a bunch of sounds and textures, because that’s a huge part of our identity and process. There’s a lot of anger, sadness and happiness throughout the record.”
Speaking specifically on what first and second impressions the upcoming album’s first two singles are meant to leave listeners with about the upcoming record, Brooks advised Wormbrain, “‘Surprise’ highlights the diversity of the record. The album has a lot of different moods and styles. Every song feels like a picture from a scrapbook, telling a small part of a bigger story. The song on the surface sounds happy, but the lyrics touch on depression and alcoholism.”
“‘F***’ reinforces the idea that the record will have some magical moments while dealing with serious topics,” they continued. “Our first record was hyper focused on dystopia and apocalypse. This time around we wanted to write more about our own personal experiences.”
“‘F***’ is a heartbreak song. ‘Surprise’ is a song about depression and boredom. You can definitely expect more inward and reflective thinking for the rest of the album.”
We will expect that, Laveda, and will be checking back on this next year.
“It’s as if each song is an old household object or personal item with its own unique story.”
Photo courtesy of the artists.
Wormbrain World asked Laveda to give us the band’s most obvious and surprising influences — here are the musical artists they told us:
OBVIOUS: The Sundays, Slowdive, Belly, The Cranberries, Radiohead, Land of Talk, Wolf Alice, The Smiths, Phantogram, My Bloody Valentine, M83, Low
SURPRISING: Bloc Party, Dry Cleaning, Brian Eno, Broadcast, Pavement, Grouper, Atlas Sound, PJ Harvey, The 1975, You’ll Never Get To Heaven
“Every song feels like a picture from a scrapbook, telling a small part of a bigger story.”
W.W: What is Wormbrain?
JB: My brain on absinth
AG: A rotting head
W.W: Thank you for sharing with Wormbrain.
Laveda’s latest singles “F***” and “Surprise” are out now via Burlington, VT’s PaperCup Music.
