The Sudden Lovelys release three albums in one year

​When a band says that it took them a year to release their album, it is no doubt the culmination of a year's worth of sweat and tears that went into the effort. Now multiply that by output by three and throw in non-stop touring and you get the Sudden Lovelys. The band consists of Daniel Ferraro and Paige Prescher, who share lead vocals and instruments and are presenting a seamless sound built around poetry and music.

Not ready to slow down one bit, the duo will be releasing all three albums, Liquid Silver, Big White Circle, and Red Rose in a Yellow Army on vinyl at the Ritz Theater on October 6.


Gimme Noise: Three albums in one year; that's a lot to process. What was behind the motivation to put out three different albums? 

Paige Prescher: Daniel basically had the opposite of writers block and with all of the pieces to our humble home studio in place, we said "why not?" It took an insane amount of time and effort, but we're very proud to say that we pulled it off.

What were the concepts behind each one and how did the writing process differ between each?

By in large the writing is kind of schizophrenic. It just happens when it happens. We had about 40 songs total (we used 32) and they naturally fell into three different "vibes." So, it just came down to dividing them up.

Red Rose In A Yellow Army is a very warm and quiet album centered around storytelling. Most of the tunes are made up of just a guitar, two voices, and some light hand percussion. Big White Circle is definitely more up tempo. We added a lot more of our "steamer trunk kick drum" and there's a good mix of songs that will get you moving, mixed with those that that are really charming and sweet. Liquid Silver completes the trilogy and forces you to put your thinking cap on. It's a very thought provoking, deep, and sometimes dark album with an anti-war/anti-"stale" message. We use the trunk a lot in this one as well and it's very dynamic. The lyrics in this album are very poignant and the songs most definitely take a stance.

What is this "steamer trunk kick drum" you're talking about?

The steamer trunk is an invention of sorts. There's a pipe coming out the top with a bicycle seat attached. There's a tambourine mounted to it as well. Daniel sits on the seat, and stomps on the trunk, (which is mic'ed from the inside and emulates a bass drum). He plays guitar and sings while stomping. It requires a decent amount of balance so there's a running joke about when he's going to take a spill. So far so good.

​
​
Who does the majority of the writing in the band?  What did you grow up listening to that has influenced you musically?  What are you listening to these days that influences you now?

Daniel writes the music and lyrics and Paige creates percussion parts and harmonies. John Lennon was the biggest influence growing up. Also Pink Floyd and Ween. Nowadays it's more Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and John Prine. But all of those artists have a heavy influence on these albums.

Why decide to press on vinyl?

We collect a lot of vinyl, and love everything about it. You have to "work" to hear the music; from taking it out of the sleeve, putting it onto the turntable, placing the needle, and getting up to change the side. We dig that. When listening to vinyl, you listen to the album in it's entirety, the way the artist intended, there's no "next" button, or double clicking.

It's a very pure form of music. Visually, the cover takes on a new meaning. It feels substantial, like a piece of art. Also, we wanted to feel what being flat ass broke was like.

The Sudden Lovelys took a trip down to SXSW this year; was this your first time down there?  How did SXSW change your perception of the music business?  Did you catch any underground parties/shows?

It was our first time to SXSW. The music business is big. We are small. We are ok with this fact. Most of the parties we attended were above-ground.

Most bands these days break even when touring; does this seem disheartening to you because the band tours a lot?  What keeps you going?

We broke even, and it was great. Spending time together doing something we love is about as fortunate as you can get. First and foremost we're trying to connect with people, not make money. If the money comes eventually, we're not turning it down but we have some really great fans that get an awful lot from what we do. They make it very worthwhile.
We'll be slowing down in terms of not recording three albums in 2012. We'll be on the road and playing a lot of shows, trying to spread the lovely wherever we can to whomever connects with us. A children's album is also in the works for 2012.

The Sudden Lovelys will release all three albums on vinyl at the Ritz Theater with opener Bill Patten. 18+, $8 adv, $10 door, 7 pm.

---

"Like" Gimme Noise on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @gimme_noise.