With Their Debut EP for Equal Vision Records, Mozart Season Gets Down to Business
Movies–especially great love stories–end when the characters realize their love for one another. But really, isn’t that the beginning of the story? With roughly five years under its belt, Sacramento post-hardcore band Mozart Season has had a career that is practically cinematic in its ups and downs: extended breaks, members coming and going–it hasn’t been the smoothest ride. But through it all, the band’s founding members, including frontman Nate Richardson, managed to keep the banner of Mozart Season flying at full mast and play to an avid (and downright rabid) local fan base. In June, the band announced that they had signed with Equal Vision Records, a name of great renown in the punk/hardcore scene. The Albany, N.Y.-based label has been home to Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive and H2O, and now boasts a lineup that includes Pierce the Veil and Chiodos among others.
“I’ve always been working toward this,” says Mozart Season bass player Troy Cooper, a member of the band since November 2008. Cooper was handpicked to take the mantle of bass player by his predecessor, Richardson’s older brother Nick. Cooper is still very appreciative of the opportunity he was given and able to run with. “To join Mozart Season with people I was friends with and play the music I enjoy and sign to the label I’ve wanted to sign with since I was a kid is crazy and lucky,” he says.
A fairytale ending? Actually, it’s just the beginning of the story.
The band announced the signing to Equal Vision with a quick blast on Twitter. “We are very excited to annnounce [sic] that we have signed with Equal Vision Records!” the post read. The day before, the band hinted that they’d be letting fans in on “the greatest secret we’ve ever kept.” But this great news wasn’t as immediate as Twitter’s 140 characters might have you believe. The band traveled a long road to work up to that announcement.
“We officially signed two months ago,” Cooper explains. “We’ve been working on the album and getting all the artwork together. The whole preparation for the announcement took a long time.”
In fact, Mozart Season had been in touch with Equal Vision for a long time prior, but the band’s first attempt to get the label’s attention fell through.
“What initially happened is that when we hit up Equal Vision, we talked to one of their regular A&R guys, and we just lost touch with him,” Richardson says. But, according to Richardson, the band pushed on undaunted, and soon it was Equal Vision that came calling after them.
“We just kept touring and doing our thing and then Equal Vision hit us back up, so that’s what got us excited as far as them pursuing us,” he says. “From there, it was really easy to get in touch with them. They were open and honest about our contract, what they wanted and expected out of us, and we had the same policy with them. It was a good fit. We felt real comfortable with them from the start.”
Mozart Season’s relationship with Equal Vision took a serious step in December 2009 when label manager Daniel Sandshaw traveled to Sacramento to see the band play.
“We met with him, had dinner with him and talked with him about the label and got to know him better,” Cooper says. But even though he may have always wanted to be a part of the Equal Vision family, Cooper and the band didn’t jump to any decisions as far as picking a label goes. He says he was also realistic about what signing to a label actually meant.
“When Equal Vision offered us a deal, we talked to our friends in bands that were signed about the perks, the pros and cons, the reality of what being signed is–which isn’t everything everyone thinks it is,” Cooper says. “You don’t get thousands of dollars thrown at you, and you don’t rocket to the top. Everything is still about working hard and building a name for yourself.”
With the label deal sorted out, Mozart Season focused on the real work–putting together their debut for Equal Vision. After some discussion between the band and the label, it was decided to release an EP, Nightmares (due out July 20, 2010), that would comprise old and new songs. Three songs (“Look Mom, I’m on TV,” “Saint Peter” and “Ankle Deep Ocean”) were taken from the band’s previous effort, the independently released 2009 EP Apotheosis, with the remaining three being new material.
“These three songs we felt were not only the standout three of Apotheosis, but also the songs that fit the theme of the Nightmares EP–just chaos and being scared of the future and the past,” Richardson says.
The songs chosen from Apotheosis were not tweaked or re-recorded for Nightmares. Cooper says that Equal Vision “really liked” Apotheosis, and wanted to bring its songs to a wider audience.
“We’ve sold a lot of copies of that EP [Apotheosis] on iTunes and hard copies, but on a grand scale, so many people have yet to hear those songs,” Cooper says.
There was even talk of just re-releasing the old EP under the new label, but Cooper calls the decision to mix old and new material the “middle ground” between the two ideas.
“We released [Apotheosis] a year and a half ago now…in January 2009, so we’ve been playing those songs for a while,” Cooper says. “We’ve been promoting that and putting that out for a while. We had these new songs written, and we were planning to record a new EP even if we were unsigned this time this year.
“Our sound has progressed so much over the last year of the band playing together, mostly because this is our first time we’ve had a good amount of time to write with each other, with some of the new members,” he goes on to say. “We wanted to just show the progression we’ve made.”
This progression sounds like an absolute explosion with Nightmares’ opening track “Famous Last Words (You’re Nothing Without Me).” The furious fretwork of guitarists Sam Trux and Benton Christensen fuel Richardson’s vocal fire as heavy verses give way to catchy, melodic choruses. Richardson’s performance shows remarkable versatility morphing from abrasive hollering to something sweetly sonorous. The vocalist says the pop influence in some of the band’s newer songs wasn’t necessarily intentional. However, he does credit the EP’s engineer, Jay Trammell, with guidance toward that direction.
“That’s just what came out,” Richardson says. “I’m flattered that you said it’s catchy. I’m stoked, but that wasn’t what I was going for. Jay definitely helped shape that with me.”
“We wanted to write a song that has a lot of heavier parts to it, but wasn’t generic,” Cooper says of “Famous Last Words.” “We don’t try to overcomplicate stuff too much.”
Unfortunately, outside complications affected the recording process of Nightmares. One drummer left to get ready for marriage and another, Joseph Arrington from Utah-based band Riots of Eighty, stepped in to record the drums for the album. Luke Allen (formerly of Consider the Thief) has since replaced Arrington as Mozart Season’s permanent drummer. Luckily, Equal Vision was very understanding of the band’s predicament.
“They were really supportive and at that point, just working with the four core members: Benton, myself, Troy and Sam,” Richardson says. “Once we brought Luke on board, they were super stoked about his history with Consider the Thief and his drumming ability. They wanted us to take our time and find someone we’d be happy working with for a long time.” Richardson goes on to say that Allen is the best drummer Mozart Season has had. “He’s the shit. He rules, and you can put that in writing.”
Though they’re both pleased with their band signing to a prominent indie, both Richardson and Cooper realize that the real work starts now.
“We’ve been jamming and playing local shows and small tours for the last five years–five years for me anyway,” Richardson says. “A lot of people think that’s the first step, but really that’s the hobby aspect of what a music career is, and now we’re at the beginning. We finally have what we need to get the songs out there and blow up.”
Armed with a new EP, label and a strong work ethic, it would seem Mozart Season has what it needs in place for a blockbuster ending.
Nightmares will be available in stores and on iTunes July 20. On the same day, the band will meet up with the No Bummer Summer Tour alongside Gwen Stacy, Lower Definition and A City Serene. The tour will travel around the Western United States and end in Camarillo, Calif., at Rock City Studios on Aug. 2.
in 140 characters or less
20. The XX
XX (XL)
One of the best man and woman duets of all time. Their voices mesh together like delicious PB+J. Songs to groove or snooze to.
19. Consider the Thief
Signs and Wonders (Self-released)
Locally bred, brilliantly produced post-rock album that plays well in its entirety. Healthy dose of clever programming. Great vocal work.
18. Tides of Man
Empire Theory (Rise)
Soaring vocals, layers of swirling guitar riffs, solid rhythms. Almost enough to make Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria jealous.
17. Japandroids
Post-Nothing (Unfamiliar)
“Garage rock” is apparently what happens when production savvy meets a couple of punk kids intent on loosening up your bowels. A guitar tone dream date.
16. Liturgy
Renihilation (20 Buck Spin)
Black metal in its purest form, but spiritual ecstasy rises forth from its buzzing guitars, crashing cymbals and despondent growls.
15. A-trak
Infinity (Thrive)
A relentless hour of cheap thrills and kick/snare/hollas from one of Montreal’s most prodigious mashers.
14. Bright Light Fever
Meat Market EP (Self-released)
Five delicious tracks of foot tapping, head nodding, energetic rock brewed in Sacramento. Sing along, dance and have fun. RIP BLF.
13. Real Estate
Real Estate (Woodsist)
Clouds never quite break for this sunny-day guitar narrative; summer with a caveat, in a Jersey basement.
12. Dredg
The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion (Ohlone)
Follow Dredg as they take you on an exuberant journey through 18 tracks of melt your face bliss blended like your favorite film score.
11. Thrice
Beggars (Vagrant)
A raw, stripped down Thrice go back to the basics: guitars, bass, drums, keys, vocals. Groovy, almost bluesy at times. Refreshing offering.
10. Ganglians
Monster Head Room (Woodsist)
Grooving surf-rock riffs and supple vocal harmonies, it’s the record that encompassed Midtown life.
09. Passion Pit
Manners (Columbia/DMZ)
A happy indie electronic album with some of the most high pitch singing out there this year. Yet still makes you want to turn it up to 11.
08. Sunn O)))
Monoliths and Dimensions (Southern Lord)
Manages to segue from immense drone riffs to jazz-like passages without a stutter. 4 songs, almost 60 minutes, 4,000 tons of despair.
07. John Mayer
Battle Studies (Sony)
He took a step away from the blues-driven Continuum, but perfected the pop-rock song like it hasn’t been done since Fleetwood Mac in the ’70s.
06. Dan Deacon
Bromst (Carpark)
Deacon preaches the way forward with volcanic drums and fuzzy, twisted melodies—electronic music in its grandest, most sincere composition.
05. San Kazakgascar
Idle Ships (Lather)
A psych trip led by a snake charmer through a hipster bazaar in search of your hash dealer.
04. The Mars Volta
Octahedron (Warner Brothers)
RodrÃÂguez-López and Bixler-Zavala prove once again that they are the masters of creating weird, yet somehow easy listening albums.
03. Tegan and Sara
Sainthood (Sire)
The Canadian twins continue to bleed their romantic struggles into indie rock jams with substance, dueling vocals and sing-along melodies.
02. Baroness
Blue Record (Relapse)
Boulder-heavy but like an opera in its composition. A rare album that demands, through brute force, that it be listened to in its entirety.
01. Phoenix
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (V2)
Sublimely perfect and addictive gooey indie pop goodness. 2009’s album most likely to make people at your party say, “That’s my song!”
Consider This!
It doesn’t take too keen a memory to recall when the underground was rocked by a relatively new animal; a post-hardcore beast gnashing a row of melodic incisors, besmirched by a heavy metal overbite. The critics called it metal-core, then screamo, then a whole host of hyphenated hyperbole until a style of song that sprung from an Iron Maiden fever dream began to homogenize, embraced a pussycat’s slippery sheen, and is now essentially a safe haven for tough kids gone soft. It’s sad but true: Screamo is a fucking joke. Metal-core is a caricature in a Mall of America comic strip. The death rattle for a once mildly exciting punk rock overture has shaken its final clangs.
Sacramento’s Consider the Thief (nee Heartshed) has been toiling within the confines of this breakdown-heavy haze. They are set to release what will no doubt be regarded as either a complete about-face from what their fans expect, a risky career move in a still-fledgling existence, a “fuck you” to what would have surely been a cakewalk into the mainstream-or most likely all three. Guitarist Sean O’Sullivan, formerly of Dance Gavin Dance, attempts to explain the chronology of events leading to this spring’s release of Signs and Wonders.
“All of us paid our dues playing in heavier bands for years before this,” explains O’Sullivan. “After the release of Soldiers and Saints [the band’s self-released debut EP] we decided we wanted to take a leap of faith and write songs that didn’t rely on what had become a crutch for us: screaming and busy guitar/drum work.”
Soldiers… found the band contented in a sound equal-parts Vheissu-era Thrice and a just-crowning Thursday, emerging behind a wall of punishing metal riffs and algebraic time signatures, capped by guttural yelps and pin-prick melodies. It was an underground release that garnered the praises of everyone from Punknews.org to mega-hip glossy rag Alternative Press, who placed the group among their “100 Bands You Need To Know” in 2009.
While still unsigned, the band (rounded out by pianist/vocalist/guitarist Dryw Owens, vocalist/guitarist Jordan Wells, bassist Zack Walkingstick and drummer Lucas Allen) seemed to realize that their artistic bents remained malleable, and with a creeping disdain for the impending creative flat line of their young catalog, they turned a musical corner.
The process was a trying one for O’Sullivan.
“Writing this record was pretty intense for all of us,” says O’Sullivan. “The first song we wrote after the EP was the softest any of us had been a part of. There was that learning curve with the new material, how to go about writing more dynamic and emotive songs. I suffered writer’s block at one point and during that period experienced a lot of growth and was humbled by watching the other guys write.”
The result of such growth has ushered in an atmospheric wash of layered songwriting more akin to the vibrancy of UK sonic-rock supergroups like Radiohead, with a marked emphasis on lyrical themes. These themes rear most poignantly with takes on the Christian parables “The Good Samaritan” and “The Prodigal Son.” But O’Sullivan is quick to note the band’s neutral stance with regard to the presumed theological imprints on their music.
“It wasn’t really a purposeful thing at first,” explains O’Sullivan. “I personally feel it’s important for an album to have a well-rounded lyrical theme. My biggest worry with the lyrics on this record is that people would think that we’re some sort of bible-thumping Christian band. These stories Dryw sings about [are] just as powerful to an Atheist as they are a Wiccan or a Catholic. We’re not trying to convert anyone with a sing-song Jesus chorus; we just want to convey the power and relevance these stories still have.”
The fear of alienation, while something that most artists might invoke as tantamount, took a back seat for Consider the Thief in the process of writing their new material.
“We had a good laugh as we were writing these songs,” says O’Sullivan. “We knew that the kids who love our old material would most likely not gel that well with the new stuff. The vast majority of people have had nothing but good things to say.”
With their initial successes, O’Sullivan points out the band’s gratefulness for exposure on a national level while still remaining unsigned. Signs and Wonders will be self-released by the band, and should be available exclusively on iTunes by May, with a CD release show still in the planning stages. In the meantime, Consider the Thief is gearing up for its future.
“We’ve been so focused on writing and recording that we hadn’t really thought too far into the future, but we are now,” says O’Sullivan. “The reality is sinking in that we have to move on this—that this is something really important to us and, hopefully, to others, is really motivating us to spread it around.”
Breaking a mold that in previous bands they most assuredly helped create is bound to receive attention, good or bad. For the record, O’Sullivan summed it up as succinctly as possible.
“What bugs me most about the current music scene is the overwhelming fear of failure bands seem to have when it comes to doing their own thing,” he explains. “Bands are giving up because they can’t survive and we’re seeing good, hardworking bands break up or lose members to horrendously awful Auto-Tuned crunk groups, and there’s no desire to attempt something that might not pan out. I’m not saying we have that ideology of creativity cornered, but I can for sure say that the record we just wrote is as honest a record that I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m 100 percent proud of it and of the guys I work with. Hopefully people take notice of the bands that are working hard and support them so that they succeed…otherwise we’ll see screamo-crunk-whatever in the top 40!”
