Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Photo by Madden Crawshaw
Sometimes I wonder if it’s still possible for music to develop regionally the way it used to before the digital age when different places had distinguishable traits about them that gradually and unintentionally moved the cultural needle forward. For the most part, I don’t really think it is anymore as we’re constantly inundated with too much, too fast with people scrambling after each trend at the first hint of its viral potential. What still remains today however, are places where honest efforts of the unassuming seem to coalesce and surface long enough to be noticed. Oklahoma in particular has been a place of interest to me for this reason, as it’s responsible for some of the most memorable pieces of music in recent years. As a California native I have no real experience of Oklahoma at all, and yet the music and stories that emanate from there have left impressions on me of what it possesses.
Since 2018 one of the most affecting bands from Oklahoma have been Downward. Currently comprised of Drew Richardson, Tollie Pugh, Hunter Senft, and Severin Olsen, the band have previously released one album and a string of singles and EPs. Over the years, they have characterized their music by pulling from influential shoegaze / emo / alternative rock bands while steadfastly developing their own voice. Seven years after the release of their debut self-titled album, the band surprised everyone with their newly released sophomore album Downward (LP2). Recorded and produced by Kendal Osborne with additional mixing and mastering by Corey Coffman, the album flows with deliberate precision and the clear-cut rhythmic textures are swathed by melodic yet striking guitar work. It is at once a gently comforting and meditative listen with revelatory moments that catch me off guard. I spoke with Drew about the writing process, the decision to surprise drop the album, and what he hopes listeners take from it below.
Oklahoma has a lot of dynamic bands putting out great albums – Chat Pile, cursetheknife, Mad Honey, Money, etc. Is the surrounding scene something that has helped shape your own style musically when you started writing for LP2?
Sev plays in CTK and Money so those flavors are definitely present to an extent. Oklahoma has always had cool alternative bands, but right now it has a few DIY spaces and a lot of kids that make music and go to shows, which wasn’t always the case when we were starting out. It’s truly a pretty bad market for us, but we still ride for Oklahoma.
The spirit of Downward’s music seems to live in an abstract space, but it’s driven by a certain melancholic emotional tone that’s embedded in each song and lyrically it’s rather vivid. Where would you say you’re writing from when putting these songs together? Are some of the lyrical points visuals that you’re pulling from personal memories or other stories?
We’ve always just tried to write music that feels like us and feels like home. Lyrically I like to lean towards abstract or vague delivery, not to be mysterious, I just want to have these songs with me for as long as I can and I don’t know where I’ll be a few years down the road. I haven’t always done that consciously, but there’s some songs I wrote when I was 17-18 that I resonate with totally differently than I did back then.
You’ve mentioned that when writing you generally prefer to do it in one go. Did you find yourself approaching this album in a similar manner? What did the creative process look like when putting these songs together?
It’s definitely our most collaborative body of work. Most of the guitar parts are scraps from songs we’ve been kicking around for the last few years. Once we can form some type of structure, I like to do lyrics in one shot.
The artwork covers have been visually striking with these last two in particular depicting morbid themes. How did you guys choose the album artwork?
The photo is from a cemetery in Tulsa, they had that statue masked off to paint the structure around it. Hunter drove past it and sent a blurry iPhone photo to all of us, and Madden went out the next morning to get a real one. Madden is also the baby on The Brass Tax.
What drew you to work with Kendal Osborne and was that technically the first time you guys had someone on board to record/produce the record with you?
We’ve worked with some awesome engineers in the past, but Kendal recorded drums for The Brass Tax and we really liked working with him. Hunter has always recorded all his other music with Kendal and they work really well together.
Seven years after your debut album, what made you guys release the follow-up album as a surprise instead of going the standard promotional route?
Personally, singles make me disinterested in albums too often. We liked knowing people were just gonna press play on the record and go in blind. I also figured with a couple re-records on the album, doing singles would’ve been kinda redundant.
How did the reworking of “Line” happen?
“Line” was always my favorite song off The Brass Tax and we started playing it at shows a lot more last year. The album version is just what it turned into.
“Darkscreen” is one of your strongest songs to date. How did that song come about?
Hunter wrote the first half and I wrote the second half. That’s why it’s pretty much two whole songs. It was the last song we finished and probably the one we were the least confident about going in.
What was your favorite thing about writing the album?
The best part for me was just spending time making stuff with Hunter. We used to live together and it was so easy to bounce stuff off each other. We also just understand each other really well when it comes to creating music. It’s a part of my brain I wish I got to activate more often.
Were there any goals you guys wanted to accomplish when writing this time around?
Nothing specific, but I think we made the exact album we wanted to make.
What do you hope people take from listening to the album?
I think we’ve tried with our last two records to not box ourselves into any corners musically. Downward’s music comes from us wanting something to exist that we couldn’t exactly find. I just want people to start bands and play the music that is in their heart, without worrying about a genre or what’s cool.
Downward (LP2) is out now on New Morality Zine, and vinyl + merch is available here.
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Loan Pham | @x_loanp
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