With the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival quickly approaching, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which acts to see. Some concert-goers have a strict agenda, others just go with the flow depending on what their ears pick up. If you’re down to relax and hear some soul-easing music, then the Bay Area’s own Zach Rogue may have the answer for you with his new band, Release the Sunbird. In a phone interview, Rogue talked about his reasons for forming this band, his creative process and how inspiration can come from imperfections.
Although Rogue has no plans of permanently leaving his previous band Rogue Wave, he said it was his “reaction to the cycle of being in a rock band” that made him want to explore new territories. His vision for Release the Sunbird was more laid-back, relying heavily on duet ideals. “I wanted to do a duet record where a female voice was present during all the songs,” said Rogue. “I was going to make music that was personal and really about relationships and their dualities.”
Even though some might call it cheesy, Rogue said it was something that was very pure to him and that resonated with sincerity. The band’s process for songwriting was much more organic than most — overdubbing only if needed and making arrangements through impulse. One of Rogue’s goal with this new record, Come Back to Us, was to make everything sound as human as possible, therefore creating an emotional, honest album.
Rogue experimented with capturing clarity without the use of effect pedals. The band made rules of how to play, allowing the sounds to form from their own constraints: “We made a rule that there were no guitar picks allowed,” said Rogue. “It completely changed the sound of the wood resonating on the guitars. Sometimes the less you do with guitars, the more sound you get.”
From eschewing plastic picks to using digital editing as a last resort, Rogue truly believes that emotional music comes from imperfection. Stating that he always had the best personal success through restraints, Rogue continued to foster this idea throughout the recording process with Release the Sunbird. He expounded upon a philosophy of sentiment over sonic production: “Music resonates the most when you tap into the right emotional state, not when you have every single thing sounding perfect.”
During the recording process, Rogue found that human error can characterize a song, giving it a unique groove from the spontaneous feelings. Rogue recounted one such occasion during the recording of the album. “On ‘We’ll Begin Tomorrow,’ it’s pretty obvious that we weren’t playing to a clicktrack because the song speeds up like crazy towards the end,” said Rogue. “(the drummer) Pete was feeling emotional and was speeding up and it was fine because he was feeling something, and to me that’s incredible. We were listening to each other, feeling the music together and just going with it.”
Release the Sunbird will take their powerful ballads to SF’s Swedish American Music Hall on July 28th, coming back to SF for Outside Lands on August 13th. Whether in halls or parks, Release the Sunbird’s soulful croons and finger-pluckin’ guitar will keep you in a blissful daze, maybe even causing some songwriting inspiration.
“I feel like any song I or anyone will ever write already exists within you,” remarked Rogue. “It’s just a question of life experience and allowing yourself to find the channel to let it out a little bit.”
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