LK: Is your next EP Fathers Be Kind going to be a mix of electric and acoustic like The Verse, The Chorus?
TW: Yeah, the new EP has one acoustic jam on there. Another one that’s lots of percussion and acoustic, the rest of it’s pretty full band. It’s definitely kind of building on with the first EP the verse the chorus. There’s a couple of more rock-y songs, and some slower jams.
LK: What's it like recording the new EP Fathers Be Kind with two more vocalists than you had for The Verse, The Chorus?
TW: It’s been awesome just because one of them is my brother. It’s great, we’re really close and have always been that way, and he’s actually playing bass and writing. He actually wrote the title track off of the EP. I think we’re growing together. It wasn’t like it was easy to just go in and record a record together. We’ve grown together and really focused. We did the record on our own. That's a lot of what this band has done in the past: if we don’t know how to do it, we’ll figure it out. But I think it’s been a really natural thing, we never used to do all of the harmonies but I think everyone being able to sing is really beneficial. And the way we record our record, we just kind of throw everything in the mix and I usually layer a lot of different harmonies over the lead vocals and try to find strange, interesting, and beautiful harmones. We just got to the point where we needed to sing it live. It’s been cool to see something people respond to it so well; they’re like "Wow, we don’t usually hear indie bands with four-part harmonies".
LK: You have your own studio set up in a barn in Seattle. What was it like recording there versus in a traditional studio setting?
TW: We certainly have the necessary time to…we needed time is what I should say. So I feel like having our own studio, was really crucial because we haven’t been playing together all that long. It’s been really nice, and it’s allowed us the necessary time to come up with the record we wanted to make. But at the same time, I think we’re excited to get back in and record another one so we can improve on what we’ve already done. I mean, I think we’re proud of the record we made, but we’re excited to make an even better one. We're excited to record our first full length.
LK: You posted raw footage of the band tracking vocals and piano for the record, which is something you don’t see quite as often as live concert footage. What made you decide to do that?
TK: In general, we’ve been trying to put out more material online, whether it be posting pictures from the road, videos from the road, or in the studio. We’re going to try to record some covers, get those out there. In the current climate of the music world, there’s just.... You have to constantly be in front of people for them to remember and pay attention to you. I think that’s just what we’re trying to do, is to get more in front of people in general. We have tons of studio footage and things we’re going to edit and put up that people would hopefully enjoy if they like our music. The album comes out February 1st, coinciding with this little in-office performance on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert. It was a really great experience, and we’re so happy to have their support. Then we head out on Feb 15th for a month and a half of touring. There’s a lot going on!
Be sure to check back in with Ivan & Alyosha in February on our Artist in Residence page for an inside look at the band's life on the road. Their sophomore EP Fathers Be Kind drops February 1st, and you can pre-order your copy on iTunes here. If you can't wait that long, be sure to check out their debut EP The Verse, The Chorus which is available on iTunes. Right now, they have a few dates booked in January in the Pacific Northwest, with plans to head down the west coast in February. For more information about Ivan & Alyosha's upcoming tour dates, please visit their Myspace page here.
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