The energy is just about perfect in the Soapbox Soliloquy camp right now, and they’ve married the good vibes to the swelling fortunes of Sonic Graffiti for a new, 7-inch split they’re calling Ghost - A - Go Go.
The release has been a couple years in the making and finds all six members of both bands playing on two new original songs — “Oonanana” and “Dead Cold” — the latter of which Soapbox Soliloquy principle Jasmine Deja has shared below.
“The collaborative songs are shorter, as you could only fit five-minutes of music on each side, and we wanted to use every bit after the three-minute singles,” Deja told CL in a message. “But what was so cool about them is the fact that it felt like a fun project, we had a theme, and a time constraint, and so just wanted to use those parameters as a launch board and excuse to explore new realms that we hadn't particularly ventured to before.”
Listen: Sonic Graffiti shares "Evil," the 12-minute opening track from their new LP Loner
Also cool? The fact that Matt Kaye — owner of St. Pete glam-dive The Bends — helped with an initial deposit for the 100 pieces of pink and orange splatter vinyl pressed at Kentucky’s Palomino Records Pressings.
“We were planning to ask if he'd perhaps be down to help,” Deja said of the release’s good fortune, adding that the band then felt the onus to write, record and mix the new tracks before sending them to production, which takes a few months.
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“We had to save up the rest of the money to make it happen, write and record the new tracks, mix them, and then send them out to the vinyl press, which then takes a few more months. Lots of waiting, lots of work, but now we finally have something to show for it, so it's ultimately an incredibly satisfying feeling to let it out into the world,” Deja added.
Read our full Q&A with Deja, and have a listen to “Dead Cold” from the release, below. Get more information on the release party with FayRoy (happening at The Bends, duh) via local.cltampa.com, and see more tour dates below as well.
Will you please detail the release (A-side titles, B-side)?
There's two bands on it, so there's no A-Side and B-Side in the traditional sense, but rather, a Sonic Graffiti side and a Soapbox Soliloquy side. The Sonic Graffiti side starts with the single, “Ghost Steppin” (which is on their new self titled album) and “Oonanana,” which is a song Drew wrote/orchestrated and we recorded specifically for this release as a collaborative effort, using the total six members of the two trios (Nick Boutwell, Gino Capone, Chris Cardon, Drew Giordano, Trevor Mustoe, and I). Similarly, the Soapbox Soliloquy side starts with a remixed/remastered version of “Ghost Caress” (which has been released before digitally, but not on vinyl) and “Dead Cold,” a song I wrote and orchestrated specifically for the release, also being recorded as a collaborative effort between the six of us. The release is called Ghost-A-Go Go and as I'm sure you put together by now, is a themed release about ghosts, ghouls, and the inevitability of death.
Have the songs been released before? Veiny Hands has been pretty active, so how long have you been sitting on the Soapbox Soliloquy songs since?
This release has been about two years in the making by now. It started out as a wild idea/goal Drew and I put together just before last year started, to be one of the first Blind Not Deaf releases. From there we did some brainstorming of how to make it happen and, coincidentally, just before we were planning to ask if he'd perhaps be down to help, Matt K. from The Bends approached us about perhaps pressing vinyl with them as a collaborative effort between BxD and The Bends, so he graciously offered to help us out with the initial deposit! So must have just been something in the air or something…
Then of course, from then we had to save up the rest of the money to make it happen, write and record the new tracks, mix them, and then send them out to the vinyl press, which then takes a few more months. Lots of waiting, lots of work, but now we finally have something to show for it, so it's ultimately an incredibly satisfying feeling to let it out into the world.
Both of the collaborative songs are shorter songs, as you could only fit five-minutes of music on each side, and we wanted to use every bit after the three-minute singles. But what was so cool about them is the fact that it felt like a fun project, we had a theme, and a time constraint, and so just wanted to use those parameters as a launch board and excuse to explore new realms that we hadn't particularly ventured to before.
How was your trip to Texas?
The trip to Texas was good fun, it was a real trip because there was lots of familiar faces, from around town and from around the country, and there they were all in one spot. It had a slightly eerie feeling, because it was similar to home due to the familiar faces of being around our friends from home, Fayroy and The Plastic Pinks, but ultimately you knew you were home. So it ends up being like this weird dream, where it feels like reality, but just slightly glitched out.
Could you detail the press?
We pressed through Palomino Pressings from Louisville, Kentucky. They're really stellar fellowes and lady fellowes there, always down to answer questions, and do smaller runs than most presses. They do the vinyl pressing, then taking care of the packaging today with a trip to kinkos and some origami stuffing.
