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Second Still are a post-punk band based out of Los Angeles, who’s music might catch your fancy if you love lyrical depth immersed amongst goth euphonies. You can find their recently released EP ‘Equals’ out now via Weyrd Son Records and sentimental (on cassette), along with their 2017 self-titled full length debut.

Take us back to the beginning. How did Second Still form? And how did the move to Los Angeles effect the band?

(Alex) – Ryan and I met when we were little kids in Los Angeles and have been playing music together for over 10 years. When we moved to New York in 2011 we worked with a bunch of different singers until we met Suki, and then the band officially formed.

For this who have yet to listen to ‘Equals‘ what would you say the general zeitgeist is?

We wanna incorporate more synths and possibly a live drummer to keep our next album from sounding too similar to the first one. I think ‘Equals‘ is a step in this different direction, but also has similarities to the first record. So I’d say it’s the beginning of a transition from one sound to another.

‘Altar’ is reminiscent of a New Order track in some ways (and I mean this in the best possible way), how did you go about the instrumentation for this song? What is your songwriting process like? Melodies prior to lyrics?

For ‘Altar‘, I think we wrote the bass and guitar first and then Suki came up with a vocal melody and the lead synth parts, and then we programmed the drum track and the backing synths last. For the outro, we just started “jamming” together and it seemed to write itself. A lot of our songwriting is like that, we’ll usually start with a bass or guitar riff, and just start playing together and see what happens. Lyrics are usually the last thing to be written.

What was the collaboration like with the cover artist for the ‘Equals‘ EP?

Our old friend from New York Jean Lorenzo made the artwork for ‘Equals‘ as well as our first LP. He knows our music well and aesthetically we have similar tastes. We just send him the tracks and see what he’s gonna come up with. It’s always good.

It’s lazy to compare you to Siouxsie & The Banshees but Second Still does have that sound. What bands have influenced you not only to achieve your sound but generally as well?

Ha yeah we get the Siouxsie & The Banshees reference a lot. But honestly we’re not really influenced by them too much. We like a lot of 80s post-punk and new wave stuff but also stuff like Leonard Cohen, Spacemen 3, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and The Telescopes. I think we all like a pretty broad spectrum of music.

On a related note, your cover of ‘Echelons’ by For Against sounded so fresh, are there any other cover songs you’d love to record?

Thank you. Yeah we’d like to do another cover, but not too sure of what. Maybe a Leonard Cohen song could be cool.

You’re currently embarking on a European tour to coincide with the release of ‘Equals‘. What’s the energy like from European audiences in comparison to the ones you’re accustomed to at home?

Yeah we have 26 shows over a month. I’d say it’s pretty similar to be honest. Perhaps a bit more dancing here in Europe, and a bit less of the ‘i’m so cool’ head bob you see quite often back home.

Any funny stories from the road? What should we expect from your upcoming live show at Death Disco on June 2nd?

We like to suck the audience in. Sucking…..

What does the rest of 2018 have in store for the band? Back in the studio possibly?

We’ll be playing a few shows this summer when we get back to LA, and then we’re gonna take some time off to write and record.

Photo credits: Allison Littrell

Sarah Medeiros