9+1 Q&A with Soft Science

Answered by: Katie Haley, Lead Vocals

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

I can’t remember a time when singing was not a part of my life and who I am in some way. Ross and Matt Levine are twin brothers and started playing music together when they first started learning to play instruments. Consequently, they have been playing in various bands together continually for a long time. I met Ross when we worked at a record store together that used to be in Sacramento called The Beat. Prior to Soft Science, Ross, Matt, and I were in a band together called California Oranges. When that band ended the three of us wanted to keep making music together, so we started what would become Soft Science. While making our second record, Detour, we started to think about experimenting with adding more electronic elements and around that same time Matt met Hans Munz through a mutual friend, so it was kind of destiny. Ross was originally the drummer but moved to keyboards after Detour and that’s when Tony Cale joined. After recording Maps our original bass player left the band and Becky Cale was a natural fit. It was on Lines that Ross switched to rhythm guitar.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

We began working on our recently completed album Lines in 2019. Ideally when a band goes to make a record they’ve practiced the songs a good amount and most things are worked out ahead of time, but that wasn’t the case for this record. When the pandemic hit Ross had made rough demos for the songs but we had never actually practiced most of them together in the same room as a band. So a lot of the time spent “recording” was actually sending files back and forth through home studios while in lockdown working out the parts, which wasn’t ideal and made it take longer than it would otherwise. Also, even as the pandemic and lockdowns eased, we still had a lot going on with work (outside of music), families, and other responsibilities, and finding the time to complete the album continued to remain difficult. Tony put a lot of time and effort into the mixing process as well. There were a lot of tracks and details that needed to be sorted and integrated. But we are nevertheless persistent and once we were able to reunite in person we were able to complete the record. A theme that runs lyrically throughout the album is working through living and loving within the complexities and challenges of everyday life in our fast-paced digital world.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

It might sound cliché but I think just living life influences what music comes out. There is a lot to be said for processing the things we naturally gravitate to or frankly just taking it all in. I would say when writing I am influenced in ways probably subconsciously by listening to music I love, appreciating art in all its forms, nature, family, and friends. Inspiration can come from conversations, a sound, a color, a look – living life.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

I think of us as dreampop or dark pop. On our first record, Highs and Lows, we were really trying to find our sound. From Detour on we really decided, ok we’re going to write songs that at the core pop, but let’s bend them to be as dark and moody as we can get them to be. We were drawn to a darker sound, but still made sure it had a strong melody and a hook. Basically, we take a pop song and crank up the sonic vibe.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Albums: This one is SUPER hard but I will just go with my first thoughts. If asked on a different day I may answer differently.

Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands
The Field Mice – Coastal
Low – Trust

Movies:
Life of Pi, Donnie Darko, and Spinal Tap

Books:
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower–and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion, by Phil Stutz, Barry Michels
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog, by John Grogan

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

As a band, we have often joked that we have two modes, “recording mode,” and “be good live mode.” It’s interesting because they are obviously related but different. I would say they both have their place. There is joy in recording and building a document of the songs you have contributed to creating and as part of that effort pushing yourself to perfect a recording performance. However, recording can be quite tedious so although I do enjoy recording in the studio, playing live for is more immediately fun. It feels good to lock in as a band and experience the song playing live together. It’s a special experience when all the stars align and you get to play a really good show together. There is a bit of magic at moments playing live.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

There’s a kind of funny story related to taking a long time between records. When we were getting ready to release our second LP, Detour, Ross saw on Spotify that another band called Soft Science popped up with an EP. It was pretty frustrating. So he tracked them down on Facebook and messaged them that he wasn’t going to sue or anything but explained that we took a long time to come up with the name, we had another record coming out, and we were bummed that there would forever be confusion with two bands called Soft Science in the world. He didn’t hear anything back for a while, then about a month later we got a reply saying that they thought we’d broken up because we hadn’t released anything new in a pretty long time. It went on to say that they would agree to change their name on one condition. They wanted us to buy a batch of T-shirts they had just printed off of them. We did and the shirts were actually great! They were actually the first shirts we sold.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

I would say on our new album Lines that Low is a unique track for us. ‘Low’ is the only track where Hans Munz, our electronics secret weapon, came up with an idea first, and then the rest of us built on top of it. He shared this epic soundscape with us and it instantly got our gears turning. The first song of an album – when you think of it as a connected work and not just a bunch of tracks – is important and the goal with ‘Low’ was to draw the listener into the record like the first few pages of a good book that you then can’t put down. We think it’s a great opener as it slowly draws the listener in, building up like a swelling wave that grows and grows until it crashes onto the shore and then drains back out to sea. It sets the mood for the rest of the album.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

We plan on playing as many shows as possible in support of our new album Lines, and we are going to make an effort to work on some new songs and record another album in the next year or two. We have a few shows lined up locally in Northern California and in the Pacific Northwest. The biggest event we are currently scheduled for is the Schellraiser Music Festival in McGill, Nevada from May 30 through June 1, 2024 (https://www.schellraiser.com/). We are super excited we were asked to play as we are big fans of many of the other bands that are on the Lineup including Ladytron, The Ravonettes, Mercury Rev, and the Miki Bernyi Trio. We are super excited for the experience!

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

What is your favorite song and/or video you have made for Lines?

‘Grip’ is the third video we have made for songs from our new album Lines and it is one of my favorite songs on our album. We actually started working on writing ‘Grip’ and playing this song live toward the end of shows we played in support of our last album, Maps. Somewhat ironically, the lyric in the chorus, “make it through by force of will,” feels in many ways like a theme for the album. As noted earlier there were lots of challenges in completing Lines. But where there is will there is a way, and it feels rewarding that we finished and it is out in the world now. I find it meaningful that for this video we are playing this song live. It feels like we kind of came full circle. The video came about by recording lots of footage of us playing the song live with our iPhones. Tony and Becky conceptualized it and set up the lights, a smoke machine, etc. at the place where we practiced and we started filming. Videographer extraordinaire Matt Maxwell who did our video for ‘Diverging’ on Maps graciously took all of our footage, edited it, and put his stylized spin on it. I am super happy with how the Grip video came out I think it really fits the energy and mood of the song.

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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