April 2020 – Hypnotic Bolt

New Album Release: Vista Kicks

Originating from California, Vista Kicks surprised listeners when they released their third full length album, Chateau Mae Mae on April 10th.

Comprised of Derek Thomas (lead vocals), Sam Plecker (guitar), Trevor Sutton (bass), and Nolan Le Vine (drums), Vista Kicks had the opportunity to write alongside singer-songwriter Audra Mae.

Oklahoma native, Audra Mae has made a name for herself in the world of music. By collaborating with and writing songs beside various musicians, Mae is a very well respected artist.

Spending their summer months writing in Music City (Nashville, TN), the members of Vista Kicks and Mae collaborated to produce Chateau Mae Mae. Combining Mae’s soulful folk sound with Vista Kicks’ classic rock sound, this album caters to all music lovers.

We had the opportunity to ask the members of Vista Kicks and lead singer, Derek Thomas some of our most pressing questions about the release of Chateau Mae Mae.

Open up your windows, allow the sunlight in, close your eyes, and let Chateau Mae Mae transport you to a different time.

How is this album different from anything you have released?

VK: On all of our other releases, we’ve written as a unit- just the four of us. The main difference about Chateau Mae Mae is that we co-wrote every song on the record between ourselves, Audra Mae, and different Nashville writers Natalie Hemby, Madi Diaz, Kerr Harrison, Benjy Davis, and David Borne.

What were some of your main inspirations for this release?

VK: Really, the experience of being in Nashville. Audra flew us out, housed us, and invited people over to write songs breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two weeks straight!

I guess something about lowering our walls and allowing outside people into our headspace…that was the inspiration for this release. A group effort that is something way different and way more than the 4 of us (or 5, including Audra) could have created alone.

How did you meet Audra Mae and decide to collaborate with her?

Thomas: We knew Audra from Los Angeles. She lived nearby and we’d hung out with her multiple times before she moved to Nashville.

A few tours ago, we were passing through Nashville and she came to the show, we invited her to come sing with us because Sam had been sick and he couldn’t sing for a few days. She had to postpone her flight plans and instead of departing from Nashville, she agreed to come with us to Memphis and leave from there.

While listening to songs and talking about life, I suggested it would be cool to someday make a record together. We both agreed and thought the other wasn’t serious, so we let months go by before reaching out again.

In May, I called Audra and said, “Are we doing this thing or what?” She laughed and said, “Hell yes we are.” She took it from there. Sam and I hopped on a plane and stayed with her for two weeks. No plan, no songs written, no real idea of anything. “I guess we’ll see what happens.” I said to Sam on the plane.

What was the process of writing this album and working together with Audra Mae?

Thomas: Every day at Audra’s house was packed with writing songs, cooking food, going out to bars, staying up till the sun came up, and lots of laughter.

We took any and every opportunity to make a song out of this and that. It was an inspiring time. It felt like a magical two weeks. Like a dream come true, writing with Audra and all of her friends who are now also our friends, the experience was a gift.

We didn’t think we were making a record, I think in the beginning we thought it would just be fun to make a song or two. By the end of two weeks, we had written over twenty songs.

What was your experience like writing these songs in Nashville?

VK: It was intense! Writing on the level we did… I think over those two weeks in Nashville, we wrote 20-25+ songs. But like we said, we were writing about 3 a day, one for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That’s how that city works though… they’re songwriting machines out there. In Vista Kicks, we consider ourselves songwriters over singers, musicians, whatever… so you could imagine how inspiring it was for us to be there.

Do you feel that your sound has changed in any way because of this collaboration?

VK: Totally. I really feel a sense of maturity and growth when I listen to Chateau Mae Mae. There’s more confidence in the vocals and everyone’s playing. I think writing an album with other people challenged us in new ways but it was also reassuring and exciting to be working with such great writers.

Since not a lot of listeners knew that you were releasing new music, what made you decide to keep it a secret until the release?

VK: There was a lot of question on how we were going to release the album. I’m not sure we kept it a very good secret because we played “While we still have the time” on tour the last year or so and had Audra open a show at The El Rey singing tunes from the record haha.. Ultimately, we decided it was such a special piece of music that it just deserved to be out and listened to. This year we signed on with some new publishing and wanted to release it with them and that just happened to fall during this whole covid-19 pandemic.

What do you want your listeners to know about this release and what it means to you?

VK: Take the record as you want: we think the record is great and we’re all proud of it! We think we’ve raised our own personal bar of songwriting, recording, production etc… We took a lot of side steps from our normal tendencies… but that’s what it’s all about! Change and growth. We started recording again this last February for the next VK album — It’s fun to see how the the Nashville record has clawed into us. We’ve definitely learned some new tricks that we’re going to take along the way…

FINAL THOUGHTS

Vista Kicks is one of the very first bands that we ever wrote about on this blog, so this album was a very special and long awaited one for us and for many dedicated VK fans. Chateau Mae Mae is different from previous albums that they have released, but is a work of art nonetheless.

This album offers a perfect blend of heartfelt ballads and textured sounds. It’s a softer album from the “Marceline” band, but the vocals from both Vista Kicks and Audra Mae are flawless and passionate. Audra Mae’s addition to the album is a game changer, and brings an effortless tone to the table.

You can stream Chateau Mae Mae on all music platforms. You can also follow Vista Kicks and Audra Mae on Instagram for updates and other content.

We hope you’re all healthy and safe. Don’t forget to wash your hands and support your local bands!

Single Release: Macho Planet

Tennessee native, Austin Mathis, is releasing his first single, “Acting Out” under a new name: Macho Planet.

What can you tell us and your listeners about this debut single?

It’s a song called “Acting Out” that I started writing in September 2018 and probably finished later that year. It went through a lot of different phases because I kept writing parts of songs that I wasn’t happy with. One night, I realized a couple of the separate parts fit together really well and that inspired me to finish the rest of the song. But it wasn’t until late 2019 that we (my brother Alex and I) actually recorded it with some musical chops from Gabe Sexton (bass), Sam Killian (drums), and John Bynum (keys).

What does this song mean to you?

For me, it can take months after finishing a song for the meaning to reveal itself to me. This was one of those. It’s summarily a song about getting yourself stuck in a self-destructive loop as a reaction to feeling isolated. If I believe I’m sliding down a dark slope, I’m going to act like it. And that only intensifies the sense of isolation. That’s the loop. Those are the “twin engines” mentioned in the song.

Of course, the song touches on more specific and symptomatic details of my life at the time – strange and regretful interactions with an ex, frustration with

still being in college (I was a year away from graduating at the time), finding it difficult to establish new relationships in a new town, and a general sense of doom related to the big life decisions I was making/had recently made.

The song ends on a note that’s hard for me to put into words. It feels both triumphant and desperate – like I’m saying what I’m saying for me to know it as much as for the listener to know it. It’s saying, “I’m still kicking, and if that’s all I can claim for now, then I’ll take it.”

I’ve always been really drawn to writing that demonstrates a sort of sober mindedness in the face of defeating circumstances. This song feels like it’s written from a place where that mindset was long overdue and the speaker (who is me, or a certain narrative of me) finally finds some determination to step out of or at least critique the cycle.

Where did inspiration come from for this song?

There’s always some specific song or album I’m listening to when I’m writing a song. I’m not sure if I remember what that was for this song.

Thematically, however, all my memories of writing this song have this overwhelming sense of feeling frustrated and stuck. Listening to the song even now, it’s shocking how viscerally those feelings come through, more than my other songs.

As far as the recording and production process goes, I remember Great Grandpa had just released their “Four of Arrows” LP and I remember feeling really inspired by that whole album. But that whole side of it is almost entirely in Alex’s hands — I mostly just describe the sound I want and we’re usually on the same page.

Why did you choose this particular song to be the first song you want to share with the world?

That’s a great question. We recorded this song as a project for a class that Alex was in at the time, and we were so happy with how it turned out that we immediately started talking about it being my debut release. It’s definitely one of my heavy-hitters, so I’m hoping it’ll make people want to rock ‘n’ roll and maybe cry at the same time.

Does this song reflect what is to come of your music in the future?

I would say so. If you like this one, you’ll probably like the others. And if you don’t, you probably won’t.

What can we expect from you in the near future? An EP or an album in the works?

I am planning to release maybe another single or two before an EP. It’s still really up in the air which songs are going on the EP, or even how many. Alex and I are currently brainstorming ways to keep recording music during this global crisis.

When you were writing and recording this song, what was the creative process?

Just like every song to date, I wrote this on my acoustic guitar during some alone time. It existed that way for almost a year before we started messing around with different parts.

When we finally got into the studio with it, Alex and I spent several 8-hour sessions just laying down the rhythm & lead guitars and vocals. We had a very specific vision for the song and were determined to get it right. I remember at one point, we had nine different mics set up pointing at three different amps, and we just recorded a bunch of guitar takes through all nine mics using different pedals, pre-amps, and even switching out guitars each take. It was an intense process. I couldn’t tell you what from that ended up on the song, if any of it. I think we quit music altogether at least 4 or 5 times. But once it started coming together, it was such an enlivening feeling, and it became a lot easier to build on sounds and come up with new ideas.

It was awesome getting Sam and Gabe to come and play on the song for me (it was our first time reuniting since Hyp-Fest!). From having practiced and played this song together live, recording with them was such an easy part of the process.

Bynum was the new addition. He reached out to me on Instagram and told me that he was in Alex’s class and had heard the demo for the song and offered to play if I ever needed a keys player. I don’t know if he expected me to take him up on it so quickly but I was stoked. I was like, “yeah actually, we have a session booked this week, can you come into the studio?” He showed up and killed it. He’s such a fun guy to collaborate with because he’ll entertain any creative idea anybody throws out. I was so thrilled with how well his tones and style of playing fit with the music.

What message do you want to convey to our readers about this release?

It’s certainly not a mode of thinking I would prescribe, but I would hope that it might strike a chord with those of us who are feeling particularly isolated in these times of social distancing and self-quarantining. In more ways than one, I think people are having to consider what it means to survive. And I hope listening and singing along to this song can work to expel some of that anxiety in the way that writing it did.

Final Thoughts

Luckily, we have had the privilege of seeing Mathis live and we could not be more excited for the rest of the world to hear his music. Mathis proves to be an artist who makes thought provoking music with soulful sounds and influencing lyrics/vocals. This release gives a sense of relief in such a hectic and odd time.

You can follow Austin on Instagram for more updates!

Stay safe, wash your hands, and support your local bands.