Endgray - Sound In The Signals Interview
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| Faith Alesia |
First, thanks for the interview.
Thank you for having me!
Can you tell me how you formed the project for those who may be unfamiliar? How did you initially become interested in music?
I started ENDGRAY when I first moved to Texas from Puerto Rico in 2015, I was coming from a metal background and was even a vocalist for 2 bands but I always had an interest in music, especially pop music since it was the only genre of music that was consistently playing around me when I was growing up whether it was Latin pop or American pop music. When I first moved to Texas, I had no idea how to produce or record music, I didn’t know anybody that could help me until I discovered Soundcloud in 2017. When I discovered Soundcloud, I immediately bought the cheapest recording microphone I could find, downloaded FL studios and reached out to my friend Nick (Guardin) who at the time was starting to build a strong following on the platform and helped me mix my first track and from there I fell in love with making music as a solo artist. Fast forward 2 years later, I met TIGRIS who is now my best friend and collaborator and now here we are!
You recently released your EP ‘Linger’. Can you tell me about the writing and recording process for the EP?
The writing process was pretty collaborative. We would be in the studio sometimes for like 4-6 hours a day, exchanging lyrical ideas back and forth until something clicked and if we didn’t finish the song right then and there then we would take a break and come back to it later on just so we could create space in our heads for new ideas. Recording was really fun tho, it didn’t take us long to do because I’m always vocally prepared to do whatever TIGRIS needs me to do in the booth but it was definitely a process because I would be recording vocals and sometimes we would be joking and laughing mid take or I would be making random noises to make him laugh. Making Linger did have its moments where it was tough for both of us, but it did push us and help us grow as artists, songwriters and producers.
How do you like to write songs? Do you usually start with the vocals or the music?
I usually have this process where I tend to listen to an instrumental over and over again and then I start humming different melodies that can potentially work for the song and as I’m humming, I start coming up with words little by little but still keeping a solid idea in my head of what I want the song to be about. For me and for my collaborator TIGRIS, we always start with the music and once we have that, we start recording and freestyling melodies so that we can put words to them later so we can start building a foundation. Later on we sit down and look at the lyrics we have so far and openly discuss what works and what could be improved. Once we’re done and sure of everything we’ve written then we start tracking vocals and work on additional production that the song needs to start sounding good.
Do you have a favorite lyrical or musical moment from the EP?
So here’s a small story, during the final stages of Linger, me & TIGRIS were working on doing an intro track for the EP which came to be now the opening track Angel. When we were done with that track and everybody went home, I went to bed and had this dream where I kept hearing “maybe one day God won’t mislead us with angels” over and over again, so I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote it down in my notes. The next day I went to the studio and I had this idea to put that line I heard in the dream and add it somewhere in Angel but I thought it shouldn’t come from me. In my head, I thought it should be the voice of the girl in the story so I talked to my next door neighbor who is also my best friend and she came over, tracked that line in the song and just like that, Angel was done.
The EP deals with a concept. Can you explain what it’s about and some of themes you covered?
Linger is a story about a couple going through a lot of obstacles in their relationship while they’re trying to figure each other out and while they know deep down that it’s toxic and it’s never going to work out, they still keep trying to push through it even if it means someone’s going to get hurt in the end. While the EP ends on a very hopeful and yet bittersweet track like Silence, I saw the characters in the story eventually meeting up years later down the line and working things out. This project is a video tape that the characters in the story watch together and reminisce about how toxic their previous relationship was years before and thinking to themselves “wow aren’t you happy we aren’t there anymore?”. This EP is about acceptance and moving forward, sometimes things don’t work out and that’s okay but you have to know when enough is enough and just let go. If you love someone let them go, if it’s meant to be then maybe one day it’ll work out but in the mean time just take time to grow.
Which song on the EP was the hardest to write and which song was the easiest one to finish?
Used To was definitely the hardest one to write and it was the first one we started working on when I had the idea for the EP. It took me a couple months to just get the lyrics right so we kept that one in the vault and kept working on the other songs but once Andrew Boaz came into the picture, he helped give the song a new life. Silence was the easiest song to write and it came at the perfect time because we were in the final stages of finishing the project and we had one song that just wasn’t working out so my producer TIGRIS challenged me to pick up my guitar and write anything that came to mind and within 2 days, the song was done.
I really wanted the EP to have a very smooth and emotional closer, I think it worked out cause it’s one of my favorite songs on the project.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for talking with me! Go stream Linger and come see me & TIGRIS play at Andy’s Bar on June 10th. I’ll be playing the EP in its entirety and maybe play some new songs!
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