Cursejar - Sound In The Signals Interview

I recently had the opportunity to interview Cursejar. We discussed an early interest in music, writing new song “Nora”, the band’s upcoming EP, releasing music on physical formats, the North Carolina music scene, and more. Check it out below.

First, thanks for the interview.

Thank you for having us!

Can you tell me how you started the band for those who may be unfamiliar with it? How did you initially become interested in music?

Music has always been a big part of my life. I remember having the choruses of “Who Can It Be Now” by Men At Work and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John stuck in my head when I was about 2 years old. At age 4 or 5 I saw the video of “Crawling” by Linkin Park on TV and I was hooked. Music like this along with Hoobastank, Incubus and other post-grunge/alt rock songs of the 2000s really made an impression on me. Fast forward 12-15 years later I really started getting into stuff like Sunny Day Real Estate, Shiner, and Crime In Stereo.

As for Cursejar’s formation, I spent the fall of 2022 writing the guitar parts and preliminary song structures. Then in March of this year I recruited our drummer: Harley and our singer/bass player: Trevor. I had played in bands with them before during the 2010s. They have played the most essential roles in the song writing process and the refining of our sound. I knew that they would be the right guys to bring this to life. I am very grateful to have them in the band.

You released your debut single “Nora” earlier this year. Can you tell me about writing that song?

Nora was the first song that I had written on guitar. I showed it to my friend Daniel and he composed a lot of the drum parts and structure back in January. After he decided to move on from the project, I showed the home demo to Trevor and Harley. From there Harley and I worked on the music, and Trevor figured out the vocal melodies. A month later we recorded our tracks for the single with Jeremiah Small at Current Body Studios in Charlotte. Matt Bayles mixed it, Alan Douches mastered it, and our good friend Luke Giduz did the artwork.

Have you been pleased with the response it’s received so far?

We have been very happy with the response it has received. To have people take a genuine interest in music that we’ve written is very fulfilling.

You have a new EP coming out August 8th. What was the recording process like for the EP?

Rob Tavaglione engineered, mixed and produced this EP at Catalyst Recoding in Charlotte. Rob worked diligently to help us achieve the sound we were going for, and provided insightful feedback and suggestions that took the songs to another level. We live tracked guitar, bass and drums for all three songs during the first session. The next session we tracked all the vocals and additional guitars. Rob took his time and worked hard to get the final mix to our liking. Afterwards, the songs were mastered by JJ Golden at Golden Mastering. We went back to Luke Giduz for the artwork.

Armageddon Records is releasing a cassette for the EP. How did it work out for you to work with them? How important is having a physical release to the band?

Josh from Armageddon reached out about a week after “Nora” came out. He expressed interest in doing a tape release for us when we had more material recorded. I think that his label is a perfect fit for us because there are a lot of cool bands coming from Florida. Getting some exposure from the scene down there would be awesome. I think having our music on a physical release is also important because it establishes more of a personal connection to the people who buy a copy. I find that being able to hold the music that you own in your hand is more impactful than just streaming it online.

You’re part of the North Carolina scene. Who are some artists from your scene that you think people should check out?

North Carolina, especially Charlotte in particular, is in a great place right now with a lot of cool upcoming bands. Some honorable mentions would include: Navtec, Bluegill, Swae, Subvertigo and Clearbody.

What’s coming up for the band for the remainder of the year?

We plan on playing more shows to promote the release. Our next one coming up is at the Milestone in Charlotte on August 12th with Navtec, Dull Mourning (NMZ) and Excide (NMZ). We also plan to start writing new material for our next release.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?

It was a pleasure! We’d like to take this opportunity thank all the audio engineers we’ve worked with, Josh at Armageddon, Luke Giduz, and everyone who has supported us so far.