Branching out from New York's Beach Fossils family tree, are two bands who just released their debut albums; DIIV (Dive) and Heavenly Beat. While DIIV sounds like Beach Fossils and early Wild Nothing merging, Heavenly Beat is away from flanged and reverberating guitars. It sounds like something you need to have when spending laid-back time in your room, or especially on the beach. Yes, something like Heavenly Beat's "Talent" will fit right in. Chillax beats, Arabesque/Club8-esque acoustic guitars, and dancey synths. Luscious. It's a nod to Swedish pop acts like Air France (RIP), The Tough Alliance, and a bit of Saint Etienne. Here's what John Pena told us about the album:
Heavenly Beat's songs sound very different from Beach Fossils. Did you write them way before Beach Fossils? Can you tell us a bit about the process?
No, most of them were written between Nov. '11 and March '12. I'm writing pretty consistently so if I had turned in the record a month or two before or after I did it would probably have a much different track list.
As for process, I usually just loop a chord progression in Logic 9 and start layering on top of it until I start to hate it. I'll let it sit for a couple days then go back and start stripping away layers till I'm satisfied with what it sounds like. I have the most fun when it comes to arranging. A chord progression with lyrics can be pretty "wutever" sometimes but then become really interesting depending on how you layer other sounds on or around them. Lately I've been trying to approach writing from different angles because everything I've written post TALENT has just sounded like a slightly more refined take on most the songs on that record. I enjoy playing my nylon string so much that it's been hard to move on from making that the starting point.
There's a tinge of Saint Etienne / Air France / Swedish pop sound on your songs. Can you confirm that as your influence? Or maybe you've been listening to other completely different stuff?
I love both those bands and a lot of Swedish pop but I don't think there was ever a point while creating the record when I would say they were a direct influence. I just wanted to make something clean and minimal with a limited palette of sounds while still keeping it interesting for myself. I mean, I was making similar sounding music a couple years before TTA* and Air France blew my mind. If anything the biggest influence to the way I arrange some of my music would have to be two comps that Soul Jazz records put out. First one being Soul Jazz Presents Tropicalia which I bought when I was 19 or so. It completely changed the way I wanted to hear music. I tracked down anything I could find by any of the artists on it. Every pay day I would go to End Of An Ear (record store) in Austin and grab something from the "Brazil" section. Then SJ put out Brazil 70 and it was probably the 2nd album I bought after moving to New York so I spent a lot of time listening to it while trying to figure out how to live in a new city. Now, I mostly just listen to electronic music. Anything Travis Stewart does lately has been changing my world.
*TTA: The Tough Alliance
What themes attract you the most when it comes to writing lyrics?
I think a quick scan of the lyric sheet would answer that better than I could...
"Attractive music for attractive people" that's what Captured Tracks put on your profile. Can you elaborate on that?
Ha, that bio was def written as a joke. Now I guess it's going to haunt me foreverrr
Here's the track list of "Talent", could you put names of (popular) faces that come to your mind whenever you play or listen to them?
Lust: Cheyenne Adrian
Messiah: Barbara Pavin
Faithless: Mariacarla Boscono
Tolerance: Lindsey Wixson
Elite: Abby Lee Kershaw
Talent: Daphne Groeneveld
Hurting: Laura Stone
Tradition: Dree Hemingway
Presence: Cintia Dicker
Influence: Karlie Kloss
Consensual: Ashley Smith
Go figure who is who by scanning the picture under this posting's title.
TALENT is out on Captured Tracks get it here
No, most of them were written between Nov. '11 and March '12. I'm writing pretty consistently so if I had turned in the record a month or two before or after I did it would probably have a much different track list.
As for process, I usually just loop a chord progression in Logic 9 and start layering on top of it until I start to hate it. I'll let it sit for a couple days then go back and start stripping away layers till I'm satisfied with what it sounds like. I have the most fun when it comes to arranging. A chord progression with lyrics can be pretty "wutever" sometimes but then become really interesting depending on how you layer other sounds on or around them. Lately I've been trying to approach writing from different angles because everything I've written post TALENT has just sounded like a slightly more refined take on most the songs on that record. I enjoy playing my nylon string so much that it's been hard to move on from making that the starting point.
There's a tinge of Saint Etienne / Air France / Swedish pop sound on your songs. Can you confirm that as your influence? Or maybe you've been listening to other completely different stuff?
I love both those bands and a lot of Swedish pop but I don't think there was ever a point while creating the record when I would say they were a direct influence. I just wanted to make something clean and minimal with a limited palette of sounds while still keeping it interesting for myself. I mean, I was making similar sounding music a couple years before TTA* and Air France blew my mind. If anything the biggest influence to the way I arrange some of my music would have to be two comps that Soul Jazz records put out. First one being Soul Jazz Presents Tropicalia which I bought when I was 19 or so. It completely changed the way I wanted to hear music. I tracked down anything I could find by any of the artists on it. Every pay day I would go to End Of An Ear (record store) in Austin and grab something from the "Brazil" section. Then SJ put out Brazil 70 and it was probably the 2nd album I bought after moving to New York so I spent a lot of time listening to it while trying to figure out how to live in a new city. Now, I mostly just listen to electronic music. Anything Travis Stewart does lately has been changing my world.
*TTA: The Tough Alliance
What themes attract you the most when it comes to writing lyrics?
I think a quick scan of the lyric sheet would answer that better than I could...
"Attractive music for attractive people" that's what Captured Tracks put on your profile. Can you elaborate on that?
Ha, that bio was def written as a joke. Now I guess it's going to haunt me foreverrr
Here's the track list of "Talent", could you put names of (popular) faces that come to your mind whenever you play or listen to them?
Lust: Cheyenne Adrian
Messiah: Barbara Pavin
Faithless: Mariacarla Boscono
Tolerance: Lindsey Wixson
Elite: Abby Lee Kershaw
Talent: Daphne Groeneveld
Hurting: Laura Stone
Tradition: Dree Hemingway
Presence: Cintia Dicker
Influence: Karlie Kloss
Consensual: Ashley Smith
Go figure who is who by scanning the picture under this posting's title.
TALENT is out on Captured Tracks get it here