INTERVIEW: Old Gray (with Cameron & Charlie)

Photos Taken by Allison Newbold and Property of Zack

Old Gray is an emotive "post-rock" trio from New England, known for their knack for yanking heartstrings, via brutally honest and painful lyrics, and occasionally dream-like, or "shoe-gazey" verses, building up to an instantaneous violent explosion of energy that translates perfectly into their records and their anything-but-calm shows and their audience. (FFO: Pianos Become The Teeth, La Dispute)

I hung out with Cameron Boucher (lead vocalist, guitarist), and Charlie Singer (drums, vocals) after their show in Philadelphia for a few minutes to chat.

I know you guys just put out the new Sorority Noise record. I haven't gotten a chance to hear it yet, but I know almost all of my friends dig it. What do you think you might say are some of the differences between the old & the new records? 

Cam: Definitely more of a sense of maturity, we all focused more on song-writing, rather than just like writing a song and putting it out. We wanted to challenge ourselves as we played it, so it was like, not the same thing as usual. We wanted to try and focus less on this concept of like, objectifying women, to more like...answer the questions you have about yourself. It's like "why doesn't this girl love me", and instead it's more of like a "why don't I love myself" question. You can’t really pinpoint that frustration on anyone else. It’s got a lot of like, getting over...like I had bad depression and trying to come to terms with that accepting in your life, and I feel like that's really what the difference is between the records. It’s more like self-centered, but not like in a negative way. Kinda more about like me trying to figure out my shit, instead of putting it on others.

So, kind of like a “I want to learn to love my self, before I can try to love someone else”?

Cam: That’s like legitimately what the record's aiming for! [laughter]

OK, yeah, because I know that one of the lyrics that I hear Old Gray fans reference a lot is, uh…..“maybe one day you will love me”.

Cam: Yeah, that was the one where it’s kinda like I’m living this life that’s the anti-thesis of “maybe I need to love myself, before someone else above me”, and that was me at like 18. And I’ve kinda come to terms with, you know like, maybe it’s not that, maybe that’s not what it is, maybe it’s something else.

Well, if I might ask, how old were you guys when you wrote that record?

Cam: The demo?

Yeah.

Cam: I was like 18.

Charlie: I was like 17-18? 

Cam: Now we’re like 22-23.

Okay, yeah so like, that’s a pretty big progression. There’s a lot that can happen in those years. I definitely feel that.

Charlie: Hell yeah.

Another question someone wanted me to ask was if you guys ever get like really bad jokes like “Earl Grey” instead of Old Gray”?

Cam: Yeaaaah. [laughter] we used to get "Old Greg" a lot, there was "El Greg", and then there’d be some really shitty sub-human people would be like “Old Gay” and that would suck. [laughter]

Yeah, oh my god no, that’s the worst.

Charlie: Exactly. But yeah, definitely got "Old Greg" a lot, we almost made a shirt that was like an “Old Bay seasoning”. It’s like there were a lot of things, there was like "Old Ray", which is what I used to name the old demos on iTunes so I didn’t scrobble them when I was on Last.fm. [laughter] So, yeah, there were like a lot of different references and ways that people refer to it.

So, a bunch of people and bands are arguing about this, and I figured maybe it might be an interesting thing to shed some light on. Are you Team Ketchup, or Team Mustard?

Cam: I think I’ve already had to answer that question once. Like, I put Ketchup on, before I put Mustard on. If I’m eating a thing with Ketchup, I put mustard on top. But, I would rather Ketchup. If I was on a desert island and had to choose a condiment, first stop it’d probably be garlic powder [laughter]

Charlie: Nah, I’d definitely be a ranch.
Cam: Yeah, but it’d be warm as hell on that island!

I mean, ranch has milk in it, so it might get spoiled!

Charlie: Yeah, true!

Cam: There’s always a lot of questions about what island I’m on, but I think team ketchup 

Charlie: Yeah, I'm definitely Team Ketchup

So like, if you could only have one or the other, cause ketchup and mustard are the most basic condiments…?

Cam: Yeah, like I guess maybe Italian sauce, but still Team Ketchup!

So, would you like to talk about your gear at all? When I was standing up front, there was this one pedal that kinda blew me away, but I didn’t know what it was.

Cam: Sure, yeah. I know that I use a Hall of Fame as my Reverb pedal, my overdrive pedal is a Full Drive 2, and I got it modded, so it has a JJS Mini Boost in it, so it has a clean boost and an overdrive on top, and I use a DD20 [Boss], which is like the looper and the delay pedal I use, and I started using that a lot. And then the tuner, I use a very simple one [Boss Chromatic Tuner]. Like, it can get LOUD, and it can get weird. Adam uses like 20 pedals...I couldn’t even explain it. [laughter] I use a Fender Musicman RD30 for a head, and a Marshall 412 for a cabinet, so that’s just what I got.

And then Charlie, your drums, what do you use?

Charlie: My drums right now are…it’s like a PDP [Pacific Drums & Percussion] and DWs [Drum Workshops], uh like kind of a sister company, it’s like a little cheaper, because I’m…not the richest man ever. Uh, Maple PWP-PDP kit, so it’s actually really nice. I actually use a custom cymbals. I actually just got endorsed by Promark, which is really exciting. So, I get free sticks, which is cool, cause they break a lot.

Definitely. I noticed that there was already a broken stick on the ground, super early into your set.

Cam: Oh yeah, there’s a…there’s a decent amount of those. And then just, the PDP kits really good, I sometimes use a Portby snare, but it’s very broken right now, so we’re uh…on the bend on that one [laughter]

So, Cam. I know when you were tuning, there was a lot of…post-rocky sorta thing going on, it kinda just lets the crowd focus on that, while you’re taking for ever to tune, which is pretty cool.

Cam: Yeah, wow. We were always so bad at that, and then we finally like…we were always like, we should make it noisey or have something going on, when we’re tuning so it’s like not weird.

Charlie: Yeah, it kinda makes it more emotional and therapeutic to to that in between the songs, and then to go to complete silence. It just kinda like, "halts" the vibe for us. And we’ve all been a big fan of like, you know…just…ambient music, in general, so just being able to exert that in between songs alone is pretty sick, as well.

So then, if that’s the case, what are some of your inspirations?

Cam: For the sound?

Just like anything. Old Gray, Sorority Noise, whatever influences your style.
Cam: I don’t love music that sounds like what we do...like my favorite songwriter is Regina Spektor. I kinda go through phases, like every 2 weeks, I’m like really into something. [laughter] So like, lately it’s been "OK Computer", by Radiohead. But, with Old Gray, there was definitely like....I’ve always had this huge Brand New influence. Jesse’s one of my favorite songwriters as well. I really loved Pianos [Become The Teeth] when we were writing our stuff, and we’re from where Defeater’s from, so we’d get to see them play shows. And on top of that, just like, Mogwai, This Will Destroy You, Explosions In The Sky, Mono, God Is An Astronaut, pretty much all of that like huuuuge post-rock world.

Yeah! That’s what I was noticing. There’s definitely a lot of post-rock influences.

Cam: Yeah. And it’s kinda like post-rock with vocals, which is what I use to describe people, so yeah, it’s like a pretty wide array.

 

You mentioned Radiohead, one of my favorite bands, they use a lot of different sounds in a lot of their albums, like you do in your songs and shows.

Cam: Yeah, Jonny Greenwood’s a freak show. [laughter]

And then, Charlie, what’s some of your influences?

Charlie: Mine definitely mirrors Cam’s, a lot. I would say just like, rhythm-wise, I always loved drummers that just like…you know, being a 3-piece with Old Gray, phonetically, just trying to open up the sound a lot, I definitely pull from like all over the place, but I definitely love how big and huge a lot of electronic producer’s sound was. Like, I love Clouds Casino, Shlomo, Baths…there’s like a big kinda chill-wave thing. And, even just certain drummers like David, from Pianos is like, one of the more onspiring kinda edgy, but you know, he executes it very well. So just like, even down to fuckin…

Cam: August Burns Red?

Charlie: Yeah, and even down to like Aaron Gillespie from Underoath. The way he plays his cymbals and the way that he like, opens up, no matter what he may be as a person. He has a great understanding of just like, sonically, making it gigantic, without making the drums like too busy, or too overwhelming.

You’re right, that’s really really cool. In fact, that’s pretty crucial to being a musician. It’s like you’re getting a nice little mix of both worlds. So, Charlie, is it just you that writes a lot of the spoken word segments, featured in some of the songs?

Cam: Does it all by himself, yeah. 

Charlie: Yeah. Adam does some lyrics, Cam does some lyrics, I do all the spoken word stuff. I’ve been really influenced by like, Gil Scott-Heron...even like....Dan Smith, from Listener. You know what I mean? A lot of very good, and like...talented people. I…like grew up doing slam poetry in high school, and when I got this opportunity to play with Cam, you know...I felt like I just wanted to reach out to people, and I felt like there was a certain limitation with the drums and reaching out to people. So I just felt like, this was a very cool opportunity to be therapeutic for myself, and also to like, you know, try and relate with someone that might be listening, you know what I mean? Just sort of talking about very human emotions. Some people can take my relationship with what I might be talking about, with like a certain drug, or a certain human being, and apply it to something in their life, you know what I mean? So, it’s cool to have that kinda openness and emotional relation.

Exactly, you’re so right, it hurts. So, like we both know, a lot of your poetry is super emotional. I know for a fact that whenever “I Still Think About Who I Was Last Summer”, that’s when I feel like I’m about to cry, and then “My Life With You, My Life Without You” comes on, and I just completely lose it and go to straight to my waterworks.

Cam: Yeah, I like “My Life” a lot, because a lot of these songs have very specific places in my heart, but maybe don’t have the same thing anymore? There’s no like…none of us just don’t any emotional connections to the songs, because those..aren’t relevant to our life. You know? I’ve learned to deal with it. But, that’s that one song that’s just instrumental that always has…I can always play it my own way and put feeling into it. It’s really nice.

Charlie: I think, sonically, I think music can speak without words. I've definitely been a big believer, and like, I’m sure you understand that like, being avid lovers of post-rock and stuff like this, that there’s so much that’s being said without like lyrics or vocalists. So, you get an opportunity to play a song that, literally, could have a different meaning every night, because there’s nothing, technically, set to it. It’s just like, a really cooperative thing…and even just like sometimes how tonight, we were making noise and like going off as a band, and that’s just all improvisation is based off, it’s just all feeling, you know what I mean? It’s all expressed through music, as opposed to lyrics, per se.

Very last one: Do you think you guys might have any sort of advice, or words of encouragement for the people who are listening to your music, and are going through a really hard time, so to speak?

Cam: Yeah, try to use creativity in a non-negative aspect, to help yourself kind of learn how to come to terms with that negative thing in your life. So like, I think a lot about how a lot of bands talk about like, sadness and like “sadboiz” and stuff like that and like astrodize it, you should not let that be a part of your life. If you feel depressed or of that nature, you need to talk about it, rather than trying to like…spin it into some like “cool” thing. It’s not that cool. It sucks. It shouldn’t be glorified at all. You shouldn’t feel shame and depression and sadness. You should feel open to talk about it. 

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