NYC-based The Soft Underground may hail from the outskirts of Manhattan, but have been hailed as modern decedents of the touchtone bands from Seattle’s 90’s alternative scene.
Their forthcoming sophomore follow-up, Morning World, is a much more personal work which continues their penchant for eclectic variation. They labored over the recording process for over two years, insuring their melodic, dreamy and diverse esthetic evolved beyond their debut. The resulting recordings could be described as alt art rock in the vein of Deftones, Father John Misty and Stone Temple Pilots – a solid rock foundation that integrates big band swing, jungle electronica, shoegaze and punk.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with the band about the latest project, motivations, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
We are from New York and we consider ourselves an art rock band. Our roots lie within rock music, but we throw other genres on top of it and it becomes this hodgepodge of sound. So, we just call it art rock.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Creating music is what we love to do. There wasn’t any thought to it, it was just a natural gravitation. We have so much music written between the two of us and we strive to create a body of work that we can be proud of. Even having just two albums of material out in the world gives us the motivation to continue on.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
The main objective is always to make a better album than the last. If we’re excited about the new material, we’re doing it right. Our first record was darker and much more straightforward. With Morning World, we wanted to create a sound with a wider palette. It’s a more colorful record.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
The ability to write, record and release an album all from your bedroom is so convenient, but it’s a double-edged sword when anyone can do it. It’s nearly impossible to distinguish between the people who want to be real artists and put their best work forward, or the kid in his bedroom who oversaturates the market with some half-baked, shitty songs because he’s bored that day. There’s a lot of fantastic music out there from undiscovered artists, but no one has time to sift through everything that’s available.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Our official website is thesoftunderground.com. You can also find us on facebook.com/thesoftunderground, thesoftunderground.bandcamp.com, and you can stream our album on Spotify by searching The Soft Underground.
Anything else before we sign off?
We just want to thank all the people who have gone out and listened to Morning World. We worked so hard to make this album and it’s humbling to hear the response it’s gotten so far. For those who haven’t heard Morning World, it’s available on iTunes, Spotify, and Bandcamp.
