Music evokes emotions and emotions enhance memory and so when we process emotions through music, we not only make the connection permanent but also keep that memory forefront and accessible. This is the magic of music, it is therapeutic.
For musician Tay Roebuck, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, creating Smut‘s new album How The Light Felt was a cathartic processing of’s loss of her sister in 2017. Alongside Tay, the Chicago-based band includes guitarist Andrew Min, bassist and synth player Bell Cenower, guitarist and synthist Sam Ruschman, and drummer Aidan O’Connor.
How the Light Felt, which came out in November on Bayonet, is one that will surely accompany you along your own life events: you won’t have to keep taking that Ginko Biloba.
With the music in our soul, we caught up with the band over email.
With How the Light Felt being your third release after your debut End of Same-Soon and the Power Fantasy EP, what is it like being in the studio?
Bell: We usually start songs with guitar and bass parts and then slowly begin to flesh out song structure. The process of songwriting is really collaborative for us, with everyone making suggestions for each other and even sometimes editing each other’s parts with different flavors. As all this is going on, Tay is going through her notes for lyrics she’s written and begins to fit them to the song.
Usually at this stage we get really excited because the song feels like it’s really coming together. We’ll then kind of finesse elements of the song – synths and samples, the nitpicky stuff, added near the end of the process when we know where the holes are in the tune. We have tons of fun with this, and writing together is a really special kind of closeness because you have to show up without ego, ready to take feedback, and be willing to work together.
What were your a few musical inspirations for How the Light Felt?
Bell: Generally speaking, we are huge Brit-pop fans, or really just British music in general. For me, it’s The Smiths; for Tay, Oasis; for Andrew, Blur; you get the picture. It’s funny, though, because we can’t find a band that all 5 of us love. And we’ve tried! There’s always one person who hates or tolerates it while the rest of the group likes them just fine. Tay has a passionate hatred of Morrissey which is hard for me because I have a passionate love of Morrissey. But then, I don’t really care for Blur.
I think we have just enough overlap for the music to be cohesive, but also not to get too boxed into one corner. Plus, we steer off into other genres in our interests – Sam loves house music, Aidan goes nuts for Sting, and I am a Nashville sound nut. It’s good to get a wide variety of influences so that you aren’t just rewriting your favorite band’s songs.
How important is sequencing on the album for you?
Sam: Absolutely. An album has to have a proper ebb and flow to the track listing. With this record we felt that doing a sort of back and forth with the loud and quiet songs would make things interesting and give listeners a moment to breathe.
“Let Me Hate” finds shimmery acoustic guitars and chiming electric strums setting a bright tone to contradict the heavy lyrics “let me hate / til I’m ready and these dreams won’t feel as heavy when I wake.”
Tay: My sister passed away weeks before her high school graduation. She killed herself. I loved her very much and we had a great relationship. I wish I had more time to convince her to stay because she was the greatest person I’ve ever known and that’s not some past tense romanticized idea of her. It’s who she truly was to me. Everything I wanted in life was in part to give to her, to convince her the world would be beautiful for her someday. And I ran out of time.
The last two tracks “Morningstar” feels like a departure from the other tracks with the humming synth basslines and drum machine beats pulling in elements of 90’s UK drum and bass. Then the DJ-scratches and trip-hop beats of “Unbroken Thought”. Were there tracks that didn’t make the album that might end up in the shape of things to come?
Sam: There are two tracks that did not make the cut because they didn’t fit with the rest of the material. They’re very synth-heavy where the album is less so. These are songs that we used to play all the time, and definitely represent an iteration of the band that was trying our hand at some pretty experimental structures and sounds. Sometimes you gotta throw things at the wall and just strip away until you have something cohesive, and these songs are representative of that mindset for sure.
Having grown up in Cincinnati, what are the sentiments around Skyline Chili and Graeters’ Ice Cream?
Bell: Tay, Andrew, and Sam are ride-or-die. I tolerate it. Aidan hates it. Any time we roll through Ohio, we go to Skyline.
Sam: Black cherry chocolate chip is underrated. Lucky for us you can buy the stuff in Chicago.
What is a dream venue for a live show?
Aidan: I always thought it would be cool to play in a museum! To me, these quiet and polite spaces invite the opposite. I think a loud rock band shredding in front of some Van Gogh or something would be pretty badass. Could also make it into a little bit of a statement, like we’re artists as much as any of these guys are, right! But I haven’t really thought it all through and don’t think it would be a very practical or good idea.
Smut’s How The Light Felt is out now on Bayonet (listen). You can find the band on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
