A Project Called Love Finds Sincerity in a Distracted World
Punk Head: The project name sounds warm and optimistic, but these songs deal with addiction, heartbreak, and existential confusion. Was that contrast intentional from the beginning?
A Project Called Love: It's an interesting observation that didn't occur to me :). Thus, I guess the contrast was not intentional from the beginning. The project is named "A Project Called Love" because I do what I do out of love for music. I've been playing in bands since I was 13 and I still do. But over the years I wrote some songs which I now recored as a solo artist (with the help of a drummer and a producer). Also many of the songs for this project are about love--which often includes heartbreak, can lead to existential confusion, and sometimes even drugs and addiction.
Punk Head: The title track asks where human beings fit within an “endless cosmos,” but the conclusion seems to be: stop overthinking and trust instinct. Do you think that philosophy emerged from personal experience, burnout, or just getting older?
A Project Called Love: I guess it's a combination of personal experience and getting older ;). I try to maintain an optimistic view of life in the sense that I almost never worry about a worst case outcome of a specific situation. And I generally believe that there is almost always a fix even if shit hits the fan. The lyrics of Smack Dab In The Middle reflect this attitude. They're inspired by conversations with a friend (with whom I'm doing music since we were kids) who got into meditation and spiritualism when he got older. We philosophized about the meaning of live and the conclusion was: Find the gaps in your endless stream of thoughts, experience these, and try just to live as the very small part of the cosmos which we all are.
Punk Head: Sublime and Nirvana don’t usually occupy the same musical lane, yet this release somehow makes that combination feel natural. At what point did you realize those influences could coexist in your own music?
A Project Called Love: I always had musical influences from all kinds of genres--grunge, punk, reggae, rock, metal, pop, soul, jazz... You name it. Nirvana was certainly one of the biggest influences when I was young. We started a band as kids and wanted to sound like them. I kinda rediscovered Sublime 2-3 years ago which was about the time when I wrote most of the songs for A Project Called Love. I believe it was during the songwriting (which I did on an acoustic guitar) and then later during the recordings (when the songs got their final shape) when I realized that the "Nirvana-style" and the "Sublime-style" could effortlessly be combined.
Punk Head: The production approach sounds very intuitive, adding instruments based on feeling rather than genre rules. Can you describe a moment in the studio where a song unexpectedly transformed because of one unusual musical choice?
A Project Called Love: The three upcoming songs will be part of an album which I plan to publish later this year. Indeed, my (and the producer's) concept for this album was to not follow any "genre rules." I had a general idea to which songs I wanted to add additional instruments. And we also experimented a lot in the studio. Some songs have a cello in the background, others have a trumpet and a sax or a piano, For "So Sublime" we added an organ. This might not be a very unusual choice for a song with a reggae/ska vibe but it led to an unexpected outcome in terms of sound and style. It gives the song a 70s vibe and a few instrumental parts where the organ is a little more prominent in the mix remind me of the Doors. On the other hand, I also felt like adding some scratching elements to the song (there was also a DJ in the studio). These give the song another different mood. I really appreciated this freedom during the recordings!
Punk Head: The phrase “music you’ll love” sounds simple on paper, but there’s almost a punk sincerity to it because it avoids irony. Do you think modern music culture sometimes makes it harder for artists to be emotionally direct?
A Project Called Love: One of the most prominent features of modern music culture is the permanent availability of an endless and still ever growing universe of songs. In my opinion that leads to listeners focusing on single songs that catch you already when you hear them for the first time. Listening to specific bands or even albums is less of a thing these days. This might force artists to be "overly direct," in the sense of "be simple" and "be in your face." I guess in this vein modern music can be very emotionally direct. However, it becomes more and more difficult to portrait complex and nuanced feelings because listeners are not used to deal with a certain song for more than a few minutes anymore. And this might lead to less sincerity because not all emotions are simple and immediately in your face.
