Litvar Trades Electronic Maximalism for Human Detail on “What Kind of Man”
Punk Head: You describe Being Here as your least electronic record, but it's still unmistakably modern. What was the line between "stripped back" and "unfinished"?
Rex: When Joe and I started making music together, there was a lot more writing straight out of the recording software, and it usually became layered very quickly. On Being Here, everything could be played on acoustic guitar alone because they were written that way. However, it is true that it wouldn’t be right to call it a “raw” album necessarily; we spent a lot of time polishing the landscapes till it felt like it suited each song just right.
Joe: In the past we’d be pushing to have what felt like as many electronic elements as possible, but this time we still wanted to use them just in a less dominating way. By picking and choosing where to use those moments, I think we made a better record.
Punk Head: The Gibson J-45 becomes almost a character in the press release. What did that guitar unlock that other instruments didn't?
Rex: I wanted one for as long as I can remember. I worked long hours for a very long time to save for it, and hearing such a rich sound unleashed an excitement to write songs strictly on guitar for the first time in a long time.
Punk Head: Why did "What Kind of Man" feel like the right first single instead of one of the more obviously emotional songs?
Rex: “What Kind of Man” felt like a good upbeat way of displaying what this record shows the whole time. It’s melodic, the lyrics are very honest and at times slightly sarcastic. It felt like the one song capable of saying “This is Being Here” without showing too much right off the bat.
Joe: It’s definitely the most upbeat sounding song on the record and is a lot of fun to play live. I have fond memories of first playing that song with the band; it was one right off the bat I knew was going to be one of our personal favorites.
Punk Head: You mention wanting to sound "honest and real" during a time of AI. What does honesty in music actually sound like to you?
Rex: Human ingenuity. It feels like no matter what develops within the AI world, I’ve yet to see someone really connect with something generated. What I meant by wanting this album to sound honest and real was I wanted its vulnerability to be apparent in both the lyrics and instrumentation. I don’t believe that AI can make an authentic depiction of what grief is like because it would never understand what it is like to lose someone.
Joe: AI is pointless. There are so many amazing artists out there that put everything into their work; real art takes time and care.
Punk Head: Much of this album was born from a deeply solitary period, but it ultimately became a collaborative record with Joe Lemieux, Violet Falkowski, and John Blues McCarthy. How did those collaborators influence not just the arrangements, but your emotional perspective on the material?
Rex: At first the demos for Being Here were a 17-track album with a lot more anthemic rock on it, but we’ve decided to put some of that back in the archive for later use. The band really brought this album to a more polished state. John’s touch on bass was imperative on songs like “Stay The Same.” Violet spent a lot of time with me dissecting the conceptual elements of the album. She was crucial in finding the right wording for certain songs, like on “What Kind of Man.” Additionally, the motifs and references in the record came from our sessions together. On “It Takes Magic,” there is a melodic reference to the musical Carousel after the line “I feel like a carousel trying to go somewhere new.” Joe and I played with many ideas, trying to find the best tracklist and overall presentation before finalizing what we have now.
Joe: During the course of about a year, we recorded a ton of different sessions in between my parents’ place (where I tracked drums) and at Rex’s (where we did everything else). With our schedules, we were unable to meet as much as we wanted, so those times when we were able to get together were really important in getting the record finished, but also just spending time together as friends.
