Steve Stout Found His Album’s Soul in an Unexpected Place
Punk Head: ”Some Birds" nearly stayed a mid-album track. What convinced you it had quietly become the album's opening statement?
Steve Stout: Funny enough the first song I wrote for the record was a tune called ‘everything i’ve wanted’ which was a love song to my wife that I showed her last Mother’s Day as a surprise, it sounded quite similar at the top of the tune piano part wise and kinda felt like a stronger version of a similar song. I considered that tune as one of the singles since it came first and felt really personal but after getting the string and woodwind tracks back ‘some birds’ really took on a life of its own. Ironically also I have a song called ‘some folks’ which is my biggest on Spotify, I spiraled out a bit about it then decided to just be okay with it haha.
Punk Head: You originally labeled it "McCartney Tune." At what point did it stop sounding like an influence and start sounding like Steve Stout?
Steve Stout: I think the cheekiness at the top singing about birds and dogs and that piano motif that really isn’t even chords it’s just little mini chunks of chords and a walking bassline felt very McCartney - I think once I got to the chorus it started to feel like its own thing. It feels like a Harry nillson, McCartney, Steve hybrid to me now
Punk Head: Shabby Road sounds like it has its own personality. Has the room itself started influencing your songwriting?
Steve Stout: Moving into this studio space was such a fun life change. Having this much space for a proper studio with its own entrance, kitchen, bathroom all lent to a completely different vibe not to mention the awesome retro tile, vintage bar etc. I think the biggest sonic difference is the sound of that tile room (which I do gobo up a bit to tighten drums) but just having space for more instruments like an upright piano is probably the biggest difference. It’s also impossible to not see the 60s vibe and think that it’s not wearing off on the music
Punk Head: There's a quiet optimism running through "Some Birds," but it never feels sentimental. Is that balance something you're consciously chasing?
Steve Stout: I think so for sure - I think the hardest thing to do is write a love song straight down the middle and not feel cheesy while doing it. Again that ‘everything i’ve wanted’ tune that will be on the full record is more of an attempt at that but I think some birds is more of a tune for folks maybe feeling a bit down or even bullied or something more in that space. I was a bit of a late bloomer myself and I think this tune is for folks like that.
Punk Head: You describe "Some Birds" as setting the aesthetic for the entire album. Beyond the arrangements, what emotional thread connects this song to the rest of I Wanna Buy a Beach House?
Steve Stout: The record has a lot of variety sonically and arrangement wise so some birds felt like a really cool tone to set for people, there’s one other song called ‘walls’ on the record that is very sincere and features strings as well and guest vocals from Erica Driscoll of the band Blondfire (I played in blondfire for a few years back in LA and they’re dear friends). I’d say that the sentiment of the record lyrically may be more of a through line than the arrangements even. It all feels very personal and probably pretty literal about just life in our first house we’ve bought as a family here in Nashville and the ups and downs that come with life surrounding that. A bigger studio/ house obviously meant more opportunity to work with other folks to produce in the studio but also that means more time away from family so I think all of that mixed with some nostalgia about family beach trips is intertwined throughout.
