This past weekend, the second Mantlepiece release of the year came
out. It’s a five track EP tiled "Remember Me." I had an
opportunity to interview recording artist/producer Trevon Broad about the
recent release.
Gene: What can you tell me about "Remember Me."
Trevon: Well, It's a single that tuned into a 5-song release. You actually heard it as a finished product,
before the band did!
Gene: WOW! Thank you! The title song is very catchy and has some
great vocal work shared between you and a female singer. Who is she?
Trevon: That’s Sandra
Porter. She was brought in a year ago
because I was writing more music and lyrics from a female's perspective.
I had seen her perform many times and knew she and her awesome voice were
perfect for this project.
Gene: Was Sandra brought in just for the EP?
Trevon: No, I actually started a project in June of 2014 inspired by a
wonderful woman who is a great friend and someone I really connected
with. I was on a writing streak like never before! But after a few
months of developing a truly unique relationship, she had to leave.
Gene: That sounds like the story of "Remember Me?"
Trevon: It is! But
the story and the album are much bigger.
The larger album was under way when Sandra came on board. But
"Remember Me" was the first tune I wrote after she was officially a
part of the project. I wrote it
one evening and had a session already lined up with her later that week. I pitched it. We played it. Then we
sang it and made a demo. The moment we played back the demo, I thought
the tune came together so easily that I wanted it to be released as a single
before the album.
Gene: How far along are you with the album?
Trevon: It's finished! As
of last weekend, it is mixed and ready to be mastered for release.
Gene: When will it come out?
Trevon: January 3rd, 2017.
We already had a full-length album released this year called “Angels
& Habits” that has done very well. That record was developed over
many years and was just waiting on some female vocals, and a female vocalist to
finish it off. So this next project was well underway.
Gene: You mentioned that “Remember Me” was going to be a single. How did it become a 5-song EP?
Trevon: We had three acoustic tracks of old tunes we wanted to release
that fit the theme of the project but were written and released many years
before this muse came along. So I redeveloped them at the same time as
the rest of the album, but thought they should be released with the single
because these tunes also do a great job of announcing the theme of the full
album.
Gene: Will these three songs also appear on the album?
Trevon: Not the January 3rd release. But Genterine Records will release a
deluxe version of the album on CD later in the Spring 2017 that will feature
all 16 tracks recorded for this project.
Gene: What is the name of the project?
Trevon: It's still too early to release the title, but the title is very
personal to the person who inspired the record.
So I'll let you wait and see on that one.
But the cover has already been designed by Jessica Vass who has been
doing all our artwork since the "Guess You're Gone" single.
Gene: There's an acoustic version of
“Patiently” on this EP that features some wonderful shared vocals with
Sandra, and I’m guessing that’s Kevin Little on guitar. Why was your drummer
left off of that one?
Trevon: Ha ha! He wasn’t. Our drummer, Chris Hunt, is also an
engineer. He and I had been trying to
turn the original tracks into an acoustic version since "Una
Seorum" was released. Chris is just glad to see it
finished! He was a big part
of producing the original version and I know that helped to make it such a fan
favorite.
Gene: "Trip Around the Moon" was originally on your first CD, but
this version is very different. Why did you release a different version
of the song?
Trevon: Kevin and I were
writing songs for rock bands before we got our own project officially off the
ground. So I was in such a "rock band" mode when we wrote
"Trip Around the Moon" that I just produced the type of tune we had
been writing for others. But I went even further and added layers of
vocal parts. And I accidentally buried this beautiful little story I had
written. So on a whim in July of 2014, Kevin and I started redeveloping
the tune. It was decent as an acoustic track, but then I started thinking about
how opposite I could go from the original with only one vocal and using
instruments like a banjo, violins, and cellos.
Gene: I really like this new version. It's like it's a new song!
Trevon: Well, I did add
some new lyrics to better fit this project.
But I agree with you. It's a very different tune.
Gene: Is "Here with Me" a remake as well?
Trevon: It is. But in
a very different way than "Trip Around the Moon." Kevin wrote a tune called "Key to Your
Heart" for the band Mystery Motion and that recording has a similar
feel. But we always wanted the song to be more. So I developed the "Here
with Me" part of the song at the end. And now we feel the song is
more complete.
Gene: Does the entire band play on this version?
Trevon: Yes. And if
you check out the tunes we post on our SoundCloud page, that's where you can
find all of the details about who played on which songs and what instruments
they played. But we had two guest artists on strings on that tune, as
well as other guests on the full album.
Gene: The last song, “How Could You Know” is very short and the way it ends it
sounds like the song is still going while the CD is ending.
Trevon: Excellent! Can I quote you on that? It's a part 1 of 2. Part 2, with a slightly different
name, will pick up were this tune leaves off on the album. And here's a spoiler for you.
Both parts will be released as a full track on the deluxe CD.
Gene: Are you currently working on anything new?
Trevon: All the time! We are
currently working on a soundtrack that is slatted for a 2018 release.
Gene: Thanks for answering my questions about your new release! I think it’s some of the best music yet from
Mantlepiece!
Trevon: Well, thanks man. And we agree!
