So, whenever we get interview requests, I always personally keep an eye out for any local to me. I wanna try to help the NC music scene as much as I can. This one came to the modmail a few weeks back so I took the opportunity to do a quick interview with Autumn Brand, formerly of New Reveille, now of The One Eighties:
Kappa: So I was reading your website and before we talk about the single, I have to ask about your wedding playlists for violin. I am obsessed with this kind of wedding stuff. So tell me how this list is what makes the cut? I mean, if I knew that getting Black by Pearl Jam played at my wedding was an option…
Autumn: Hey! Thanks for asking about my wedding playlists for violin. My violin stuff is totally separate from The One Eighties, but my day job is teaching violin and playing at weddings and other events. As far as what music I choose for my repertoire, it’s really just what people request and what I enjoy playing! Black by Pearl Jam was a special request from years ago that I arranged for violin and cello and I just ended up liking it so much that it got stuck on my list! Sadly, The One Eighties won’t be seen playing any weddings, though.
Kappa: The pandemic hit everyone hard. It looks like it at least played some part in your old band, New Reveille, calling it quits just as it was seeming to take off. But it seems like you embraced that challenge in recording this new album and were able to do a lot virtually. Is that a different skill you had to develop or just something you found out you always had?
Autumn: Home recordings have been a part of our process since the beginning. We’re completing the entire record for The One Eighties within our home studio. In some ways it has been more challenging because we’ve needed to learn how to fully engineer, produce, and mix on our own. The pandemic also gave us a great amount of time to hone in on our craft and really dive into what our sound is. We were able to fully experiment and play around until we finally had the sound that made us happy. We have spent an insane amount of hours in our home studio. If we had to pay a studio for all of that time to figure out what our sound is I bet we would owe millions!
Kappa: Dead Star Light is your new single and it’s about being unable to let go to something, or someone, even though it might be more a memory of what was. Is there any advice or wisdom you’d give to someone in that situation? Is it worth fighting through ever?
Autumn: Perhaps I have a strange view on this, but I think there’s beauty in lamenting something you once had. The memory of what once was is a reminder that those types of connections with someone or something are always out there waiting to be grasped. Having said all that, there is certainly a time and a place to let go. That letting go is not some universal higher spirit that’s going to tell you when the right time is. It’s just a decision that you have to make and stick to.
You can check out the video for Dead Star Light here
