Start Listening To: Lightheaded
Lightheaded’s enchanting pop dazzles with a 60s sensibility.
Welcome to an insightful Q&A session with the enchanting pop band Lightheaded. Hailing from the shores of New Jersey, this dynamic duo, comprised of Stephen and Cynthia, crafts music that channels the spirit of the 60s with a contemporary indie twist. Their debut album, "Combustible Gems," serves as a testament to their journey from late-night songwriting sessions to transatlantic collaborations.
In this engaging conversation, we delve into the band's origins, the creative process behind their music, and the inspirations that shape their sound. Join us as we unravel the stories behind their melodies, explore the intricacies of their collaboration, and discover their aspirations for the future.
For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
S/C - We are a pop group from New Jersey! Stephen and Cynthia write songs together in New Jersey that people say sound a little like old 60's songs with a C86 indie pop filter.
Congratulations on your debut album, "Combustible Gems"! Can you tell us about the journey from forming the band to releasing your first LP?
S/C - We have a long and troubled history...
Sort of joking about the troubled part, but not the long part. We started fermenting the idea for Lightheaded between 2017/18, writing the vast majority of the songs that make up Combustible Gems. We would meet up at around 11pm, drive out to the boardwalk to ride at midnight because that's when the cops can't give you a ticket, then go get food at this diner called the Inkwell that would be open all night. Then we would go back to Stephen's and record on a Tascam 424 until the sun came up. We played a few shows, too, maybe less than ten. We did this all summer, then we didn't really talk to each other for... about a year and a half.
When we did start talking again, it was on the very first day of 2020. We pretty much picked up Lightheaded right away too. Cynthia had released the set of demos we made under the name Cowboys and Constellations, which was a phrase Stephen had suggested while they were still talking, so that sort of started the band again.
We moved into a space in Long Branch called the Pop Club with our old drummer Anthony and our partners. This was for a year, most of 2021, until some of that fell apart. It was good for the band though because we recorded the album during this time period with Anthony on drums and were having DIY shows, the band started to move in the right direction during this time period.
Then, the next chapter of the story was connecting online with The Umbrellas. Stephen really loved their first ep Maritime. After talking with Morgan, she invited us to play a gig in California with them and we went over during Thanksgiving 2022, which planted the seeds of the Slumberland connection that grew into them agreeing to release the album. When they suggested an EP first, we rush recorded five tracks with Kevin Basko and it was quickly released on cassette, called Good Good Great.
"Dawn Hush Lullaby" is such a captivating single with a beautiful backstory. Could you share more about the inspiration behind this song and how it fits into the overall narrative of the album?
S - Oh my, that means a lot! I didn't think of the title "Dawn Hush Lullaby," I found it. I wrote the lyrics around 2016 when I had fallen for someone with a really lovely voice who lived far away who sadly never quite worked out after trying for a bit. We would be texting for hours and I would read her messages in her voice and replay our conversations in my head. I was alone one night on the internet (dangerous combo), when I saw something from 1934, where Wilfred J. Funk listed the ten most beautiful words in the English language.
The first three? Dawn. Hush. Lullaby. Those words looked just how her voice sounded.
Your album features a mix of jangling guitars and soulful melodies. What was the creative process like in crafting these songs, particularly tracks like "Bright Happy Girls" and "Moments Notice"?
S/C - Moments Notice is a really original Lightheaded track, maybe one of the first three songs that we did together in 2017/8. Sonically, it's a bit of an ode to one of our biggest influences, The Feelies. Stephen wrote that chord progression rhythm that kicks everything off. He actually showed it to his old band, but it didn't quite fit, so he took it to Cynthia as one of the first couple of Lightheaded tracks. Then Cynthia really accentuated the Feeliesness of it all with the bouncing bass line. She wrote the insane guitar line, too. Wizard stuff.
Bright Happy Girls was written on the fly four years later and Sara was there, which was probably the first time we ever wrote with her. It was the last song on the album, but the newest to us at the time. Stephen was just playing a really simple progression with that sorta stabbing stacatto rhythm, and Sara just started to play this wonderful swelling and bursting guitar line over it. Stephen must have had some of the progressions cooked up, because yeah, that one just came instantly from a jam in the basement during practice.
S - (I don't remember if I had the chords for that song before we jammed or how it came about, but I remember having these images floating around in my head during this period "sprinting then shapeshifting" and "bright happy girls", I don't know. I guess I worry that song doesn't really make too much sense! To me, it's sort of about the feeling of running around with Cynthia, Sara, and Jo, but when Cynthia wrote the vocal melody over the verse, I sort of just improvised lyrics that don't fit great with the story of the chorus lol!)
As a trio, how do you approach songwriting and collaboration within the band? Do you each bring different strengths to the table?
S/C - Oh, for sure. Cynthia and Stephen both will start songs with a little musical idea, then Stephen writes all the words and sometimes a vocal melody, but ultimately the song is finished when Cynthia flushes everything out with layers of vocal harmony, bass, guitar, drums. She's more of a music gal, he's more of a words guy. They're both super with creating vocal melodies, but Cynthia way more with vocal layers and intricate two or three part harmonies.
Then we add our best pals... Sara takes the guitar lines to another level, while Adam will lay down the grooves, and Jo adds her own vocal melodies and keyboard + tambourine goodness to flush out and create the live set.
With your upcoming UK tour, what are you most looking forward to in terms of performing live and connecting with audiences?
S/C - The number one reason why we wanted to play the songs out in a live setting was to create new experiences. Primarily, we wanted our music to bring us to new places and to meet new people. Going to the UK is everything we've looked forward to in terms of playing live. Stephen is such a huge anglophile, he loves the Premier League and everything about the UK. We can't wait to go to places like Brighton that we've romanticized through films like Quadrophenia. London, gosh, that's going to be a dream to spend time there. I really wish we could spend more than just a day there. I think everyone is bummed about that.
A big highlight to look forward to, we will actually have a few days to breathe in Glasgow. The people from there are really warm, Monorail asked us to do an in store! Stephen has a pal named Molly who we can't wait to hang out with around the city. The organizers of Glas-Goes Pop have been so great. That show is going to be amazing to play again with Heavenly and Tony, plus for the first time with The Softies, The Would Be Goods, Gerard Love... It's going to be really exciting to check out the place where so many of our favorite bands like The Wake, Aztec Camera, Teenage Fanclub, and the Postcard Records scene originated.
The album artwork and title suggest a certain aesthetic and theme. Can you elaborate on the concept behind "Combustible Gems" and how it reflects the music within?
S- I was reading a lot of Rimbaud around the time of making that name, but to us the album title is pretty literal in the symbols. If something is combustible, it sorta means it's about to burst or pop in a real way. It indicates there is about to be an explosion because something's sorta in a fragile, but excitable state. Gems are valuable, rare, shiny, precious little nuggets... So, to us Combustible Gems, our album is just that. We don't think many people write songs how we do. We think these songs pop in a rare way. This record is precious to us, the songs are fragile and excitable... it just made a lot of sense.
"Because of You" closes the album on a poignant note. What emotions or messages were you hoping to convey with this final track?
C - It's a song from when Stephen and I first met, he wrote the lyrics of course but to me, it brings back a lot of memories of just spending countless hours around his house working on music together. Musically, I was thinking a little bit about Vashti Bunyan's Coldest Night of The Year because it sounds like and feels like winter or Christmas time to me.
S - Musically, that's a complete Cynthia song. She showed it to me fully formed. Every musical idea is hers and I really do feel like it's one of her finest moments. A really important song for us that Cynthia made early on in the band. I wish I could remember more about who or what the lyrics were about. Sometimes, the lyrics are written over a long period of time, and they almost become an amalgamation of people and situations. I think this may have been about the same person Dawn Hush Lullaby was about, and sort of that situation of spending time with someone where it meant a lot to me but it didn't quite last as long as I would have hoped.
Vinyl, CD, and digital formats are all available for "Combustible Gems." How do you think the medium affects the listener's experience of your music?
S/C - We really feel like a vinyl band. From the start, it felt like our music would be digested best coming from a record player. Although, hearing Good Good Great! on cassette wasn't so bad...!
What are some challenges you've faced as a band, particularly in the process of recording and releasing your debut album?
S/C - We have faced so many at every step of the process. Breaking up for a year and a half, then the pandemic, breakups, moving out of the Pop Club, moving home, not feeling like the debut album was good enough to release, not sure whether to self release or go through a label, not sure being sure if we should reach out to Slumberland... we faced a huge identity crisis early on of not knowing what our sound was supposed to be and what the songs were supposed to come out like. We still face that, but we aren't paralyzed by our sound anymore.
What do you love right now?
C - Computer Love by Kraftwerk, rock climbing, bringing people rock climbing with me, Sara/Jo/Adam, class, Ripley on Netflix, egg and cheese on a good bagel, driving my car really far
S - Saturday Looks Good To Me, bowling, Liverpool FC, brown pants, Sara/Jo/Adam, Godzilla, ping pong, Mt. Misery, halal style chicken over rice, Clifford the Big Red Dog, my students
What do you hate right now?
C - That I love sad love songs! Uh, losing in bowling, fish, Satan, driving my car really far...
S - I can't fall asleep at a reasonable hour. Hm, I have this weird sorta lumpy thing/dent forming above my left ankle, but I think it's just from wearing high socks for twenty years? Liverpool drawing late against Man U (with the fate of the title potentially on the line) and then losing 3-0 at home in Europe is high up there for hatred!
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?
C - Sometimes I still find myself going back to Meat Is Murder because it was the first record I played on my turntable in my room. Well I Wonder and That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore were faves in high school that I still like now. The guitars sound really good but I still think the bass lines really stand out too.
S - As the weather changes for the better over on the east coast, I find myself listening to Belle and Sebastian more and more. A lot of bands that I listened to in my early 20's are bands that I never find myself typing the name into my search bar, but I don't mind when they come on. Belle and Sebastian was one of my gateways into this world and I still find myself constantly listening to and seeking out the songs on Side B of The Boy With The Arab Strap, like Chickfactor and Dirty Dream #2 that seem more in my head than ever. Blueprints!
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations and goals for Lightheaded in the future, both creatively and professionally?
S/C - To keep going in the direction we are moving. Everything is so exciting with the shows that we are scheduling and the places we are going.
Now, the big concern is recording new music that's really good. Album # 2 is going to be a real step up from what we've done so far. We want to sound a little less clean and thin. We are sitting on two complete tracks that we really love, but we have a whole batch of about ten of our most exciting tunes that feel ready for the studio. All the songs are finished for album # 2, we need to find the funds and time to record them this summer.
See Lightheaded live at these upcoming UK dates:
19th July - Brighton, UK - Rossi Bar w/Mt Misery
20th July - Cardiff, UK - TBA w/Mt Misery
21st July - Oxford, UK - TBA w/Mt Misery
22nd July - Leeds, UK - Royal Park Cellars w/Mt Misery
23rd July - Sheffield, UK - The Delicious Clam w/Mt Misery
24th July - London, UK - The Lexington w/Birdie & Tony Molina
25th July - Manchester, UK - Gulliver's w/Mt Misery
26th July - Glasgow, UK - Glas-Goes Pop! festival
28th July - Glasgow, UK - Monorail
