Sector 7 Basement will host local band Great Shapes for their first single release party on March 6th. Already having a range of shows coming up throughout Texas, the release of Low will pave the road for future dates in the month of March. With guitarist Adam Gutierrez currently living in Odessa, the band manages to keep up with Nathan Gomez from local band, Bumpstreet Fonanza, filling in. Gomez said, “With Great Shapes I feel like I add and decorate their foundation of their solid sound.”
The band plans on releasing an EP on May 1st, which will include 7 songs and remixes from Low. The remixes will feature Blake Miller, frontman of Moving Units and will also include a remix from local DJ’s Joe Nava and Bobby Claudio of LNSC. Claudio used specific samples for their mix, “They broke off some nice bits to work with, certain parts of the vocals, basslines and definitely the drum patterns.”
Scheduling was an issue for the delayed the process of recording; it took 10 months. In this time, 7 songs were completed for their upcoming EP. Justin Leah of Sound+Vision Studios was behind the production, already working with Evan Tremper when he recorded with the D.A., Tremper said, “Everything we did with the D.A. in releasing the album could’ve been cleaner. I know what didn’t look good the last time, so I improved with this release.”
Fusion sat and chatted with 3 of the members: Evan Tremper, George Rodriguez and Neil Henry.
When did the band first get together?
Evan: “We started jamming during the NXNE tour when I was with the D.A., July of 2013, the band officially started October 2013.
Neil: “The first 3 or 4 months we just created the songs, so we have something to play in the public. It first started with Evan, George and I. Then we brought in Adam shortly when we had already made about 4 songs.
What was your experience recording your EP with Justin?
Neil: From the other 2 experiences I’ve had, it was different. It was done as a multi-track; a few live performances. But we dubbed some tracks in as well. It was a professional atmosphere, for sure.
George: He takes his times with things. If it doesn’t work with the song, he’s knows how to go about saying, “let’s try it this other way.” He was easy to work with pretty much, and since he is based off of Sonic Ranch, you know he is good at what he does.
The song titled “Mumuration” means a flock of starlings, why title your song that?
Evan: The song was inspired by it, the movement especially. The movements are what we wanted to go with it. We didn’t watch the video while we played though.
George: The way I see it, is in the verses. When the chorus hit, it blossoms, that’s when the flock separates and the shifting movements occur.
What is your process when songwriting?
Evan: It just depends; sometimes we go off of a bassline Jorge created. We’ll record the bassline and store it for a fresh idea. That happened a couple of times, for sure.
Neil: A lot of ideas work off of Jorge and I, then Evan puts a beat to it, then play off of that.
George: Yeah, We’ll come up with a verse, and then we get stuck on the chorus, then the bridge, finally back to the chorus. It’s sometimes all over the place, but it usually starts with something.
Neil: That moment when it starts, it’s an inspiration with a word I can’t describe; you start to feel it and you feel where it wants to take you.
Text: Aaron Bedoya