Continuing to from catchy music that occupies many spaces at once and simultaneously exists in dimensions of pure joy, Regal Degal’s latest release ‘Not Now’ toys with a dense array of sonic influences ranging from 60s psych pop, 70s glam and krautrock, 80s post-punk, 90s shoegaze, and a post-00s appreciation for a variety of electronic music... We talk to singer/guitarist Josh Da Costa about songs complimenting each other, finding a purpose in music and future ambitions...
TSH: Talk us through the band’s overall creative dynamic as you readied the recent release ‘Not Now’...
Josh: It was a pretty collaborative dynamic. To be honest, I couldn't be a control freak if I tried, eventually I need to pass the reigns over to someone, either out of a desire to give a project extra dimension(s) or sheer laziness and an unwillingness to do anything totally alone. So a lot of decisions were group decisions, and we knew that we should all be involved in as many aspects of the making of this album. After all, it is more or less a companion piece to our live show. And even though sometimes having 4/5 people call the shots can be a little "too many cooks" it's still a fun way to work.
TSH: What sort of themes did you feel ended up being primarily expressed with this collection of songs?
Josh: This record is probably more about life than death. It's about living. Conceptually it's pretty broad in a human experience kind of sense. Nothing too esoteric or heady in the lyrical department I don't think.. Except for maybe ‘Pyramid Bricks’ but that's like a gift shop version of Ancient Egypt mysticism. I suppose being the sole lyricist in the band, personally I feel like the inspirado for the words comes from being a frustrated yet happy/lucky person navigating really exciting but draining cities. All of my friends are pretty intense and interesting, they make my life very interesting as well as confusing, and I confuse myself a lot, but I also spend a lot of time seeking clarity, and I consider how my friends are so different from each other in some ways and how they each respond to life so differently.
TSH: Looking back at the process of bringing the album together, what pleased you most in regards to your way of working?
Josh: Good question. Personally speaking, I enjoyed how the songs were already written and mostly road-tested. Plus, each song on the album seems pretty self-contained to me, with parts that all compliment each other and work well together as a whole. So we could all work together in producing them without getting too lost in the minutiae because we knew what was essential to each track. That allowed us to move along pretty smoothly when making decisions; also Chris worked at a cool pace and kept us engaged. There were inevitable communication breakdowns here and there but nothing truly scary happened during the making of this record. Maybe that's what it's missing - a dose of intense fear?
TSH: When sequencing the album, was ‘Delicious’ the natural choice as the album opener?
Josh: Credit goes to our boy Jimi Hey for more or less saying that we'd be total idiots if we didn't start the album with ‘Delicious’. It was a more poignant remark coming from him, and his certainty won my vote.
TSH: Knowing that your folks describe lots of things as being delicious, like the weather, water temperature, a back rub etc – did this have a particular reason in the naming of the song?
Josh: Yeah, it promotes the idea of applying the term delicious to anything that makes you feel good!
TSH: What can you tell us about the ideas in forming ‘Wide Awake’...
Josh: The song's basic rhythm and flow came to me during a classic NYC summer night strut sesh. I was strutting around a lot, late June - early July. I was thinking about Roxy Music and the Eurythmics' first LP ‘In The Garden’, in fact those very words are in the first line of the song. My brother was also visiting and when I brought him to our practice space for the first time I was messing around and unknowingly wrote the breakdown part on a cheap guitar my mom bought me for my birthday that same week. That song also makes me think of the Chills and Sensations' Fix - two of my favourite bands, or at least two of my favourite songwriters (Martin Phillipps and Franco Falsini).
TSH: How did you go about forming ‘Deal of a Lifetime’...
Josh: I wrote most of that song in Terrible Records' big dawg Ethan Silverman's apartment while cat sitting. I wrote the breakdown on bass while jamming with Sleepy Doug Shaw and Jackson Pollis that same summer. Lyrically, I think it's just about being an artist and having to deal with being relevant and being criticised... I think the mood of the song dictated the cynical tone of the lyrics. On the surface it's sort of confident and upbeat but at its core it's teetering and moody.
TSH: ‘Pyramid Bricks’ is accompanied by a stellar video – what were your experiences like in bringing the video together?
Josh: It was fun working with everyone - Lily X as the director and Abbey Lee Kershaw as the star. In the words of Borat "Wawaweewa". It got tricky when we decided to rerecord the song AFTER we'd shot the video but it all came together in the end!
TSH: Tell us more about the following statement you made... ‘We are drawing from the past and the future a little more than we are attempting to frame the zeitgeist and appeal to a global audience...’
Josh: I think some artists make a really big effort to try and meet the general public more than halfway as far as contributing to pop culture goes and all that. I think we are more than happy to step back from that type of world platform and focus on some pretty specific kinds of sounds for people who like to dig a little deeper into music from bygone eras but we also recognise that never before have we had such unparalleled access to information - contexts are collapsing and all types of ideas can cross pollinate so there are like endless mutations of styles and stuff. Instead of working with the types of ingredients that are integral to a more current pop formula, we create a custom blend that could very well be a flavour better suited to a generation to come. Still I'd rather not count on that. It'd be cool if I slipped and hit my head and somehow become so tuned into our time that hits would just bleed out of me and my busted head.
TSH: Also, how valuable was it to play a lot of 12-string guitar on the record in order to give the album an 80s feel?
Josh: I guess that's a matter of preference, subject to each unique listener's opinion. I rarely associate 12-string guitars and the 80s. I think that's why I like playing it because it provides that slick 80s chorus guitar sound but with a fullness and brightness that reminds me of beautiful 60s and 70s psych, folk, etc.
TSH: Over the years, what do you feel you’ve discovered and learnt in particular in relation to your experiments with songwriting?
Josh: If anything I've learned that by constantly working on music you can find a purpose and reason for nearly every experiment and activity. Nothing is ever done in vain or completely forgotten, it all filters back into itself.
TSH: What are the key elements you feel are required to manifest themselves with your live performances?
Josh: Good vibes good monitors!
TSH: In what ways do you often look to the past to dictate how you want to model your future?
Josh: I suppose I try and recognise that each trajectory and each timeline is different for every individual, project, or even cultural movement. That way it makes it easier to avoid trying to replicate or imitate any one type of success, understanding that our futures are entirely unique and entirely ours... One must allow themselves to have totally new experiences to attain a version of success the likes of which has never been seen.
TSH: Heading forward, what intrigues you most about the potential to excel and continue to expand your musical horizons?
Josh: I'm interested to see whether our drum-centric background will end up informing our songwriting process more than it has already. We used to be a bit more heavy and jammy, definitely driven more by Jamen's punky drumming, but the last couple years I've been really focused on writing catchy songs and reigning it in so to speak. Although, maybe we can go disco and take the best things about pop melodies and turn them into extended cosmic delights, in which case our shared drummers' experiences will definitely come in handy. Also, I want us all to be making more music with the talented female artists whom we are all so happy to know.
TSH: You took to Twitter recently to state the following ‘just discovered that my name roughly translates to "guest of honour" in Japanese..’
Josh: Ok I'll admit it, that was a lie!
TSH: Also, ‘When you text your lover do you tell her that you love her? Do you talk to each other on the phone or in real life?’
Josh: That's a lyric more or less meant to be sung like one long run on sentence. I just started singing it to myself - thanks for reminding me of that one!
