On the song selection of their new EP Everlasting Sunday, they said, “We actually wrote a lot of songs before making this album, and it went through a couple different setlists before we decided on this one. It was originally going to be a 12 track LP, but I think we felt that maybe these 6 songs just had this great flow from chaotic to gently coasting back down to reality. I feel like 25 bursts are great for the attention spans of the 21st century. It’s not too much to take in and it leaves people with wanting to hear a little bit more. I just want people to listen to it on repeat.”
They continued, “We were trying to go for this nostalgic theme overall, and most of the songs are about what a scary place the world can seem like at times. ‘Leviathan’ for instance is about how the media can make it sound like the world is out to get you, and ‘Never Say Ever’ is about taking life for granted. It’s all really about burying your day to day problems into the concept of a never ending weekend where you feel safe and free.”
They listed “Siren Song” as their favorite tune off the new EP. “It’s the first song we wrote for the album. But when it really comes down to it, I enjoy ‘So Be It’ the best. It was nice to bridge the gap in the EP with something that had more keyboards and was different. Plus the ending is so fast, I think it takes this depressing song about regret into to a happy place of self forgiveness at the end,” they said.
Regarding the origin of their band name, Crown of Pity, they said, “The name is actually a reference to migraine headaches. I’ve never experienced them like other people I know have, but as soon as someone I know says that they have one, everyone in the room has to make sure that they’re OK. It’s like they’re the kings and queens of receiving empathy.”
On their greatest musical influences, they said, “I was first made aware of David Bowie as a kid, so he’ll always be my musical ‘grandfather,’ but the first musician that really made me want to write music was Trent Reznor. The Broken EP really changed the way I looked at music as an experience. The Cure was also a band who I got into as Wish came out. Later I got Disintegration and Pornography and that helped usher the teenage goth in me into the world. The Smashing Pumpkins are also big with me, as well as Failure. The funny thing was that I tended to listen to more abstract music in my teenage years, like Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly, and that always drove me more towards art than music. I guess it’s funny how things work out.”
Digital transformation of music business
On the impact of technology on the music scene, they said, “It’s pretty interesting to see streaming be so out front now. I grew up with the birth of Napster and I remember how negatively other musicians reacted to that. I was always in favor of it. It actually makes it a lot easier to be heard now than just relying on the radio or something. Granted everyone is probably making less if they’re still trying to follow the old model, but you just have to accept things as they are. It’s also weird that communication has gotten easier but at the same time feels a lot more distant than it used to be. It’s easier to share things, but maybe somehow in all of that experiencing things with others face to face has been taken for granted.”
They continued, “We were also looking at Last.fm the other day (that service that tracks what other people are listening to). I think it was fun to see what your buddies are listening to, because you end up finding even more music that you like. I like that other streaming services do similar things nowadays. More exposure means that you just need to be a little more creative and work a little bit harder.”
On their use of technology in their music and daily routine, they said, “The fact that we can program realistic sounding drums now is a huge thing for me now. Seventeen years ago, you couldn’t program drums that sounded so real, but now you can make them sound so real that they really inspire you to write more. Its a lot easier to write music in an apartment more than ever and that should be celebrated. Now its quite easy to save up a couple hundred dollars to get a good DAW and drum VST and just go to town as if you had a well mic’d studio for drums to compliment guitars with virtual amps. Songs in a demo format are a lot closer to what they could potentially be nowadays than they could be 20 years ago and that’s a huge.”
While they admitted that they are not a duet band, they shared that it would be “awesome” to record an album with Steven Albini or Ken Andrews.
For their fans, they concluded, “Everlasting Sunday is designed to feel like a dream and I’d love for people to take 25 minutes and have fun with us. We tried to have fun with uncomfortable topics and hope that we can get people to relax and enjoy themselves!”
To learn more about Crown of Pity, check out their Facebook page.
