Photo by: Caleb Gowett.
Deep Sage, Gouge Away’s third studio album, started coming together in 2019 during sound checks and in small pockets of downtime between tours. In early 2020, they demoed songs with Brok Mende in an unassuming storage unit in Orlando, FL. Gouge Away pulled influence not only from the nostalgia of the bands they grew up listening to, but also developed a sense of urgency, noise, and introspective lyrics they felt most represented them. Those demos helped shape the songs into the finished record that Deep Sage would become.
Everything came to a halt in 2020 when a full year of plans were canceled in an instant. With the rug pulled out from under them, their backs against the wall, and no way to change the situation they were in, the members of Gouge Away had no choice but to go on a hiatus. They moved to different parts of the country and focused on their personal lives, accepting that those songs were never going to see the light of day. However, the songs lived as files waiting to be rediscovered and every once in a while, they’d get the urge to listen to them again.
On New Year’s Eve just before 2022, Gouge Away decided to reconnect and finish writing Deep Sage with Portland, OR becoming their new writing location. While everyone was in town for a writing session, Militarie Gun had a show down the street at Mano Oculta and invited Gouge Away to play a couple of songs during their set as a surprise. It was the first show Gouge Away had played in three years. Energized by the reaction, the band continued writing. They had an overabundance of material, slashing songs from the final tracklist left and right. They not only elaborated on the urgent and abrasive qualities they were known for but broadened their melodic traits, too.
Gouge Away entered Atomic Garden East in March 2023 with Jack Shirley at the helm, and recorded Deep Sage completely analog and almost entirely live. The band performed together in a live room while vocalist Christina Michelle was in an isolation booth, her vocals projected from a monitor so the band could hear her. The goal of recording live was to sound like five friends playing in a room together, just like where they started in Florida. Unpolished and far from being over-produced, this is what the heart of Gouge Away has always been.
Today, the album opener “Stuck in a Dream” arrives alongside a punchy performance video. Christina comments, “Recording live and to tape creates an intense environment where we have no choice but to feed off each other’s energy. We have to get it right in one take and if anyone messes up we all have to start over, so no one wants to be that guy. It adds an element of risk and excitement. We don’t want to sound beautifully polished or perfect anyway. We want to sound like the five of us being human, and no one is better than Jack Shirley when it comes to capturing what it feels like in the room.”
More than three years since their last new music drop, Gouge Away had hinted at what’s to come on Deep Sage with the surprise secret album single “Idealized” in May of 2023. Now, Gouge Away continue to showcase their power and prowess with “Stuck in a Dream.”
Look for Deep Sage to be available on digital and physical formats on March 15, 2024 on Deathwish Inc. Pre-order / pre-save the album here and look for more news and music from Gouge Away soon.
Gouge Away, live:
February 24 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium w/ Ceremony, Infest, Soul Search, Blazing Eye
