After a steady output of singles and E.P.’s Bloomington, Indiana’s Slug Rug return with a brand new self-titled three song E.P. and it’s absolutely brilliant.
I caught up with founding members Audrey and Keegan Priest to talk about their early musical memories, how they started writing their own music and the making of the new record.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you all as kids and what artist or band did you enjoy the most?
Keegan-We grew up with a lot of early 2000’s indie like Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire plus lots of 90’s jangle-pop and indie rock like The Sundays and REM. In high school we really got into more contemporary indie bands like Alvvays, Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail and that became really the turning point in discovering the aesthetics we were drawn to on our own.
CMM-When did you all first start playing music and writing your own songs?
Audrey-I started writing my own songs right around the same time I started playing guitar when I was 9. I didn’t really get into either, though, until around middle school, where watching different musicians on YouTube and listening to music nonstop in general inspired me. Keegan started playing around the time that he started high school, and once we were in high school together, we tried to play and write together whenever we could with our friend and former member of Slug Rug Cordell Wilson.
CMM-The band recently released a new three song E.P. What was the writing and recording process like? Any particular gear and instruments you used during the recording sessions that helped inspire you?
Keegan-The EP was our first collection of songs really written as an ensemble and they were all originally constructed for our live shows. I think on these songs we’re stretching out the in-between instrumental sections a lot longer and toying with texture/atmosphere and I guess you could saying jamming. The whole EP was recorded in living rooms with a pretty limited arsenal of gear. Reeder, our keyboardists, had an old Juno with distorted midi-guitar sounds that I think add a lot of “Lighter Fluid” and our lifelong affinity for the banjo makes an appearance on “Oh Man!”.
CMM-If you could do a score for any film director who would it be and what would the film be about?
Audrey-It’s not a movie, but we would choose Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m not a fan of the creator of the show, but it’s been my favorite show since I was 10, and the music of the show is still extremely influential to me to this day. I love Buffy because while it’s filled with very cheesy 90’s CGI, a lot of its messaging and representation still hold up today.
CMM-What do you have coming up next? Any new recordings or shows?
Keegan-I recently purchased a Tascam 424 Portastudio, so Audrey and I have been tracking some songs that really take things back to basics. We’re doing some instrumental/ambient stuff. All of it’s pretty sloppy and lo-fi but it’s been exciting to approach it all from a different angle and I think it’ll be a natural accompaniment to self-titled whenever it comes out. Hopefully soon.
