“I guess you could call us ‘old souls.'”
“Even though we’re only 21, there’s been a record player in our family’s living room our entire lives and we were still using cassettes into the 2010s, although mostly for recording lessons and/ or new songs.
A couple of years back, we finally stumbled upon the albums that went with the turntable; classics by artists like Carole King, Paul Simon, and Judy Collins and we were hooked. We began venturing out to local record stores, our favorite being the Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, NJ, and found some really cool records including Herbie Hancock and James Taylor.
Soon, friends and fans found out about our new obsession and began buying us LPs by our all-time favorites such as Ray Charles and Sam & Dave. And our “vinyl obsession” was most recently fully satisfied when our dear friend and legendary music critic Dave Marsh invited us to help him “clean out” some of his storage space. Boy, did we make a killing! A bunch of classics—Elvis, Bruce, B.B., Dylan, Jackson Browne albums as well as a number of box sets, including the legendary Phil Spector box.
For us, there is something so engaging about not only the great music of the past, but also in the tones and frequencies that vinyl creates. It is so raw and real, the crackles others find annoying are somehow soothing to our ears, and provides us with a whole new listening experience.
There’s a quality in it that we find lacking in much of today’s music. When we have recorded our work, including this new EP, we try to recreate some of the old “album” magic—a beginning, middle, and end, a certain level of continuity and a well thought out statement, not simply a collection of individual tracks. We hope to bring our fans, both young and old, that same excitement we feel listening to one of our prized collection.
By the way, our favorite Christmas present last year was a new turntable!”
“We’ll Be Free” | “This song drew its inspiration from a gig we did at Rowan University. After the show, we spent time hanging out with a group of students (roughly around 30 or so)—many of whom were strangers, some friends, representing a variety of sexes, backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual preferences, etc.
The two things the group did have in common were a comfort level with themselves and a total acceptance of each other. That is something that one doesn’t see every day—we found it VERY inspiring and we wrote the song’s chorus on our car ride home (sang it into our phones). While some have come to interpret it to be a “marriage equality” song, we also think of it as a “social justice” song. After all, as The Rascals sang many years ago, “All the world over, so easy to see. People everywhere just wanna be free.”
Musically, we came up with the basic guitar figure, and our great band did the rest. This track was basically recorded live (instrumentally) and features a guitar solo by Oscar Rodriguez.”
“Scattered Girl” | “On this new EP, we wanted to include story songs not directly related to our lives, and this character study is a prime example. It’s about the messy journey of a confused, “wild child” trying to find her path—something we think is relatable to twenty-somethings of both sexes.
Musically, it’s probably the hardest rocking track we’ve recorded; blame our producer who came up with the guitar riff and us for attending a Tom Petty show around the time of the recording—thank you Heartbreakers!”
“Runaway” | “Another story song. This one was influenced by a friend who grew up in what can best be described as desperate circumstances. These sorts of personal tragedies don’t get talked about nearly enough, and yet, they are around us all the time if you just take the time to notice.
In order to enhance the drama of the story, musically, we used all sorts of sounds to compliment the main piano part—everything from guitar feedback to strings (arranged/ performed by our sister, Tangee Bolton).”
“Get Away” | “A band version of a bonus track off our previous album, Lessons Learned. A couple of acoustic guitars propelled by our killer rhythm section—Will Lee on bass and Jim Hines on cajon/ drums. What sounds like “scratching” is actually us fooling around with a wah pedal.
Lyrically, it’s a rant, reflective of our transition from high school to the sometimes overwhelming and frantic life of a full-time musician in today’s music business. Everyone needs a little escape sometime…”
“Love Who You Want” | “A free-spirited song about the simplicity, complexity, and confusion of love on a personal basis, while at the same time, reiterating that universally, there are (or at least, should be) no rules or boundaries.
Recorded old school style with live singing/ playing and minimal overdubs, it features Tommy Mandel’s gospel-style piano. And yes, recording it was as much fun as it sounds…”
“Shadows In The Shade” | “One of those songs that came pouring out in basically one (late) night. A different lyrical vibe—self-reflective, almost stream of conscious that paints a mood more than telling a story.
For us, musically, it was experimental; we slowly built the instrumentation with parts and sounds that would enhance the atmospheric nature of the song. Definitely more of a studio creation than a band recording.”
—Nalani & Sarina
Nalani & Sarina’s “Scattered World” EP arrives at all digital outlets this Thursday, June 18—and physical copies are available via their online store.
The release show for Nalani & Sarina’s “Scattered World” EP is this Thursday as well at the Bitter End in NYC. More info can be found here.
