Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Squadcar

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

Dan:  when i was born i remember the song “the boxer” was playing by simon and garfunkel.  I remember thinking that the chorus was amazing but the verses needed a little work. 

Glenn:  i didn’t listen to music as young child.  my parents didn’t have a radio until i turned 6 or 7 and then it was just news and weather.  Maybe that’s why i love songs about sports and the dow jones industrial average.  

Dan: i never knew that about you.  Thanks for sharing.  

Glenn:  still unlocking mysteries after all these years.  ha ha. 

How did your passion for creating music begin?

Dan:  i wrote a song when i was about 5 years old.  It was called boobies boobies.  It was about boobs.  

Glenn: i used to run in the outback.  my shoes would make a percussive sound in the dirt and then i’d write songs based on the beat. One time my brother left me in the middle of nowhere and i had to walk 2 days to get home again.  I wrote an entire album in those 2 days.   But that booby song.  Now i want to hear it.  

Dan:  We’ll put it on our next album.  It still rocks. 

What’s the story behind your current music project?

Dan:  We retired in 2015 but we really missed sinking money into things that didn’t get us anything in return so we decided to come back and do it again.  

Glenn:  I thought I was done with music and was going to become one of those blokes who just talks about fishing a lot. Then Dan emailed me some songs and I remembered I hate fishing but love arguing about snare drum sounds. So here we are again, ignoring sensible life choices.

Dan: Tell me about it. That apartment you had in Shibuya was the place where sensible life choice went to die.    

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

Dan:  Its catchy poppy melodic indie music without the catchy part.  and the poppy part. 

Glenn: Imagine indie rock that’s been left in the sun too long. A bit warped, still usable, probably shouldn’t be trusted. It’s music you nod along to while pretending you’re not nodding.

Dan:  I remember a few shows where not only nobody was nodding, but nobody was physically there!  

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

Dan:  I learned that no matter how much effort you put into the little things and try to make a song perfect that’s not what matters.  what really matters is that your friends stopped listening to your music years ago and strangers don’t care at all.    

Glenn: That the guitar will usually tell you when a song is done, even if your brain disagrees. Also, singing something out loud instantly reveals whether it’s honest or absolute nonsense.

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

Dan:  in all seriousness, i start with a melody just in my head.  then i record some drums and a baseline in logic to go along with it.  then i layer in the rest.  

Glenn: A guitar first. Always a guitar. Then Logic. Then I sing something into a microphone and immediately regret the lyrics. I also occasionally touch bass and piano, but more in a “no one was watching” sort of way.

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

Dan:  I’m digging Medium Build right now.  White Male Privilege is a great song. 

Glenn:  I get obsessed with one song at a time and listen to it until I hate it. My fallback is always Evan Dando though, always will be.  Elliott Smith too.  

Dan:  Me too.  Lemonheads is still one of my favourites.  

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

Dan:  Our songs are usually about personal experiences.  At least they start there and then they evolve into whatever story we’re trying to tell followed by what sounds interesting.   I think the best songs come from being personal.  

Glenn: I tend to write from the guitar first, which means the songs start emotional and then slowly become more complicated than they need to be. Life has taught me restraint. Music has ignored that lesson.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

Dan:  I really love a great melody.  I hope that people hear our melodies and it inspires them to do something with that.  Even if its not creative.  Go for a walk, talk to a girl/boy, make a sandwich.  whatever gets you up.  

Glenn: I hope it feels human. Like someone singing something they probably shouldn’t say out loud, but does anyway. If it sounds like I meant it, then I probably did.

 What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

Dan:  taking drugs is okay, but taking a lot of drugs is also okay. 

Glenn: The simplest part is usually the right one. And if you add a ninth guitar layer, it will not fix the song. I still try, though.

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

Dan:  I’d love to perform at an elementary school christmas concert.  except we wouldn’t play christmas songs and the kids couldn’t be there because we’d probably swear too much.   actually, maybe a bar would be a better place for a show.  okay forget what i said before.    

Glenn: Somewhere far away where no one knows us and expectations are low. A dusty outdoor stage with good sound and a bar nearby. Ideally no one throwing bottles, but I understand that’s a risk.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

Dan:  I know this guy named Kevin who’s really cool and drives a super nice Corvette.   I’d like to see if he’d collaborate with me and maybe he’d let me drive his car.  Its a really nice car.   

Glenn: Evan Dando.  

Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)

We’re all over the streamers.  Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music etc. 

Glenn: All the usual streaming places. If you search hard enough, you’ll find us. If not, that’s also fine. The music still exists either way.

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

Dan:  I still haven’t wrote the perfect pop song.  I’ll keep trying for that.  

Glenn: To keep writing songs that start on a guitar and end up meaning something to someone else. And to sing them without overthinking every syllable. That’s the dream.

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

Dan:  Now that we’re older, we try not to take ourselves very seriously.   Life’s too short.  

Glenn:  That I care a lot about songs, even when I pretend not to. And that if it sounds effortless, it probably took a very long time.

If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂

Link We Sleep Music Video

how about this one?  Its SO old.  ha ha.