'I, The Mountain' takes you on a journey through the great outdoors with their latest release 'I, Swam' which is a single off their latest album 'Little Wild'. Prepare yourself for waves of peace and calm. The song starts off with a heart warming guitar melody that draws you in to this charming composition. The vocal layers and harmonies play really well with each other. The sense of vulnerability and heartbreak really drips on the canvas to paint a magnificent picture. We have more insight into their world in our interview below :
1. How did the name 'I, The Mountain' come about? What’s the inspiration behind it?
Matt Lamers had a dream that he was in a band called Between the Mountain and Me! Matt Lamers and Matt Rappolt eventually came down to The Mountain and Me or I the Mountain. The former was chosen by their partners, so naturally, they went with I, the Mountain just to be contrary.
2. What’s your songwriting process like? Does it involve a lot of time jamming or do one of you’ll take the lead for the writing process?
The songs usually begin as just acoustic and melody. M.L or M.R will often come to the band with a skeleton of the song or a simple demo, which we then build instrumentation and harmonies around. After a heck of a lot of workshopping, we come out with a fully realized song.
3. Is marketing and getting your music heard a hard job?
Yes! Marketing is one of the most difficult, but also most satisfying aspects of the band. We love creating themes and images around our songs, as well as creative ways to market to new audiences. The difficult part is sometimes the marketing plan just doesn't hit as expected. It's difficult to really stand out in today's music climate, as there is just so much content being pushed at all times. However, we find we make most new fans and spread our music best through live performance!
4. What is the song “I Swam” about ?
'I Swam' paints an unvarnished portrait of what it’s like for an individual to go through love: the happiness, the vulnerability, the grief and the hope.
5. Do you’ll work with a producer or is it a fully DIY project?
We regularly self produce, but have worked with fantastic producers in the past like Simon Ward (The Strumbellas) Jonas Bonnetta (Evening Hymns) and James McKenty (The Spades). We would love to have Simon on as a full-time producer some day!
6. Live gigs have completely come to a standstill due to the recent crisis. What do you miss about playing live?
The people, the energy and the community. We absolutely thrive off of live music and all agree that it is one of the greatest natural highs. We miss the communal aspect of singing with our fans and the amazing people we meet. We've managed to play about 16 online shows throughout the last 5 months, which were great, but nothing quite matches the energy and allure of a live audience!
You can find 'I, Swam' on our 'a walk in the forest' playlist linked below :