The S-ft F-cus has a single out right now and it's got this cinematic and experimental rock overtone that sort of takes you for a bit of a ride through your own memories and they use this amazingly pinpointed textures of sound to do it.
The song is called "Yr name On Rice" and it feels like your youth. It has a way of making you young again and it causes you to think back and remember things that may have since escaped your brain.
It's like a soundtrack to flipping through a picture book in your head and it's completely addicting and feels absolutely wonderous.
The vocals have this fuzz distortion that's just lightly coating them, and the guitars are perfectly loose but played exactly right. It just comes off feeling fulfilling.
This was one of the most satiating garage rock tracks you'll ever hear and it's 100% worth your ears and attention right now.
The band incorporates all kinds of different influenced of classic rock and 90's underground rock and they blend them together and poor feedback and experimental sounds over them and create this sort of atmosphere that is nearly impossible to recreate.
The song is actually quite beautiful, and it comes from an EP released under the name of Lousy w'Love.
This record has a ton going on and it's all amazing and done with a certain swagger so to speak that really gives them the right edge.
With the release of this record and the single, we had to talk to The S-ft F-cus to find out more.
Here's what happened.
RAG: Okay so let's start with " Yr Name on Rice ". This track had a killer poppy but fuzztone garage rock style to it! Where did this single come from?
It’s funny you say it has a garage rock feel to it because it was definitely meant to be extremely lo-fi like an early guided by voices /
Tobin Sprout pop song initially but I always definitely imagined it to rock pretty hard live. Kind of the same way gbv or ween do I guess.
The song itself though, is about the circle of life. Funnily enough I have two daughters now but I wrote this way before having my own kids. Always been fascinated by experiencing all the various stages of life, which you then live vicariously all over again through your kids. Each verse is a snapshot of a part of growing up and then it ends with handing the reigns over to your own kids. Celebration of life I guess you could say.
RAG: I'm hearing some great styles on this release. Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
Guided By Voices have to be the band that’s had the most direct influence on me in my musical life. Definitely had a life-changing moment the first time I listened to alien lanes in a record store. Will never forget that. Apart from that, The Velvet Underground and then all the 60’s stuff … Beatles / Kinks / Beach Boys. Etc. and later The Cars too … I guess I’m heavily attracted to harmonious pop songwriting with an experimental edge. Songs that attempt to break new ground but not so much as to alienate the casual listener. Not easy to manage.
RAG: So how did this all begin for you really? When did you fall in love with making music?
It began very early with drumming on every surface within arms reach. Mostly on the basketball that never left my side. I was obsessed with hip hop growing up. Guitar music came way later for me - grunge hit when I graduated high school. And it was discovering a Public Enemy sample in my Mum’s Isaac Hayes record collection (Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos on Hot Buttered Soul) that was the defining moment… I knew I needed to be a part of that world. Got a job and bought a drum kit first year out of high school.
RAG: What's next for you as a band?
I’ve played in bands since the late 90’s but never has it been entirely my own project. It’s taken me back to doing it purely for the love of creating, learning and discovering more and more about music and the songwriting process. The better I get at it (imo) the more I enjoy it so I’m super excited for what’s to come. Already have 10-20 songs ready to go for the next album and I feel like they’re already way better in the areas I felt were maybe a little deficient in my first batch.
RAG: What inspires you to write a song?
Overall, I just want to make music I feel like I would like to listen to. The kind of music I wish my favorite bands would make. Or try to at least. That’s my only real rule. The taste test. Sounds so obvious but I’m not sure it always happens that way. Not a lot of musicians I know listen to their own stuff but I go through whole periods where it’s all I listen to hahaha. Always looking for ways to improve.
RAG: What are you all doing when you're NOT working on music?
I do photography (model test shoots for agencies in Miami & NY) and I have two kids. Any parent knows, they alone eat up a hell of a lot of your time.
RAG: Who are you all listening to right now?
Alex G. Kurt Vile. New Kendrick album. A great Melbourne guy called Tam Vantage. And of course lots of old stuff I never got around to. Just yesterday I was tripping out to all these amazing album tracks on Double Fantasy I never paid attention to before (like Kiss Kiss Kiss)
RAG: Are you doing live performances?
I hope to!!! I just played my first two S-ft F-cus shows in Australia and now I’m back in Florida I’d love to get it rolling here super soon. Have to get my US players in motion but they live 5 hrs away (from Miami) in Gainesville. Not ideal.
RAG: This single seems like a big undertaking. What kind of advice might you have for other up and coming bands out there?
Do it for nothing but the love of doing it. Work is never work when it’s your passion.
Also make the most of all the spare time you have!! You never realize just how much you had until you have kids and you end up fitting everything into the tiniest of available windows.
RAG: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Firstly THANK YOU for taking the time to check it out! I put my absolute heart and soul into it for sure. Also I assure you it will reward you with further listens. I really wanted to try and do that since so many of my favorite bands throughout time have constantly delivered again and again after more layers are peeled back. I really tried to pack as much in as I could for that reason and I absolutely believe I did.