Liam and I go back a ways, so I was really excited to learn about his upcoming record ...And His Splash Band.
Today, his new single, "Other Guys" is out, feat. Dev Hynes aka Blood Orange.
Without further ado, we catch up and talk about writing, 'curating a band' 1970s-style, and more.
Synth History: How have you been?
Liam: I've been good. I live in Ridgewood. I live in a studio apartment and that's where this makeshift studio exists.
Synth History: Did you record your new record there?
Liam: I mean, it was all demoed at home, yes, but I wasn't living here yet. When most of the writing was happening, I was kind of transient. I was actually staying at lots of different friends' houses. A lot of those friends happen to be musicians and I would use a lot of their gear to demo.
I had a rehearsal space that was underneath Indochine, there was a lot of cool synths and gear there as well. That's where I did most of the writing, then the recording and refining - the extra treats and polishing happened in LA.
Synth History: Do you remember some of the gear you used on the record?
Liam: It was mostly the Juno and the Nord rack. The Korg RADIAS also took a prominent role and the Roland V synth. When I'm at home, I have my Yamaha keyboard and my mainstay - which has just been this Roland Gaia for over 10 years.
Synth History: Can you tell me about your songwriting process? Do you have to sit down and kind of force yourself to write something or does it just kind of come to you?
Liam: A lot of this record started actually with lyrics first, which is totally not normal for me. Usually, I start with a bassline or a drum-beat-bassline combination, or a key line. But this record was mostly written on the guitar with lyrics at the same time. It started in a very singer-songwriter way - which was new, uncharted territory for me. Then, I got to bring in all the other instruments.
I really wanted to be like, ‘a guitar guy’ for this record, even though a lot of what's on the record is actually just chopped and spliced clips of the guitar takes. I was listening to a lot of Cornelius. I just especially loved the way he used guitar sounds as samples. And yeah, I chose to emulate that a lot.
Synth History: What program did you use to splice stuff up?
Liam: I’ve been using GarageBand since I was 17 years old. That's just how I record, fully. And then, when I bring it to my collaborators in production, it's usually transferred over to Logic, which is kind of like GarageBand at this point.
Synth History: [laughs] It’s funny, I interviewed The Blaze and they also use GarageBand!
Liam: No, but literally, there's so much utility in it! And yeah, I'm a simple writer and composer. So it's just enough to get the ideas down, at least. I've also just found ways to finesse it so that I can make something sound really professional from it.
Synth History: You could have the fanciest gear or program in the world or something, but it's all about the song itself.
Liam: Yeah. Also, for the percussion, I just jailbroke this incredible pack of drum samples from every possible drum machine. When you have hi-fi drum samples, it really just takes whatever you're writing to a professional level, sonically.
Synth History: Do you remember what specific drum samples you used?
Liam: It was all LinnDrum and 808. I’m obsessed with adding chorus on everything. I just put chorus and distortion and echo on everything and then just dial it down or dial it up. I kind of just tailored all of these different Linndrum sounds and 808 sounds and they basically appear on every song.
Synth History: Do you use any specific guitar pedals?
Liam: I just use chorus, digital delay, and reverb.
Synth History: The classics!
Liam: I had a Space Echo for a really long time, which kind of just encompassed all of that, but I sold so much of my gear during COVID. So I ended up tailoring the effects on my computer, or just using those three very simple pedals.
Synth History: Do you have any personal favorite songs on the record?
Liam: Yeah. One of them [“Dust”] just came out. It was the first one because it was written on the guitar with lyrics and I felt it was what I had set out to accomplish as a songwriter. The melodic choices felt challenging to me and I was proud of myself. I felt like I've actively fought against my - the tricks that I usually employ. I'm a huge fan of this record and honestly I think it's probably the best thing I've done, which is nice.
Synth History: I’m excited for it! We’ve known each other for a while now. I feel like we first met back in the day when you were making music as Strange Names.
Liam: Before then! I was dating [redacted] and he went to SXSW with you -
Synth History: Oh my God, yeah - I remember!
Liam: I remember like, actually being asked by him to help load your gear and put it in the right places. I kind of remember just being like a Computer Magic roadie. [laughs]
Synth History: [laughs] That’s so wild. Back in the day. I know that you have experience playing as a part of a band and I know you also write as a solo artist. Can you tell me about the Splash Band?
Liam: Yeah! So, initially, I was just kind of devouring a lot of 1970s and 80s media, European boy bands that had a lot of one-hit-wonders. I was really obsessed with the vinyl sleeves and the way they were presented as kind of ‘industry plants’. I was really struck by it visually and I really did miss that band aspect of being an artist. I really wanted to feel the fantasy, basically. So I cast my friends as “my band” before I even knew that they played instruments, because I knew I wanted them to be in the pictures!
Synth History: [laughs] That’s awesome.
Liam: So I created this band called my “Splash Band” and it kind of has that retro 70s flair to it. It actually started out as a theater thing. I thought it was going to be fully like Top of the Pops or something. But then, when we would get into the rehearsal room, it kind of just made more natural sense for us to actually learn the songs. I basically gave one of them my guitar, one of them my bass, and I said, “You know, learn these parts.” And that's how that came to be. I basically just curated and created this band and that's what this record is. They're in all the videos and they're gonna come on tour with me. It definitely is a band and we've had a lot of fun, kind of creating this lore that surrounds us, how we became a band.
Synth History: That’s great, so you have a whole backstory. Can you tell me about it?
Liam: Yeah. So Jet, my bassist, is a Balkan War time survivor who moved to New York. My background singer, drum machine and Theremin player, Silas, is an ex-alien abductee.
Synth History: Amazing.
Liam: And Dalgo is my guitarist and he’s an ex-but-sometimes current hustler. We all just live in New York and we're all just trying to get by.
Synth History: You have to make collectible cards or something!
Liam: It’s in the works. I think it's definitely happening.
Synth History: Is there anything else you want to tell people about your upcoming record?
Liam: It's been a huge labor of love. I feel like I got to amass this network of creatives for it and there are a lot of really exciting features from friends on it. I got to go into musical territory that was uncomfortable for me, but that I got to conquer in a lot of ways. I just got to work with a lot of fun people and in that process got to evolve my sound and songwriting ability.
Synth History: Who are some people you worked with?
Liam: Blood Orange is on the next single, Dev and I sang together. Then Cody from Ssion is on the next song that's going to come out in August. I’m not sure what the dates are but if you go on Bandcamp you can see the pre-order for the record and the full tracklist and everyone that's on it. My friend Ren G is on a song, too, and I am really happy with that. Nightfeelings produced the majority of the record with me along with Aaron Maine [Porches] and Lecx Stacy. It's just been a really fantastic group of friends helping me get it all out.
Synth History: If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Liam: Oh, God. I don't know. I mean, it really is just to stay true to yourself. Don't compromise.
Pre-order Liam's upcoming record via Bandcamp.
Interview conducted by Danz.
Photos provided by Liam Benzvi.