Sometimes life hands you a fat stack. Sometimes that fat stack spontaneously erupts into flames. 2020 has been like a chaotic fire for a lot of us, in-between a pandemic and a presidential election, but the four men of new band Overthoughts are well-versed in firefighting, so to speak. Read on to find out how the Baltimore-based foursome (Kevin Goren, drums; Mike Busch, guitar; Will Lopez, lead vocals/bass; and Alec Leventis, trumpet) fought through emotional wildfires to rise again and create their debut single, “Interrogation!”
Concert Crap: Before we move forward, we must go back. It’s just been two years to the day that the four of you departed from Warped Tour and Kickstarter’s $100K darling, Stacked Like Pancakes. Leaving a band with a loving and loyal following like SLP’s couldn’t have been easy, but the mounting statements that described “disagreements over the functionality and future of the band” began to stack up like an IHOP nightmare. With all of that said, how did the events of late 2018 lead to the formation of Overthoughts today?
Kevin: All of us are still eager and have aspirations to write, perform, and tour regardless of whether we are playing with each other or not. When we left SLP, we took about a month to decompress and process everything that happened. All of us have had music writing experience before and eventually, we all met up and Alec threw the band written charts for everyone to play. Then, we all began writing compositions collectively and bringing them to rehearsals to workshop together.
Alec: We also had to figure out who the singer would be! We first started looking to bring someone in but eventually decided that Will could take that leap and transition to the lead singer. Once that happened we started recording our music and now here we are.
Will: Honestly, there wasn’t really too much uncertainty. We like touring and playing music together, and forming a band seemed like a logical step forward. We all had musical ideas that hadn’t come out with SLP, so it was just a matter of putting all the pieces together, and Overthoughts was born.
Mike: We all felt like our departure of SLP left us with a void that we needed to fill. We all became good friends over the years and we still had that itch to create music and tour. While making this public has been a long time coming, we have constantly been writing music and nurturing these songs since 2 years ago. We’re excited to finally share this project with the world.
CC: Shortly after the SLP split, the four of you posted a photo of your instruments together. However, the general public didn’t see or hear anything else from all of you as a unit until two years later! Did anything from that late 2018 jam session make it into “Interrogation,” your debut single?
Kevin: It did not haha. That photo was taken for fun just to let people know we are still jamming. I think that day we were working on music for a cover band we also started.
Alec: Though we were playing and workshopping “Interrogation” very shortly after that photo, some of the songs we’re going to release have been around since before the split!
Will: I think that photo was a very ambitious post. Like we were telling fans “we’ll be back soon” even though we didn’t really have a plan. Although, the two years were super necessary. We worked over these songs, again and again, to make sure they would be the best possible version to send out into the world. It took a very long time, but I’m glad we did it this way.
Mike: Honestly I don’t remember what we were doing at that rehearsal. I don’t think we had any concrete Overthoughts songs in the works at that point. We were probably just running cover songs. We just wanted to let people know we were still together and I think they appreciated that.
CC: All four of you are credited with writing your debut song. Were there any specific events or feelings you all had that inspired the lyrics for “Interrogation?”
Kevin: “Interrogation” is about explaining a significant change to the public and the emotions that one endures during that process. In our situation, we were previously a part of another up and coming touring band but had a falling out with the band leader. With any major breakup, whether that be a band, a specific person, or a specific job; people often want to know what has happened. As we shared our stories with our peers for months, we felt like a broken record full of frustration, anger, and disappointment in an interrogation.
CC: “Interrogation” folds many unexpected genres together into its unique feel, such as pop-punk, rap, hard rock, and prog synth. As the song isn’t the first from a band of yours to blend numerous styles, did you go into the writing of the song with this particular genre mix in mind?
Kevin: Sort of haha. I had that intro that was originally going to be used for a progressive metal project in 2014, but I wouldn’t classify us as a prog band. We all take a ton of influence from live hip-hop/trap and pop groups. Typically, the recordings are completely digital, but the live show has a full ensemble of musicians that rearrange the songs in such tasteful and mind-blowing ways, without ever getting too complicated for a normal listener. So we wanted to emulate a digital trap song with real instruments and that resulted in a heavy sound which is just coincidental haha.
Will: I think a lot of the music we have been writing has been sort of a mix of genres, but not specifically because we are aiming for a specific sound. It’s more about the songs themselves. “Interrogation” started as a trap/ hip-hop track, but it grew into something else through strings, distortion, and a synth solo. None of those things was planned, but they all needed to happen. I remember calling my friend Natalie (Brooke, guest keyboardist) to ask her if she wanted to track synths for no other reason than I felt like that’s what that particular section needed.
CC: Will, you take on the lead vocal duties in this single. Since none of you got to take on that role in your previous band, what has the move from the side mic to the center mic been like?
Will: It’s definitely been a transition for me, I have to say. I’m so used to being behind the scenes, as a recording engineer and producer, as a stagehand, as a bassist, so the limelight is a pretty unfamiliar place for me. I am excited to see what happens though. The recording process has been such a positive experience with the guys being so supportive, and our producer Donny really getting the best out of me. The part I’m still unsure of is playing on stage, but mostly that’s because I’ve never performed without an instrument in my hands before! All in all I think the move has been a positive one, and I’m truly excited to see what the future holds for us!
CC: How did you all decide on the band’s name, Overthoughts? Did the name take as long for you to choose as the namesake implies?
Kevin: Yes. Originally we were going to go with Beings, but whenever we tried to pronounce that word, it just sounded like beans. We had an excel spreadsheet of around 40 band names and we all eventually gravitated to Overthoughts, which is funny because we totally were overthinking what our band name could be.
Will: Really I think the band name discussion took longer than any other single thing that we have done as a band!
Mike: Creating our band name was probably the hardest thing we’ve done so far lol. We definitely over thought it (haha).
CC: COVID-19 has obviously changed all of our lives drastically. Traditional concerts and tours continue to be nothing more than a thing of the past for the near future. Pertaining to music, how has the pandemic shaped your approach to writing and playing?
Alec: Since Covid started we haven’t really played together at all which is a bit depressing, but we definitely used the time to continue writing and recording our first few songs. We already had the tracks recorded for “Interrogation” and our next song before the world ended, but we still needed to do the vocals. We were able to have Will perform the vocals at his own studio while the rest of us and Donny at Dreamcatcher Studio tapped in and created the final product. It was actually pretty cool what we were able to do remotely, we’re still having remote editing and recording sessions with Donny even now.
Will: I actually recorded the vocals for “Interrogation” during the very early days of the pandemic, when I didn’t think I would be able to leave my apartment. About half of that song was recorded in the closet of my apartment in Frederick. I threw a bunch of packing blankets on the doors and made a little blanket fort for myself. Donny helped me soundproof the room, and we were ready to go. Without Donny, “Interrogation” would not have happened in the same way, he was a lifesaver!
Mike: It’s been hard. I feel like I’ve still been practicing my usual amount due to my teaching schedule, but performing has been hard to come by. It’s also been hard to find inspiration to write during this time (which is fine because we have many more finished songs ready to record!). I’ve been taking what I can get through outdoor gigs and drive-in concerts, but it’s really been slim-pickings for musicians. We also haven’t rehearsed as a band since the pandemic began. Despite this hard time, we were able to finish “Interrogation” and our next single’s production completely remotely (Thanks to Donny and technology). We’re excited to still be pushing out music despite the circumstances.
CC: In the music video for “Interrogation” (directed by Louise Lopez of Backroad Opus Films), the four of you are taken away by mysterious captors one-by-one in a thrilling, fast-paced caper! It’s also chock-full of clever clapbacks to your former employer. How did you all make such an easter-egg-filled romp for less than $300?
Alec: The main reason we were able to operate on such a low budget was because of the generosity of Louise Lopez and Backroad Opus Films and their time. We are lucky to share a common situation and goal of being fledgling ventures who want to realize our creations and get them out for people to see and so this partnership was a great way to do that. Everything else about the video was either done at Will’s studio or at our houses while using props and costumes we had already had or could get for cheap. We wrote the script with this in mind and are happy to see it work!
Will: Yeah, a lot of this video was made possible through the ingenuity of the team. Louise and I pride ourselves on our use of creative solutions that keep costs down while still retaining a high production value. All of the interrogation room scenes were done in Alec’s basement with recycled or free stuff. I think the only things we paid for in those scenes were the handcuffs and the mannequin. Alec and I wrote most of the script and spent a lot of time planning ahead, specifically crafting scenes that could be done with a minimum of equipment.
CC: Now, we can’t end this Q+A without asking the most important question: what’s next?
Alec: We plan to keep making and releasing music and music videos! Another is right around the corner and a lot more are in the works 😉 After that…we don’t know! Hopefully, people like and support our music and when the world gets back to normal we can perform sometime in the near future.
Mike: Our goal is to have a constant stream of content coming out. Obviously, shows won’t be happening for a while, but we would like to be releasing new music on an (almost) monthly basis until that can happen again.
CC: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us here at Concert Crap! Are there any parting words or plugs you’d like to leave us with?
Alec: We’d like to plug again Backroad Opus Films for creating the music video, Dymaxion Studios (Will’s studio) where we recorded, and Dreamcatcher Studio for producing and mixing our music. We would also like to thank Stacked Like Pancakes, who, though we didn’t end up on the same page, brought us together and became the first chapter of our new group.
Will: Make sure to watch out for new stuff on the horizon, it’ll be out soon, and we’re very excited for all of you to see it!
Follow Overthoughts on social media and music streaming platforms:
Website l Facebook l Twitter l Instagram
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Post and interview by Elizabeth Owens
Photo by Louise Lopez (Backroad Opus)
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