Located in New Jersey, Lowercase People are a treat to the alternative music scene. Their music combines the intricacies of sampling, self-production, and the many genres they’re influenced by. It’s hard to put them into a box — and you shouldn’t, because there’s a lot to discover with them.
With intriguing lyrics and an ambient, twinkling instrumental guided by a consistent beat, their latest track, “Blooming,” is worth talking about. We had the opportunity to talk to Tommy McKelvey, who samples and drums for the band, to learn all about the process of creating “Blooming.”
Could you introduce yourself to our readers, and let us know a little about yourself and your role in the band?
“Sure! Lowercase People is Noah Saunders and Tommy McKelvey. Noah sings and plays keyboards, and I (Tommy) sample and play the drums. We both make the music for the band.”
The New Jersey music scene has been at the core of a lot of modern alternative and indie music. What is it like being part of that scene? Has it influenced your sound?
“The NJ scene is something we’re really glad to be apart of. Growing up we were always going to local shows, so it’s cool to be a band in the same scene. There are a lot of bands in the scene that inspire us to make music that pushes boundaries. It’s also really cool to get to work together and learn from each other and get advice and whatnot. it’s a great thing to be apart of.”
What made you want to begin making music?
“We always were making music together, and the older we got, the more serious we started taking it.”
Your upcoming debut EP, Influx, is entirely self-produced. “Blooming” showcases a lot of your production versatility. Do you have a favorite aspect of music production?
“Noah mixed the EP with our dear friend Josiah and Josiah killed it. And we’ve always taken a hands on approach with things so it was almost a no brainer to self produce. It helps us stay interested and engaged, while still keeping it fun. We work kind of backwards, and one of our favorite things is trying out different ways that might not make sense to others. I think those methods yield the best results.”
What was the writing and recording process like for “Blooming?”
“Blooming started out as an instrumental track called Iron Lung, that I made on my sampler. After a few months, Noah had a separate song idea, and after we combined the elements of both tracks, things started falling into place, more so than usually. I remember when we were recording drums we wanted the kick to have a huge sound, so we wrapped my kick drum in cardboard to make a long drum tunnel. Noah almost got lost in it when he was adjusting a mic. True story.”
Do you have a songwriting routine that works for you, or do you prefer to write whenever inspiration strikes?
“We tend to try out all methods of song writing. Tracks often start with an instrumental track from me, and i’ll send it to noah, who will sing on it and add chords and try to flesh out an arrangement. Once we have an idea we think is good enough, we’ll get in a room together and work on parts and the structure, and then repeat the process until we think the song is getting worse haha. While tracking symmetry, I was working on the arrangement on my computer, while Noah was in another room working on chords and writing lyrics. Another method is Noah sitting down at a piano or Rhodes and writing a song in it’s entirety. That is the easiest method, and also the coolest I think.”
Do you have any producers, songwriters, or musicians that you’re inspired/influenced by?
“We have a long list of people who inspire us, but the people who inspire us the most would be Mutemath, Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Björk, DJ Shadow, Radiohead, Tyler the Creator, Boards of Canada, Questlove, The Neptune’s, Kanye. We could go on…”
“Blooming” is a very atmospheric track. What inspired you to take this direction with the song?
“We hadn’t written a chill-out/ambient track like that before, so it was nice to challenge ourselves and write a song that showed restraint. If you want to hear a song that we were influenced by, listen to ‘Hyper-ballad’ by Bjork. Noah drew a lot of inspiration from the lyrics and vocal approach on that song. He was also writing about homelessness in America and how our country handles it.”
Do you have a dream collaboration or tour that you’d like to be part of?
“We’d love to get into the studio with Kanye or John Mayer or DJ Shadow and write a song. In terms of a tour, we’d love to open up for Sting, U2, or have Kendrick rap over some instrumentals.”
What are you looking forward to in the future, aside from your EP release? Is there anything we should keep an eye out for?
“We are definitely hoping that after we release our EP, we can start playing out more and reaching new audiences. Hopefully we can play with some new bands and travel to some new places. We are currently working on a music video for ‘Blooming!!’ That will be out soon. It’s been fun to try and make a visual to accompany the song.”
With such a unique sound that they’ve crafted through hard work and experimentation, Lowercase People is bound to be one of the next big things in the alternative scene. You can check out “Blooming” below, and keep an eye out for their upcoming EP when it drops on April 3rd.
