Stray Fossa
A talented trio hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia, Stray Fossa is making strides in indie pop. Their hottest song on Spotify, “Commotion,” is an eclectic yet dazzling mix of everything the group embodies: it’s a swirl of jazz, bluegrass, and synth, and has a clean rhythm accompanied by light drumming. Nevertheless, the band is trying to push things into a new direction—focusing on collaborative self-expression and letting more energy flow into their music. Their newest release, “For What Was,” has a noticeably faster beat and a completely different energy, one the band is working to incorporate into future songs. Fans of Stray Fossa can expect a full-length to release sometime next year—so as always, stay tuned! We recently spoke with the band about their musical upbringing, most personal song, and more!
How did you start making music?
Will: When I was twelve I received a drum kit for Christmas that came with a tutorial video on basic rudiments, etc. All I could think about, though, was how much better the kit in the video sounded compared to mine… and they were the same model! I think I’ve been on a mission ever since to find that perfect drum sound, which of course I now know comes in many forms. But I still use that same kit.
Nick: When Will and I were like 4 and 6 we started “accompanying” our dad when he sang and played guitar or our mom, who plays piano. Music was a huge part of our household growing up even though neither of our parents are professional musicians. Later on, the three of us had a band in high school, which is how we all got started writing.
It’s your day off: How are you spending it?
Nick: It is hard to find a day off, I also work freelance from home when I’m not working on music, so weekends and weeks kinda blend together. Instead, I intentionally set aside an hour or so every morning to listen to a new record or read.
Will: I’d probably still be making music, working on something new hah
Zach: Usually I’d be in a cafe, reading with coffee, but these days you can find me in the living room, reading with coffee.
Who’s your choice for a dream collab?
Zach: I’d love to write some tunes with Glen Hansard one day.
Will: Man, really any artist or producer I’ve grown up listening to--- Paul McCartney, James Mercer, the National team, James Murphy, Beck Hansen, Eno, list goes on..
Which song is your most personal? Can you explain to us its significance?
Will: We write individually, so I don’t think any one song is any more personal than another. In that sense they’re equally personal, perhaps some more explicitly than others—which I think is what you’re getting at, but that’s difficult to measure. When writing for a band, though, I think we each feel there is some expectation that the writing takes into account subject matter that’s relevant to all three of us. So I think as we’ve matured as a group, and as individual songwriters, we’ve gotten better at balancing self-expression with a more collective voice. It’s been a good challenge that I think pushes us all to be more empathetic in the ways we express our individual selves.
Nick: I agree. So, I think that is a very hard question to answer. When I am writing I usually think: “Does this feel like a SF song? Am I saying something that we can all get behind?” If not, for now I put it in a folder to dust off some other day. We don’t always team write lyrics but there is a new song that we are trying to take a more collaborative approach on. I mean, there are entire wonderful genres dedicated to making music alone in your bedroom but that isn’t us. We are kinda strange because, while we don’t collaborate on lyrics, we make a conscious effort to write for the band.
Where do you draw inspiration from when making music?
Will: I am very quickly influenced by any song or piece of music that hits me, for whatever reason–– the mood, beat, lyric, etc. It’s often even an artist I couldn’t name or don’t recognize, that I hear on the radio or stumble into on some playlist. Whenever that happens, my immediate impulse is to go make something. When a song has that kind of infectious energy, it just feels so natural and right to channel it into something creative. That’s why I always have my own studio set up ready to go at all times because you never know when those moments are going to hit.
Zach: I feel inspired and get a lot of fulfillment while I’m on the road touring, which has been difficult lately for all musicians. To feel best about the creative process I need the back and forth between performing and recording. When I’m on the road for a while I’m able to get excited about diving back into studio life.
Nick: Inspiration almost always hits me either while I am in the shower, reading, or on a run, which is bizarre because I hate running. I sang out the entire melody for our second-to-last single to myself randomly while on a run. I don’t understand how that works.
Let’s talk about “For What Was”. It has an incredibly new vibe compared to some of your older releases. What made you go this route?
Will: I don’t think it was the result of a conscious decision to go in any particular route. It just happened to be what we made at the time. I do think we were all feeling pretty upbeat while coming up with the structure, which helps explain why it may seem more energized than previous releases. I guess that’s one of the perks of independently producing and releasing your own material— really anything goes so long as the bands all cool with it. Our next set of releases sound much different.
Any future projects for fans to get excited about?
Nick: We are currently working on a full length. We set ourselves a bit of a deadline, which has helped because we have a tendency to keep working on tracks until we cannot stand them anymore. It would be nice to like the record when it comes out! No no, all kidding aside, I think we are all proud of how the album is shaping up. We haven’t set a release date yet but it will be 2021 and we can’t wait to share them!
