2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
Indie quartet says 'aloha' to newly textured songs
By Madalyn Wasilczuk on 3/6/08
What they want has shifted over time, as a listen to "Light Works" will reveal. The album, sometimes criticized as being too pop-oriented or mainstream, Cavallario said, is "probably the most song-based thing we've ever done."
But don't fret, Aloha fans.
"A lot of our music is layers upon layers of melody and counter-melody and rhythm," Cavallario said. "And I think 'Light Works' is just a very subtle version of everything that we've done before. I don't see it as that pop-y because I don't think anything that's that subtle and mellow can be considered pop-y."
Cavallario said he's proud of the way the record came together as they had conceptualized it.
"We wanted to make this acoustic-based EP," he said, "and from the first track to the last, we wanted to have it be a very specific sound and very specific environment."
All in all, they wanted it to be a transformative experience, which is what he likes about some of his favorite records, he said.
"When you put it on, you're in this world, and you're there the whole time," he said. "I think we accomplished that."
Cavallario cites R.E.M.'s "Automatic for the People" as one of the band's greatest influences in recording "Light Works." That kind of music is "very contemplative," he said.
"It's not just love songs - that's not what our band is about," he said. "Our band is about exploring ideas through music and giving them different meanings by the textures that are around them."
The R.E.M. record "is a good example of the music matching the theme - reflective, but in a humanist kind of way, not in an emo, lovestruck sort of way," he said.
And "Light Works" is certainly not about puppy love. Cavallario calls the album a "God-seeking experience."
While "every song has its own theme, it's definitely a pretty grown-up reflection upon one's place [in the world]," he said.
Cavallario said he'd love to play at is one of the big, outdoor summer music festivals like Coachella, Sasquatch or Bonnaroo - something Aloha has yet to do.
"It's been so long since I've been in a place where there's just thousands of people of the same generation," he said. "And I feel like I'm really missing out on that feeling."
But don't fret, Aloha fans.
"A lot of our music is layers upon layers of melody and counter-melody and rhythm," Cavallario said. "And I think 'Light Works' is just a very subtle version of everything that we've done before. I don't see it as that pop-y because I don't think anything that's that subtle and mellow can be considered pop-y."
Cavallario said he's proud of the way the record came together as they had conceptualized it.
"We wanted to make this acoustic-based EP," he said, "and from the first track to the last, we wanted to have it be a very specific sound and very specific environment."
All in all, they wanted it to be a transformative experience, which is what he likes about some of his favorite records, he said.
"When you put it on, you're in this world, and you're there the whole time," he said. "I think we accomplished that."
Cavallario cites R.E.M.'s "Automatic for the People" as one of the band's greatest influences in recording "Light Works." That kind of music is "very contemplative," he said.
"It's not just love songs - that's not what our band is about," he said. "Our band is about exploring ideas through music and giving them different meanings by the textures that are around them."
The R.E.M. record "is a good example of the music matching the theme - reflective, but in a humanist kind of way, not in an emo, lovestruck sort of way," he said.
And "Light Works" is certainly not about puppy love. Cavallario calls the album a "God-seeking experience."
While "every song has its own theme, it's definitely a pretty grown-up reflection upon one's place [in the world]," he said.
Cavallario said he'd love to play at is one of the big, outdoor summer music festivals like Coachella, Sasquatch or Bonnaroo - something Aloha has yet to do.
"It's been so long since I've been in a place where there's just thousands of people of the same generation," he said. "And I feel like I'm really missing out on that feeling."
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