Unraveler
Isolation and Emotional Release
Photographs By Nathan Ross
Los Angeles band Couch Dog discuss the changes of moving to a new city, mixing visuals into their live performances, and the themes of loneliness and connection in their latest EP, Unraveler.
Los Angeles, USA
What is the Couch Dog origin story?
We met in college and naturally sparked up a friendship through our shared love of similar music and movies. We started jamming in our first year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and by our second year we had formed a band and started playing small shows around town - mostly playing covers, mostly at houses and local bars. We went through a few lineup changes after our first year together and spent some time writing original music and hopping on as many bills as we could. The San Luis Obispo music scene was the perfect place to grow our band in. The sense of community there is unparalleled and the live music scene is so warm and welcoming - we were able to grow a lot as artists and as people there. The band started as just a fun little hobby for all of us, and something we never really expected to snowball in the way that it has into something so important and present in our lives.
What have you learned since your first show?
We have learned a lot about being organized. Coordinating and taking part in a successful live show requires a lot of careful planning and attention to detail. Through this process we've learned so many skills that we never would have gotten through our regular education - marketing, managing, graphic design, event planning, editing, screenprinting, etc. So many different factors go into putting on a good performance and we've gotten to pick up this experience in a hands-on way through the 90+ shows we've played together.
You recently moved to Los Angeles from the Central Coast of California. How has this change been? What have been positives and challenges?
Moving to LA was one of the biggest choices we have had to make as a band, so we initially felt a lot of pressure and questioning around if we made the right decision, or if we were making the most of our move. It was intimidating for many reasons - we had been a part of such a tight knit, supportive music community in our hometown in SLO, and we were used to the small-town type of scene (way smaller than what LA has going on). We were also saying goodbye to a long-time band member, our drummer Josh, who was moving to the bay area to pursue his career. In a lot of ways we felt like we were starting fresh - new music scene, new drummer, and just a whole new environment to get used to. This change was definitely really scary at first, but we knew that even though there would be uncertainty and discomfort, we could work through it and figure it out.
We are now coming up on our "1 year in LA" anniversary (next month) and it's safe to say that the move has been very fruitful for us. First and foremost, we've had the amazing addition of our new drummer Liam - we got super lucky to mesh with someone so well on both a music and friendship level and he adds so much to the band. Being in LA has also given us so many incredible opportunities, like going on tour with Archer Oh, collaborating with CalArts animation students, and most of all signing with Arrival Artists, our booking agency.
Playing at the Echo last weekend felt very affirming to us of this move and was an important landmark in us starting to reach some of the goals we had in relocating. Beyond just being a sold-out show with incredible energy at a venue we've always wanted to play at, it was just amazing to be able to experience the community and camaraderie of the LA music scene - one of the main things we were seeking out in the move. It's awesome to be surrounded by so many other talented local musicians, and we're so so excited about all of the future shows and collaborations we get to experience here.
You recently released your EP, Unraveler. What is this EP about? What kind of journey are you taking us on?
Unraveler came together from four different tracks, each written by different members at different times throughout the years we've been together as a band. Once we started developing them in the studio, we realized they all shared a common theme: feelings of isolation and the emotional release that comes with processing that. Even though the songs came from different places and moments in our lives, they really spoke to the same emotions. At its core, Unraveler is about that shared experience of loneliness and hopelessness we’ve all felt at some point in our lives, but it’s also about connection, particularly how those emotions are something that everyone has felt. We’ve all been there, we can be there for each other. It's a collection of songs that reminds us that we're not alone in what we feel and that we can move past hard times with each other's help.
How is Unraveler different from your previous releases? How does it show your growth as a band?
Unraveler is a project that was born from our desire to try something a little bit more experimental than what we had done in the past. Our earlier releases are true-to-form surf/garage rock, and while those influences are still present, this project gave us the freedom to explore a wider range of genres we’ve always loved. Making Unraveler allowed us to play with new textures, sounds, and styles that we have been wanting to delve into . This EP is also the first time that we have released songs written by other members of the band, casadastra being penned by Pablo and our producer Griffin and Teethe having been written by Tasha. This facet of the project helps to make the overall sound super varied, but everything is still Couch Dog at its core.
One other cool thing about this release is the multimedia aspect. This is something we've been wanting to do as a band for a longgggggg time - we've always loved media that mixes visuals with music. It was so fun and special to be able to incorporate animations, character design, and costumes into our marketing for Unraveler and was super awesome to be able to build a visual world that fit with the themes of and represented our songs.
For each member, which song is your favorite to play live and why?
Tasha: I would say any of the songs off our new EP. These ones feel challenging since we haven't been playing them live for too long, and they include fun things like additional instruments or switching of vocalists and instruments. It's also cool still being in the process of developing the live performance variation of these songs - we like to have changes between the live and recorded versions and I love the path of discovering what those changes will be on my end. If you want a more concise answer I would say ‘Teethe’ because I get to play guitar and use my pedals, yay.
Pablo: This is hard. It changes quite a bit depending on how I’m feeling the night of the show but lately they have been ‘Isabelle’, ‘Teethe’, and ‘Wozniak’. I like them all for different reasons. ‘Isabelle’ is a bit more of the classic Couch Dog soloing style but a tad more polished. ‘Teethe’ is a completely different monster, and ‘Wozniak’ allows us to do a lot more backing vocals which I love doing. I get super stoked every time we’re about to play those, a bit nervous, because I feel like they’re challenging in just the right way.
Max: My favorite song to play live is Punch Drunk, it’s just too much fun to see the crowd get hyped up and it’s so fast and thrashy and not too too difficult so it’s got that balance. Seeing the crowd go nuts is my favorite, though.
Liam: My fav song to play is Isabelle - I love that it kicks off the set with a lot of energy and I also love playing with the new electronic trigger sounds we added for live performances
What's next for Couch Dog?
We're looking forward to playing a few shows in some new places this upcoming fall. One of our big goals right now is to expand our horizons on the touring front and grow our audience in other states as well as California - we have some really cool show dates planned for the rest of the year that we're very excited to announce (keep an eye out). Besides that, we're going to be writing a lot, expanding on some of the sounds that we explored in Unraveler and hopefully introducing even more. Just looking to do more crazy, out-there stuff in general.
