[Cover photo credit to Dylan Doren]
Breezers is the musical identity and songwriting vehicle of Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist Evan apRoberts. Breezers will be releasing the album Hideaway on March 8th, 2024, on Indie AM Gold/Blackbird Record Label. Indie AM Gold is the imprint label started by Scott Kinnebrew of Truth & Salvage Co.
apRoberts’ songs are influenced by “the vastness and romanticism of life in the West” and incorporate elements of both the gritty and the sublime, and he characterizes the new album as “…a darkly romantic interpretation of classic Western folk and country songwriting infused with indie pop sensibilities and a twist of psychedelia.”
Today, we’re very pleased to premier a track from Hideaway, titled “No Problem”, alongside an accompanying video here on Wildfire Music + News. It arrives this Friday, March 1st, 2024.
The song “No Problem” preserves a certain mystery to it because it seems to focus on another person who is also a mysterious, but a positive, figure in the speaker’s life. The music that supports the lyrical, wandering thoughts about this person is harmonic, mellow, constantly transforming, but never jarring. We see this person through the eyes of the narrator as a bright soul, described as “mysterious and free, perfect timing every time…” In daily life, those kind of qualities would create a sense of harmony and optimism in the midst of the world’s challenges.
Further into the song, we begin to see them as a visionary kind of personality who is capable of remarkable things and full of strange stories to share. It’s long been a tradition in music to dedicate a song to someone’s positive traits, creating a kind of portrait, both in lyrics, and in terms of attempting to convey their personality through sound and mood. The personality and the mood of the person in this song is well summed up in the title “No Problem”, conveying an easygoing sense of life, and just as the music sparkles and remains calming, the narrator concludes “Your heart will always be, mysterious and free…” While apRobers is known for working with Folk and Country elements, you can really pick out the upcoming album’s indie Pop elements in the layering of warm tones and the dreamlike atmosphere that verges on the Psychedelic created through synth and organ parts.
The accompanying video has very clearly been crafted to reflect the feeling of the song while also focusing in on key ideas from the lyrics. Initially, and finally, it captures the haziness of memory surrounding a summery roadtrip with friends, a kind of perfectly mellow memory. The video also blends together imagery using warm colors that incorporate the oceanic, the flowering, and the restful. On the whole, the video gives a sense of well-being couched in muted colors that you might associate with the “golden hour” of afternoon. We might suppose that the video reflects some of the favorite types of imagery of the person in question, or else the images that the narrator associates with this person, particularly when they reflect on their qualities and experiences together.
Evan apRoberts shares:
I wrote this song in response to the drug-related death of a close friend and fellow artist. The production work on “No Problem” is probably my favorite on the album. The song’s rhythm section takes charge immediately with a slow and steady Curtis Mayfield “People Get Ready” style slowjam groove that pulses and moves along within the sonic world and rich layers of chords and melodies created by the vocals, guitars, synth and organ parts.
The recording of “No Problem” marked the start of a new working process for Breezers. “No Problem” was written and recorded during the initial lockdown times in March 2020. Using just my phone, I recorded all the guitars, vocals, synth strings and organ parts then shared the tracks with my long-time collaborator, Graeme Gibson, who finished the production remotely with drums, bass and electric piano.
The new album, Hideaway, was co-produced by apRoberts and Graeme Gibson. It was recorded at apRoberts’ home studio, The Magic Stream Lodge, Graeme Gibson’s LA Studio, Grae Matter, and Michael Nau’s home studio in Cumberland, Maryland, called Relearn T’Boogie. The album was mastered by Christopher Colbert at National Freedom in Cottage Grove, OR and engineered by apRoberts, Gibson, and Nau.
apRoberts wrote the songs for Hideaway at different points in time, some of them many years ago, but there’s a through line in terms of his inspiration.
He shares:
One thing that ties everything together on this album is the theme of the wilderness as a place of mystery and possibilities to go and collect and be inspired by raw experiences. I like to mentally project myself into the landscapes of the West that I love and have lived my life in and try to meditate on the thoughts and feelings these places bring and the places they take my mind.
In 2010, Evan apRoberts released his debut solo album, Under the Ghost, aimed at LA’s underground Country/Folk scene but was already known for contributing his guitar, bass, and vocal talents to various artists. His journey as a touring instrumentalist began in the mid 2000s, leading him to collaborate with acts such as Michael Nau, Pink Mountaintops, Joel Jerome, Little Wings, Kath Bloom, Tall Tales and the Silver Lining, Kings of Convenience, Elisa Randazzo, and Port O’Brien.
Breezers Tour Dates Opening For Michael Nau:
Wed 3/6 – The Atlantis 7pm/ $20 2047 9th St NW, Washington, D.C.
Thurs 3/7 – Metro Gallery 8pm/ $20 1700 N Charles St Baltimore, MD
Fri 3/8 – Johnny Brenda!s 9pm/ $20 1201 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA
Sat 3/9 – The Sultan Room 7pm/$20+ 234 Starr St, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Sun 3/10 – The Press Room 7pm/all Ages/$20 77 Daniel St, Portsmouth, NH 03801
Tues 3/12 – The Drake 8pm/$20 44 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01002
Wed 3/13 – Portland House Of Music 8pm/$20 25 Temple St, Portland, ME 04101
Fri 3/15 – Foam Brewers Early Show 4:30pm/$20 112 Lake St, Burlington, VT 05401
Sat 3/16 -Tubby!s 8pm/$21 586 Broadway, Kingston, NY 12401
