Royal Coda is a new trio of artists that have made their mark on the scene for years now, a supergroup of talented progressive instrumentalists. Kurt Travis (Dance Gavin Dance, A Lot Like Birds), Sergio Medina (Stolas, Sianvar, Eidola) and Joseph Arrington (A Lot Like Birds, Sianvar) have written an entire album under the name, and it’s as exciting as one would expect. “Blood Thinner” opens with a grooving syncopated assault from the instrumentals, with Travis urgent approach on the vocals reigning the songs infectious atmosphere together.
Sergio Medina’s dedication to expanding the amount of layered progressions really sells tracks like “Love Again” and “Breathe Correct.” The impeccable drumming of Arrington captures moods with a pounding command of the kit, differing approaches to fit songs and help the emotional vocal lines land their spots with ascending builds or pumping through sections with finesse. “De Rien” is an eerie song that hauntingly fills the atmosphere of a room.
New Noise Magazine is pleased to be bringing forth an in depth look at the self-titled release from Royal Coda thanks to this track by track from Sergio Medina.
1. Blood Thinner
This was the very first song written for the record in October of 2016. Feeling lost and stressed out, I started to look for new ways to be creative more often. This was the first song I wrote after collecting gear to have my own demo station.
Kurt wrote this song about being surrounded by alcohol and being far too drunk. The feelings that come from that, not only being too inebriated, but the emotional layers that surface during inebriation.
2. Anything To Save
This was the second song written for the record on my newly collected demo station. I had a difficult time with this song, since I felt that I wasn’t going somewhere new with my sound. Initially, I almost cut it from the record, but was told not to by Dominic Nastasi, the engineer/co-producer for the record.
The lyrics are pretty self-explanatory. I won’t go into detail about it.
3. Cut Me Under
“Cut Me Under” was the first song Kurt and I worked on together in pre-production. I had driven all day from Las Vegas to Sacramento to make it to town in time to work in the evening. We jumped right into writing melodies and lyrics for this song. I had never written music like that before. It flowed so well and naturally.
The lyrics metaphorically tie surgery and medical procedures to the rough aspects of relationships.
4. Breathe Correct
“Breathe Correct” is an attempt to write a song stripped away from the chaos I usually approach composing songs with. I wanted to simplify, yet stay entertained. You can see this exemplified in the bridge with the guitar solo. All there is in that section is one bass note repeated, guitar solo over it, and vocals in the distance.
Kurt did a fantastic job making the song pop lyrically and vocally. In this song he expands on the same themes as “Anything To Save.”
5. De Rien
Is a simple little interlude that came together in the studio very quickly. Dom and I played with a lot of sounds and noises while putting the record together. Kurt has a meaning behind it, and veiled it with French.
6. See Them Faceless
This song was the first time I ever used synth on a recording. I was playing around with a midi keyboard I borrowed, and was playing with a rough drum track that my good friend Chad had recorded. It was a slow process to put this song together. At one point, Donny (Hail The Sun, Sianvar) was visiting, and we jammed over the rough version of it. Of that jam, I kept the last part of the song that he wrote on bass.
Kurt wrote this song about soldiers on a battlefield being far from home and facing death in war.
7. Love Again
Kurt called this one the Zelda Song. He said it reminded him of “Song Of Storms” because of the bass line. As a Zelda fan myself, I enjoyed that comment. This was another attempt at making something interesting musically, without using too many chord changes, and using layering with sounds instead. Building the song to a climactic end.
As the title suggests, this song is about love.
8. Calm and Composed
This song was one that came together at my demo station back home. Though it was expanded on significantly at Dom’s request. The first version of it is very different from the final version. It was like I had gone in with a skeleton, and working with Dom and Joe on the song, we had added flesh to the bones.
9. Cycled Through The Past
“Cycled Through The Past” is the climactic near-end to the record, purposely written to be the last “song” of the album. While drums were record by Joe Arrington, the initial drum skeleton was written by Carlo Marquez, bandmate from Stolas. Lyrically this song expands on the topic of love and trust, as heard earlier in the record. I had a lot of fun with tracking this song. I used a pedal called “Count To Five” that created a lot of the crazy layering effects of the distorted guitar in the chorus and solo. I would be tracking a take as Dominic would mess with the pedal to create crazy sounds.
10. Suffolk
“Suffolk” is the ending interlude of the record. Though written as more of an interlude, it’s starting to feel more like a song as I hear it more. This one was very interesting to record. While sitting around at the studio, Dominic had gone outside to smoke a cigarette. Standing outside the studio, which is in Suffolk County, NY within the forrest like area, he started recording the sounds he was hearing coming from the trees. He came inside, saying we should track something over the sounds. Even though we had access to this high end studio gear, we recorded the guitar with an iPhone, since it’s what Dom used to record the outside noises.
This is the only song on the record that I “sing” on. I had Dom let me hum and repeat the words “Home Sweet Home” over it. The sample at the beginning of it is Amelita Galli-Curci.
