LOQUAT

MASTER THE ART OF LYRICAL CATHARSIS

By Katherine Hoffert; photos by Anthony Gordon

There are two types of people in this world: those who hear lyrics first and those who don’t. Electronic pop is the last place the former usually expect to find heavy-hitting lyricism – and that’s what makes Loquat so refreshingly unique. This San Francisco five-piece not only writes meaningful, heart rendering lines, it backs them up with remarkable instrumentation and adventurous production that appeal to all listening types.

Describing the song “Sit Sideways” off Loquat’s forthcoming album for Talking House Records, Secrets of the Sea, bassist Anthony Gordon says, “That song, to me, crystallizes our whole philosophy about writing music. It’s like this four-on-the-floor party jam, but it’s about our close friend’s dad dying suddenly and being so overwhelmed with the emotion of not knowing how to deal with it. Kylee [Swenson] sings it so beautifully and so heartfelt – and it’s still a party jam. But behind all those good times, it’s a coping mechanism.”

Using art as a coping tool is not uncommon for musicians, but when it’s as cathartic for the listener as it is for the artist, something magical happens. Part of Loquat’s therapeutic effect lies in the relatability of Swenson’s lyrics – it’s easy to superimpose your own meaning on them and give them all kinds of personal significance. “A lot of people emailed me about our song ‘Swingset Chain,’” says Swenson, perched on a dark wooden windowsill in the back corner of the Swedish American Music Hall, moments after Loquat’s acoustic opening set for U.K. band Passenger. “They would attach meaning to it, like ‘my boyfriend and I broke up and then this happened.’ It’s actually about my best friend moving from San Francisco back to Minneapolis. It was a very personal thing for me and the fact that people can put themselves in it, that’s one of the major driving forces for me. Especially throughout all the tough times when I’m like, ‘Man, being in a band is so hard.’”

Loquat has had a long and colorful ride – and they have quite the stories to show for it.

“Blood-stained sheets and barf everywhere,” says Gordon of one frightful hotel room the band encountered while on tour in Texas. “I picked up the sheets and I was like, ‘Oh my god, somebody was stabbed here,’” Swenson adds, quickly following with, “I have to say though, touring is amazingly fun – even when you’re staying at The Crime Scene Inn.”

What started as the home recording project of Swenson, a singer/songwriter/guitarist, and guitarist Earl Otsuka became an active live band when Gordon, Swenson’s boisterous husband, came into the picture seven years ago. “When Kylee and I started dating, I had worked with every band since the history of man – you know what I mean, like 700 bands. Her band, which I didn’t even consider a band since they didn’t play shows, was way better than everything I had ever done. I didn’t want to be in a band with my girlfriend so I tried to just help put together a band for her, but then I couldn’t not be in it.” Where Swenson and Otsuka had been putting all their energy into perfecting their songcraft, recording and arranging techniques, Gordon had spent years learning how to floor audiences onstage and the logistics of booking live gigs. Yet neither had really mastered it all on their own. “Kylee’s shit was 90% there and mine was 90% there, and when we met up, it was like chocolate and peanut butter,” Gordon explains.

Bringing in drummer Christopher Lautz and keyboardist Ryan Manley, and booking their first show at Bruno’s, an old jazz club in the Mission, Loquat – and the audience – were in for a big surprise. “I was so nervous, my knees were literally knocking together,” says Swenson. “Then the oddest thing happened: when we finished playing the first song, the response was huge.”

“We destroyed it,” Gordon pipes in. “We were as surprised as anybody.”

From there, like most bands, it was a series of steps – or half steps – forward, followed by three steps back. Moving from one small label to the next, and releasing a few EPs and 2005’s full length, It’s Yours to Keep, Loquat slowly but surely made progress. “There are times when the press digs us, times when they forget about us, times when it’s hip to be in to us, times when it’s not,” says Gordon. “But generally, our audience has kept us going this whole time.”

“The most important thing is to enjoy the ride,” Swenson adds. “And that’s tough for me. I have punished myself by dwelling on the negatives too often. But when I get in a tour van, that’s when I finally relax.”

While they admit they haven’t been the road warriors they would like to be, there’s a good reason for it. “Touring is a time-consuming endeavor,” explains Gordon. “Our philosophy has been master your set, master your record – tours are great, but if you don’t have a record that you’re proud of, that you feel is expressing what you’re trying to express, then you’re just doing it for kicks. There’s a certain amount of artistic responsibility that we have for ourselves, we’re not in such a hurry. It’s tempting, we want to hear the clapping – every musician wants it, it’s awesome. But we want to have a body of work that we’re proud of and we take the recording and writing extremely seriously.”

It’s safe to say that with Secrets, Loquat is ready. Due out on October 14, and with a Midwest/East Coast tour scheduled to follow in its support, Secrets is the product of three momentous years. “A lot of deep stuff happened,” says Swenson. “Anthony and I got married, which was a positive thing, but obviously planning a wedding was a big ordeal. Then my great uncle and grandfather died.” While such heavy things definitely influenced the album’s darker tones, Swenson agrees that they were also conducive to the songwriting process. “Honestly, it’s very hard to write a song that is pure joy,” she says. “The songs that I’ve heard like that remind me of Ringo Starr, like ‘I’m rich and I have a beautiful wife and everything is awesome!’ I don’t know, I guess I just don’t gravitate towards those songs – I gravitate to ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday.’”

Though Secrets is being released on Talking House, Loquat made the album prior to signing with the label, so it was a completely self-funded venture, and a serious labor of love. “We scraped together everything we had and sold shit and pulled favors, and we made a real studio album and paid for every bit of it ourselves,” says Gordon. They even brought in outside producers for the first time. “Working with The Rondo Brothers [credits include Dan the Automator and Prince Paul] was so awesome,” says Swenson. “They could see the forest for the trees a lot better than we could. And when I lost my faith in myself, Jim Greer and Brandon Arnovick were my cheerleaders.”

Considering all the blood, sweat and tears that went into it, it’s no surprise that Secrets magnificently transcends both its lyrics and instrumentation to make for one powerful listening experience. “I feel like we’ve put enough of ourselves and our heart and our energy and our passion [into the album], that we sound better than our own talent should allow, just because we put in all that hard work,” Gordon says. “We want people to feel the super nutto crazy passion. We’re all nuts – fights happen, things break, our hands get hurt. All those things exist in everybody. And I think that’s what’s so special about the way my lady writes.

We’re married, by the way.”

www.loquatmusic.com