The Emerald Down (Numero 33) by Revista The 13th

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NÚMERO 33

UNA R E VISTA IMA GINARIA

ANTON NEWCOMBE THE EMERALD DOWN

[ Interview with Rebecca Basye from The Emerald Down by Diego Centurión Translate: Rodrigo Debernardis ]

TO GIVING PEOPLE SOME WELL-CURATED LISTENING PLEASURE 2017 is coming, and although we are on the last 2016`s shining lights, our look is set on the future. With a long career over their shoulders, the US band will release a new album next year. And while this November the beautiful "Scream the Sound" (2001) has been re-edited, it is time to talk about everything in this interview. Hi, I want to thank you for the opportunity to have this chat with you! Thank you Diego! I am glad we could do this with you and Revista The 13th To start…where does the name of the band come from? The band is named after a horse racing track in Washington State called “Emerald Downs” (with an “s” on the end). We had no name for the first few months we were together, and then one day Jessica (our first bass player) brought in a newspaper advertisement for what was then a brand new racetrack, and said we should call ourselves this. And I said, yes indeed, but then we agreed to take the “s” off and add a “the” and “The Emerald Down” (or TED for short) was born. We had an “e” on the end for awhile but quickly got rid of that. We in the Pacific Northwest had this habit of naming ourselves after local landmarks and places. You have beaten a health problem. Has this influenced and encouraged the band to progress? Yes, I am a cancer survivor. I actually think my health problems have made me stronger and more in-

terested in doing something new as The Emerald Down again. We have really been given a second chance at life and as a band, and so doing new vocals, new videos, etc helped me to stay focused on positive things. I had no idea that at the end of my cancer treatment I would be looking at a whole new TED line-up and a new album and single on the horizon! We are very happy about that. Which are the members of the band today? Our new line-up for the forthcoming new album Songs From Saturn and single “Lucas” on Wrong Way Records is me (Rebecca Basye) and Jason Markin— we are the two remaining members of the original TED—plus our amazing new label mates David Fitzgerald (The Junkyard Liberty / The Telescopes), Nick Noble (93MillionMilesFromTheSun) and Tyler Royster (Branco Blanco). Social networking is an important and a very useful tool today. How do manage with it, and which ways do you use it? It is indeed, and I have barely managed to tap into it as I only joined Facebook and Twitter for the very first time one year ago as a part of the Scream the Sound reissue on Saint Marie Records. Before then I had not been a part of any measurable social networking activities since 2003 or so. So far I have only used those two mediums, but I must say I am grateful for it, as these things did not exist in TED’s early days and we are learning about and interacting with fans for the first time from all over the world that I did not even know existed. It might have made

a world of difference for TED if these things had been available then. For many years now compiled albums are edited very often and they seem to be a good way to show up and make bands to be known by the people. You participated in a few ones. What do you think about them? We have been on, I think, only two compilations: one in 2002 for the now defunct Blisscent Records and then the 2016 Static Waves 4 for Saint Marie Records. This, in fact, could be why we remained unnoticed by many until recently. We were supposed to be on two more European comps for Autoreverse in Spain and German label Alison Records in 2002, but those never happened, and I think that if they had it might have meant more in the EU would have known about TED today? I know some in the US learned of TED through the Blisscent comp, so I would say comps are fairly important tools for exposure in addition to giving people some well-curated listening pleasure.

What difference do you find in your music between the beginnings of the band and nowadays? Does the audience respond to the different propositions? Well, I have had line-up changes for all three of our previous releases and this of course has an impact on sound and songwriting differences. But my own writing and vision has also changed over time. In the our early days we were much more rock or postrock oriented shoegaze and just a three piece with one guitar (me), as will be evidenced by the 1996 ep self titled when it is released. For Scream the Sound we lost two members and added two more so the dynamic changed again. Likewise, for Aquarium the line-up changed again. Now, for Songs From Saturn we have what I hope to be our final incarnation that takes TED’s sound to the next evolutionary level. In regard to the sound, do you appreciate an improvement in the remastered re-edition of the album “Scream the Sound”? I am very happy with the new version of Scream the Sound, both the mastering and the new edits. We

5 tried to change what I felt were a few imperfections from the 2001 version and I think we succeeded. We shortened a few tracks that I had always felt were overly long for no reason as well. Now it’s perfect to me and I would not change a thing. Is the human race getting deaf? I say that because of the difference on the sound levels between the original versions and the remasters. Good question! It could be that those re-mastering them are getting older and experiencing some hearing loss. I have noticed that, yes, people are pushing levels almost to the peak point at times and when its played back-to-back with older music it’s jarring. For Scream the Sound though, the original master had much less bass than I would have wished for in hindsight, so much so that it was treble-dominant and made my ears bleed on certain stereos. So when we remastered we tried to adjust for that problem by adding some bass and midrange back in to warm in up and give it a more natural, dirtier feel. How was this 2016 for The Emerald Down? It was great! We reformed the band with a brand new lineup of very talented musicians; we reissued an album that I thought people had long for-

gotten (Scream the Sound). We released two brand new official videos for Scream the Sound tracks “Perilized” and “Caught a Wave”, and signed to a new label for our fourth release. Moreover, we learned we had many, many more fans than we realized. Pretty amazing after hiding for 13 years! New label? New releases? Tell us about it Yes! Our new label for the forthcoming album Songs From Saturn and a single will be Wrong Way Records based in the UK and run by the fabulous Al Boyd. The album will be released in autumn 2017. Beyond the new record, what can we expect from the band for the next year? We will be reissuing our third release from 2002 called Aquarium; again it will be remastered with new expanded artwork and on vinyl for the first time. We also have a brand new single coming out called “Lucas” on Wrong way Records that we are extremely excited about. Last but not least we hope to find a way to release our first, self titled ep from 1996. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! Thank YOU for asking them. You have a beautiful magazine!

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