Interview with Drew of Lonesummer
Interviewed by Starlight Temple Society | 2009 & 2010

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-Tell us about Lonesummer. What gave you the idea for the band, and what was your purpose for starting it?

Drew: Lonesummer was started in the spring of 2008 under a couple different names. The Lonesummer material you hear now was recorded in the summer/fall of that year. It was started out of boredom; both general, every day boredom and boredom of the trite black metal sound.

-Is there any literal or figurative meaning behind the band name?

Drew: With the themes of Lonesummer, I like to explore the spectrum of emotion, from despair to elation. The name plays off of that, I suppose.

-Your sound is a strange compendium of styles that may be best left to you to describe. Take it away!

Drew: Hmmm, it’s a difficult question to answer because much of my writing process is not a conscious “I want to incorporate this influence here, and that influence there” type of thing. I suppose in Lonesummer songs you’ll hear some raw black metal, post-rock, shoegaze (whatever your interpretation of this may be), maybe a smattering of heavy feedback here or there, catchy pop, maybe some jazz, marching bands, and other sounds of fuzz and buzz. I’m not a fan of these silly last.fm based categorizations of “shoegazey black metal” or “post-black metal”, but you can call it what you will. I dislike the categorization “black noise” however, as I have very little appreciation for noise.

-What kind of bands and stuff are influential on the sound and style of Lonesummer?

Drew: Mount Eerie/The Microphones, Cold Cave, Have a Nice Life, The Smiths, A Silver Mt. Zion, The Saddest Landscape, Lifelover, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Maths, I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism in Your Yearbook, Yndi Halda, Trist, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, Carissa’s Weird and a bunch of others.

-Moving on to your debut demo, "What we were"- what can you say about it?

Drew: Coal cellars, bedrooms, an empty dining room with a mattress in the center. It’s stretch to call it black metal I suppose, and that’s how I wanted it.

-How did the band prepare for and perform the material for the demo? What does it take to record this kind of noisy, atypical music?

Drew: Something that I care deeply about is home recording. I think that home recorded music is the only true form of music there is. If music is about emotion, there’s no emotion in getting your shit packed up and heading off to some pro studio. If I wake up in the morning and I feel like utter shit, I want to roll out of bed, grab a mic and start recording right then and there. This personal touch, this aesthetic is really important to me and the music. There is not a persistent emotion or state of mind that goes into my recording, I don’t think of it as a cathartic nor a therapeutic experience every single time. I get frustrated and rather impatient sometimes.

-What are some opinions from those who have heard this demo?

Drew: Seems to be a split crowd, like I expected it to be. I’m not one of the elite black metal purists, and I didn’t figure those types would understand the music anyway. It’s been surprisingly good though, and I appreciate all the kind words.

-Likewise, what are -your- opinions of the demo? Is there anything in particular that you liked or wished you could have done differently?

Drew: Looking back almost a year ago when it was released, I still have mixed feelings about it. Given the resources that were available to me during recording, I suppose one could call it a success. But it didn’t capture the exact Lonesummer sound that I was going for. It was originally even shorter than it is, but 2 tracks were added at the last minute. A lot of the tracks were rushed, I’m a bit impatient while recording.

-Divulge the inspiration for the layout. Why are these "slice of life" photos used in lieu of demonic black metal pics?

Drew: As I said before, I despise the usual black metal aesthetics. I have no feelings towards God or Satan, nihilism, frosty forests or any of the usual. I wanted the photos to capture a feeling of normalcy that goes with my life. I wanted a feeling of melancholia without falling into the silly depressive black metal themes of isolated, over-medicated teenagers comparing scars. Memories, summers with friends, that feeling when you haven’t seen your cat in months… As for the rest of the layout, I’m lucky to be working with Starlight Temple Society, a label that puts an emphasis on packaging as a medium. I feel that the packaging of a release is almost just as important as the music itself.

-Does any of this have any bearing on the lyrical and conceptual nature of Lonesummer?

Drew: Most of the lyrics are rather personal, and therefore will never be shared. They deal with illness, suicidal ideation, relationships, self loathing, cats, memories etc. Even the lyrics about positive experiences, I’d rather not share.

-You've recently completed work on a split tape with another experimental band called Marsh. Can you tell us a little about this release?

Drew: Certainly. Mἄrsh is an excellent experimental black metal band also from the states. We began correspondence after an appreciation for each others music and eventually we decided to work on a split together. The split is a West African themed release, both bands taking influence from traditional African music. The cassette is packaged in hand sewn, cotton kente cloth pouches. I think making the packaging took longer than it did to write and record the music, haha

-Fast forward to 2010: let's talk about your second demo, "Satisfaction feels like a tomb. How does this one sound in comparison to the first demo and split with Marsh?

Drew: “Satisfaction Feels Like a Tomb” is what Lonesummer was supposed to sound like from the beginning. I definitely put more of a post-rock influence into this one, as my interest in black metal dwindled even further over the past year. It’s less chaotic I feel, slowed down and maybe a bit more melancholic (as someone described it to me). There’s more reverb and distortion, and less synth driven tracks. I’m prouder of this record; I find it to be more cohesive and works together as an album as opposed to a collection of songs.

-You told me that S.F.L.A.T. is the most introspective Lonesummer recording. What did you mean?

Drew: Satisfaction Feels Like a Tomb was written during an interesting period of my life with an extreme amount of highs and lows. That accounts for the dichotomous concept of joy versus misery that I tried to portray in the record. Most of the tracks are either about misery, suicide or my cats.

-What have the fans & critics been saying about it?

Drew: Well it’s only been out for a few weeks at this point, but so far I’ve been hearing only good things about it. Maybe those who despise Lonesummer have found some other “trendy” band to pick on

-Since we did the first version of this interview lonesummer seems to have garnered a little bit of a fan following. Smile How are you taking the attention, and what do you think made people take this interest in the first place?

Drew: I’ve heard a great deal of positive and negative feedback and I’m totally grateful for both. It seems that everyone who enjoys Lonesummer likes a different aspect of the sound; some like the rawness, others the upbeat pop songs, and some the post-rock influences. That’s really what I was going for with Lonesummer. Does that make the music more accessible? Who knows…? Lonesummer has also been criticized as “fake” or “hipster black metal”. I fully embrace this, and would love for Lonesummer to be at the forefront of the blossoming hipster black metal scene. Lose your denim, buy some flannel.

-Who are the members of Lonesummer, and what are their functions within the band?

Drew: Although others have helped in the past, and are going to remain nameless, Lonesummer is a solo project.

-And what do these members do outside of Lonesummer?

Drew: I’m currently living in Philadelphia; almost done my Bachelor’s in Psychology and Criminal Justice. I’ve got some other musical projects, a sloppy punk band called Fuck Friends and a screamo project by the name of ‘And Then My Heart Sank like a Breached Galleon’. Besides that, nothing else, really. My life is killing time in between periods of sleep.

-Do you have any specific plans with Lonesummer now following the second demo?

Drew: Yes, there is a split planned with the amazing drone/shoegaze/doom Enemies List band Planning for Burial. I’ve got a few tracks prepared thus far, and I’m really excited for this. I consider it an honor, as I was a huge fan of his work before we got to discussing a split.

-What will the next demo/EP/album whatever sound like?

Drew: A lot like the recent demo, I suppose. The tracks I’ve finished are very upbeat, yet very raw.

-Do you have any plans for a public engagement? Wink

Drew: Yes! Right now, Thom from Planning for Burial and I have discussed the possibility and the desire to bring our music to a live format. Right now it’s just in the planning stages, trying to figure out which tracks could be played live. We would switch off between guitar, drums and whatever other sounds are needed. I can’t tell you how pumped I am for this idea. Thom’s a great musician and could definitely add some extra power to Lonesummer, and but I’m scared my terrible musicianship won’t give justice to his tracks Very Happy

-What are your long term goals?

Drew: The main goal for Lonesummer has always been to create meaningful art. It feels good to create, as vague as that sounds. I’ve got no idea how long Lonesummer will last or if I’ll ever feel burnt out. There really aren’t any long term goals. Just riding this out, seeing how long it lasts.

-Thank you for the interview! Feel free to close our chat in any manner you wish.

Drew: Thank you Wilhelm, and Starlight Temple Society, thanks to anyone who has given my tunes a listen, it really is appreciated. Makes me feel good that some asshole in an apartment can make music that people will enjoy. Hurrah! Hurrah!