Quicksand – Exclusive Distant Populations Discussion
Distant Populations going nowhere. When you start your first single and album with that line.. you already have me hooked. Like Scooby, Errrr ?
Distant Populations ? Long ago, in time? Distant in space. I know not at this time. Let’s back up though. This piece is featuring one of my absolute all time favorite artists. This person encompasses songwriting, lyrics, and riffs that can make some seem weak. It’s not out of ego, it just seems it’s part of the combo meal. I’m talking about Walter Schreifels. Allow me to name a few of the bands he has been a part of. Rival Schools, Youth of Today, Worlds Fastest Car. (plus many more)
Most recently and prominently would be Quicksand. There may be other artists out there one would highly inspirational and influential. But due to the fact I missed a lot of them just not having a lift or easy way through the wastelands of Trenton NJ or Lower East Side NYC.. Quicksand is my gateway to having witness Walter perform live. When I saw them I could extrapolate would it must have been like to see Youth of Today, GB, and the precursors in that era.
Since my first Quicksand gig back in Slip days, I’ve kept one eye on what Walter’s doing.
He does not stop, at least not for very long. This is a discussion about the latest Quicksand LP, Distant Populations. Here is a brief piece on the first two singles from that LP https://meatsheetfanzine.com/quicksand-inversion-new-video-and-song/ So let’s head for that portal into the other Multiverse and check out what’s in store.
Distant Populations – Here are some questions Re: Distant Populations
1) As you progress through your musical journey, it seems that since Interiors up until now there is more of an esoteric occult reference. ( Illuminant , Multiverse, new singles) Definitely the song titles and imagery of the latest two videos. By occult, I’m not assigning any evil or satanic type of meaning, more so hidden or forgotten knowledge. Can you say a few words regarding that ?
Walter: That’s an interesting observation. I don’t know a lot about the occult to be honest but I am definitely interested in philosophy, metaphysics, subjects that have some crossover with it. I’d definitely agree there’s a lot of hidden or forgotten knowledge out there. We’re limited by our senses and our own lack of self awareness. Even with modern science and technology we barely scratch the surface of understanding anything about the world or our own consciousness.
2) Missile Command and Inversion seem to visually connect with each other. Is there a lyrical theme that connects them? Without giving too much away do they connect with others on the new LP Distant Populations ? Are you influenced or referencing Atlantis / Lemuria / Great Flood or any older empires/ civilizations ?
WS: I’m a big fan of ancient civilizations, Rome, Greece, Egypt, also love early hunter gatherers. It knocks me out that we’re basically the exact same model humans as these ancient peoples, same intelligence. I’m not intentionally referencing ancient civilizations in the lyrics but might have seeped there in a way I wasn’t consciously aware of.
Inversion is the first song I wrote lyrics for and so is kind of the mothership for all the rest of the lyrics, so I feel like all of the lyrics are linked in a way.
Initially I was thinking about people on the other side of the planet and how despite all the perceived and real differences our fates are inevitably tied.
I suppose Missile Command could be a way to take the scene set by Inversion a step further. Where there’s a sort of reckoning.
That said, Missile Command is more a personal theme for me than about global issues but I like that it works in both ways. The images of both songs tie into the album artwork and the videos really tie them together well. We wanted to create a sort of fantastic world for the songs to live in so.. in that regard it was by design for the songs to feel visually linked.
b) How much did you work with the Rob and Tetsunori on imagery for these videos? Did you have a concept or did you kind of let them run amok? Or any combination thereof ?
WS: Sergio and I worked very closely with Tetsunori working on each character. Discussing plot lines, it was all loose and made up but it helped to empower the music and imbue the artwork with meaning and we had a lot of fun. I had a couple of conversations with Rob about our concept of the Distant Populations universe and he adapted Tetsunori’s artwork in a very creative way, there wasn’t much back and forth about it after that, we were all very happy with what he had put together for us straight away.
3) Going back to Hyperion‘s title.. where you thinking of Greek mythology, the energy company , or the novel?
WS: It was initially a book I saw on my friends shelf. I never read it but I liked the title, sounded epic. I don’t know the energy company, I looked into Hyperion’s story and used some aspects from it but I want my lyrics to have a personal appeal so tying it too closely to an existing story is kind of limiting. Mainly I liked the name with it’s a heroic ring, kind of matched the feeling of the music for me.
4) Can you tell me a few words about the lyrical content or subject matter that inspired the songs …
a) Rodan – Godzilla inspired or just using the name ?
WS: To me the song is about feeling small in the face of big outside forces. Rodan is a monster that keeps Godzilla in check. He’s not directly trying to kill you but because he’s so huge you could be killed by the wind under his wings as he flies overhead. This is a danger but the upside is that if you’re small Rodan’s not gonna see you or go to the trouble of landing, sticking his beak in some crevice to get you in particular, you’re not that important, you’re small, Rodan is a force of nature.
b) Phase 90 – Referencing MXR effect pedal ?
WS: Yes ! The Phase 90 is a staple of shoe gaze and an incredible piece of magic in it’s own right. It’s beautiful to behold, fits right in your hand, I love the 70s future design of it. Reminds me of Space : 1999. I was also playing with the idea of how we all go through different phases of being. What if eventually you get up one day and find that you’re on 90th phase and ask yourself. “Who am I?” (Editor note: One of the best music videos ever)
It’s kind of like that Talking Heads song “Once In A Lifetime”, questioning identity.
c) The Philosopher. Is this one based on one or more philosophers of note, or friend/acquaintance ?
WS: The Philosopher is our name for the main character from our cover artwork. The guy holding the staff fighting the circular monster. I wanted to have a song as a theme for him. At one time science and philosophy were more intertwined, that’s changed, science has by far elbowed out philosophy. I saw our protagonist as a futuristic mixture of the two from a parallel dimension. A philosopher is someone who questions things that people take for granted or ignore on purpose, like when you were asking about hidden or forgotten knowledge.
The philosopher then creates concepts that address the questions or seeks to answer them for the time that they exist in history, eventually someone comes along with a critique and a new concept takes hold, then new questions arise.
Some of my fave philosophers are Gilles Deleuze, Herbert Marcuse, Michelle Foucault, and more recently Emil Cioran. Also, my band mate Sergio Vega has a philosophical mind, we talk a lot about music and art.
d) Compacted Reality – Is this inspired by physics and or space / time ?
WS: I was at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, NM and saw Compacted Infinity on a fake prescription medicine bottle that was part of the installation there. I think Meow Wolf is genius, if you’re ever in Santa Fe I recommend. I loved it as a title and think it fits the instrumental track really well.
5) EMDR – The title of this track alone resonates deeply for me. I am a trauma survivor as so many of us are to some degree. I have had EMDR. Combined with other therapies it is sometimes very healing. Are you referencing the therapy? Music and modalities like this are very valuable such that I think we’re going to see EMDR and sound/music therapy come to the forefront as we collectively move out of the big pharma paradigm.
WS: I heard about EMDR from a therapist friend of mine and was impressed by how quickly it works for people to help untangle fears, traumas that they might otherwise spend a lifetime in therapy talking about.
I’m happy that it was helpful to you. I’m hopeful that progressive therapies like EMDR sound/music are more widely used in the future. We live in a highly traumatized society and need new solutions.
I don’t believe pharmaceuticals have ever been the answer. They’ve never been more widely prescribed, yet seems we’ve never been more neurotic as a society.
6) I have been chatting with Kevin Egan( Beyond) regarding influential, mostly comedic things of the 70s and 80s. What movie, show, or character always brings a smile or laugh. Kevin and myself loove Gong Show.
Who knew? Walter and I both love Unknown Comic?! 
WS: Kevin really knows his stuff! The Gong Show is amazing, The Unknown Comic was prolly my fave there. His schtick was that he tell cheesy one liners with a brown paper bag over his head with three holes cut out in it, two for his eyes and one for his mouth. You couldn’t see his face so he was “unknown”. He’d always get gonged but on the concept alone I thought he is hilarious.
8) Brushed is referencing something kind of far out? Conversely, maybe more introspective. AKA far in? ” Mind and Matter , Self and Other ”
WS: Besides that we all die, the most tragic thing about life is that we can never truly get outside of our heads, no matter how close you are to a loved one, family, friends you ultimately are still stuck inside your own head, alone. That’s what makes a movie like Being John Malkovich so interesting.
My favorite line in Brushed is “somethings wrong, look for symmetry”, while life can be incredibly depressing, it can be equally mysterious and beautiful so you’ve got to go live.
b) The rhythm is raw and organic. Is there a little New York City Hip Hop influence primarily in the drums?
WS: Always an influence, we’re product of early hip hop. The hardcore scene we came up in was equal parts punk rock and hip hop. The loop is pretty close to the song Paid In Full by Eric B. & Rakim.
c) Likewise, Sergio is groovy as always. Guitar(s) sounds like tremolo pedal . ( Boss TR2 – and a vintage Martin acoustic guitar.. wild guess) It seems like you are stretching out sound wise? This is exciting for me being a long time fan.
Can you expand on the gear or process involved with Brushed or where Quicksand went on Distant Populations in general?
WS: It started with the loop which my 12 year old nephew Dylan put together for me. The chords were basically the first things I played to it, on acoustic guitar. I ‘d been holding onto the song but as we got toward the end of recording I presented it to the band and they liked it. I love what Sergio brought with his bass line and the percussive overdubs that Alan laid down gave it a lot of added vibe and depth.
WS: I was a little hesitant to have it be so acoustic based so I added the tremolo guitar for some mood, I’m happy with how it turned out.
9) Since the completion of Distant Populations.. Can you tell me something that is absolutely fascinates you? I have been diving into a cursory investigation of the Secret Space Program. (Much like X files, the truth is out there, I want to believe LOL).
WS: The Secret Space Program does sound fascinating, I’ll have to take a look into that. I love a podcast called Revolutions by Mike Duncan, it’s very interesting to learn about how revolutions have occurred, what they have in common and what’s unique to each. I’m into the Cuban revolution right now through a podcast called Blowback.
Having grown up during the Cold War it’s amazing how much propaganda we were fed growing up and how it still informs the average persons thinking, my average self included.
Alright guys, there you have it. Super gratitude to Walter and of course, Sergio Vega, and Alan Cage of Quicksand. I had no idea how the answers would come out. If you are a big fan like me this will give you plenty to ponder and chew on as we move into end of summer and autumn. I’m dumbstruck in the best possible way. Distant Populations is available streaming as this publishes (August 13th) The vinyl and other formats will be out soon. Goto https://quicksandnyc.bandcamp.com/ or whatever platform you prefer. Enjoy the latest LP and stay well.