Water From Your Eyes - Towards maturity, one coffee at a time

We caught up with Water From Your Eyes during the promo day for the release of their new album “Everyone’s Crushed” on a warm morning in Milan. When we arrived, Rachel Brown and Nate Amos were just wrapping up a long phone interview in the lobby of Hotel Galles, in a state of perfect calm - the kind of quiet that would put anyone at ease. We chatted with them about their work, satisfied a bit of curiosity, and touched on the future (a sore subject), breaking through the shyness that enveloped all three of us with a few laughs.

Hi guys, “Everyone’s Crushed” is doing really well. How do you feel about that, and how's the tour going?

R: Really grateful. I mean, I feel so lucky that people have responded so well. It's honestly better than I expected - not that I thought it would be off-putting, but I didn't think it could be this positively desirable. Thank you so much.

N: Yeah, it's a nice surprise. People seem less confused than I thought they'd be. Actually, once we finished the album, it was kind of like, “okay, let's see what happens.” It's a bit of mass hysteria. (laughs)

“Everyone’s Crushed” is also your first album with Matador Records. How did the deal with the label come about?

R: One day our manager asked us to grab a coffee, so we grabbed a coffee, and then we grabbed another one, and then…

N: We just kept grabbing coffee… (laughs)

R: Yeah, it took a long time, it took seven months before we finally managed to sign. It's kind of a dream label, I think. Like, it's one of the ones I'd have picked above all others. So, I don't know, it still kind of feels like a dream…

N: It's true.

For you this is a kind of new, more collective and collaborative debut. Has anything changed in the way you work compared to the past?

N: I think at this point we've really figured out our system for making music. We didn't really sit down and change the process. I think we've just become more comfortable with the personality, the band, and the way our two personalities fit into it. So we did a bit less in terms of our individual skills, and it's more so very much both of us from the very start. It feels to me like it's the most reflective work for us as people.

Does the opening track “Structure” act as a bridge to your past work, or is that just a coincidence?

R: It's a prelude, and it wasn't meant to be a prelude…

N: We didn't want to call it an "intro".

R: Yeah, it's like "Structure" (the 2021 album) was a prelude to "Everyone's Crushed". (laughs) I've thought about it fervently, I don't know...

N: I thought that was really funny. (laughs) You know, in a strange way and in a lot of senses, it's almost like some ritual suggested it was missing. It's like saying "ok, this is what it's going to be".

Over time you've experimented in a lot of directions sound-wise. Were you listening to anything in particular while working on this record?

N:We were listening to a lot of Ween and also Ben Johnston, the modern composer. There was other stuff too, but those were really the two main things.

Which track on the record do you consider the most important and feel is most "yours", and why?

N: I think it's different for each of us. For me it's the title track, precisely because it was made during a really difficult time for me. A large part of this album was made while I was trying to get sober and was struggling. The moment you follow that substance, you're making a choice. That's it, it was a particularly vulnerable moment, so for me it's the most personal.

R: I think mine is probably "True Life", because it's reaching for a "Short Skirt/Long Jacket"-style delivery, like Cake. It came very naturally and I touched on different themes like politics... I feel like it's really fun. No other song was that fun to make and it felt like the easiest.

"Remember Not My Name" really intrigued me. It reminds me of something in the direction of trip-hop. How did this song come about?

N: I don't really remember how the music came about, but however it happened, suddenly the instrumental part was there, I had some ideas for the vocals, and just for the friends who "don't remember my name", which is kind of really funny. "Victorian", something like melodramatic "Pride and Prejudice" (laughs).

R: Or "Bridgertone". We ended up making one single sappy song.

N: So we can't just double down.

R: It's very sappy, sweet, almost to the point of being sickening...

N: Yeah. For me this is the song that most calls back to Ween, hands down, especially the part with the soft guitar chords: the instrumental part sounds like a fruit gummy candy.

I've seen the videos released for the singles, the one for "14" is my favorite, and that track in particular was conceived for a visual performance. How important is the visual side of things for you on a work like "Everyone's Crushed"?

N: A large part of this project starts in a visual place and mostly develops through images, it goes into the music, and then Rachel interprets it and creates the visual part.

R: Yes, a lot of the videos are like that, very cinematic. I wanted it to be a sort of underlining, I guess. I went to film school, I studied film. So for me music videos are really important, obviously for the emotions. The images connect to the emotions of the song, not necessarily in a direct, one-to-one way like I would have wanted, but I still relate to it a lot. I think this is the first album where the visual side really matters, but it's also the first album where we actually had a budget. So... (laughs)

Is there an artist or band you'd like to collaborate with in the future?

N: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, for sure.

R: Yeah!

We'd like to ask you about a film and an album that are important to you.

N: Mmm... An album... “Climate Of Hunter” by Scott Walker. A film... “Il Mistero dei Templari” (laughs).

R: That's a good one! For the album I'd say “American Water” by the Silver Jews and the film “Chungking Express” by Wong Kar-Wai.

One of the album's main themes is about feeling trapped. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the future?

R: It depends on the day. Sometimes I feel a lot more optimistic, sometimes a lot more pessimistic. It depends on what I see, on what's happening... And today I don't feel particularly optimistic, given that the world is on fire. I notice I don't really think about the future so much as how many more times, by the end of the day, something good still manages to come out of it.

N: I would have really liked to stay home on some days.

That's all folks, thank you for your time, and I hope to see you again soon for a show in Italy!

N & R: Thank you so much!

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