Loose Bolts “Could I Stay Here?”
Through the looking glass, “Could I Stay Here” gazes into a distant past. With the innocence and impulse of a young man foraying into the world of romance meets the maturity of a grown man, “Could I Stay Here” is a nostalgic swirl of emotions. Loose Bolts stirs up luscious, almost ethereal blend of shoegaze textures, still carrying the anguish and grit of emo. He creates a bittersweet time heist around the theme of love, loss and growth, taking you on a sonic adventure in the early aughts.
Loose Bolts makes nostalgia an impressionistic, reverberant lush in this single. Yet, his guitar still has a gritty edge to its ring. The epic swell of emotions and catharsis eventually calls back his 2015 punk spirit—rebellious, energetic, confrontational, still having these sharp and contrasting big feelings. But that person is also romantic and tender. There’s a beautiful vulnerability and simplicity bouncing between the sonic walls during the fleeting seconds when “Could I Stay Here” rushes to climax. He channels something incredible that bends the law of time.
Though nostalgia is easy to feel and understand, “Could I Stay Here,” on the other hand, is a sophisticated creation of art. Loose Bolts reminds you of The 1975 meets Community Spirit-era The Academic. Raged with introspective thoughts and deep feelings, each brush on the sonic landscape has its organic characteristics and personality. These sometimes contrasting feelings and thoughts form a multi-layered abstract sonic painting that gives you distinct experiences under different shades of light. For some, “Could I Stay Here” gets under your skin and draws you to a deeply emotional state. For some, it’s the escape into the taste of a loss love and its purity. But at the end of dreams, you always wake up, with the life you lived feeling twice its size—that’s what “Could I Stay Here” does.
Read our interview with Loose Bolts and learn more about him as an artist.
Punk Head: I love your unique blend of styles in "Could I Stay Here?" How did everything come together?
Loose Bolts: Thank you! I recorded the first demo in 2018 and was actually considering keeping it a bare bones acoustic track. A few different versions and tweaks were made before recording the final version in 2021. I didn't really consider having such a chorus-drenched lead guitar or making the song sound so dreamy up until the 2nd time I re-recorded a full band version back in Florida (which would have been the 3rd version). I actually have a podcast/DJ set series called "Loose Talk" on Youtube & Spotify exclusively that goes into detail about this exact topic if you'd like to check it out!
PH: Was there any challenge that you encountered while making the track?
Loose Bolts: I suppose so. More so up until the point where I went to record the final version here in Nashville. That process also had a hurdle or two, but nothing really worth mentioning, other than I very quickly learned that I needed to hire a good engineer more than I needed to hire anyone to "produce" this song in particular for me. The worst of it initially was just people I tried to finish an earlier full band version of it with being flaky... That's "the biz" sometimes. Otherwise, it was mostly exciting uncovering this song's identity over the course of 3 years.
PH: What motivates you as an artist?
Loose Bolts: Different aspects of the whole thing motivate me in different ways. That's like asking "what motivates you to go to work in the morning?" Overall though, I'm a bit of romantic thinker, or a dreamer I guess you would say, but I think there's so much value in that as long as your thinking is grounded somehow. Sometimes I'll find myself watching clips or compilations of people doing really kind or even really heroic things (individually or collectively) and they usually make me think "As fucked up as life can be, there is still beauty in the world." In some way, I'd like people to have a similar reaction to Loose Bolts. Something like "As fucked up as life can be, this guy dedicates himself to creating beautiful artistic expressions, simply because he feels driven to do so. That's inspiring."
PH: What do you aim to accomplish in the near future?
Loose Bolts: Other than releasing an EP later this year, I'm just focused on reaching new fans online. Once the demand seems to be there, I'm going to start touring. :-)
PH: What would you like to say to your fans out there?
Loose Bolts: All it takes is a little Temerity.
