Artist Spotlight: Meet The Transpacific
How did you come up with the idea?
Space: "I was in a music store in Australia and I picked up an acoustic guitar that was on display. The first thing I started playing was the beginning of 'Afterlife'. The first phrase is what you hear in the beginning of 'Afterlife' today."
How did you work with the producer or engineers to bring your vision for "Afterlife" to life?
Space: “I am very fortunate to have honed my skills in engineering and production by virtue of the experience I have had in the music industry in the last 30 years. The great benefits of recording, producing and mixing yourself is that your vision can be as true as possible. We also tracked this song internationally. The drums were expertly recorded by Jared Adlam on the Gold Coast in Australia.”
Dave: “I had suggested to Jared who was engineering the drum session, that ‘Afterlife’ had to have the same sort of live drum vibe as Soundgarden’s song, ‘Limo Wreck’. Just wanted a big room sound, lots of gnarly overtones from the heavy Copperphonic snare drum we used on the track. We also went for really open tones across all the drums with no dampening on anything.”
Grant: I’ve known Jason (Space) since I was very young. We share the same instincts for music. I let him steer the ship because I have complete trust in his instincts and abilities as a producer.
What impact do you hope this song will have on your audience?
Space: I hope listeners get to experience their own meaning as I have experienced mine. I am still interpreting its meaning. It means something different to me every time I perform it.
Dave: “I hope this song gives our listeners some nostalgic feels, of a time during the 90’s when bands actually played their instruments and crafted albums, not just TikTok content. I want people to smoke a spliff, immerse in the music and shift their perspectives. Get lost in the music!”
Grant: I hope they enjoy it enough that they would want to see it live or that it became the soundtrack to their daily life.
What role do you feel emotions play in your music, and how do you channel them into your performances?
Space: Emotion plays a significant role for us. The music and lyrics come out of nowhere from almost a primal eminence. I've learned to allow them to exist rather than to fine tune them as a writer. On stage are where the songs take new life and meaning.
Dave: “Emotion is everything to me as a drummer & performer. Firstly, when I’m playing I’m putting every ounce of my soul into the music. Space writes the most epic songs with lyrics that immediately resonate with me, so it's pretty much up to me to match the energy of the drum part to the song.”
Grant: “If the sound is good it’s easy for the music to take me on a journey and I think that’s what an audience wants to witness. Emotionally I'm mostly just excited and happy to be able to play on stage in front of an audience. I'm not really thinking about external
things.”
Is there a specific song that holds a particularly special meaning to you? Can you share the story behind it?
Space: “Our second single 'Lines in the Sand' feels significant due to the fact that the bulk of this material lies heavily in the realm of self growth and discovery. 'Lines in the Sand' is about conflict, which we all have to deal with at some point in our lives. It may be external but more often than not we find it is internal. It's also a great song for an opportunity to let loose and let out some angst. Personally, the past 10 years have been somewhat arduous and difficult at times. The pushing through and diving deep allowed me to exorcize many personal challenges.
To me it rings of victory.”
Dave: “For me, there’s an unreleased song that we’ve tracked called ‘Disaster’. It’s the song that I heard as a demo that Space sent me early on in this project, where it just stopped me in my tracks. I immediately hit repeat and was hooked on the melody and riff. I can’t wait for the world to hear this song, it's gonna melt faces!”
Grant: “I really like one of our unreleased songs, “Feel Again.” The lyrics resonate with me at this time of my life I’ve been through some incredibly challenging and joyous things in the last 5 years and I think the song has an interesting dichotomy of a uplifting almost happy groove with darker contemplative lyrics it works really well I have a real fondness for that track.”