While the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic have not been lost on members of the music industry or music fans as we continue on during the year of no live music, one of the lesser discussed consequences has been the subsequent shutdowns of recording spaces and studios.

In a time when music and entertainment are needed and demanded by the public more so than ever while trying to battle the unfamiliarity that has come with loss of security, isolation and the overwhelming sense of uncertainty this year has provided- artists are forced to find new ways to continue creating, both for themselves and for their fans.

But where there is uncertainty there is also ingenuity- and artists such as Marcelyn, the band, have overcome the adversity of 2020 by creating new works of art that are both socially conscious, sonically pleasing, and refreshing for fans that are longing for a feeling of familiarity.

A trio made up of vocalist Marcelyn Lebovitz, bassist Mike Lebovitz, and drummer Travis Martin, Marcelyn, the band began as a solo project for the singer to explore the world outside of her classical background. But soon realizing they were better together than apart, the band became a trio that have seemingly mastered the art of creating indie ukulele-pop that keeps you on your toes, feeling seen and also at peace.

And when faced with the task of creating a new album entirely from the comfort of their own homes as their normal studio space shut down as a precautionary measure, the band set out to task and completed their latest album Monstrous Existence which debuted just last month.

Full of music about the general ups and downs of life, along with a track written specifically as a reflection of the times and a few socially conscious anthems, Monstrous Existence is a perfect example of how 2020 has not ruined the industry- just changed it- and we had the opportunity to talk to the band’s namesake Marcelyn and percussion expert Travis about their new album and learn a bit more about the process of creating art in the year of musical uncertainty.

You can read our full interview below, and be sure to stream Monstrous Existence, out now wherever you stream music.

---

Second Society Report: First off, before we dive into the music, how have you all been this year? I know it’s been a wild one for everyone so I think it’s important to take a moment to check in and see how you are doing.

Marcelyn: Times sure are weird. We’ve all just been trucking along, trying to stay sane and keep working. Thanks for asking!

SSR: Now music wise- You are just a little under a week away from the release of your new album “Monstrous Existence.” How are you feeling about it? Are you more nervous or excited for it to be out to the public?

Marcelyn: I’m excited! I am beyond proud of this album and really in love with how it turned out. I just want everyone to hear it now!

Travis: I’m about 90% excited and 10% nervous.

SSR: Take us through the process of naming the album. Why did you choose the name “Monstrous Existence”?

Marcelyn: The name comes from a video game called “Night in the Woods”, which I loved. I binge played it about two years ago and that line stuck with me. The name felt appropriate for the times we’re currently living in. We threw a couple ideas around, but I just kept coming back to the name “Monstrous Existence” and Travis finally caved and let us name it that.

Travis: Yeah, it eventually grew on me. 

SSR: What were your biggest sources of inspiration for the album? Either lyrically or instrumentally- what drove you to write these particular songs?

Travis: I think the album really captures the uneasiness that a lot of us have felt over the last (almost) year. I wrote the basic outline for “Set It On Fire” a few years ago. During the riots this summer I brought it to the band and we finished it. It felt like it was the right time. That song is about the feeling of being cheated or your voice not being heard, and how it always feels like if you don’t act now, you might miss your chance.

Marcelyn: My songwriting has always been heavily inspired by my anxiety disorder. I write a lot about what it feels like before and after a panic attack or moments that were especially triggering for me. I try to keep it poetic and not very specific so listeners are able to just feel the emotions I’m trying to get across and interpret it in a way that is meaningful to them, which you can hear in “I Smell Like Experience” and “Number A”. But for most of this album, I wanted to push myself to step out of that mindset and force myself to be more specific about what I was writing, which is how “Guilloteens” and “Sled Ted” came to be. Then when COVID-19 hit in March, everyone collectively got pulled into a state of panic and I was able to take that same creative energy I had been using before and make it specific to the current times, which you can hear in “Quarantine Song”.

SSR: Which tracks on the album do you resonate with the most or which were the most difficult to write?

Travis: “Guilloteens” resonates the most with me. That’s one that Marcelyn wrote and it’s a beautiful song. It’s basically a conversation between two people, but I feel like it’s one that we’ve all had. “I’m ok, but I’m not…but I will be, eventually.” It pretty much sums up the last 8 or 9 months. 

Marcelyn: Yeah, I’d also say “Guilloteens”. I actually wrote this song before COVID-19, but it’s only gotten more relevant these last few months. I wrote it about my best friends from college. We all live really far away from each other, but we still talk on the phone as often as we can, especially nowadays. 

“Quarantine Song” was tough for me to write too but I couldn’t NOT write it. I tried to write this song several times, but it took me about a month after we went into quarantine to fully process my emotions and gain enough clarity to write anything good about it. And then one night I just sat down and wrote it in one sitting, which is pretty rare for me. It felt like such a relief to finally get it out on paper.

SSR: Just a few weeks ago you released your most recent single from the album “Empty Room,” which was co-written and also released by Bad Sleeper. What inspired you to split the track like this? What was writing the process like?

Marcelyn: Juliet, the singer of Bad Sleeper and my co-writer, and I tried to start a band before Marcelyn, the band became a full band instead of my solo project. We couldn’t get our schedules to line up because we’re both in grad school and have pretty demanding careers, but we kept in touch. I really love Juliet’s writing style and still wanted to work with her, so I eventually just asked her to write a song with me. We were originally planning on writing the song then having both of our bands form a super band and record the track together, but we only got to meet up twice to write before COVID-19 hit. Our last writing session was actually the same day both of our schools announced that they were cancelling in-person classes for the rest of the semester. Since we couldn’t keep working together in person, we decided to send the rough demo we made to our bands and have them come up with our own unique arrangements and release them separately. I don’t think I’ve seen any other bands do something like this, so we were really excited to explore this new idea and I’m so happy with how both tracks turned out!

SSR: The opening track on the album, “Friday 13th” stands out from the rest of the album both in sound and in length. While most tracks on the album have more of a classic indie vibe, this track has ethereal vocals that are very reminiscent of classical music or almost choir sounds. I know that your background, Marcelyn, is in classical music, whereas most of the band’s music has a funkier vibe to it. What was the choice behind putting this as the first song on the album?

Marcelyn: Yes, I am a professional classical singer! I have a degree in vocal performance and am currently earning a masters in vocal arts. Choir has always been a huge part of my training and one of my greatest loves in music. I’ve been in choir since I was in elementary school and now I teach a choir!

Every album we’ve released so far has at least one completely a cappella track on it so we wanted to include another on this album. I usually write the a cappella tracks using a looping pedal so I can layer my voice and make it sound like a fuller, more complete song, but I wanted to try something new this time. This song is somewhat of an ode to choral music and I wanted to recreate some musical inventions that are frequently found in choral pieces. The first part of this song is a chorale, where all the voices are singing the same rhythms and words in harmony. The second half is (almost) a fugue, which is basically when a melody is passed around from part to part and it creates this really dense polyphonic texture. I also wanted to modern-ize the song, so I added some modern harmonies, like major 9th chords which are really popular in contemporary choral music. Basically, I just got super nerdy and  technical, which was so fun for me!

Travis: That song is one of my favorites, too. When Marce sent it over to us it was just a billion vocal tracks and I went “what is THIS?!” But once I started mixing it down I saw what was happening with the different melody lines and phrasing and really got into it. It has a swirling effect that’s created with all the layers and harmonies that is really cool.

SSR: One of the tracks on the album, “Quarantine Song,” is obviously about the current state of the world. Beyond that one track though, how has the pandemic shaped this release? Were other tracks influenced by the pandemic as well?

Marcelyn: “Quarantine Song” is the only song that was written in response to the pandemic, but the whole album was affected by it. We started recording together, but we ended up recording the entire album remotely. We had to figure out how to still sound like ourselves when we weren’t in the same room together. This album would have sounded very differently, had the pandemic not happened. 

Travis: To expand on things a little from the production side – I really wanted this album to be a collection of different moods. We’ve all gone through ups and downs through the pandemic and I wanted the recordings to capture that. When we started recording this album, I kind of took over production and really made an attempt to make each song its own unique thing. Not just the song itself, but the actual production of each track. Every song has a totally different vibe to it, and I wanted the recordings to highlight not just that tone but sort of convey those feelings, too.

SSR: I know that you had to adjust your normal recording process for the creation of this record due to the shut down and switch to remote sessions. How much longer did it take to complete recordings due to this?

Travis: I feel like it actually made us much more efficient, in a way. We’d focus on one song at a time and try a bunch of different things out – arrangements, different instruments, harmonies. Usually we’d be working on a bunch of different songs all at once. That can sometimes cause things to get lost in the shuffle, which I feel like didn’t really happen on this album. It might have taken a little longer to figure out where a song was going or what was missing, but in the end it also made us more economical as far as songwriting goes.

Marcelyn: In some ways it was easier for me to record remotely. I can get really picky about my vocal takes and I was able to nitpick even more, which I liked.

SSR: Do you think that the switch to remote recording and mixing was beneficial or detrimental to the creation of the album?

Travis: Recording remotely was definitely a little bit of a shake up at first. We started with Empty Room, and by the end of mixing that song down we had a pretty good workflow going. It was definitely beneficial in that we didn’t have to juggle schedules and timing and all that – we could record whenever we wanted and send it back and forth. Not having the pressure of being someplace at an exact time really freed us up to try different things that we might not have had the time to try out if we had been recording this in a more traditional way.

SSR: What would you like listeners to take away from this album?

Marcelyn: Like I said before, I am a professional singer and voice teacher, so I spend a lot of time thinking about vocal health and that was a huge influence on the way I recorded this album. My biggest problem with how most voice lessons are taught is that styles other than classical, musical theater, and jazz are excluded. Because of that “contemporary” singers don’t seek out training and those who do are often not taught in a way that benefits their style of singing. I had to basically invent new techniques for myself to sing this album in a way that was healthy but still sounded the way I wanted to sound. I want listeners, especially any singers listening, to hear that 1. “indie singers” don’t all have to sound the same and 2. you can sing any style healthily. 

Travis: I think there’s something on the album that everyone can relate to. The overall message that I take away from the album is “things will be ok.” So it’s hopeful. And I really hope when people listen to it they get that feeling, too.

SSR: Is there anything we haven’t asked that you’d like to share with fans?

Marcelyn: Buy our merch! We have really cool merch on our website www.marcelyntheband.com

Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube