INTERVIEW WITH… TREASVRE MUSIC THE SAN FRANCISCAN POST PUNK BAND
Meet San Franciscan post-punk quintet TREASVRE music. The band features dual vocalists, Sabrina Simonton and Sam Peña. Whose wistful and melancholic harmonies underscore the often thematic songs lyrically. TREASVRE music creates a somniferous sound on their new double single ‘Believe Me / Outside’. A hypnotic fusion of elements of psychedelia and shoegaze. I interviewed TREASVRE on the new song, creative process, finding inspiration, and more. Continue on to read the interview with them below.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: For my readers who are unfamiliar with. Can you tell some about yourselves, describe your sound, and a bit on what your typical creative process is like?
TREASVRE MUSIC: We’re an atmospheric rock band based in San Francisco. We all grew up in the region, and our origins go back to high school when Evan, Julian, and Jason first jammed together. Years later, the three of them came up with the initial concept for the band and began writing songs in the corner of a shared studio space downtown. Sabrina was brought into the project on synths and vocals, then later Sam joined to play bass and sing as well. It took some time for everything to finally come together, but fortunately, it gave us a chance to explore and experiment with different sounds along the way. We have a wide variety of musical influences among us, and our songwriting process is highly collaborative, so it was interesting to watch it all meld into a brand new thing -- TREASVRE. We’re a little post-rock, a little shoegaze, sometimes heavy, sometimes ethereal…We try to create a complex emotional landscape with saturated synths, intertwining vocals, driving guitar riffs, electronic drums, and poignant lyrics.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Your latest release is a double single entitled ‘Believe Me / Outside’. What was your thought process in choosing these songs as next releases and what was the writing and recording process like?
TREASVRE MUSIC: We were lucky enough to hit the recording studio mere weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown was implemented in San Francisco. After it became clear that our original plan to go on tour to promote our new songs was no longer a possibility, we decided to get creative with our release schedule. We chose to release our new music in pairs of songs on four separate short EPs, with each release focusing on a particular theme.
(cont.) Believe Me / Outside is all about the dichotomy of control versus surrender told from two different perspectives… “Believe Me” is a story of the emotional fallout of domestic violence and a victim’s loss of control in that situation. “Outside” examines the feeling of surrender as a personal choice and a means to unlocking a more authentic and honest form of love. Both songs examine the same themes from completely different angles, and we thought it would be interesting to release them together to contrast the heavy emotions conveyed in each.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What’s the one album you could listen to over and over and never tire of?
TREASVRE MUSIC: We probably all have different answers to this question, but Mezzanine by Massive Attack is one of our favorites. The atmosphere on this album is simply incredible -- it creates such a big mood while still leaving enough space in the music to create that ethereal quality so integral to the band’s overall sound. From the vocals to the instrumentation to the overall production -- it’s a truly inspirational work of art.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Is there a favorite place that you guys particularly like to write? Or that you find inspirational as an artist/band?
TREASVRE MUSIC: We do most of our writing in our tiny practice studio in downtown San Francisco. While we are so grateful to have a dedicated space to play music, it’s not always the most conducive to creativity...so we also spend time individually or in pairs at home coming up with song ideas before fleshing them out together as a group. We get a lot of inspiration from our surroundings, like this colorful city we call home and all its natural beauty and odd idiosyncrasies. But our main inspiration is probably our emotional landscape as we try to make our way through the world. We derive so much of our passion and creativity from our challenges and the everyday struggles we experience just navigating through life, relationships, and finding ourselves.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What’s a lyric that you’ve written that you feel most emotionally connected to at the present moment?
TREASVRE: There’s a short lyric from our song “Secrets,” which we’ll be releasing soon, that feels especially poignant at the moment:
“Some say it takes a lifetime now,
Too late, it’s not too late.”
It’s been a big year of transitions for all of us in TREASVRE, and this lyric is a good reminder that it’s never too late to start working toward what we want. Change isn’t always easy, and there will always be people out there ready to remind you of the time you “wasted,” but life doesn’t always happen on schedule, so we think you shouldn’t ever let the past hold you back from moving forward and evolving as a person.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What are your thoughts on social media and is it an integral part of being an artist today?
TREASVRE: Social media has been a godsend for independent artists this year. With all shows canceled and all venues closed, a lot of us wondered where to go from here. But the outpouring of support from our online community has been immense, and we were able to establish so many new connections this year that we wouldn’t have otherwise, all thanks to social media. It has its drawbacks, but overall we think that it’s a powerful tool and has certainly become essential for artists looking to get their work out there.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: What is one of your favorite things about being a songwriter and being in a band?
TREASVRE: Songwriting is an important outlet for all of us -- it’s a huge part of how we process our experiences and make sense of our emotions. But most of the magic happens when we combine forces to create something bigger than ourselves. Being in a band isn’t always easy… we have our conflicts and challenges, but the most rewarding part is when we set our egos aside and focus on our common goal: to make amazing music that will have an impact. It’s inspiring to see what we are all capable of when we set aside our differences and work together as a team.
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: So it’s the end of the year. What’s your pick for the album and song of 2020?
TREASVRE: Our pick for song of the year is Steven Wilson’s new single “King Ghost.” This song is so moving and beautiful, it gives us goosebumps every time. As for an album, we love the melancholic indie albums “Plum” by Widowspeak and “Don’t Shy Away” by LOMA -- both releases are solid from start to finish, and we can’t get enough of those dreamy female vocals!
THE RECLUSIVE BLOGGER: Thank you for taking the time! Is there anything else you want to add? :)
TREASVRE: Thanks so much for having us again. It’s been lovely to catch up! Keep an eye out for our next release coming early 2021, and be sure to follow us on social media: @TREASVREmusic on all platforms!
Stream ‘Believe Me / Outside’ out now.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6vTWPDvHemnIUOFUjD4GdW?si=3O6YC2EYTcCN8VPLmY2vUQ
