Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING - SHABANG
Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING are sharing “Reconcile” today, the final pre-release single before the debut album ‘SHABANG’ comes out on March 31. Watch the band perform the track among a kaleidoscope of inverted colors in the song’s new video below.
““Reconcile” is a song to keep me close to the open spirit of letting go, McMicken said. And then enthusiastically added: “And a way to put some ass into it like you mean it!”
When introducing a new track in the studio, McMicken prefers to encourage improvisation and freedom; to have everyone’s idiosyncratic voices join together to make up the whole. “The last thing I’m going to do is walk in the room and say, ‘This is your part,’” he says. The resulting track is a collection of sounds that embody this spirit of self-expression without limitations. As Scott sings in the song, you get a sense you’re “flying through space” with nothing on your tail.
Because McMicken’s previous band, Dr. Dog, was composed of lifelong friends who over time developed an unbreakable musical bond, he decided to try something totally different this time: He told producer Nick Kinsey to choose his future bandmates himself, selecting a group of total strangers who could collaborate on these songs. Kinsey assembled every musician, with McMicken only asking for his longtime friend and collaborator Michael Nau to join the band, which also included Kinsey, Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, Neil Ochoa, Jared Samuel, Zach Tenorio, and Paul Castelluzzo.
By being present and living with these musicians (quite literally: McMicken and Nau stayed in tents outside the studio) united under one common goal, ‘SHABANG’ is full of life and endlessly candid. “I knew nothing good will come of this unless I am totally free and away from any pressure and pretense,” says McMicken. “Such an incredible spectrum of emotion passed through me while making this album. There was this lightness and un-self-seriousness. I feel like music and life cruises at that spot: everybody was so wholeheartedly invested and open.”
Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING will perform some of their first-ever shows next month in Brooklyn, Washington DC and Philadelphia. (Contact us with any requests)