USC alumnus drops first full-length album July 12
A 2009 graduate of the School of Library and Information Science at USC, Ernest Greene — better known by his stage name Washed Out — has gone on to make waves in the indie music scene with his 2009 EPs "Life of Leisure" and "High Times," which garnered considerable attention and acclaim.
The Daily Gamecock: Your album sounds really laid-back, like a lot of your work, but how does that translate into the live show?
Ernest Greene: Well, that was really the biggest problem I had starting out. My older material was all written on a computer, and it was never really meant to be played live, so it was a bit of a challenge trying to recreate the sounds ... The biggest thing with this new album is that coming into it, I knew that I wanted it to sound more "live," just so that the transition would be a little bit easier. Most of the record is a performance, with live drums, live bass — that sort of thing.
TDG: So how was your process making "Within and Without" different from making your EPs?
EG: I'd say the biggest difference is that there are hardly any samples on this new record ... so I think the record sounds a little bit more polished and a little bit cleaner. It's all just synthesized in the computer, so it's a little bit easier to tame.
TDG: How would you describe your songwriting process?
EG: It's pretty simple, actually. What I enjoy about it is the mindless part of it, where I sit down at the computer or the keyboard and just start playing ... I'll just start layering parts on top of each other for hours at a time, and I go back after that and edit everything down into more of a proper song. But during the process of layering, there's not much thought of anywhere I want to take it; it just sort of happens.
TDG: How did your time at Carolina influence that, especially since Toro Y Moi emerged at the same time?
EG: I was definitely on the path to the sound I'm at now before I moved to Columbia ... Initially, when I moved to Columbia, I didn't know anyone, which meant that I probably spent a lot more time on music than I had the year before, which was a big step forward, since I was just constantly working. Meeting Chaz (Bundick of Toro Y Moi) and those guys was definitely the first time I really fell into a group that had really similar interests ... I think both of us were kind of stumbling onto something around the same time, so it was pretty cool.
TDG: The terms "chillwave" and "glo-fi" have been at least somewhat controversial labels, but how do you react to that description.
EG: I get asked that a lot, and I don't have a very good answer to it. It really doesn't bother me. I think it would be different if I was grouped in with a bunch of bands I didn't like, but luckily I do enjoy most of the other bands that I'm compared to ... It really doesn't bother me, but I think it's definitely shaped what I've done on this new record.
TDG: Shaped in the sense that you're trying to move away from it?
EG: Not even that — it's just that the material in those two EPs was done almost two years ago now, so I definitely didn't want to do the same thing over again ... It's that struggle of moving forward with the sound but still having some connection to the past; that's what I was trying to do.