Ancient History makes music with a hint of the unexpected, producing intriguing albums like Zero Dollar Consolation Prize with a lo-fi experimentation vibe. It’s great to hear something a little different from the norm, and particularly when the music is this darn good! Find out more about Ancient History below!
By Jane Howkins
You’ve just released a new album, Zero Dollar Consolation Prize. What can you tell us about this record?
I can tell you that it has been very patient with me. It’s a record I had in my head, sonically speaking, for a very long time, however, it took me too long to record and too long to properly release. To me, it’s a brave record. Most of the effects on these songs were laid down straight to the ADAT tape, recorded by me in my bedroom. A lot of the production decisions were made on the spot – once they were laid down there could be no going back, and I think there’s something in that approach that really helped this record knock some fruit out of my tree. I want these songs to be warm, little chicken nuggets… bite-sized snacks that taste delicious even though you can’t totally tell what’s in them.
How has the reception to the record been so far, and where can it be purchased?
Some people seem to like it. I feel like the whole ‘lo-fi’ aesthetic is making a rapid comeback, and I hope this record finds the people behind that resurgence. You can order the vinyl on Bandcamp.
Your single Clementines has been getting some attention. What was the inspiration behind the song and video?
It’s just a feel-good track that got lucky. I was discussing songwriting with my buddy Ryan Hizer of the band Good Sport (another Pittsburgh artist that you should check out) and we were talking about the new-ish Top Gun: Maverick movie and how Tom Cruise tells his cadets that it’s going to take “two miracles” to pull off the mission. Well, I think that it kinda takes two miracles to pull off an exceptional song in the sense that you first have to write that exceptional first piece, but then you also have to write that unlikely second piece of equal or greater value to just lock in with the first piece. That’s what makes songs greater than the sum of their parts, in my opinion, and that’s what happened with Clementines. It started off as a ballad, but then I accidentally stumbled into a Casio drum preset that kinda changed the mood (Miracle #1), and then some cells exploded and dropped a new vocal melody into my brain (Miracle #2) and it turned into a song I wasn’t sure I was initially capable of. It’s nice when things like that happen.
Your music has a unique indie pop sound. What/who are you most influenced by?
When I was 19 I bought a copy of Tape Op: The Book About Creative Music Recording from a Virgin Megastore. I was already into Elliott Smith, Belle & Sebastian and Neutral Milk Hotel, but I didn’t feel capable of making music so… I don’t know… good(?). But the records I discovered through that book were the records that made me believe I could make music that deserved to exist. Artists like East River Pipe, Linda Smith and The Apples.. .and definitely Grandaddy, provided me a starting point as a songwriter and their records were like lights at the end of the tunnel.
As a teenager I couldn’t fathom trying to create a record like the stuff I was listening to. 90’s alternative and r&b, pop-punk and classic rock, with their studio production and polish, didn’t feel like reality. The Tape Op records did. They felt achievable, or at least humanly possible. I read about Jason Lytle getting a cubicle job so he could save up for a few nice mics and a couple of ADATs and I thought that I could do the same thing. I still really love Grandaddy, and yeah, I would say I really employed that influence on this record more so than ever. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone was also a big influence on this record. So were The Wrens and Elvis Depressedly. All these artists recorded at home, most used very minimal gear, and they all had a very DIY, lo-fi approach to creating music and I think my embrace of that approach has had a bigger influence on my sound than any specific recording by another artist, specifically on this record.
What have you been listening to recently?
I’ve been listening to a lot of ambient and instrumental music. I’m getting kinda bored of lyrics, unless I’m listening to hip-hop. A few records I’ve been listening to a lot recently: #1) SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE School of the Flower – This is an old record that I keep coming back to more and more as of late. Some really cool guitar work and I just think it’s a very warm, strangely dangerous and totally beautiful record. #2) MINT FIELD, Aprender A Ser – They’re a Mexican shoegaze band. Imagine a Spanish-speaking Mazzy Star that ODed on Deerhunter records. Makes me wanna light candles. #3) CRISTOBAL TAPIA DE VEER White Lotus Season One Score from HBO – I really love this record. What this artist did with samples and delay really excites and inspires me. I was very surprised that this record hit me as hard as it did, but I listen to it a lot. #4) JEFF ROSENSTOCK, Hellmode – I know. I shouldn’t like this record. Not a fan of his other stuff, I don’t particularly care for pop-punk or ska music anymore, and it’s crammed with (sometimes stupid) lyrics…but it’s an absolutely thrilling listen. My GF and I both sing along to this one. We need more angry records about the state of our country/the world. #5) LOW Double Negative – Such a brave record. This record slapped me in the face. It has been a big influence and it came from a band that, up until this release, I didn’t like and had written off. I didn’t think indie rock as a whole still had a record this fucking cool left in it. #6) YLIA Ame Agaru – This is what I’m listening to right now. It’s a wonderful blend of instruments, ambient drone, loops, blurred-out samples and minimal beats that never really try too hard to fit themselves into a genre.
You were on hiatus for nearly seven years before releasing this album. What did you get up to during that time?
When I finished recording this record I moved back to NYC to try to promote it, but then Covid hit and music didn’t seem like the appropriate thing to be worrying about at first. It was a rough time to be in Brooklyn, but after adjusting to all the shit that 2020 threw into the fan, I decided to take some time and work on new material that didn’t depend on guitar pedals and drum machines. I wrote and recorded an album that is almost entirely acoustic and I think that decision was a reaction to the time. This sounds cheesy, but during Covid there was (and still is) so much distortion everywhere – in the news, in the advertisements that are plastered fucking everywhere, in people’s actions in the streets… and I wanted these songs to be a refuge from that. I didn’t want to drown them in reverb and fuck them up with studio experiments, I wanted to prove to myself that I could write and record songs that didn’t rely on those crutches. So I guess I never really stopped working, I just stockpiled a record. Hopefully you’ll get to hear it later this year or early 2025.
You’re based in Pittsburgh. What is the local music scene like in your area?
It’s fine. Friends that go to other friend’s shows because they want to support each other. There are some bands over in Oakland, around the colleges naturally, that seem to have a cohesive thing going on, but I’ve never met any of those bands. I think the Crafted Sounds label is cool and has managed to put out some interesting recordings. I think IT IT is the best Pittsburgh act I’ve ever seen, and their other projects, Sneeze Awful and Pat Coyle’s solo stuff, are also awesome. I like Swampwalk. I feel like I burned myself out in 2017 and 2018 booking shows and trying to run a Pittsburgh micro-label with the hope of building a supportive music community for the release of this record. I was not successful. It’s something I try not to worry about anymore.
Do you have any additional releases or anything else exciting coming up over the next few months?
I’m releasing an EP this summer, and as I mentioned earlier, there will be another full-length LP that I recorded during Covid, in the next year. Meanwhile, we’re now back in the studio plugging away at another record that I think everyone involved is pretty excited about.