In our latest Band Spotlight, we chat to upbeat Californian indie rockers, Carpool Tunnel.
Hi guys, how are you doing today?
We are doing great! We are gearing up for our album release and we are so excited to finally share our first album with the world! It’s been a couple of years in the making and we truly believe this could not have been a better time to be finally releasing it!
Talk to us about ‘Dreaming Still’ and what it means to you now?
Dreaming still was one of the last songs we wrote for the album and one of the few songs on the album that was written in just a few practice sessions. We felt that the album was missing a song depicting some type of upbeat daydreaming mood. We wrote it right after we had just gone through pre-production for the album and we knew we needed one more song to pick and choose from. The song holds a special place in all of our hearts because we wrote in an almost fever dream-like state. It’s probably one of the only songs on the album that was written in such a small time span. The song questions whether or not overindulging in dreams is a good or a bad thing, but still encourages the listener to continue dreaming and to not forget about the importance of imagination and creativity.
What does success mean to you as a band?
To us, success means sharing our music with the world, creating a safe place full of love, truth, and genuine expression. Success to us is not monetary, but a way of measuring how impactful our music can be to our listeners and our local scene.
What is inspiring you now, outside of music – think movies, games, people, and places?
Something that has been inspiring us is vintage cinema. Spencer has been obsessed with old film creations like “Metropolis” which was made pre-WW2. This film is visually incredible and the way they took the film and used it to their artistic advantage is inspiring. They used some of the most creative camera and animation practices before cinema had developed into the art form it is today. We feel like that same kind of energy could be brought to our music, holding an appreciation for the art of a past world and society, brought into the postmodern era.
Staying inspired is the same to us as staying motivated. A lot of things in our environments can affect us in adverse ways. Having a place you can escape to or a place where you can gather yourself and your thoughts is a very important thing to have. For us, the ocean’s expansiveness and calming sounds provide us with a grandiose perspective and help us stay inspired by the sheer awe of the place that we exist in at this moment in time.
How do you look back at the success of ‘Drought’ now?
Drought was one of the first songs we wrote in our San Francisco house. After knowing each other for about a year we decided to move in together in a small 1,000 square foot house. It was here where we created songs like Drought, Better Now, and Flora. Drought came out of some of our winter writing sessions during a time that there was a literal drought in California. We didn’t expect the song to get as much attention as it has, but when we started playing it live frequently we started to realise that it was a fan favourite! We are so proud of how far it’s come and to see so many people putting covers on YouTube of this song is a dream come true! It’s success truly warms our hearts <3
