SESPOOL Walks Us Through 'before the fog covers me' Track by Track

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Not to get all “90’s Kid” on you guys, but I’m about to reminisce. Being born in the era before hyper-pervasive internet meant you had one foot in everything, whether you liked it or not. It meant you grew up listening to pop-punk on CDs and RnB on the radio. It meant you had the “good” Star Wars movies on VHS and questionable ones in movie theaters. It meant you were growing up in one of the last ever truly messy offline eras and witnessed the world transform before your very eyes. 

Growing up in the 90s and early 2000s also meant you were coming of age right as things like Myspace, Limewire, and Napster were gaining mass traction, and what that meant was that the shackles were finally coming off. You could dig into any specific hyper-fandom you wanted. Hot Topic Mallcore? Done. Weird Al phase? Achieved. Mainstream pop from 2006 to 2007? Completely memorized. The internet gave us the power to become the masters of our own pop culture domain, and for many of us, it meant we could spread our tendrils wider and deeper than any generation before us. Today this is evidenced by artists like 100 gecs and Lil Aaron who have made a name for themselves by combining previously-disparate genres, sounds, and ideas into something that feels at once new and fresh yet familiar and comforting. 

With before the fog covers me, San Francisco-based musician Sean E (aka SESPOOL) is adding his name to the list of artists above, creating a genre-agnostic mashup of trap, rock, metal, and psychedelia into a potent blend that’s uniquely his own. There are auto-tuned hip-hop bars, head-banging metalcore breakdowns, and ear-wormy pop melodies. It’s a barrage of two-plus decades of omnivorous music and pop-culture consumption, as seen through the lens of Sean E. I sat down with SESPOOL to talk through each track on his upcoming sophomore album and the music, events, and thoughts that inspired the songs on this collection of tracks. 

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1. before the fog covers me

This song was started before the COVID-19 outbreak and really set the tone for how I wanted my sound to progress. Once I got deeper into it, I decided this would be the title track since it embodied the various styles and themes that I was combining on the album. At its core, I wanted to make a song that started as an ambient ode to “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd, building an atmosphere that erupts into a modern trap banger. I knew I wanted to integrate heavy guitars in a way that wasn’t present on my debut album, and that led to the heavy chorus part, which always reminded me of a funeral procession. Ironically, in the following months, that marching-to-our-end aesthetic would become all too real and wind up defining most of 2020.

Lyrically the song is about the fog that blankets us as we get older. Personally, I’ve felt my memory going and my mind becoming less sharp, especially as I work a 9-5 job and get sucked into a “wage slave” mentality. It feels as if things become less vivid and more dull as time goes on. I’ve also had flashes of intense anxiety and other physical ailments that doctors tend to ignore, and often felt like I’m being consumed by something beyond my control. When I wrote the chorus, I was waking up early to practice stream of consciousness writing before my day job, and “morning clarity before the fog covers me” just organically came out. I would wake up full of emotions and ideas that would gradually fade as the day went on, and thus it was the “light of my life” that kept me inspired and pushing forward to make new art.

2. newsflash

This is one of those songs that just “happened” - it came together very quickly, and I remember the exact moment the chorus just poured out seamlessly. This was the first song I wrote in quarantine, and I thought it was so interesting that California went on a state-wide lockdown on the first day of spring. Here in San Francisco, we locked down two days before (on March 17), but the big news didn’t come until March 19, which lined up perfectly with the spring equinox. It’s such an interesting and darkly poetic juxtaposition to have the first day of the season, which is usually associated with rebirth and new life to land on the day the world as we knew it stopped and changed so dramatically in a negative and frightening way. 

At its core, “newsflash” is a very straightforward emo-pop song with 3 choruses, which is something I rarely do. Despite its melancholic lyrics, this track has one of the most feel-good “bop” type energies on the album, which makes it pretty infectious. The lyrics are a visceral reaction to being in quarantine and asking yourself, 'what really matters?’ When everything stops, and we’re left with just our thoughts and ambitions, how do we react? For me, the answer was clearly music, and I spent all of that time and pent up energy/anxiety making this album.

3. meet ecstasy 

This was the last song I finished for the album. Musically, I felt like I needed a counterpart to “newsflash,” which, prior to this song, was in its own lane. “meet ecstasy” is still more experimental and off-kilter than “newsflash,” but none of the other songs had that same bounce that it did, so I finished this one in lieu of a bunch of other songs I was working on to include in the final release.

Lyrically, the song goes back and forth between my current state and my inner voice. The choruses sung in higher falsetto range are my inner self; “walk from the past and I can be the one to hold you” is quite literally about moving on from things that have held you back. Whether it be a negative mental space, or addiction, or not believing you can do something, my inner self wants to affirm to my living physical being that we have the ability to change - if we want to. Like most people who have been around the block a few times, I’ve had lots of ups and downs with physical and mental health. This song really came to me when the initial wave of the 2020 shitshow came down, and I realized that no matter what is happening outside, I have to take care of myself, and hopefully when it’s all through, meet ecstasy.

4. buried beneath the sickness is sweetness

This is the most experimental, weird, and heavy song on the album. I actually started this song over a year ago, long before the heavy guitars and dark vocals, and something about it kept bringing me back. I tend to write pop songs with a verse-chorus-verse-bridge type of structure, but for this one, I said fuck it all. It’s dark, it’s heavy, it’s spacey, and it took a lot to wrangle it in to make it what it became.

The lyrics are predominately about the “wage slave” mentality I referenced in the title track, as I tried to make very obvious in the spoken-word intro. In the United States, we put so much emphasis on work, work, work, money, money, money that I can’t help but feel like it’s all going to erupt… and in some ways, it already has. Our trickle-down economics don’t work, and a lot of us work 40+ hours a week and still end up living paycheck to paycheck. It’s increasingly common for millennials like myself to have little to no savings, no property, and no children. We more or less work our asses off and have nothing to show for it. The lyric the title was pulled from “open your thighs and give me your heart - buried beneath the sickness is sweetness, if you let me pull you apart” is about the false promise of giving yourself to employers and corporations who don’t give a shit about your well-being. This ladders up to tackling the overall failures of modern capitalism and neoliberalism. 

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5. lost waves crash

I tend to write from places of darkness or sadness, but “lost waves crash” is a rare love song. It’s a love song through the lens of quarantine when suddenly the person you live with is now one of the only people you’ll see. It worked out really well for me since my girlfriend and I both understand when we need space or support (like working on music alone for 6-8 hours a day), but being in quarantine, even if there’s love involved, still conjures up feelings of sadness. I don’t really tend to connect with “happy” music, so this is sort of my best attempt to speak on something positive while still being true to myself.

The lyrics reflect more on the themes of the album - “can you see the hypocrisy in how we breathe? We live to leave to fall asleep and then repeat”, highlighting the monotony of wage-based living. In this song though, I reveal that the way out of that is through love, both of yourself and for someone else. So many days in quarantine I would have gone totally insane without someone to bullshit or take a walk with, and for that, I am immensely grateful. The chorus ruminates on how in the end, we’re all lost (“like crying eyes, two hearts’ allure”), and being able to share experiences and emotions with someone we care about brings us solace. Even if those feelings can be fleeting, they’re important and necessary for happiness, especially now.

6. twilight plight

When I originally made this instrumental, I said to myself, “I want to make a really hard piano beat,” - and I did! I let the loud, distorted 808 really lead the way, and quickly found myself reaching for the electric guitar. When it came to the vocals I wanted it to feel aggressive, but in a spooky, almost dissonant way. I was trying to evoke “off” feelings while still being melodic and slightly disorienting in the contrast between the verses and chorus, playing into the lyrical themes.

The song is about systemic oppression, the United States’ current erosion into authoritarianism, and white supremacy’s reemergence caught between dark and light in an ongoing struggle for liberty. Thus, an eternal state of twilight. Like many people, I was disgusted by the murder of George Floyd and the blatant disparity it brought to the surface. I hate racists, and at times am ashamed by people that look like me who think they’re superior to someone who looks different than them. It felt irresponsible to not speak on the issue, as the last 4 years, our country has spiraled further and further into accepted hate. It’s not only unacceptable, but that type of rhetoric could lead to a really disastrous outcome - “you don’t decide who’s equal, we are all one people in a world oppressed.”

7. can we heal?

This song was written as a direct response to climate change. I wrote the lyrics before the pandemic broke out, and it’s one of those songs that carries so much more weight after what we’ve all gone through the last 7 months. It’s the only song without 808’s driving the bass, which gives it a completely different feel. It’s a somber track, and it felt like the perfect ending to an album with pretty dark undertones. 

It’s the only song besides “newsflash” that doesn’t have any “surprises” thrown in, but I find comfort in simple things. Despite its simplicity and bleak tones, I really love how this song makes me feel and the relevance of the dire problem that will become an uninhabitable planet if we don’t change our ways. Even though we’ve done so much to fuck things up, as a species, as a race, or as individuals if we take a step back and modify our behavior, can we heal?


before the fog covers me drops on all streaming platforms on October 9th and is available in limited cassette and CD on Bandcamp now.

Follow SESPOOL:
Bandcamp | Twitter | Instagram | Website

Quarantine Creative Check #1

Well folks, we’re about a week into a global pandemic and am feeling it. I’ve been living, writing, working, and eating in my 534 sq. ft. studio apartment for five straight days, and I’m beginning to get a little antsy. I’ve got enough food, alcohol, and toilet paper to last at least a month, but that doesn’t make self-isolating any easier. Luckily, I’m fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to work from home, and FaceTime has gone a long way in fulfilling my need for human interaction, but it’s still hard. 

This past week has been nothing but delayed tours, postponed release dates, and canceled shows. While that’s a bummer as a fan, it’s especially disheartening for musicians who rely on tickets, merch, and record sales for their livelihood. 

With that in mind, I asked my twitter followers if anyone wanted to chat. Less of an interview and more of a check-in, I sent the same questions out to a handful of talented musicians who reached out, and they all gave me an update on how they’re doing and what you can do to support them in these crazy times. 

This week we’ve all had to adapt to a new way of living and existing without direct human connection. Similarly, bands have had to adapt to a way of living without their primary source of income, and in some cases, stand to lose hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on scrapped tours. Please check out some of these bands, give them a stream, toss them a share, or check out their merch.

Without further adieu, I’m proud to present the first (and hopefully final) installment of Quarantine Creative Check: dispatches from artists all over the world.


Superdestroyer

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
So far the quarantine has been a bit surreal, which is probably true for a lot of people right now. There's a part of me that's uncomfortable with the uncertainty of things, but obviously protecting people who are vulnerable to the virus is most important so that kinda helps to frame it in a healthy way. I'm in Ohio, and they've moved quick, so it's been almost a week. 

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
It's been a weird adjustment but I'm sort of introverted so it's probably been a little easier for me than for people that are really social. The biggest challenges have been finding food and important supplies because of the initial panic. I also have really bad asthma so I've been trying not to think about what happens to me if I get sick. I read recently that this could be an on and off thing for up to 2 years so that was....hard to process. On a positive note, I have a lot more time so I'm trying to figure out some things I'd like to do while I'm stuck at home. 

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
Honestly, I've been able to finish up some stuff for mostly finished songs, but I kinda find myself distracted otherwise. I'm pretty worried about friends, family, and strangers alike who just lost their income. I helped some people get groceries and stuff like that. I think for now the focus is on helping people find some stability. 

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
Honestly, don't donate anything to me, but if you do want to buy merch or something I'll donate the money to someone in need. Otherwise, I'm working on something that will roll out soon to help DIY artists with performance stuff. Please buy artists' music and merch if you can. I run Lonely Ghost Records and most of our artists could really use the help. A lot of their merch is linked to our website or you can just visit their social media pages, bandcamps, etc. If people can, they should definitely take some time to support musicians who live off of their income from touring and music because they've been hit hard. Pretty much anyone who listens to music will have a favorite artist who needs some support right now!

 

SESPOOL

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
This is my second full day of quarantine, but my fourth of more rigid social distancing. I’m doing well. I miss being able to go to the gym and float around freely but I have more time to focus on music and that’s pretty awesome. Living with my girlfriend also really helps, as I haven’t lost all human contact and have someone to drink coffee and clean with haha.

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
I had no plans to tour personally but it’s affected a lot of my friends and canceled/postponed 4 shows I had tickets to. Since I have a day job that pays the bills this sudden stop of work has allowed me more time to focus on the creative process, but it’s been so disorienting and weird for the last five or so days that my creativity has come in spurts. I’ve been working on a new project, the first single dropped last month, and I think this may delay the release of that album a bit. Even though it’s a great time to release streaming content, I have bigger plans for this record and I want it to drop when the timing is right. I have, however, thought about releasing some different types of singles or songs I otherwise wouldn’t release in light of this strange time.

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
It might sound weird but trying to take advantage of all this time and be focused despite having no idea what the future holds. I know we’ll be able to get through this but how long will it take? It’s not a situation we’ve ever encountered before and not being able to book shows or realistically plan for the release of an album is really weird - just have to keep pushing to make the best songs for when the moment arrives.

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
Merch is an amazing way to support. I actually just put up a bundle today, and for as long as the post office is shipping I will be going there to ship stuff! My store can be found here.

 

Chanelle Kazadi

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
I’m holding up the best I can, it’s going on day 8 of isolation. 

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
The social distancing has impacted me in ways such as my shows being postponed, they talk about the corona has taken off social media so strongly. 

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
The challenging part about all this is not truly knowing when it ends and not knowing how much worse could it get but I try to stay positive at the same time. 

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
I have merch on my website, it would be very appreciated to donate that way and just support my brand.

 

Keep Flying

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
Feeling pretty positive right now. Been getting some yard and housework down now that tour life has been canceled. We looking at day 4 now but have been productive with moving upcoming releases, tour dates, and more to adapt to this new unknown era!

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
The prediction is this is going to last until at least June. We are adjusting our summer plans to fall. Pushing the record release at least a month. But also pushing some things sooner! We may hop back in the studio now that we have time off from the road as well as make some music videos and other content to keep people happy at home. Mentally this is about to be the longest consecutive time I’ve been off the road and not around live music in 14 years. Crazy. 

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
That’s just it. This is the challenge. We have to stand up to it and just do our best. If we all just do our best we can look back in a year from now and be proud of what we did accomplish. 

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
Yes, the Merch does help. I’ll be able to get my guys some money as most of us also lost our jobs and it’s gonna be tough. The other way would be promoting the band and brand on the internet to friends and the World Wide Web. We really win people over with our live show so now more than ever any help of sharing videos or tunes or content would be incredible!

 

Farseek

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
I’m doing well so far. My partner and I have been holed up for about a week now.

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
We were supposed to go on a quick four day run in April but that was canceled because of the outbreak. Once I found out I didn’t have to work, I immediately began recording a bunch of new songs. It’s nice having no pressure or other commitments to hold me back. I think I am going to get kind of stir crazy in another week but I have been trying to not overwork myself.

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
I’ve currently got creativity oozing out of me so I don’t think that this has negatively impacted my creative outlets yet.

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
The best way for folks to support Farseek would be to just tell other people to listen to our music. I’m not dying for money right now and I know other people need it more than I do.

 

New Pollution

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
I just got back from college a couple of days ago, so I have been quarantined in my house for 4 days, but before that it was really crazy at college trying to stay clean. I have been chilling outside my house but the only place I have gone is to a soup kitchen to bring them some items. 

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
As far as impacting my musical plans, not much has been effected besides sending my new EP to labels. I figure that everyone is stressed about the virus so nobody will have time to care about the EP, which is totally warranted. I have a 5 track EP that I have recorded for a year just sitting around, and it sucks that as soon as I finished it this virus came about! Now it seems like people don’t want to think about music, and there is so much anxiety floating around that nobody wants music. Otherwise, I’m using this time to record more songs and explore a collaboration with somebody I know, which will be very much cross-genre. 

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
The most challenging part about being creative right now is time. I just got back from college and have many other things to do before I get to make music I like. I think another hard part of being creative is judging one’s own work. I have hundreds of finished demos just sitting on my laptop because I am too afraid to commit to releasing them. So I have been coming up with ideas to change existing ideas instead of constantly increasing that pile of demos. 

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
First, I think people should support their own needs first in this time and think about music second. However, if you have the time it would be great if you purchased our live record Live!? at Creative Corner, which will definitley knock you out of whatever gloom you may be feeling.

 

Fit The Bill

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
We have been doing pretty good! Besides making a couple of quick trips to the store, and Miles working a little bit, we are on day 3 I think?

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
So we actually had studio time booked for this coming up weekend, but with everything happening those plans have changed a bit. But now we are just going to record everything we planned to record in-house, and send it out to be mixed 🤙🏼

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
Nothing really holding us back from being creative right now honestly. If anything that’s the thing we have been able to put more focus on.

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
We don’t really have any merch up right now and are in the process of getting new music online 😉 But the best way to support us right now is probably to keep track of our antics on social medias. We will be posting more updates on our Instagram story specifically!

 

Halogens

First off, how are you holding up so far? How many days of isolation are you currently on?
George: I’ve been *mostly* isolated since last Thursday because of having to go to work, however, my job just started having me work 100% remotely today so I guess today is day 1 for real. I’m going a little stir crazy for sure. 

I know we’re only a week or so into this, but how has this quarantine/social distancing impacted your plans? (creative process, mental health, tours, album rollouts, etc.)
George: Basically all of our plans from March through May have either been cancelled or rescheduled; we haven’t heard about all of our scheduled shows yet but I’m assuming the same will happen with them. We’re supposed to go into the studio for LP during the first week of June and we’ve been saying for months that we need to stop picking up shows so we can really focus on writing, but we just kept picking up shows anyway so we could try out new songs live and play with bands that we like. So now we’re really being forced to 100% fully commit to strictly focusing on finishing writing our album before we go into the studio in June. Mental health-wise, I’m doing okay but basically anything I previously used for maintaining my sanity like seeing my friends, going to the gym, or hanging at my parent’s house to play with my dog is out the window for the foreseeable future. I live right by the beach so I’ve been taking breaks from being in the house to go for walks on the boardwalk since it’s pretty empty here when during the off-season, which has been definitely been good for giving myself a change of scenery when I start to feel cooped up. 

What’s been the most challenging part of being creative right now?
George: Definitely being able to meet up with the rest of the band in person to hash out new ideas which is usually the major stage of transitioning a song idea into a completed song. We just recorded some new demos a couple of weeks ago so luckily we’ve been focusing on mixing them and editing parts remotely so we can stay productive. We all really wanted to go rent a cabin so we could hunker down and write the rest of the album and we were all really excited to do that since we are getting pretty close to studio time. The cabin thing also has to be put on hold for now because some of my family members and the people I work with are immunocompromised, and I really want to make sure I don’t contribute in any way towards people getting sick. We’re pretty used to operating at a distance because of other obligations so I’m hopeful we’ll be able to continue writing at the pace we were hoping for while we’re separated for now. 

I’ve seen lots of bands putting merch up online, encouraging people to donate, and more, what’s the best way for people to support you?
Kyle / George: We really appreciate the question, but we would prefer to send our support to bands that have had tours cancelled and are feeling the financial effects more than we are. Bands like Top Nachos, Sweet Pill, Save Face, A Will Away, Stillhungry, Shakeout, Niiice, Holy Pinto, Hit Like A Girl, Have A Good Season, 2319, Makeshift, and Nonfiction all invested a lot of money into tours that didn’t even get a chance to start or were cancelled while they were halfway across the country. Even though most of our plans until June have been postponed, we are all still lucky enough to have our jobs and a lot of local artists can’t say the same. Please support them!