Interview: LA Rockers Ships Have Sailed

L.A. based rock-pop duo Ships Have Sailed, made up of Will Carpenter (Guitar, Vocals) and Dan Hange (Bass), hit the US college and indie scenes with their successful EP Someday in 2013. Now they’re following it up with Moodswings, a full length album that looks to not only match but build upon the quality sound and success of their first release.
 
Since their first EP the band has developed a steadily growing and loyal fan base that seems to respond to the unpretentious yet sensitive rockers. With a sound falling somewhere between the best of Britpop and rock bands like The Killers or Turin Brakes, and cleverly crafted reflective lyrics to match, it’s kind of shocking the group haven’t been picked up by a label yet. Tracks like ‘If Only’, ‘Drive’ and ’Summertime‘ are instant favourites with incredibly individual and powerful melodies which sound like a band that have already made it, while Carpenter’s vocals are emotive yet not overstated, allowing the tracks to breathe and come to life.

While Ships Have Sailed may evoke a pleasant nostalgia for the indie hey days of the 90’s and early noughties, they are not just another derivative rock band and take their music in unexpected and interesting directions.

I caught up with Will and Dan to find out a little more about this promising new act and what makes them tick:

It’s been an exciting and busy couple of years for you guys, how does it feel to have Moodswings out there finally?

It’s amazing really…with ‘Moodswings’ we really feel like we’ve found our sound, and also a balance between the diversity that represents the span of our musical influences but also the seamlessness that makes a great album.  We’ve been so excited to see reviews and comments pour in from journalists and fans alike…music is subjective, so it’s always amazing to see that people are appreciating our creations as much as we do…

How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it before?


This is always a tough question…imagine if Coldplay, Foster the People and The National all had a musical baby…… :)  Dan and I have a pretty vast array of musical influences, and we try to let that add color to the overall Indie Pop vibe of Ships Have Sailed.  We sometimes write about heavier emotional subjects, but we try to keep the feeling of the tracks uplifting.
How did you first start making music together?
Dan and I were in a rock / hip-hop band together when I first started writing the music that would up turning into our ‘Someday’ EP.  I’ve always been a songwriter, and sometimes the music that comes out doesn’t line up with such a specific genre as was the case with this group of songs.  At the same time, I felt a strong emotional connection with these songs, so I decided to start producing them in my home studio.  I had the first couple sketched out and I invited Dan over to listen and just see what he thought and he loved them…pretty much he was like: “so what are you going to call it?” and that was that!

Did you both always want to pursue a career in music or was it something you found yourselves moving into?

I think it’s safe to say that we’ve both always wanted to pursue music.  Even now, in addition to Ships we write and produce for other artists and we’ve had some opportunities to break into film scoring as well, which is really fun!

Your track ‘Midnight’ won three awards at the 2014 Unsigned Only song writing competition and I think one of the things that defines your music is the fusion of strong melody and this beautiful introspective lyricism. Where do you find inspiration when writing your music?

That song in particular was written after a really exhausting month…like the kind where you’re trying so hard and nothing seems to be falling into place.  I was thinking about how everyone goes through those phases, and the various things that might help us to look past the struggles in our lives even for brief moments and the lyrics just started writing themselves.  Over the course of production and working on the music video for ‘Midnight’, the storyline began incorporating aspects of perception – how everyone sees things slightly differently and why one might notice something or someone when another person might not…there’s a lot of depth there lyrically, but musically it’s really simple and even a bit bouncy…I kind of like that: juxtaposing a heavier lyrical theme with a lighter musical one.

Who would you say your musical influences are?

Way too many to list…we have really wide musical tastes! We both grew up on classics like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, grew into the 90s era grunge, got into 80s music as well, and as music has developed so have our tastes…I think this goes for both of us!  We also both have strong classical music backgrounds – my mom used to play Mozart and Vivaldi when I was a baby.  This doesn’t even delve into the countless amazing modern artists that exist in the present…I feel like every time we hear a new artist doing something cool and different, the answer to this question changes a bit…

Who do you think our readers should be listening to right now?

I’ve been listening to CHVRCHES a lot…really dig their production, and the last Coldplay album was fantastic…their new one should be as well! I also think the new Mumford and Sons record was a really great surprise to listen to but my personal favorite breakout of this past year might be Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness…

You’ve been touring and doing shows loads, do you have any highlights from the tour or favourite parts of putting on a live show?

We love the moment when people get up and start to dance…it’s amazing to see our music physically moving people…love, love, LOVE it!

I loved your music videos especially the circus setting in Midnight; they’re very vibrant and reflect the story telling of the tracks. What was it like working on them? Were you very hands on with the process or did you collaborate with a director?

We are amazingly fortunate to have a good friend (James R.W. Hiatt) who is an incredible director.  The process of making both our videos has been a really gratifying one, and it usually starts with us coming up with a very rough idea for a concept and storyline, bringing it to James and beginning the collaborative process very early on.  We firmly believe that creativity produces the best result when good, strong minds work together, so we are very hands-on, but encourage James to be as well.
In the ‘Midnight’ video, we also involved my sister Jena Carpenter (who owns Dream World Cirque, and was kind enough to work with us on the video) early on, as she and her performers were set to play a huge part in the video.  Similarly, for ‘Drive’, we relied heavily on the input of Thomas Rihs, the artist whose work was featured in the video, for his input on those scenes.  Everyone’s inputs have been invaluable to the process of creating the videos, and the end result wouldn’t be the same without everyone’s contributions.

So what can we expect next from you guys? Are you planning to tour again?
Yes! We would love to get back out on the road, and we will continue to try to find opportunities to do so.  That being said, we also need to continue to find balance between travel and touring and studio work.  We are currently in the studio as we speak working on……something cool! Expect news on that in early 2016…:)

Moodswings is out now on itunes. You can follow Ships Have Sailed and find out more about their upcoming events and music on their official pages:
www.shipshavesailed.com
https://twitter.com/ShipsHaveSailed
ww.facebook.com/shipshavesailed

 Cara Davies