Gollylagging
Boston’s Gollylagging has spent years sharpening a sound that blends shoegaze fuzz with alt-country and bedroom pop sensibilities. Following their 2024 EP, “Dry Rot,” the quartet entered a new era with their latest single, “Jackknife,” on May 26.
Recently, the band sat down to discuss the painstaking process of revising their new sound, their deep collaborative roots in the New England circuit and the full-length album they now have on the horizon.
Listen to this interview anywhere podcasts are available.
The following transcript was generated using transcription software and may contain minor errors or omissions.
YY: At the time of this recording, your second single of the year comes out in just a couple of weeks, and it's going to follow "Bronco," which came out in January, I believe. So how would you compare these two songs to each other? Are they similar thematically or just very different somewhere in the middle?
Jake Regulbuto: I think they're pretty they're pretty different. I think at least sonically, we've always opted to do really blown out, really fuzzy songs. And I, this is one of the first ones we tried where there's really nothing, nothing like that. Obviously there's loud guitars and everything, but there's no, it's just kind of super mid-range, super pop structure and everything. So I think sonically, it's different thematically. They're, you know, they're not really about the, the same things. But yeah, I think it's kind of it was kind of an experiment to try to write something different, honestly.
YY: And "Jackknife" is what it's called. I don't think I mentioned that earlier. I was reading that it's mainly about a friendship falling apart. So did the writing of this song have a sort of cathartic effect? Did it help to process things or was it more of a difficult process to get through?
JR: At first it started. It kind of started that way. It's kind of feel like catharsis, but it was a good way to kind of be like, okay, well, how much of this is my fault? Is it all just on this other person? Or is it also kind of both of us? And it's not really there's actually no fault to be had. Maybe it's more of a neutral, you know, gray area type thing. It's not always just someone's fault musically.
YY: Did it come together similarly or was that just lyrics wise?
JR: I think that was mostly the lyric, content of it. I had the riff idea for a little bit the main riff. And then we were kind of, we just added Jules. Jules is our guitar player. He couldn't make it. So we added him at one point and we were kind of working on the song. He was like, oh, maybe we should do kind of a bridge. And for the longest time it was just verse chorus, verse chorus, and then the bridge. And that was the end of the song. And then we had another one of our friends his name is Harrison. And he was like, you guys really should just add on another verse chorus or something that. It's, it sounds weird. So, so we it actually came together from someone who's not even in the band. And he was like, you should just make it longer. And so that's kind of how the instrument, the instrumentation finished way later than when we started it.
Joey Lorant: And I feel right when we did that last part, everyone was immediately like, yeah, this is, it's, it made it way better.
Andrew Garas: When we used to play it live, it was the original version. I look back on that and I'm like, yeah, we had to add it. We had to add on to it. It was just so much better. You know.
YY: It's good to get that candid feedback from friends sometimes. Sometimes you need that the tough love, you know?
JR: Yeah.
YY: That's sort of reminding me. I was reading too, that the recording process for the song was also apparently pretty intense. It was a shorter session. And then just many revisions after that, is that am I on the right track?
AG: Yeah, we actually recorded it in the same session as Bronco, which was at this point, probably in November of 2024. Oh, wow. So a while ago, but we ended up not being happy with the initial recording. And we were just like, let's just do it again. And we were going to do it again. And we wanted to get a full day at the studio, which is 12, 13 hours to just really lock in. But they only had one session available, so we could only be there for six hours. So we had to do the whole song in six hours, which at the time we were like, yeah, that's totally doable. Obviously it was doable. But it was, it was hard. I think it was. And now we look back on that and we're like, why did we do that? We needed more time. But I think then we ironed it out in the post-production with our mixing engineer, Rowan. He just helped us a lot. We just went through a lot of revisions on it because we just wanted it to be in the right place and I think we got there in the end, but it was kind of it's yeah, it went through two, two whole. It was the first time we've ever done that where we recorded something and we're like, we could do it again. So yeah.
YY: What do you think was the hardest piece of it to get right? And what's a lesson learned that you might carry with you for a future session?
JR: I think the guitars is the was the hardest part because there's three, there's actually three guitar parts on the song. And I feel it's hard to kind of get all those tones right and have them sit in the mix the right way. And there's just also a lot of vocals and yeah, it was just so much stuff really. So it's hard to get that all to sit right. We rerecorded the guitars at home too. So we recorded the guitars like three times. And yeah, it's just, I think that is mostly the the problem making it. And I think the thing that we learned was that, definitely don't rush. Even if it's just one song, it's, I don't know. I feel it's just way better to take your time on it, especially if you're spending the money on the day.
YY: You mentioned adding Jules and you guys split vocals. It was the first time you've done that, right?
JR: Yeah, that's for the record. He does sing on this song too. I think he, he sang on the last EP, but as far as the record goes, he has half the songs and I have half.
YY: I mean, what was that like? And how did you land on the right balance? For the record.
JR: He was going to start his own project on the side, and we had a couple practices and we loved Andrew and I loved the songs. And at a certain point he just , we just stopped practicing. We never played a show. He never recorded any of them really, besides the demos. And we were just kind of like, what's up with those songs that you had? And he was like, oh, I don't, I don't really know. So we were like, you want to just put them on our record. And he kept he kept just showing us more. And we were like, can we just have all of these? And then I think when we were putting the record together, I think I had about four and I was like, we should just split it half and half. So then we don't have to, we can just it's done already. But yeah, he's just, we just thought his songs that were really good and it would be a shame if he never put them out.
YY: Do you think your sound has gone through a little bit of an evolution then in that sense, if he had more of a part in the writing?
JR: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I feel like we've we usually have different tastes by the time we release every next thing. So we kind of started out as an emo punky thing. And then we kind of transitioned more into an alt rock thing. And I guess we're still on that kind of wave, but it's definitely a lot lighter and catchier than when we started. And I think that he, that's, he's really into that kind of thing too. He really helped us be the kind of band that we want. I would say.
YY: I mean, let's say if someone's talking to you at a party, they don't know you, they find out you're in a band. Is that how you would describe the music you play to a stranger, or would you, I don't know, dumb it down, put it into like, I was curious how would that --
JR: No that's good, that's good. I, I was literally doing this last night because you just never know, what someone knows or what they care about. So I usually just simple, simply, I usually just go like, it's just kind of indie rock and it's, it's fuzzy and it's noisy. That's usually how I, how I go with it. And then if someone's asked for a comparison, oh God, I guess it just depends on, on what they know. The easy one for adults is Smashing Pumpkins. Usually they know Smashing Pumpkins or something. Yeah. But I mean, if they're, if they're a little bit more tapped in, I might, I try to say Dinosaur Jr. because that's what I truly feel.
AG: I think I always will be like, yeah, it's like a, you know, 90s, alternative rock thing. And then I feel like people will always be like, oh, it's like Green Day. And I'm like, not entirely. But I guess that's not the worst reference point, you know? But yeah, I, I feel like, you know, you say Smashing Pumpkins or even early Weezer people, people will get that. But I think the goal or even with Jules's songs and Jake's songs, all the songs on the album are just, they're kind of like quick in and out, catchy, fun rock songs. Which I think is just something that we wanted to tap into because that's the type of rock music that we like. So yeah. All right. I feel it's one of those things where it's like, you know it when you hear it, but it's always hard to describe, you know?
YY: No, that's, that's why I was thinking about that question because I'm like, I mean, you know, a lot of bands don't necessarily love labels to begin with. And then it must be just a chore to describe it to other people.
JR: Yeah, yeah, it's tough because we're definitely that. Because we sometimes get pigeonholed into one thing or the other. And I don't know, we just, it does kind of suck because then everything that comes your way is kind of in this one, in this one lane, you know, I don't know, I kind of want to be able to do whatever if I'm if I'm excited about it.
JL: Yeah. I feel I always say a different thing depending on just how we're feeling at the time [laughs].
JR: Depending on whatever that person likes we're just pandering to them [laughs].
YY: [Laughs] It's like describing your music taste almost. It's just hard. But you guys have been for, for a few years now, you've been playing sort of the bar DIY circuit really across the northeast. And you've, you've been an opener. You're from Boston originally. So do you really, do you feel a strong connection to your environment to being from Boston?
JR: I really do feel it kind of shows that we're a Boston band, and I do feel we're really connected to it because I feel like the kind of the thing in Boston, I guess it's kind of everywhere now, but definitely for a while in Boston, it's been kind of the loud, noisy indie rock thing. And we got to write up recently about "Bronco," and when he wrote the article for us, he compared us to other Boston bands Dinosaur Jr. and Pile. And that's just really cool. This kind of been a thing for a while. That's , that's the through line is the loud, noisy thing. So I definitely feel like that kind of shows.
AG: Yeah. I also think that all of the bands from around here that we're friends with and play shows with and hang out with are just like, they're just really good. And I feel like a lot of people here are tapped into just writing good songs and making good rock music. I mean, I'm sure it's like that in other places too, but just I can only speak for the bands in our area. And I just, I really them. And obviously there's kind of a, a legion of, of indie rock bands that Jake was talking about from Boston in the past. So I think it's a good place to be.
YY: And speaking of which, you guys are playing a show in Boston in June with Dino Gala, who's a band that you guys have had sort of a long standing friendship with. You shared an EP with them back in 2023. So how has your relationship with you know, these, these other Boston bands evolved as you've sort of all grown together in the scene?
JR: It's so interesting to be like, because we started this in, I think it was 2020 or 2021, and it just feels like everyone changes so much from within five years. You just don't even recognize the old version of your own band or the other bands around. And it's just like, it's just crazy to see how, how good everyone gets at writing songs, even if you already thought they were really good before. I think that's really awesome. And I feel like, like Andrew I like all these bands and I truly believe in how talented they are. And, and I think it's just really cool to see that kind of thing.
AG: Yeah. And it's, it's been cool to see everybody grow together, musically and just as friends and people, it's just cool. In the past, we've had members of Dino Gala fill in for us when we were missing a bass player and stuff. So it's kind of cool to just have all that, collaborative energy.
YY: Nice. I'll ask one more question here. It was going to be sort of about the future a little bit, but I know you guys already sort of hinted at an album. So you've had a couple EPs at this point, an album at some point in the near future, I'm guessing. So what else can you say about what's in store for the future? And then maybe is there any more you can say about the album?
JR: I think we can say that we're working on it. So new music, hopefully a lot more shows soon. And that might be all we know. It might be. Anyone have anything to add?
AG: I mean, we're we're working on it. It'll it's going to be finished, I think, pretty pretty soon. And then get it out into the world as soon as we can. I guess.
YY: That's exciting. Any tentative plans to go on tour or anything like that?
AG: Yeah, I think next, once it comes out.
YY: Okay.
AG: We're still nailing the date down. I think we have the time of year, but after that, I think we'd , definitely want to hit it and just play a bunch of shows because we haven't done a real kind of long tour since the last EP came out. So it's been about by the time the album comes out, it'll have been about two years. So it's, it's, it's time. And I'd like to, I'd like to. So yeah.
YY: All right. Any parting thoughts as, as people sort of get ready to, to hear your new single in a couple of weeks.
JR: I guess. I hope that they enjoy. It's a new, like I said before, it's, it's kind of a new, a new thing. we've been playing the song for a while, but it's definitely like a pivot in a way. And I, it's one of our favorite songs. And yeah, I hope that other people can also, you know, feel that way about it.
AG: Agreed.
