Washington D.C.-based musician Rye Thomas, under the moniker Soft Punch, is set to release their album "Above Water" on September 15 via Bad Friend Records. The album showcases bold and multidimensional arrangements, drawing influences from artists like Björk, The Beatles, Frank Ocean, and Elliott Smith. "Above Water" revolves around the theme of coping with loss and finding beauty in unexpected places. Soft Punch has released the single and video for "Here / Now," a song that explores the tension between nostalgia and being present in the moment.
How did the band form?
Soft Punch has is an ongoing solo project of mine, and it's existed for a pretty long time. At some point, there may be a steady live band, but that has not yet come to pass!
What are your previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?
I think I came out of the womb pretty obsessed with music. I was always in choirs and church bands growing up. My first "real" band in college was a post-punk group called Pash, on Exotic Fever Records. I was the bassist, and we played a lot of shows in DC and NYC in the early aughts. After we parted ways, I started a weird rock band called Tereu Tereu that went through a couple different line-ups. We played with both Dischord-inspired dissonance and poppy hooks, which probably confused a lot of people.
First concert that you ever went to?
The first concert I ever saw was Pearl Jam, with Mudhoney opening, at an amphitheater in Virginia Beach. I went with my dad and my best friend, the night before my first day of high school. Is there anything more '90s than showing up to Freshman year wearing a shirt from the grunge show you just saw?
Can you explain what your writing process is like?
It's all over the map! It could start with a weird sound on my laptop or a guitar riff or a little vocal melody. I generally write lyrics to suit a musical idea, because I haven't had much success doing the reverse. I usually have to work out the basic structure of a song on a guitar or a keyboard, but the final, recorded arrangement could land just about anywhere.
What other artists or songs inspire your music?
I've always enjoyed listening to the most minute details of a great record. As a kid, I'd press my ear against the speaker to try and hear all the guts of a song--to get inside of it. Sonic magic is almost as exciting as songwriting magic to me.
I started my playlist with Björk because she really captures that adventurous spirit. She writes pop hooks, yet she surrounds her voice with the most wild sounds. Ger albums create entire worlds worth living in.
The Microphones (Phil Elverum) also created a whole world with The Glow, Pt. 2. Phil writes more direct tunes now--which can be stunning in a very different way--but I really love getting lost in that Microphones album.
The first time I heard The Marble Index, it stopped me in my tracks. I was struck by the cold solitary beauty of these songs Nico wrote alone with a harmonium. There's nothing else like it!
I consider Arthur Russell my guiding light. There's a certain integrity and mysticism to his music; it feels so pure. He explored a lot of territory, but it always sounds like him.
I once had the unbelievable good fortune to join Cat Power, Sky Ferreira, WHY?, and others for an Elliott Smith tribute concert. I chose to play the song St. Ides Heaven, because it take a sort of unremarkable experience (walking around a 7-Eleven parking lot with cheap malt liquor & meth) and elevates it to such great metaphysical heights.
The Phoebe Bridgers train was just beginning to really take off when I hopped on board. I'm glad to see her gift for intimate storytelling really find an audience. I think she and her boygenius kin challenge me to write with sharper images.
I've been listening to David Bazan, as Pedro The Lion & solo, since I was in high school. He's got a knack for creating more with less; with only a few notes & lyrics, he can create a complex moral tale, and I've always admired that.
Is there a more aching, yearning, immediate opening in pop music than the "ah" that kicks off "Crimson & Clover"? The three shimmering chords that follow only heighten the desire. It goes straight to the heart, and what more could you ask for?
Baths is the perfect modern songwriter. His stuttering beats and classically trained piano chops could only be contemporary. This collaboration with Lala Lala does something I especially love--the song centers on her repeating vocals but pushes them further by changing the chords beneath them.
OK, I just said Baths was the perfect modern songwriter, but maybe that's only because Frank Ocean hasn't put out a new album since 2016. Blonde sounds fresher now than it did when it came out, if that's even possible. "White Ferrari" delicately captures that "drop your love off at the airport" feeling, which would be a real achievement for anyone. But somehow Frank takes it further with a subtle Beatles interpolation and his cosmic/existential lyrics. It's truly the work of a master, and it moves me every time I hear it.
What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be its own thing?
The stage and the studio are two very different places. What works in one space does not always work in the other.
Some albums translate to the stage pretty naturally, others require a lot of reinterpretation & rearrangement. The most important thing to me is that an artist uses each space as well as possible, whatever that looks like in practice.
What has your touring experience been, best shows?
Health issues have prevented me from playing live for quite a while now. My last show was in 2015.
But back when I was able to tour? I just loved how a band gets tighter each night, and I always wanted to stay on the road longer. Even bad shows, where I had a fever or a stomach flu, seem precious to me now.
What's up next for the band?
Well, the album comes out on September 15. I'm trying to record some performances at home, both solo and possibly with a full band, to share the music with people in multiple ways. If my health ever adequately improves, I'll play some live shows.
After that, I've already got another album started. It'll be a sort of sister album to Above Water. I've got a bunch of songs and ideas for arrangements waiting for me. I hope to record and release it pretty quickly.
But after *that*, there's no telling. I might pull a Nico and record a solo harmonium album. Or work with a string quartet. Or only use analog synths. The future is wide open!