It’s a busy life as a musician. I caught up with MARBLE via phone call as they drove down I-5 from Portland to Eugene, Oregon. A self-described “bi-city” band with members in both Portland and Seattle, the group noted how touring and recording together takes some additional effort and planning.
“Today we all met up here in Portland, which means a bunch of the guys drove three hours early this morning to get to the studio at 10 a.m.” said guitarist Matthew Blount. “Similarly, with writing and collaborating, we have to be really intentional about that.”
The band’s 2022 debut record, “the shadow in me,” is a haunting 36 minutes, pinned down by a brooding ambience and cavernous guitar tones. Frontwoman Chantel Bailey is at the center of it all – a powerful vocal performer with a rich timbre that has shades of Evanescence’s Amy Lee. The sound of the album is mature, cohesive, and instantly enrapturing. It’s an utter surprise to learn that the expertly curated experience is the band’s first effort, and furthermore, it was recorded in basements amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was, I guess, a unique time to be recording,” said Blount. “But we didn’t know anything. We didn’t know how to record at the time. So that process taught us a lot.”
These days, MARBLE is a fine-tuned rock outfit. The six-member group includes Bailey on vocals and guitar, Blount and Matt Wade on guitar, Jonny Wade on bass, TJ Grant on synthesizer, and William Mapp on drums. Sam Veatch takes over on percussion live.
MARBLE’s latest effort is July 2024’s “beautiful things disappoint,” a four-song EP written by Bailey and Blount that marked the group’s first time recording all together in the studio. Compared to “the shadow in me,” the EP feels larger and more confident, with a greater indie rock influence and massive hooks that demand attention.
“Everyone came up with their own parts and was really able to make the song their own. And so if there’s any change in the music, I would attribute a lot of it to that,” said Blount. “All really good friends in a studio environment for the first time – something’s gonna happen. There’s some magic to that.”
Still, the music is as intense and thought-provoking as the band’s past material. “I was rereading ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ …any time in the book, any time death is mentioned, which is mentioned a lot, he follows it up with this phrase: ‘so it goes,’” said Bailey of new track “the monster.” “And basically it’s like, ‘it is dead, and we move on.’ And that became something that I ended up really anchoring to in that song. Just that idea of life and death and moving forward, accepting it. You know, all aspects of life and grief in transitional times in your life and friendships and family dynamics… Not incredibly specific, but I would say those are some of the biggest themes in the EP.”
The band’s guitars, one of MARBLE’s most striking traits, are as enveloping as ever, sketching gorgeous countermelodies to Bailey’s powerful choruses.
“Something that Matt [Wade] and I share is an unreasonable obsession with our guitar tones,” said Blount. “We focus on it, probably an extreme amount. Probably to a fault.”
“I find myself just kind of hearing something that seems like it’ll sound cool in my head and then I’ll go try to figure it out,” added Wade. “That’s mostly what we did on the EP, stuff that complements each other. I think it worked out pretty well.”
MARBLE teamed up with Seattle-based producer Andy D. Park for the first time to produce “beautiful things disappoint.” Park’s credits include bands such as Deftones and Death Cab for Cutie. His guidance helped push another standout aspect of MARBLE’s into a more prominent place on the EP – I asked Bailey about the one-of-a-kind, fast-paced tremolo often heard on her vocals, assuming it was some sort of effect.
“That’s just the way my voice is,” she said. “Working with our producer Andy was really transformative… He really encouraged me to just lean into the weirdness of my voice. He was like, ‘Stop trying to think pretty, just get weird with it.’”
It’s a choice that more than pays off – some bands fall to the wayside as you couldn’t pick their vocalist out of a lineup. In MARBLE, Bailey’s shuddering vocals in a track’s most intense moments are a standout, showing the “weird” can still be plenty pretty.
One of the difficulties of having such a unique sound can be genre classifications. Terms like shoegaze, doomgaze, dreampop, goth-rock, and heavy pop swirl around the music of MARBLE, but none really pin it down. I discussed it with the band, doing my best to classify their sound but falling well short myself.
“I feel like the theme is combining two subgenres together… We truly do not know. I rely on what other people say because it’s hard to categorize your own music,” said Blount, adding, “We don’t think about that when a song comes out. You know, the song kind of happens and comes out.”
On their way to play in Eugene’s WOW Hall, which Bailey described as one of her “favorite stages,” I had to ask the question: would MARBLE ever come to the Corvallis/Albany area for a show?
“I think we can make that happen,” said Blount, immediately asking about which venues to play at.
However, any plans for the Linn-Benton area will have to wait until a future year, as MARBLE will be heading out of the United States this winter on their first-ever European tour, playing shows in Germany, France, and Austria.
“I think every single part of it is just really exciting and it’s just new. It’s something we’ve never done before. A lot of unknowns, which is scary and exciting at the same time,” said Blount.
“We’re all pretty theatrical. We really try to get people into a bit of a trance,” said Bailey of the group’s live shows. “I mean, I’d say it kind of depends on the night. Sometimes we get a little bit doomier with it. It really depends on the crowd, depends on the night, but I don’t know… come out and find out.”
Read the full conversation below:
Editor’s note: this transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Are you guys on the road right now to Eugene?
Matthew: Yeah, we’re getting close to being out of Portland and on the way down.
Who’s all in the car with you?
Matthew: There’s six of us. So we have Chantel, who’s our singer and guitar player. Matt Wade plays guitar, Jonny plays bass, me, Matthew plays guitar, Sam on drums, and TJ on synth.
I just wanted to start off by – I know that in a lot of your marketing, it says that you guys are a bi-city band split across Seattle and Portland. What are the challenges that come with having your band split between two cities?
Matthew: Oh, man. Rehearsing is a challenge because of that. Because we live not that far, but like three hours apart at the furthest. So getting together to prepare for a tour or whatever, it has that extra wrinkle in it. Like, as an example, today we all met up here in Portland, which means a bunch of the guys drove three hours early this morning to get to the studio at 10 a.m. Similarly, with writing and collaborating, we have to be really intentional about that. So we have to schedule and go off together at one of our houses or get a cabin or something to be intentional to write together. So, and then you miss your friends a little bit, being three hours away from my buddies.
I was legitimately shocked when I found out that you guys debuted in 2022. The sound on your debut album, it sounds like a band that’s been working together for much longer. Tell me a bit about how MARBLE formed, and how did you guys gel so quickly and shape your sound?
Matthew: Let’s see. So, Chantel started the band. And then the rest of us joined her over time. She’s an extremely talented songwriter – a really beautiful performer, like her voice is just wild, inspiring to me. I can speak for most of us, I’m sure, but we heard her music and then it was that we wanted to support her and make music and be creative with her.
And then a lot of us are – I mean, all of us now – we’re really good friends. Like, Jonny and Matt are brothers. And then I went to school with Jonny and he’s my best friend and we’re all extremely, extremely close. So I think that just shows up in the music. So yeah, anytime when anyone ever says something like, you know, there’s an energy there, you sound tight, or something, I really just believe it’s because of our relationships with each other.
On your website it says that “the shadow in me” was recorded during COVID. So what were the processes and the difficulties of recording an album in the middle of the pandemic?
Matthew: It was right at the beginning, and none of us were sure about what to do or not to do. So we recorded a lot of it in our basement, Chantel and I, and then our producer, Jonah, recorded the rest in his basement, because at the time we couldn’t really get together. And so that obviously made things different and maybe difficult, but just different. So that was, I guess, a unique time to be recording. But we didn’t know anything. We didn’t know how to record at the time. So that process taught us a lot and Jonah was like our guide, our guru, really taught us everything we knew at the time. I mean, he’s an extremely talented musician, really incredible producer. His name is Jonah Cohen. I give a lot of credit to him on how the record sounds. Yeah, hopefully I answered your question.
Absolutely. So I was curious, I don’t know if you guys do the whole genre thing, but if you do, what genre would you guys define yourselves as? I was hearing some shoegaze, a little bit of dreampop, a little bit of those goth-rock anthems of the early 2000s or so, but I was kind of curious how you guys would put it.
Matthew: I was gonna just immediately ask you to please tell us and you just did. Like, I don’t know. We don’t know. We’ve been told things like that before. Like shoegaze, dreampop – someone said heavy pop, someone else said doomgaze. I feel like the theme is combining two subgenres together. That’s been the theme. We truly do not know. I rely on what other people say because it’s hard to categorize your own music. So easy, so easy to categorize someone else’s music. You say it’s dreampop, shoegaze, you said…
Just kind of those – no songs are coming immediately to mind – but in the early 2000s it was kind of this goth rock, metal-with-hooks deal. I don’t know, I hear some of that in your choruses, I would say.
Matthew: Yes, I’m gonna start saying that whenever someone asks that question again.
I mean, especially now, we live in a genre-less time, which is kind of beautiful because – I mean, I don’t want to speak for you – but I feel like there’s less pressure to fit in a specific box and you can just make the music that immediately sounds cool. And I think it’s harder to define that way? But it just means each band has their own sound that’s super confident. And I think that’s a really beautiful thing.
Matthew: I couldn’t agree more. Yeah, and we don’t think about that when a song comes out. You know, the song kind of happens and comes out. Which is cool.
That’s awesome. Would you say that you have any big influences at all?
Matthew: Oh, yeah, I’m sure. I mean, I know for a fact – I can’t speak for everybody – but very early influences for me were more along the lines of a Jack White. And when I was like 12 years old, I was obsessed with him and The White Stripes and stuff. That’s me personally, and then as I played music more and stuff, I had a huge Radiohead phase that influenced me pretty greatly. And then I’m not sure if anyone else in here wants to say an influence or two. No? I think I’m capturing some good sentiment here.
Chantel: As for me – Hi! For me, it’s definitely like what you were saying about the early 2000s, like, post-rock bands were a huge influence for me. So I think I’ve adopted a lot of, I guess, those vocal styles without really necessarily meaning to, but more modern influences would be like Perfume Genius. And some, let’s see, Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle are a couple of artists that I’ve really connected to. But yeah, I mean, you hit the nail on the head. It’s a lot of, I think, we all are really influenced by whatever we were listening to when we were teenagers [laughs].
Absolutely. So to switch gears a little bit, you guys are going on a European tour later this year. Tell me a bit about that and what you guys are looking forward to when touring Europe.
Matthew: Man, I think every single part of it is just really exciting and it’s just new. It’s something we’ve never done before. A lot of unknowns, which is scary and exciting at the same time. Jonny is an example. He’s toured Europe in different bands. He’s done a lot of international touring in different bands. So he’s done it but I don’t think the rest of us have. Maybe William’s gone once or twice.
So yeah, we’re extremely excited for the opportunity. The agency that we’re working with, they’re called Rola Music. They’re just the loveliest humans. Our booker’s name is Rocco, and then the owner is named Dominic. He lives in Portland half the time and then Vienna, Austria part time. What’s cool is they work with a lot of Pacific Northwest bands. So, like, MAITA from Portland has gone to Europe with them as one example and there’s other examples. So yeah, we’re just really excited for the opportunity.
That’s awesome. So, to move on to more recently, your EP ‘beautiful things disappoint’ just came out. It’s incredible. I loved it. And to my ear, it sounds a bit more indie rock, a bit more with what I was talking about earlier: bigger hooks than ‘the shadow in me.’ And I was wondering if you guys could talk about that, especially how it fits into your artistic evolution moving forward. And I think that you guys also said it was the first time you’ve all been able to record with the full band in the studio, if you could expand a bit on that.
Matthew: Yeah, and then feel free to jump in, anyone else in the band, too. So, yeah, it’s the first time the folks I mentioned earlier, all of us got together and came up with, you know, we had demos, but then everyone came up with their own parts and was really able to make the song their own. And so if there’s any change in the music, I would attribute a lot of it to that. Where it’s like everyone got to put their individuality into it versus, like, ‘the shadow in me’ was written and recorded, and then we were playing what was there, you know? And then we worked with a new producer. This time it’s Andy D. Park. Another just superhuman, very talented individual. His discography speaks for itself. He was instrumental in this as well, he came to rehearsals with us and worked on the songs with us together, like, truly helped us shape them.
Yeah, I think those two things combined and then, like, all of us, again, as mentioned earlier: all really good friends in a studio environment for the first time – something’s gonna happen. There’s some magic to that.
That’s awesome. I was gonna ask – this might be more of a question for Chantel – but what are the lyrical themes behind this EP?
Chantel: Oh, man. Depressing [laughs]. There’s a lot of themes of loneliness. And I think what was cool about the EP is that they’re songs that were co-writes between Matthew and I, which is a first for us. We have different reasons for having felt this way throughout our lives, but both having various childhood and young adulthood and even current things we’ve been going through, just that theme of loneliness really came up and ended up being a bit of a goldmine for creating new music. So that’s the main theme.
There are obviously many other elements, like in ‘the monster,’ for example, I was reading ‘Slaughterhouse-Five.’ And I was rereading ‘Slaughterhouse-Five,’ and there’s this concept in that book that’s about – I don’t know if you’re familiar with it – but any time in the book, any time death is mentioned, which is mentioned a lot, he follows it up with this phrase: ‘so it goes.’ And basically it’s like, ‘it is dead, and we move on.’ And that became something that I ended up really anchoring to in that song. Just that idea of life and death and moving forward, accepting it. You know, all aspects of life and grief in transitional times in your life and friendships and family dynamics. So, I don’t know, not incredibly specific, but I would say those are some of the biggest themes in the EP.
To build on that a little bit, what’s the story behind the title for that EP? Because ‘beautiful things disappoint’ is such an interesting choice there.
Chantel: Oh, I’m glad you like it. That we pulled a lyric from ‘the monster,’ actually. So that song in particular, in my family, there have been a lot of changes, and then I’m speaking about somebody in particular in that song and the falling out with them. And that line comes from the verse, let’s see: ‘Burn me down like I’m a house where all your beautiful things disappoint.’
And that was just about my relationship with them and sort of a presentation of having everything together where there was such a deep sadness to it in that person. And that really manifested in my relationship with them. So, again, not very specific, but that’s where it comes from. I’m trying to be a little bit cryptic. I don’t necessarily want to air everything else. But yeah, we thought that line was interesting as well.
To move on, still talking about vocals a little bit, I noticed across a lot of your songs, especially on this EP, there’s kind of this – I don’t know how to exactly describe it – this kind of fast, wobbling tremolo effect on the vocals that you guys use a lot. And it’s just really cool and I haven’t heard a lot of other bands use that. I was just wondering how you guys came across that and decided to use it in your music.
Chantel: Do you mean musically or vocally?
It kind of sounds like a processing effect to me. I don’t know – I don’t think I should try to emulate it on the phone [laughs].
Chantel: If you’re talking about vocally, that’s just the way my voice is. Working with our producer Andy was really transformative. With that, I mean, it’s present on our LP as well, but he really encouraged me to just lean into the weirdness of my voice. He was like, ‘Stop trying to think pretty, just get weird with it.’ And that’s the thing that my voice does. And so I definitely it’s more present in the EP.
That’s awesome. I mean, it stands out in a very positive way. To keep talking about things like that, what drew me into your music was the guitar tones. They’re just so dark, and intriguing, and massive and I just love it. So, when you guys are building and dialing in your tone for a new song – I know that’s a very abstract question – but how do you guys focus on finding that right tone and settling in on a sound?
Matthew: Matt, I want to put you on the spot to answer the phone.
Chantel: He’s driving!
Matthew: He’s driving, but the tones are too good to pass up! [laughs] Let’s see. I mean, I know something that Matt and I share is an unreasonable obsession with our guitar tones. We focus on it, probably an extreme amount. Probably to a fault. Probably can’t hear the differences anymore, but I swear I do.
So, I don’t know. At least for me, I try to find things that I think are interesting, you know, find combinations of things that I think are interesting and then it’s always on. My pedal board doesn’t change very often. But when it does, I change most of it, if that makes sense. And then just find a combination of things, just through messing around with all of it together. That I just really enjoy. And so I have like maybe two, two or three different tones as an example of like a live setting. And most of the things are just always on. And I don’t know, It’s mostly just how it makes me feel, I guess. Man, it sounds cheesy.
Matt: I don’t know, I think guitar tones for me are mostly about just finding a basic killer sound that works for everything and sounds good all the time. And then just complimenting the song and the part. I find myself just kind of hearing something that seems like it’ll sound cool in my head and then I’ll go try to figure it out. Like that’s mostly what we did on the EP, stuff that complements each other. I think it worked out pretty well.
To switch gears here again, you guys are on your way to perform at the WOW Hall in Eugene. What brings you guys out here to this corner of Oregon, and have you performed in the area before?
Matthew: We love Eugene – we’ve played in Eugene how many times… four or five. We go every year. One year we went twice – is this four? [laughs] We’ve just had such a good time. Every single time has been a really positive experience.
We’ve had such a good experience every single time. We played with, until today’s show, we played with a band called Mommy every single time because we just love them so much, like, we’re band friends, band brothers, band sisters, band siblings? We’re just such a huge fan of them and their music and they’re such good people that we play with them every time. Anytime we’re thinking of playing in Eugene, some one of us asks, ‘Are we gonna play with Mommy?’ And then yeah, every show has just been so fun.
Chantel: We played with Grrl Band.
Matthew: Yeah, we played with Grrl Band last time.
I don’t know, the scene is really supportive of itself and each other, and the musicians are very talented. Everyone at the venues is kind and it’s just a good, strong music scene and we love it and we love being a part of it.
Chantel: Yeah, WOW Hall is one of my favorite stages to play. I think we ended a tour there last time and it was just one of the most fun shows and such a fun way to end the tour. Great sounds, great stage, great people.
That’s great. And I have to ask because our main reader base is in the Corvallis/Albany area. Is there any chance that you guys will be coming over there sometime?
Matthew: I think we can make that happen. Where should we go whenever we play there?
I’m not the most familiar with the stages in that area… They put on these summer concerts at Monteith Riverpark in Albany, and that’s a great stage and it’s a good time. So maybe next summer, you know?
Matthew: Heck yeah.
So, what can readers expect from a MARBLE live show if they’ve never been?
Chantel: We’re all pretty theatrical. We really try to get people into a bit of a trance. We have a full live show that TJ plays with his feet. He has, like, a MIDI controller. And he is just stomping this MIDI controller to make this really cool live show. So we have that on tour with us, which I think just adds that extra something to really make the experience complete. And yeah, I mean, I’d say it kind of depends on the night. Sometimes we get a little bit doomier with it. It really depends on the crowd, depends on the night, but I don’t know, come out and find out [laughs].
Matthew: I’d say trance is a good word. Dynamics are really important to us. So, big parts are huge and small parts are not. There’s a lot of feeling and emotion in it.
Chantel: We have a little fun too…
Matthew: And we have fun, and yeah – come out and find out!
So, we’re wrapping up here, but one question that I always like to ask bands is: What’s the story behind the band name?
Chantel: Oh, it’s really not that interesting. We kind of named it after, or it was inspired, by the first song that I wrote that I actually felt was the first song that actually represented the kind of music that I wanted to make. You know, in the beginning you’re just really learning your instrument. I don’t know, everything I was writing in the beginning was just not quite – I didn’t have the skill to get it across [laughs]. And ‘marble’ was really the first song that stuck, that felt like ‘Okay, this is actually representing me and this doesn’t feel like I’m just writing a song.’ So, anyways, that’s the name of the song, ‘marble’… yeah, sorry – so we have a song, ‘marble,’ and then we named the band after that.
That’s great. Before we go, is there anything else that you guys would like to add?
Matthew: Are we gonna get to meet you in person at some point? High five you and stuff?
I’d love to. I can’t make the show this evening, but you guys are definitely on my list to come and see at some point, 100 percent.
Matthew: Can we count on a high five when we do meet one day?
Oh, for sure.
Matthew: Cool.
MARBLE (touring with Valleyheart) plays next on July 24 at The Knockout in San Francisco. You can follow MARBLE on Instagram here.
