Young bandmates get back in the groove
By Sarah Ford
The members of Bay Area rock band Aquamarine may have their roots in Sonoma, but they increasingly have their sights set on more distant horizons, both geographically and musically. Though only in their late-teens/early-twenties, Ben Koler, Aaron Marcus-Willers, and Tyler Meloan have been playing music together for nearly 10 years, and already have three EP albums of professionally recorded original songs under their belts. And as of July, they’ve completed their first full-album of songs, “Scuba Jive,” to be released both online and with a vinyl edition.
Even around busy schedules of college, summer jobs, and Marcus-Willers spending a gap-year in China, the trio managed, through the magic of technology, to compose and refine eight new songs. With traded audio clips and live FaceTime sessions between Sonoma and China, the musical works gradually began to take shape.
“Given the 15-hour time difference,” says Marcus-Willers, “I was usually only able to talk with Tyler and Ben during 30-minute breaks between my classes in China, and using the spotty WiFi at the school. So it was definitely a challenge for us creatively.”
Ultimately, the long period of separation made it all the more exciting for the group to reunite and finalize/rehearse the new songs. “In many ways, we picked-up right where we left off last summer,” says Meloan. “We’re all really proud of the results,” adds Koler.
Then it was off to the studio. Beginning with last summer’s release of the band’s “Bluesberry Jam” EP, the trio sought to get back to the music that first inspired them—groups like The Beatles, Cream, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Pink Floyd, and The Band. For that reason, they began recording last year at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, known for having vintage instruments like a Wurlitzer electric piano and Hammond B3 organ.
“We wanted a studio that understood the sound and the feel we were looking for,” said Marcus-Willers. The group was also fortunate to find Ryan “Rings” Ellery—a producer of name indie recording groups. “This is our fourth album working with Rings,” says Meloan, ”and we’ve been really lucky, in that he’s evolved down similar musical paths with us.”
“He always gets whatever we’re trying to do,” notes Koler.
In an era of playlists and online streaming of individual songs, the group wanted these new recordings to have a cohesive “album” feel. But even within that thematic goal, there is still great musical diversity to the new cuts, with driving shades of electric Neil Young, 60s psychedelia, jazz-rock influences, acoustic hints of CSN’s Laurel Canyon period, and multi-part vocal harmonies—but always with dreamy, ethereal words and melodies weaving beneath the surface.
The songs also include the rock-saxophone stylings of Thomas Narveson (a music-studies college classmate of Koler), and even the Theremin (played by Ellery), a musical device famously heard on the Beach Boys’ 60s hit, “Good Vibrations.” And for the album’s cover, they’ve enlisted Bay Area artist Roy G. Biv—known for taking surreal, hand-drawn, 60s-inspired poster imagery in totally new directions.
With Marcus-Willers soon off to college in the fall at NYU/Abu Dhabi, and Meloan and Koler continuing at Santa Rosa JC, their musical collaborations will once again have to go mobile and online. But there is already talk of a possible summer 2019 California tour, to see how the new songs translate with a live audience. Stay tuned!
To hear Aquamarine’s “Scuba Jive” album, go to: https://aquamarineband.bandcamp.com/releases
