Later this month California Instrumental Post-Rock quartet The Ambient Light release the Deluxe Edition of their debut album – ‘Nostalgia Trip.’ With swooning guitars and moving arrangements, The Ambient Light have produced a compelling record which has been compared to the likes of This Will Destroy You, Caspian and Explosions in the Sky. On top of that their confident approach sees them subtly use elements of pop and even disco, giving the bands sound extra depth and texture.
We caught up with Steven Martinez from The Ambient Light as he described his diverse fantasy festival line-up, which cheesy Euro-Pop one-hit wonder he wish he’d written, which he’d Beatle he’d like to play with and more.
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If I could re-record one song it would be…
Steven Martinez: ‘Thanks for the Lift’ I would of added more layers of instruments. On the existing recording we went all out. There’s real violin, we bowed a bass guitar, and there is even some sort of frog instrument in there. I recently bought a cello and would have loved to hear that in the song.
If I could re-live one tour/show it would be…
Steven: In June of 2012 we played the Telemagica music festival. It was an awesome experience. We got to play to the open desert. We caught some very interesting acts and later in the night we all got lost in the desert. We wandered about and the highlight of the evening was running into a Mr. Eugene Dolphin. He was an astronomer that was outside with a very expensive telescope. The first thing he said to us was “Hey, do you guys want to see Saturn” so we did, and it was awesome!
If I had the chance to play one venue it would be…
Steven: The Greek Theatre. There is something about playing outdoors that seems to be very fitting to the kind of music we play. That venue is beautiful too. The first time I went there was to see Thrice, The Get Up Kids, & Dashboard Confessional in 2004.
<a href=“http://theambientlight.bandcamp.com/album/nostalgia-trip” data-mce-href=“http://theambientlight.bandcamp.com/album/nostalgia-trip”>Nostalgia Trip by The Ambient Light</a>
If I could play with one band it would be…
Steven: Our drummer Tree yelled out “JOY DIVISION!”
If I could play with any person living or dead it would be…
Steven: George Harrison.
If I could bring back any band that have split up, it would be…
Steven: Another album from As Tall as Lions would have been nice.
If I wasn’t playing music, I would be…
Steven: …useless.
If I could play a different genre it would be…
Steven: We try to add all influences of genre in our music. We don’t really like to limit ourselves. Our new songs were written with influences of trip hop, folk, & psychedelic music.
If I could have written any song it would be…
Steven: ‘Blue’ by Eiffel 65!
If I could have written any album it would be…
Steven: ‘Enema of the State’ by Blink 182. That album defined a generation and it means just as much to me now as it did back then.
If I could headline any festival, it would be…
Steven: Coachella. Mainly for the elaborate stage visuals & decor
If I could organise my own festival, the bands playing would be…
Steven: blink 182, Tame Impala, M Ward, Fionn Regan, Teebs, Flying Lotus, Sonic Youth, The Strokes, DIIV, The Early November, Senses Fail, Explosions in the Sky……. Geeze, this list could go on forever.
If I could play any other instrument, it would be…
Steven: There aren’t enough Didgeridoo players out there.
If I could give one piece of advice to a new band, it would be…
Steven: Above all else, have great songs. Too many bands these days have a Facebook, promo photos, play shows, and they haven’t even recorded any music yet.
‘Nostalgia Trip’ (Deluxe Edition) by The Ambient Light is released on 31st May.
The Ambient Light links: Official Website|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp