Emerging from the luminescence of West Virginia’s Pink Moon Festival, Goldrush is ready to bask in the even warmer glow of their new EP,
Emerging from the luminescence of West Virginia’s Pink Moon Festival, Goldrush is ready to bask in the even warmer glow of their new EP, Summer Sun.
Band members Prabir Mehta, Treesa Gold, Matt Gold, and Will Thompson are eager to officially unveil the new songs this Friday evening at Gallery5. The new material is self-described by the band’s frontman as the collective’s most “normal” work to date.
“Normally, in Goldrush songs, when I write songs for this arrangement, I try to throw in all these wonky things,” said Prabir Mehta, vocalist and guitarist for the band. “Of these songs, for the most part, the only one that doesn’t fit in is the Skeptical Pisces one.”
“And, Leash!’” added Treesa.
“Yeah, and Assault…” chimed in Matt Gold, the band’s bassist.
“With Assault,” Mehta countered, “if you just take the middle section out…”
“If you take all the weird parts out of every song, they’re super normal,” Matt concluded.
The EP was recorded very expeditiously in April and May during five or six sessions at Scott’s Addition Sound, which contrasted with the lengthy, multi-studio journey that was required to record their previous effort, Greatest Hits.
“It didn’t sit in the closet very long,” said Treesa.
“Within a span of two or three weeks, we had the whole thing done,” added Mehta.
The band credits the quick and fruitful recording process to their sound engineer, Kevin Willoughby. The members spoke at length about what qualities make him the perfect person to record the band’s material.
“I wasn’t ever freaked out about recording it so quickly because if Kevin has his hand on it, I have complete and total faith in it. If he is involved, I have no stress. He has great ears and great taste,” said Treesa.
“Willoughby’s ears are akin to a musical chameleon. He can shift his understanding of [genres] very quickly. I think he hears what we want to hear as well,” added Mehta.
“I appreciated him being a cheerleader the whole time,” said drummer Will Thompson.
As far as the words and music that make up the new songs, Mehta drew a lot of inspiration from his time in the hospital following the senseless assault that befell him in August of last year.
Two men attacked Mehta near VCU’s Siegel Center while he was riding his bike with a close friend. It would be easy for Mehta to classify this record as a personal redemption after that terrible incident, but it’s clear he sees it as more of a musical tribute to those who reached out, expressed support, and kept him company during a vulnerable time.
“I was super grateful for that,” Prabir said, “It was of value to me to put something together that I thought I could stand behind and was a good way to say thanks to all of these people.”
If you’re familiar with Goldrush, you won’t be surprised to learn that the physical packaging for the Summer Sun EP is both unique and grounded in astronomy. The music will come on a USB drive, which itself will be housed within a handmade sundial, crafted by local artist Sara Gossett.
“That way, people can play with the sundial if they want. Maybe it will get them to think about our relationship to the sun in a physical sense,” Mehta postulated.
Live performances of the new material have been polished by short tours in venues around the American Midwest (special shout out to Parsons, Kansas!) as well as a rare out-of-state festival appearance at The Pink Moon Festival last weekend in Rock Camp, West Virginia.
Mehta described the festival as being like “if FloydFest hadn’t stopped dating at the age of 26 and just kept the party going.”
“Everyone was super-nice and extremely friendly. Everyone waved at each other. It was totally Mayberry,” Gold remembered.
They may be back within range of cellular service now, but the band is excited to take the stage at Gallery5 on Friday night to release the “Summer Sun” into the wild. The new EP, complete with sundial packaging, will be on sale for the first time.
Local artists Claire Morgan, Todd Matthews, and Miriam Martin will accompany Goldrush at the event that also marks the end of the DIRTY WORK DIRT DOGS gallery; an exhibition that highlights the work of contemporary artists Jimmy Joe Roche and Johnston Foster.
Admission is free, and doors open at 6:00pm with live music beginning at 8:00pm.
