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Purposeful Dissonance: Opin’s Media & Memory

Robin Schwartzkopf | October 9, 2020

Topics: Egghunt Records, electronic, experimental, Jon Hawkins, landis wine, media and memory, music, Opin, richmond va bands, Spacebomb studios, Tori Hovater, WarHen Records

On their latest album, Opin trades in a traditional lineup for a fresh approach, in which every member can play every instrument. 

After their 2017 debut album and an EP the following year, Opin is back with an experimental, electronic sound journey perfectly suited to a year of oddity and struggles. The band’s new album, Media & Memory, drops Oct. 23, and will be accompanied by a remix album.

A broken wrist and unfamiliar instruments — not to mention a pandemic and months of lockdown — might not sound like a recipe for success for a band recording their sophomore album. But for Opin, the Richmond-based trio made up of Jon Hawkins, Tori Hovater, and Landis Wine, the project was an experimental journey years in the making. 

PHOTO: Opin by Warren Parker

The new record, Media & Memory, comes three years after the band’s debut self-titled album, but a lot has changed since the first album’s release. After releasing their first LP with Egghunt Records, Media & Memory arrives via WarHen Records at the end of the month. The new album is the result of more experimentation in writing and production than the band’s previous projects. 

“I feel like we hit our stride with this record, because about 90 percent of it was written with three of us in a room,” Hovater said. “Jamming, picking apart ideas, and playing things over and over again, deciding what we did and didn’t like.” 

While their first album had more of a piecemeal recording process — band members and producers sent bits of material back and forth, from city to city — Media & Memory represented a chance to work together and build the album’s sound from the ground up. 

“We were unlearning what we had to do, and figuring out what we wanted to do,” Wine said. “It sounded more focused, more like a band, and like less like a group of people trying to duplicate the sound of a record.” 

“We all realized we were into the same sound and going for the same thing,” Hovater added. “Rather than ‘this person wrote this song, this person wrote this song,’ we were all able to see it playing in a room together. We gave immediate feedback on each other’s ideas and built on things.” 

With more time to work together, the band was able to try out new instruments. They also took advantage of the group dynamic to learn different techniques. Wine picked up a Bass VI guitar, and Hovater built her keyboard and digital synthesizer expertise. As they discussed how they traded instruments during the recording process, Hovater and Wine bounced answers off each other with a similar ease and excitement. 

“I think our gear and hitting our stride in a collaborative writing process are very intertwined,” Hovater said. “If you asked us two years ago who our bassist was, we would say Jon.” 

Wine added that Hawkins had never played keyboards before joining Opin. 

“Now, anybody could be bassist, anybody could be playing the hook,” Hovater said. “Between us, we all trade parts around and we’ve all written different parts. It’s really cool, because A) We don’t get bored since we don’t do the same thing all the time, and B) It keeps things interesting. It’s a fun way to use our gear to play any part at any time.” 

Although Wine injured his wrist in the middle of recording Media & Memory, the band didn’t go on hiatus. Instead, a few songs were dropped, some were rewritten, and two tracks were added to the final project. 

“That was dumb as hell,” Wine laughed. “But I was determined. I was like, ‘We’re gonna do this.’” 

A tight record at nine tracks, Media & Memory still has room for a lot of experimentation — and even more character. With so many different ideas, the songs are a cohesive listen with what Hovater calls “a purposeful dissonance.” 

“We have a lot of fun. We have major stuff going on, minor stuff going on, and lines that maybe don’t seem like they should fit… but they lock in with everything,” Hovater said. “If I listen to a part someone is writing, the last thing in the world I want to write is a complementary part that you’d expect to hear.” 

“The more we played together in a controlled environment — and just got used to doing that over and over — we developed our own way of interacting with one another,” Wine added. “Thematically, [the album] develops its own mood after a while.” 

PHOTO: Opin by Warren Parker

The band gathered at Spacebomb Studios to record the album live. It didn’t leave much room for error, but tracks with the relentless spirit of Media & Memory. 

“This record is gnarlier, dirtier, spookier, and more cinematic than what we have done before,” Hovater said. 

After two years of work and facing both personal and global struggles, Opin’s newest release is a small bright spot in a mess of a year. The trials Media & Memory faced during its journey to completion are evidenced in the raw artistry found in each song, and the sprawling creativity of the album in its entirety. 

Find Opin on Facebook and Instagram, and stream their music on Bandcamp. 

Top Photo: Opin by Monica Escamilla

Former White Laces members Tori Hovater and Landis Wine talk band split, debut of Opin, & Hardywood show Saturday

Amy David | January 31, 2017

Topics: landis wine, Opin, RVA, rva music, White Laces

“I think we had a pretty solid run, I never felt like our records got bad, and that’s all you want. We did four records in five years…which is pretty good. It’s what you want out of a band,” said Landis Wine, former White Laces vocalist/guitarist as he sipped coffee on a recent afternoon at Patrick Henry Pub.

When beloved RVA rock/electronic group White Laces announced in November that their time of entertaining crowds with their loud, eclectic sound had come to an end, it sent a shock through the local music scene.

For the last six years, Richmond music lovers watched White Laces grow and evolve their sound from loud fuzzy shoegaze to electronic to most recently a poppy vibe through four albums and when the announcement came via Facebook just three months after the band dropped their fourth record, No Floor, fans were left with a hole in their hearts. RVA Magazine contributor and member of Clair Morgan Shannon Cleary even published a tribute to White Laces on his Tumblr page which you can check out here.

White Laces

Luckily, for fans of their music, out of the ashes of White Laces, former members Tori Hovater (vocalist/piano) and Wine have decided to push forward with a new project, one that’s completely different from anything the band has done before.

For the last year, the two have been toiling away on new material to form a new band called Opin under the Egghunt Records label, the same label White Laces was on. They’ve parted with previous White Laces members, Jimmy Held and Jay Ward, but added fellow RVA musicians Ethan Johnstone of Night Idea on drums and Jon Hawkins of Navi.

Opin will make their debut at Hardywood this weekend with an album to follow in March.
The new band actually began to take shape after White Laces had put out their last record, No Floor, and were in between touring.

Photo credit: Craig Zirpolo

“It was an accidental hiatus,” Hovater said. “No Floor was done for such a long time before we put it out we were just kind of sitting on it waiting for all the details to line up.”

Hovater said the band initially ended to release it as tour material between albums to bring on their summer tour, but ended up bringing it on their tour this past fall.

“The amount of time it took to get that record out was an indicator.”

After they finished the last show on their recent tour, Wine said he pretty much knew it was the final chapter in White Laces’ book.

Photo credit: Craig Zirpolo

“It was good hanging out with everybody and it was a fun time in a lot of ways, but then when we were done, Jimmy sent us a text and was like hey, I think those are the last shows I’m going to play with the band, and we were just like, ‘alright,” said Wine. “I think we were all on the same page.”

The band didn’t have a sit down either to talk about if they should continue or call it quits.
“I think we all just knew. There was never any discussion,” Hovater said. “That last tour it seemed liked the natural order of things. Our last show was really fun. I feel like we kind of left on a high note.”

Held and Ward have gone on to pursue other musical ventures as well. Held is playing drums in Bad Magic (Julie Karr, Tim Falen) and both Held and Ward are collaborating on another project together.

Wine and Hovater started working on a series of demos around December 2015 and by February, the duo began recording around various studios and spaces for what would become Opin’s debut self-titled album.

“We picked what fit and what made sense,” Wine said. “Bit by bit we’d go to (now shuttered) Garbers, our practice space, and record some horn parts, record guitar parts. We would do other studio dates here and there.”

Heading to Philadelphia, the two went back to their longtime producer Jeff Zeigler, who also worked on No Floor and Trance, to record parts of the album at Uniform Recording as well as tracked drums with Chris Ward (St. Vincent).

The duo also recorded different parts of the album at Hovater’s house, Sound of Music Studios, The Richmond Ballet, and the University of Richmond.

“We went the Richmond Ballet with Dave Watkins and recorded some sax parts down there,” Wine said. “We went to the University of Richmond to their Indonesian instruments department and they have an entire set of gamelan stuff and we improvised some stuff.”

The coolest part about Opin is Wine and Hovater recruited a cadre of local musicians to add their talents to the album. Lindsey Spurrier of Hot Dolphin provided some background vocals, Dash Lewis of Gardener on modular synthesizer, No BS! Brass Band’s David Hood added saxophones on the record, and Hannah Staniford of the gamelan ensemble Rumput is also featured.

And the duo said having this hodgepodge of Richmond musicians piece-meal the album together was really fun.

“You could add something like that it was really exciting and you’ve got pretty much a band that doesn’t exist, but it sounds good because these people can play off each other,” Wine said. “A lot of what I tried to do is when we would bring people in, I would say ‘hey, play whatever you want and I’ll cut it up later and make it into whatever fits the song.”

Opin wrapped up their 10-track album in June and had it mastered in New York with Joe LaPorta (David Bowie’s Black Star, Young Thug, Run the Jewels).

Hawkins and Johnstone aren’t featured on Opin’s debut record, but will be playing the music at the live shows.

Opin, Photo credit: Michael Anthony

Describing their new sound, the two said they aren’t placing their sound into one particular genre.

“It’s definitely upbeat, it’s meant to be catchy and fun, but there’s also some twists and turns,” Hovater said. “It varies from one track to another.”

Wine said there are some elements of hip hop, and samples from YouTube and other sound engines that he downloaded.

“White Laces was very much a rigid rock band and I wanted to push away from that,” he said. “The rhythms are funkier and groove-based.”

But for fans of White Laces’ music, don’t worry there are still some elements that crept into this record.

“I think it draws from the more pop aspects of White Laces, it takes the catchy melodies that we had going on and putting them in a different setting,” Hovater said.

Opin will play on Time is Tight on WRIR tonight but the first official Richmond show will be held at Hardywood Saturday the 28th followed by the album release on March 24th.

Once they play their debut show, Wine said Opin will hit the road to spread the word on the new band.

“I’m really excited to use the record as a spring-board to get out there,” he said.

Words by Amy David. Top image credit: Samuel Dixon

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 2/17-2/23

Marilyn Drew Necci | February 18, 2016

Topics: Antelope King, Big No, BLK LLC, Brief Lives, Chris Bernstorf, Circle Thrift, Clair Morgan, Comrades, Dr. Millionaire, Farma Wes, gallery 5, Gemtone, Geometers, Ghastly City Sleep, Glass Twin, Gull, Hardywood, Ishmael, landis wine, Manzara, Ms. Proper, Naked Pictures, People's Temple Project, Plain Scrap, Ruckzuck, Segga Spiccoli, shows you must see, Sleeper Wave, strange matter, Tennison, The Blue Sky Disaster, The Camel, The Cheats Movement, Tigerwine, Truman, Ultra Flake, Uncle Drunk, Van Hagar

FEATURE SHOW
Friday, February 19, 8 PM
People’s Temple Project, Sleeper Wave, Van Hagar, Truman @ Circle Thrift – $3-5 suggested donation

[NOTE: Late this week, for the second time in this column’s two-year, 100+ episode existence. What can I tell ya? Life gets in the way sometimes. Hope you didn’t sit home bored last night! Here’s the rest of the week, and we’ll be on time next Wednesday, I promise. –Drew]
Swamp Fest was not a fluke!
[Read more…] about RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 2/17-2/23

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 12/31-1/5

Marilyn Drew Necci | December 30, 2015

Topics: 25 Watt, Angel Dust, Asylum, Belligerent, California Death, Camp Howard, Caterpillar Trap, Cherry Pits, Cold Beaches, en su boca, Endyear, Fat Spirit, Forced Order, Freedom, gallery 5, gwar, HANA ACBD, Hard Stripes, Hardywood, Kepone, Lady God, landis wine, Lucy Dacus, Mocoso, Moonlight Beach Club, Mueco, Night Shank, Occultist, RHDP, Rocket Queen, Seawhores, shows you must see, strange matter, The Mad Extras, The National, Van Hagar, We Never, Worse Curses

FEATURE SHOW
Thursday, December 31, 7 PM
GWAR, Kepone, Occultist, Rocket Queen @ The National – $30 in advance/$35 day of show (order tickets HERE)

That week between Christmas and New Year’s Day just feels like a temporal wasteland, doesn’t it?
[Read more…] about RVA Shows You Must See This Week: 12/31-1/5

Is Playing SXSW Worth it For A Richmond Band?

Brad Kutner | February 24, 2014

Topics: dave brokie, gwar, landis wine, South by South West, SXSW, the head and the heart, tony foresta, tyler williams, White Laces

South by Southwest (SXSW), the multi-day music, film, and culture festival based in Austin, TX, is in its 17th year, and it keeps growing.
[Read more…] about Is Playing SXSW Worth it For A Richmond Band?

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