We are happy to exclusively premiere the brand new single from The Folks Around Town, ‘Alligator Swamp (Underdressed)’. The song is the lead single for their upcoming full length album, Sun & Gloom, out September 25th. 

We had a chance to catch up with singer-songwriter Rushi Panchal for a quick interview about the release and everything else going on. Check out the song and interview below!

REFRAIN MUSIC BLOG: Congrats on Alligator Swamp coming out today! What can you tell us about it?

RUSHI PANCHAL: Alligator Swamp was a really fun and interesting experiment for us. It started with me trying to learn how to play and write music with more groove. At the start, the song was a lot of simple disco drum loops with the focus on the bass. I sent the music to Theja, he messed around with it, added cool parts and arrangements, sent it back and I wrote the lyrics and melody. We were pushing ourselves to shy away from our natural impulses and I think it really paid off. For this new record, we saved up money to hire a real drummer to play on the songs instead of programming the beats on some drummer software and that addition took the songs to a whole new level. For Alligator Swamp specifically, it turned it from this very tight and straightforward pop song to something a bit more loose and organic sounding – it added a heavy dose of life to the song and I think it works really well. Our last record was so “on the grid” that we were actively trying to keep things loose on this one. 

I’m not going to speak about the lyrics too much because I don’t want to influence anyone else’s interpretation of them. I will say that I made active efforts to address things in a more absurd way. I read an interview with Matt Berninger of The National and he quoted a friend who said “a song has to be 20% stupid otherwise its irritating” and I really took that to heart. Hence, an alligator yearning for Gucci fur coats in a swamp.

RMB: The Folks Around Town is essentially a solo act, right? 

RP: I started the band in 2013 as a studio project after a series of bands I tried to get off the ground fell through. I was a college student in Cincinnati, Ohio and just wanted to play music. I decided to just invite friends and fellow musicians in to play whatever they wanted if they were up for it. That ended up working really well. Some time in 2016 or 2017, I met Theja while we were in grad school in Canada. He played bass and produced for this cool Indian fusion band back in India. We hit it off pretty quickly and he became part of the band. We lived together for most of grad school so our method of relaxing was either bringing tv shows and movies or playing music. I’d say we became a proper band after he joined the group. My really good friend and high school bandmate Quentin Topper (check out his project Fifth Kid on Spotify) also plays on a lot of our stuff. I’ll usually send him material I’m working on and if he’s into it, he’ll sing or play whatever he feels like playing. Our EP, Somerset, was also entirely written by him and I – so maybe not an official member (i think? I’ll have to ask him), he’s at least an essential part of the group. So you’ll hear his voice on a lot of our songs.  

RMB: What are you most proud of with the project so far? 

RP: What I’d say I’m most proud of as a band is definitely this most recent album. I think it’s our strongest effort to date with some awesome songs. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it. 

RMB: When making an album like yours, what’s one piece of gear you can’t live without?

RP: Its funny you ask this question because I’ve spent the better part of this year trying to downsize the gear I own and stick to only the fundamental things I need. For this record, we used only one guitar, one bass, one drum kit, one vocal mic – you get the idea. For our first record, there was so much time spent picking sounds and changing settings on the computer since your options are essentially infinite. This time around, I made a pretty active effort to use as little gear as possible and stick to just the basics. My Universal Audio Apollo Twin has really helped with that. I can record in a way that prints the effects onto the track i’m recording so there’s no going back and changing things. It forces me to just stick to the sounds I choose and not overthink it! 

RMB: What artists would you like to collaborate with?

RP: I would give anything to sit in a room and write with anyone or everyone from The National. They’ve each got such an incredible skill set. I think Matt Berninger’s lyrical abilities are just unmatched. I love the way that he plays with words and paints verbal pictures. It’s just unbelievable to me. Writing lyrics is my absolute favourite thing and it is my “shoot for the stars” goal to maybe write even one song that is on par with theirs. The Dessener twins have such an incredible ear for music too. They can compose a straightforward rock song or create lush environments like on their newer stuff. The Devendorf brothers as a rhythm section is insane too. The drum and bass sections play off of each other so well. That band is just perfect to me. I would give anything to work with someone in that band. 

RMB: What are you doing when you aren’t making music? 

RP: Outside of the band, I’m really into road cycling – tight lycra shorts, dorky jerseys and all. I love going on endurance rides and really pushing my body. Cycling really helps me clear my mind which ends up helping out with music too! Theja is really into building electronics. He’s always playing with circuits and wiring up this or that. 

RMB: Any causes close to your heart?

RP: Absolutely. I’d implore anyone reading this in the US to vote this November – find a safe way to exercise your democratic right and democratic responsibility. Elections matter, they have consequences and it is so important to use your voice to form the shape of the country. Get involved on the local level – know your mayors and local elected officials. There is an overpowering focus on the federal elections but local elections matter just as much! If you find that you have the means to, I would like to implore you to donate to the Black Lives Matter somehow. It could be a victim fund, a bail fund, or even to a political candidate who cares about and prioritizes equality. We are going to be donating 100% of the profits we make from this album from release date (9/25) to the end of the year to a BLM affiliated charity – we just need to find a way to set that up so that it is easy for our listeners and a transparent process. I predict it won’t be much because we’re not a large band and don’t make money from this endeavor but I want to make sure the few people listening to us know where we stand. 

RMB: Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview. Any parting words?

RP: I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who has spent any of their time on us. In a world where you have access to almost every song ever recorded at a moment’s notice, it mean a lot to us that you’ve spent time listening to our tiny band. We hope you like the single and look out for the second single which will be released on Sept. 18th, and the album which comes out on Sept. 25th! We’re really proud of this album and can’t wait for you to hear it. 

Outside of music, and more important than music – get involved in the political process and demand more from your government and government officials!