Stiletto Feels
Album: Push Back
Release Date: 2020
USA
Stiletto Feels was founded as an experimental project in 2015. Austin-based musician Geoff Earle booked recording sessions with multiple studio players who would improvise over demo tracks after a single listen. The pieces were then collaged together over a few short months at multiple studio locations... [Read more: Nine Mile Touring]
Geoff Earle talks about That’s Gonna Leave A Mark
Just before the pandemic hit I had been working on a drum riff from the studio that our drummer Aaron Perez had laid down. After it became apparent that all of life had been canceled, I decided I wanted to take some time to write new music from home.
I didn’t at first intend to write a song during quarantine, about quarantine, but I guess that’s just what came out. I had that initial drum beat and everything else in the track I recorded at the house, including my old upright piano, and of course all the vocals.
Early on everyone seemed to have their own little take on what was going on, and what the downsides and upsides were to the whole thing. I’m not sure what I believed at the time, but I knew for sure that the effects would be long-lasting and shitty… hence the lyrics in the chorus.
After tracking and mixing the song I thought it would be nice to do a video. Then again, much like the track itself, the video would have to be done completely solo thanks to quarantine. I realized in May that the traffic in Austin (usually bumper to bumper all day long) was all of a sudden non-existent. I got myself a tripod for an iPhone and started filming myself singing (in slo-mo speeds) with the backdrop of Austin highways, conspicuously uncongested.
Something we all needed at the time I’d say. I wanted to capture that feeling of life moving at a glacial pace, which I believe many of us felt in the first few months of quarantine.
Geoff on That’s Gonna Leave A Mark
After filming a few different shots, the George Floyd killing happened, and there were riots all over town. I went to the steps of the capitol the day after the first riot and did the same thing but this time with the backdrop of the freshly graffitied capitol steps.
As I was filming, a city crew actually came by and starting spraying a solvent on the graffiti. It was all removed by the end of the day. Seemed like something important to capture. The technique itself used to create that slo-mo effect was something I’d been thinking about for a while. I sped the track up by 2.5x and listened to it via Bluetooth headphones.
Then I lipsynced and would leave the iPhone rolling for a while after I was done. I’d use the background footage at 4x speed, and my performance footage at 250% slower. Then I masked myself out of the performance footage and onto the background footage. Again, I had to figure all of that out and edit it solo during quarantine, but it gave me a way to pass the time in a non-neurotic way. Something we all needed at the time I’d say. I wanted to capture that feeling of life moving at a glacial pace, which I believe many of us felt in the first few months of quarantine.
Lyrics: That's Gonna Leave A Mark
When I was young I fell down and hurt my knee
My dear mom kissed it and made it better for me
Now we’ve lost everything that binds us all together
And there’s no one on earth who can make it better
Ooh that’s gonna leave a mark
Ooh that’s gonna leave a mark
All those things that I used to think were so important
All those problems I was so convinced I had
Look how quickly they disappear just like they were never really here
once we find ourselves deep in the aftermath
Ooh that’s gonna leave a mark
Ooh that’s gonna leave a mark
Is it me or did everything just get dark
Ooh that’s gonna leave a mark
Tracklist: Push Back
1. “Perfect”
2. “I Wanna Break It”
3. “Outside with the Groovebox”
4. “Feel Special”
5. “Plug Me In”
6. “Kill“
7. “At Home with the Piano“
8. “That’s Gonna Leave A Mark“
9. “Things Will Work Out”
10. “Do You Remember How Perfect It Was”
Get social w/Stiletto Feels
