Montclair: Fog & Fun Facts
Ultra5280 sat down with Austin’s very own Montclair to talk about their new single, “I Scream, U Scream” after their set on day 2 of ACL.
Sitting in the press lounge were Casen, Jackson, Alec, Anna and Clay, wearing denim and sunglasses under the bright and very hot Austin sun. Having just played a set a few hours previous to speaking with them, we heard songs such as Hey Victoria, Pastel Lies and their newest, I Scream, U Scream.
Ultra: A little intro? Just your name and what you play just for people to know what you guys do.
Anna: I play bass and sing.
Clay: I’m Clay. I play guitar and I now sing.
Alec: My name’s Alec. I play keys and I do background singing and play shaker and tambourine on one song.
Ultra: Okay! Multi-faceted, nice.
Jackson: I’m Jackson. I play drums and I sing the absolute least, if at all. And I play the baritone guitar.
Casen: I’m Casen and I sing and play guitar and that’s it.
Ultra: So, we have the new single. When I first heard it, -I feel like this is going to sound cheesy but hopefully poetic- I felt like I was inside a fog machine and there was haze, obviously. But, when we get closer to the chorus and you guys harmonize so beautifully, it was like a beacon of light and I’m like ‘oh, I’m coming out of this fog machine’. So I want to know what it was like to make that song from its conception to when you pressed publish on the socials.
“watching all the pieces slowly fall into place”
Casen: Yeah, we wrote that song a long time ago with our friend Lainey Gonzalez; she’s another local Austin musician…It’s my favorite part about songwriting, especially with the band, is watching all the pieces slowly fall into place. And when the picture’s done at the end, it makes sense. And so, I think with I Scream, U Scream, what I really wanted for it was, you know, I think it’s the children’s rhyme. You know, we all scream for ice cream. I was worried it would come across as kind of, cheesy, you know? But I think what Anna did, the chorus that you were talking about, she pretty much came up with that. (To Anna:) I really like the way that you came in there on that chorus, and it became this very sweet- I think that’s exactly what it needed.
Anna: Thank you!
Ultra: Yeah, I was like, this is kind of niche and weird, but I can’t help how I feel. I love it.
Jackson: It’s great that you mentioned fog machine and all that because we did just put out a music video for I Scream, U Scream and my favorite scene in the whole thing is Clay stumbling in to do karaoke in an empty room by himself, covered in fog. So, there’s a little cinematic parallel there.
Ultra: So, I was in the crowd today and I come across a girl with a green bandana and it was Victoria! I was like ‘Guess what I’m doing today, I’m interviewing Montclair. Do you have a question for the band?’ She said she wants you guys to tell Ultra5280 a fun fact!’
Casen: Start with Anna, she’s the most fun.
Anna: I can tell Clay’s fun fact is that he can do a handstand and he does it often in the greenroom.
Ultra: Oh! When I was going through photo inspo, I was like ‘wait, this handstand photo looks really cool, we should do that.’
Anna: In that case, Alec can also do a head stand, and Jackson can do the worm.
Ultra: We’re doing gymnastics now guys.
Alec: Casen can do a backflip!
Ultra: Anna, what can you do?!
Anna: I can’t do any of those. I’ll just sit in the picture.
Casen: In this interview yesterday, - I can’t do a backflip - I said I could do a backflip and the interviewer was like ‘Oh, you’re going to Benson Boone it on the stage?” And then someone called me a Booner.
Ultra: Well, you know what, you might not be able to do a physical backflip but your vocal acrobatics are backflips at that, ok?!
Interview and Photography by Paola Miano for Ultra5280