WATERS
Cambria, California, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
You remember Port O'Brien, right? Good, because their lead singer, Van Pierszalowski, is releasing his debut solo record through City Slang (great record label, that) on September 12 under the name Waters. Like Roger. Or still ones, running deep. Or broken. Etc. Anyway, it's called Out In The Light AND we've got a premiere of one of the tracks taken from the record. The song in question is 'For The One' and can be listened to below. It's quite good, but what do you think?! - Drowned in Sound
Bay Area band Port O’Brien was a highly autobiographical, nautically inclined project (sample song titles: “Fisherman’s Son,” “Stuck On A Boat“) featuring a fisherman and his girlfriend at its core, swelling to a quintet in its prime. After three albums and various EPs, Port O’Brien is no more. After some time travel/living in various locations (Alaska, Oslo, San Fran, New York), the band’s lead singer/songwriter Van Pierszalowski returns with a new project called WATERS and the single “For The One” in advance of a new solo LP Out In The Light. He recorded it with a band “he found in Oslo,” but we’re told WATERS is entirely Van’s outlet. The name is revealing — still nautical, now stripped to its core element — and the material retains Van’s knack for scruffy and rambunctious, catchy melodies, but here with a high-gain college radio guitar and just one loud, rousing voice. - Stereogum
Van Pierszalowski, former lead singer of the recently broken-up Port O'Brien, now records under the moniker WATERS. Rather than the indie folk/pop Port O'Brien had become known for, in WATERS Van opts for a fuzzy '90s-lo-fi approach which can be heard above in the song "For the One." WATERS releases his debut LP Out In The Light on September 20 via TBD Records.
He's currently finishing up a tour in Europe with Wye Oak which he'll follow with three NYC dates. WATERS plays the Flavorpill/IROCKIROLL/The Bell House Northside showcase at Cameo Gallery on June 18 with Sean Bones, Neighbors, Zuzuka Poderosa, Young Adults, and Wojick. They also open for Deervana (aka Deer Tick as Nirvana) at their sold out Northside show at Brooklyn Bowl on June 19. WATERS then plays a headlining show at Mercury Lounge on June 21 with Exitmusic, Milagres, and Anni Rossi. Tickets are on sale.
- Brooklyn Vegan
Discography
Out in the Light out Sept 20 2011
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Spring 2010 saw the demise of Port O'Brien, and founding member/front man Van Pierszalowski needed a break from the hectic, wonderful mess that is touring. He stumbled into respite in Oslo, Norway, and spent some time away from making music. Van explored the new city, swam in the Norwegian fjords, enjoyed the weather and the experience of seasons changing. He found his bearings and fell in love again.
Inspiration arrived and as he wrote, Van was compelled to fuel the process further by changing his environment once more. He spent most of the next year traveling: to Alaska, where hed spent summers working on his fathers commercial salmon fishing boat; to California, where hed grown up in a seaside town off Highway 1; and eventually to New York, where in Brooklyn he endured relentless blizzards and a cold nearly reminiscent of Oslo.
Van gave his new project a name: WATERS. These new songs he wrote veered away from the frequently loose, punchy anthems of Port OBrien, and as he intensively pieced each one together, he sought a bigger sound something louder than he could play on his own. So Van returned to Oslo, where his new journey had begun. He put together a band of fine Norwegian gentlemen and spent every day of the next two months rehearsing in a small practice space outside of the city.
This band went with Van to Dallas, Texas, to record with producer John Congleton. Over a brief 10-day recording session in April, Congleton who has worked on some of Vans favorite albums (by artists including St. Vincent, Bill Callahan, and yes, R. Kelly) kept the production stark, maintaining the songs intimacy and emotional intensity. Out In The Light has a louder, fuller, more aggressive and raw sound than any of Vans earlier works. Its a mix of fuzzy, pealing guitars and crashing drums, and easy, alternately soaring and languid, indelible melodies.
According to Van, "The record is about waking up. It is about getting out of a situation that seems endless, and realizing you're not too old to make dramatic and sudden changes in your life. It is about starting over."
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