Getting to Know Early Eyes
Interview by Chelsea Tiso
Graphic by Emily Lantzy
Minnesotan pop-jazz band Early Eyes, consisting of Desmond Lawrence, Joe Villano, John O'Brien, Jake Berglove, and Wyatt Fuller, recently released their brand new single, “I’m Enough.” After releasing their jazz-infused and pop-inspired EPs Decorating and All Shades of Teal in 2018, Early Eyes took a little break from releasing music. In 2020, they came back under a new label with a fresh new song for you to sink your teeth into. I got the opportunity to interview Jake Berglove, the lead singer, to hear about Early Eyes’ process, inspirations and aspirations.
Congratulations on getting signed [to Epitaph Records]!
Thank you so much! We’re all very excited!
You’ve recently released your much anticipated single, “I’m Enough.” What went into formulating the musical aspects of that song?
Oh, hell yeah! Musically, it was kind of like a song we had written over the summer that was somewhat our attempt to lean heavily into our jazz influences and our love for R&B and pop and whatnot. We kinda just wanted to feed into that, and we wrote the song with that in mind, and we ended up bringing it to the studio, and Eric Palmquist, the producer, was like “This is hot shit,” and we were all like, “Thank you!” It all kind of just came together very beautifully – it was lovely.
What’s your favorite line from your new track?
I think my favorite is “All I do is cut my clothes to feel alive.” I don’t know. That line really strikes me.
Yeah, I love that one too, that’s a good one.
Thank you!
When I first heard the bridge on the track, I was blown away. How did that come about?
Everyone in Early Eyes has an interest in jazz, and some of us were in a high school jazz band, or pursue jazz in college like Des and whatnot. So I would say, it’s like a little bit of our funky jazz harmony lead through, but also like, I don’t know! It kind of just came together pretty perfectly.
With a track like “I’m Enough” being able to capture what so many people go through when they’re prepping for a night out, how has the fan reception been to this new track?
The fan reception has been really positive, we’re so grateful for everyone who has come our way and listened to the music. It’s been overwhelmingly positive and we’re really thankful for everyone taking the time to listen, and if they find some sort of solace in the song, that’s even cooler!
When getting into the studio, what does a typical session look like?
For these songs, we kinda just went to the studio and we went song by song; we would just wake up and go “Alright! We’re gonna do ‘I’m Enough’ for the next two or three days,” and we would start at the top. We usually start by like charting out the whole song and then record, maybe some rough melody outline or some stuff just to make sure that we have all of our ducks in a row. We would usually start with drums and the bass, and then everything else kinda comes after that in whichever order we feel is right.
You’re joining nothing, nowhere on their world tour, and you’re also touring in the spring which I am sure you’re excited about, what is your favorite thing about the road and the stage?
I guess my favorite part about touring is getting to travel around the country, which will someday be around the world. We love going and meeting people and hearing their stories. Just getting slices of life from people outside our tiny little bubble in Minneapolis. It’s really nice to go out and meet people, especially people who have really connected with our music, and be able to talk to them. I don’t know, just touring and listening and making friends; it’s a blast!
What drew you to pursuing music?
I had always been kind of a music kid, [but] I never took lessons or anything like that. I never pursued it until my junior year of high school. I went to a music high school, like arts-based, and that kind of solidified my dream of being a full-time musician, and from then on, I kind of caught the bug and here we are!
Let’s throw it back to 2018 when you released All Shades of Teal and Decorating. What are the stories behind each EP cover?
Those are all done by my partner, Mary Radford, a talented woman. We love the idea of trying to associate the music with a physical state that resonated with all of the music happenings that were going on. You kind of get the idea that both the LPs are trying to, I guess, capture something. Like on Decorating, that feels like all of the songs. Because, I don’t know, that’s kind of just something that we all love; we all love wholesomeness, and all of the things like that combined together kind of translates onto the covers.
Looking back from when the band first formed in college to now, what would you say has been the most monumental moment?
Getting verified on Instagram! Honestly, anytime I log into the band account on Instagram and I see the blue check mark, I feel like such a powerful badass. That blue check mark? Oh yeah! Apart from that, I would probably say the last two or three weeks. Getting the chance to release music under Epitaph and show everyone all of the hard work that we put in. That song is a huge rebrand for us and announcing the tour. I feel the most monumental moment is happening right now.
Which bands, would you say, inspire the band the most?
We all have pretty diverse backgrounds in terms of what we listen to. John is really into hip-hop and listens to a lot of hardcore music. Des, he’s a sucker for the pitchfork core. Like Alex G, Big Thief — that kind of music. Wyatt is a tried and true pophead. He listens to The 1975, you know, that whole jam. Joe listens to a lot of emo music, which is tight! I’ve always loved R&B and soul music. I kind of grew up in a household that played Marvin Gaye all the time; I honestly think he is one of the best artists of all time. I think one musician that we all bonded over as a collective is this Japanese artist named Tatsuro Yamashita. He’s like a pop star in Japan, but he never really broke out of Southeast Asia, so he never made his way over to the States, which is sad because he’s probably one of the most talented musicians who has ever lived. He has this method of combining jazz harmony with like, pop sensibilities, which is something that we all really strive to do in Early Eyes. So we took a lot of inspiration from him musically.
I’ll check him out like straight after this!
Please do! His song “Ride On Time” is my favorite song ever!
Minnesota has such a rich musical history, what is it like living and making music there?
It is cool and fun! Minnesota has this really nice musical community. It’s nice because I feel like, in the midwest, especially with the weather and whatnot, there’s not a lot to do. So everyone is just like “Well shit, if we’re gonna be stuck inside, then we would work on music.” Like, I don’t know how it was in the 1950’s, but I feel like there’s not a lot of activity, so you go out and support local bands and get involved in the music scene. And it's really nice to have that kind of a small town mentality. When you return to Minneapolis, people are really flattered and just excited which is cool too; it still feels like a small town even though it's a city.
What have been some of your favorite venues to play in, and what would your ‘dream venue’ be?
Dream venue... I would say maybe Brooklyn Steel in New York, that would be somewhere. I’ve never even been there but I hear a lot, mostly from seeing cool Instagram posts about Brooklyn Steel, so that would be nice. In Minneapolis, I would love to, at some point, headline the Palace Theatre.
Oh my goodness, the Palace! I’ve only seen photos and videos but it looks so cool!
Right! It’s beautiful and it's just on that borderline between where the show still gets to be intimate but there are a lot of people there. I feel like it's a great room.
What can we expect from your future songs and look forward to in 2020?
Yeah, we have another song coming March 16th! So we have a lot of songs coming out I think, and I'm pretty sure that, as of right now, we’re not planning to release a full-length until we have all the songs. We just want to get in the musical zone and devote all of our lives till we can make a record that we’re really proud of. I think right now, the plan is just to figure out all the kinks in the songs that will come out of it. And you know, there are no rules when you’re creating something musically!
And finally, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Oh, to anyone who listens to Early Eyes, I just want to give a sincere thank you! I feel like practising gratitude is really important and lot of musicians who make it big don’t really say thank you to their fans all that often, so let’s try to change that and let everyone know that we appreciate and love everyone’s support and all the tweets and the Instagram posts and such, and Bandcamp and the whole 9-9. That’s what keeps us trying and makes it feel like it's all worthwhile, and getting to connect with other people that love what we’re doing. It's really fun. Thanks.
A massive thank you to Jake and Epitaph Records for allowing me to conduct this interview. If you haven’t already listened to their newest single “I’m Enough,” you can access it on whatever streaming service you use. If you’re a fan of Early Eyes, keep your eyes peeled for the release of another single on March 16th!