Prim - Sound In The Signals Interview

I recently had the opportunity to interview Kevin Flores of Prim. We discussed how they signed with Sunday Drive Records, writing their new songs, artwork, the importance of having physical media, recording their upcoming album, and more. Check it out below. 

First, thanks for the interview.

Thanks so much for asking, it’ll be fun. 

You recently announced that you signed with Sunday Drive Records. How did it work out for you to join the label?

Well SDR and Prim have been following each other for a while and have given each other support because we appreciate what the other is doing. They asked us to play a pre show for their showcase last year and I think our live show is really what sold us. If I remember correctly I think Jonathan told me that our live set with our new songs made us sound much more “realized”. 

You released two new songs as well. What made you choose those songs for the announcement?

We felt these two songs showcase the sound we’re going for on this new record pretty well. ‘I’ll Drive’ features Evelyn’s vocals pretty heavily with our more melodic stuff while ‘Golden Tooth’ hits a more energetic sound which can be found a lot on this next record. There’s a lot more sounds in between that but we wanted to share the louder songs on this promo. 

These are your first songs to feature Evelyn Frances. Can you tell me about how Evelyn joined the band and what she brought to the songs?

I initially met Evelyn at one our shows we played with Supercrush last year and later asked if she wanted to go on tour with us that summer and she immediately said yes which was incredibly surprising since she was basically a stranger to us. As far as what she brings to the songs, her vocal melodies are really strong and add an element to Prim I think we’ve been needing. She’s also written a decent amount of lyrics that bring a different perspective to the themes I write about in terms of guilt, regret, anger, and self-doubt. Now I can’t imagine the band without her and I don’t think the other guys can either. 

I really like “Golden Tooth”. Can you tell me about writing that song?

Sure, I just really wanted to write something with high energy and aggression but still with its own version of softness. Lyrically I sometimes write feelings I can’t quite put my finger on and this one ended up just being frustration with the world feeling a bit hopeless (‘the human race, choking on coal’) and finding myself stuck within that same hopelessness (‘I move too slow’). Plus it was fun to feature some of Evelyn’s solo singing with lines like ‘faithless and I hate you’. 

The artwork for the two songs is great. I really like the colors. I saw Jonathan from Sunday Drive did the artwork. Did he choose that image as well? What made you want to use it?

I absolutely love the artwork too, he did a great job as always. But yeah, he had given us a few options from photos he had taken with some template ideas so we just kind of discussed it a bit until he got to that as the conclusion. I think that photo stood out most just because it’s taken in motion and presumably from a car so it really goes with the title ‘I’ll Drive’ and also the faster pace of ‘Golden Tooth’s sound. It’s also almost symbolic of us moving ahead in our journey as a band. Is that cheesy?

Sunday Drive is releasing a flexi and shirt for the two song release. How important is having physical media to your band?

I think physical media is incredibly important. It makes music feel way more personal when you can hold something tangible and it helps people appreciate it more. When I was a kid nothing felt better than getting a shirt from my favorite band or buying a new CD/record. It made me feel like I was part of it too and for us, music and community go hand in hand. 

The announcement also teased that a new album is coming this year. Will these two new songs be on it? What can you tell us about it so far? 

Yeah! These are actually just demo versions of the songs but they will be featured as full studio versions on the record. We’ve been in the studio with Phil Jones and Mark Palm of Supercrush at HMS studio in Seattle the past couple months and they have been so great to work with. This is the first time anyone in Prim has recorded a full LP so it’s been a pretty big journey with some highs and lows but we are so excited to share what we’ve done. We should be getting to the last portions of the process pretty soon here then sending them out to get pressed to vinyl. So we expect a summer release, I believe. 

Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?

Thanks for asking! And yeah, keep an eye out for Evelyn Frances’ next solo release which should be coming out later this year and my other band Apex Predator going on tour in a few months. And hopefully a tour from us late this year to support the release of the LP. Thanks so much again for taking the time! 

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