Singer-songwriter Tyler Stock hails from Chicago, Illinois. Known for his folkish sensibilities combined with heartfelt lyrics and the artistry of a poet, this solo artist is taking the road less traveled by. His newest album, …To Be Lost and To Know It, encourages listeners to marvel at life along with him. Waves of orchestral sounds offer deep and oceanic bowed bass (which is directly contrasted by the bright romantic-hinterland feelings of the fiddle lines).
“Everything Always” is an immediate culmination of bright piano, assured stanzas, and thumping, organic percussion. Vocally, Stocks creates a whisperish timbre which is cozy, reassuring. The opening tracks’ all-consuming texture is like a Fibonacci spiral.
“Chasin’ your words around, love me without a sound, someday, we’ll be better…I love you in overdrive, I said it 1000 times (in my mind), and maybe someday…”
This is a hopeful song for the romantic at heart, and a collection for all of those seafaring through life.
In a single track, Tyler Stock has proven himself a master at musical textures. “Everything Always” is poetically optimistic yet tangible… but the most impressive aspect is the wide palette of feelings captured in the waves of plucky violins, ragtown-and-soul piano, legato motifs, and all-around root-twining folk.
The next track feels like peeking into the middle of a storybook. The gentle thumping of the snare brushes tells us listeners, “The plot is already well underway, come on in”. Thrumming acoustic guitar, echoing rhythms, and countermelody-ish fiddle lines create a cozy synergy that parts for the opening lyric.
“You, me, and all the streets between…two lives, don’t know where they meet. We’ve been wanderin’ all around”
For this track, Stock twists the dial on his vocal timbre. What was once whispery and light is now a richened navy hue. This middle track gives us the sense that these stanzas are coming from a wisened soul. Nevertheless, the sounds of the train-track-beat and forested strings fill us with wonder as images of cottages, cobblestones, and mountains float through our minds, kaleidoscopic. Lyrically, there’s a certain laissez-faire to it. It’s as if he’s saying, “Things come and go, and I’m just here passin’ by, enjoying the view while I can”. Then, he sees her.
“Never seen a face like yours, and I doubt I will again.”
Then, longing and desire creep in. Sometimes, a person feels like a place, and that place is home.
“I can’t lie now, I want you more than ever, last night I shoulda never let you go, this love has me feelin’ mighty aimless. I’m homesick for somewhere (I may never know)”
As the line comes back again and again, the instruments swell, become more celebratory, intensified. It has been resolved. The question is, is he going to go out and get her, or has he accepted the feeling within himself and let it go?
The “To be Lost and to Know It” closes the EP with a lilting Celtic-esque 6/8, asking“Ain’t it strange, to be lost and alive?”
This final track is decidedly slower, more aged than the other tracks, but not any less brilliant. In fact, the deep wisdom of experience has made it blossom more beautifully (like a layered peony with decades-old roots).
“Run to me, and I will run, I will run to you”
Low piano and uplifting violins contrast into a massive, ethereal closing. Then, two instruments (a bowed bass and a lone violin) bring the song to its final phrase- a hearty step-wise resolution.
…To Be Lost and To Know it is a refreshingly upbeat trilogy full of wanderlust, love, and life in full bloom. It doesn’t end with a fade out or a curtain close, but rather, with a warm brightness like the midday sun.
Q&A
You mentioned that this EP was created in only two weeks. What did those two weeks look like, schedule-wise? I’m curious how you balanced composition with recording and practice sessions. What song of yours took the longest to record, and which is your personal favorite of the three?
I should clarify – I wrote the EP in two weeks. Acoustic guitar, vocals, and a bit of bass and keys were all demoed in my apartment. I actually released these original demos on Bandcamp along with the final versions, for anyone interested in hearing the progression that the songs went through. I wrote about 7 songs and trimmed them down to my three favorites during those two weeks. The recording, mixing, and mastering of the EP took about 3 months, and was recorded in parts, starting with acoustic guitars, vocals, and drums, and then layering in the upright bass, violins, and backing vocals. These parts were all written in the studio session where we recorded them, although I had sent out lead sheets and my demo recordings to give everyone a reference for the sound I was going for.
It’s hard to say which was my favorite to record / the hardest but with the title track ‘To Be Lost And To Know It’ I left a lot of room for us to experiment with the instrumentation between verses – and we had a lot of fun playing with the various instruments during these parts and letting them weave in and out of each other.
Do you think the world needs more upbeat music?
I find myself listening to a lot of sad, slower folk music because I find it to be really comforting; however, I tend to write things a bit more upbeat. I think it translates better to the kind of live performances I like to do – high energy and engaging. I sometimes forget how much the music I listen to affects my mood and general outlook, so after a long period of listening to sad songs, I really welcome something upbeat. I hope that these songs fit into that space – something to break up the monotony – introspective and upbeat songs to get you out of a funk!
If one of these three songs were to be the next “Wabash”, which one do you think it would be?
Haha, I personally think “Everything, Always” is the catchiest of the three; however, “You, Me, & All The Streets Between” might be the most approachable of the three with regards to song structure, lyrical content, themes, and sound. I think that contemporary folk/country seems to be pretty in right now, and this song could definitely fall in that category.
What genres do you like to listen to, and how have they shown up in this EP?
I listen to a lot of lyrically driven folk music. I am currently inspired by Gregory Alan Isakov, Adrianne Lenker, and Nathaniel Rateliff to name a few. Paul Simon has always been a huge influence on me as well. I think these influences show up in the lyricism – I love writing lyrics that are specific to me and my own experiences, referencing events and moments in my life that only a few people would understand, but doing so in a way that is universally understandable and intuitive.
Which open tunings did you use on the first and last tracks, and what emotional flavor does each tuning or key impart to you?
I used the tuning CFCGAC, which I think is what Joni Mitchell uses in a lot of her recordings. Not 100% sure of that though haha. I learned the tuning from Jacolyn Parker – an incredible Chicago singer/songwriter who you can hear singing on the EP with me on each of the songs. Jacolyn left one of her guitars with me for a bit so I could help her fix it up, as it was a bit beat up, and in doing so, I found myself experimenting with the tuning. I found I really enjoyed writing in a new tuning because it made the guitar feel fresh to me and differentiated these songs from other periods of my life. The tuning is pretty low compared to standard tuning as well, which makes it really percussive and perfect for the acoustic guitar.
What did you mean by “Real love is skin and bone”?
In a lot of ways, Everything Always is a song about commitment. It’s about wanting someone to commit fully to you so that you can feel safe in committing fully to them. It’s about being fearful of that vulnerability. About searching for a real love but being scared to find it or fully dive in when it’s here. In saying that “Real love is skin and bones,” I am saying that real love persists past the superficial and exists as a truth in and of itself. A love that persists after you have given all that you have to give, and through the hardest moments of our lives, is real and worth finding and keeping.
In the story of Track 2, does the character ever end up finding his girl, or is the feeling or resolution a type of acceptance that happens internally?
With track 2, I was thinking about the metaphorical distance between two lovers. About how, for various external and internal reasons, it never seems to be the right time or the right place. It’s about being madly in love with each other and circling each other’s lives romantically – but finding the space between is often too vast to really settle into things, even though you keep trying to make it all work out.
Finally, how did you come to write “To Be Lost and To Know It?” What headspace or experience led you to be so accepting of life? To experience and feel rolling with its changes with such grace?
It feels like a reminder to myself to roll with the punches and appreciate both the positives and the negatives in life. I often write songs as mantras to remind myself of something I think is important to remember – and because I perform often, these messages stick with me and shape my outlook. I think life is worth celebrating. I am happy to be here and to get to share my time on this planet with some really wonderful people who have shaped my worldview as much as I hope to have shaped theirs. There are lessons in everything, and the world is waiting for you to engage with it, which I think is more important now than ever, since so much of life takes place online these days. I have been solo traveling a bit as well this last year, and it has been an incredible experience in learning to trust your own intuition, and I think those lessons carry over into starting a new project as a solo artist. I find that a lot of personal growth comes to me in the spaces where I don’t know what comes next – but I believe that when I bet on myself and approach the world with sincerity and open-mindedness, the answers will be waiting for me to discover.
LINKS:
https://www.tylerstockmusic.com/
https://www.instagram.com/funkmasterjones/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/264BHXfBpbselWUUNk1Vb8
