There were two things that motivated Tyler Perkins to embark on his new solo project Gold Line. The first was a long-standing desire to create a record where he played the majority—if not all—the instruments. The second was the opportunity to embrace a lack of boundaries. After years of crafting dynamic, punk-laced math rock in bands like Bear Girl and Champagne Colored Cars, Perkins was searching for something different. “I still love math rock but I just don’t really get in musical ruts anymore,” he says. “I’ve been inspired by so many different bands and albums in the past four to five years. It’s always so refreshing to write in a style you haven’t before and sort of carve your own path into something that’s new to you.”
For Gold Line, Perkins steps back in time, searching out riffs that are reminiscent of nineties alt-rock, grunge, and post-punk. Vocally, however, his gruff sandpaper delivery evokes the visceral intensity of modern hardcore. With its stomping backbeat and slithering guitars, his first single “Evergreen” finds inspiration in the gravelly buzzsaw anthems of Hot Water Music and Leatherface. There’s grit and aggression, of course, but it’s balanced with reflective restraint. Thematically the song addresses self-discovery and the importance of maintaining gratitude for what you have.
“It’s a redundant theme but only because so many suffer from it,” Perkins explains. “Especially now with social media being intertwined to our daily lives. It happens a lot with being a musician. It’s easy to resent others for their success, or yourself for a lack of success, and that’s ruined the idea of making music for so many amazing musicians. It’s far too easy to end up late in life with fond memories of times you didn’t fully cherish because your mind was elsewhere.”
Listen below.
“Evergreen” is the first single from Gold Line’s upcoming four-song debut, Weapons of the Future. Perkins plays all the instruments on the EP with the exception of drums, which were handled by Champagne Colored Cars’ Noah Linn. The record was mixed by Alex Salter (Pile of Love, Taking Meds, Drug Church) and mastered by Jon Markson. According to Perkins, a second EP is already in the works with the hope of pressing the two releases together.
As for live performances, there are no concrete plans, but it’s something Perkins wants to make happen. “I definitely want to assemble a band,” he says. “Whether they want to just play live or help write as well I’ll leave up to them but would love to play these songs live.”
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